Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow lived between the years 1908 and 1970. He worked as a professor of psychology in various institutions. His major contribution to the field of psychology is his formation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. His main focus was on the positive properties that people had rather than on their negative capabilities.

 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs purport that needs are divided into five levels of psychological needs, safety and security, belongingness and social needs, self esteem, ego and status needs and self actualization needs. According to Maslow, each of these needs has a different level of motivation with Physiological needs like food, clothing and shelter giving higher levels of motivation and self-actualization needs like the need to achieve better results being the least motivated.

This theory is most applicable to salespeople for various reasons. First, salespeople are paid by commission. The bare minimum that may be obtained by a salesman is used to satisfy the physiological needs. These employees are at the least very motivated to ensure that these needs are met. As salespeople become more aware there they are capable of satisfying certain needs, they become aware of other needs as well. Second, salespeople are motivated personnel. Employees mostly depend on some form of motivated to stay at work. If this form of motivation is taken away, they become less likely to achieve. The level of motivation to achieve the bare minimum basic needs is usually measurably higher than those of other needs.

 Thielke et al. (2012) argue that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not based on any practical evidence. Tests of the theory have only been conducted in workplaces. This is because workplaces have a measurable motivation and reward system. The motivation in this case is the need that must be met. The reward system is the payment for the work done. According to the theory, employees are motivated by their needs to achieve more. Employees who have more needs are more motivated. The motivation prompts the employee to put in their time and effort to achieve more.

Ugah and Arua (2011) combine the hierarchy of needs and the expectation theory. Expectation theory argues that individuals are motivated by the expectation to achieve more. The achievement is not always in the form of financial gain but also the achievement of a certain goal. Once employees determine that they are capable of achieving a certain goal keeps them on their toes hence making them more productive. When combined with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, employees are more likely to give up more of their time and effort towards the achievement of their basic needs than they are for other needs.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the most important needs are the physiological needs. It is also the only need for which an individual always shows physical signs of strain in the struggle to achieve. The other three, safety, a sense of belonging and esteem are not achieved, the individual may not show it but will always be tense in his attempts to achieve those needs. Individuals will attempt to achieve the highest level of need which is actualization but will only do this after they have achieved the other needs which are also referred to as deficiency needs.

Berl, Williamson and Powell (1984) are of the opinion that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is not effective in explaining hierarchy of needs and motivations. They argue that needs are not arranged in any definite way and that different individuals are likely to prefer satisfying certain needs before others. They argue that the hierarchy of needs should be done away with. In its place should be put other theories which are clearer on the concept of needs and motivation.

Technology has been intent at solving a variety of issues. According to Thielke et al. (2011) health applications based on mobile phones have been on the rise. There has, however, been a problem with the issues that these applications try to resolve. Thielke et al. (2011) argue that applications should be created to serve the aging population in such a way that they strive to satisfy the physiological needs first while they are followed by other needs. While such applications have not been widely welcomed by the aging population, they would have a better reception if well applied.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is still popular to date. As shown above, it could still be applied to serve the needs of older people. If exploited, companies could reap benefits from it while delivering services to the people. According to Ugah and Arua (2011), the theory has a specific appeal to people due to its motivation aspects.

In conclusion, according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, people strive to satisfy certain needs before moving to other higher level needs. All along, people try to achieve the next level and may move up and down those levels according to circumstances. While the theory has been employed chiefly in regard to work and motivation, it can be employed in other areas.

References

Berl, R., Williamson, N., & Powell, T. (1984). Industrial salesforce motivation: A critique and test of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. Journal Of Personal Selling \& Sales Management, 4(1), 32–39.

Thielke, S., Harniss, M., Thompson, H., Patel, S., Demiris, G., & Johnson, K. (2011). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs and the Adoption of Health-Related Technologies for Older Adults. Ageing International, 37(4), 470-488. doi:10.1007/s12126-011-9121-4

Ugah, A., & Arua, U. (2011). Expectancy theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and cataloguing departments. Library Philosophy And Practice, (1), 51.