Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
What is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, or Maslow's pyramid, is a motivational and psychological theory outlining five levels of human needs. The model places physiological needs at the lowest level, followed by safety, then belongingness and love, esteem, and lastly, self-actualization.3 Basic needs at the bottom must be fulfilled before higher needs can be addressed.
The Basic Idea
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a popular theory of motivation, happiness, and survival which includes several facets of the human experience. As complex beings, humans have a number of needs that vary in complexity. According to Maslow’s hierarchy theory, certain basic needs must be met before individuals can progress up the hierarchy to address more complex needs.2
For example, think about trying to go to the gym when you are really hungry. It can be difficult to think of anything else when we’re hungry, and our energy levels plummet. Without addressing this physiological need, it is unlikely that you would be motivated or able to engage in a need higher up on the pyramid, such as self-growth. According to Maslow, it is in the higher stages of the pyramid that true happiness can be found (although one could argue that food can also bring true happiness!).
At its core, Maslow’s theory of motivation sought to examine what makes people happy and what motivates them to act in the ways they do.2 Maslow believed that fundamental human desires were universal even though some particular desires may be unique to certain people or groups.4 Because of his belief, he was able to characterize human needs into five categories based on how prominent each was in human consciousness, resulting in a pyramid of hierarchy of needs:
- Physiological needs: basic biological needs, such as food, water and sleep, which are essential for human survival
- Safety needs: the need to feel secure and safe. Examples include emotional security, physical security, job security, and financial security
- Belongingness and love needs: human desire to have friends, family, and romantic relationships in order to feel accepted and experience social connection
- Esteem needs: need to be appreciated and respected, which boosts our self-esteem
- Self-actualization needs: the need to achieve our full potential and find meaning or purpose in life, which will then lead to happiness.2
The hierarchy suggests that the first four stages are all deficiency needs, meaning they arise from deprivation. Deficiency needs become more intense the longer they are not met. Diving in deeper, the first two levels are considered important for physical survival. The last stage, self-actualization needs, is considered a “growth need,” which, instead of arising due to deprivation, arises due to a desire to become a better person.2 Self-actualizing people tend to be self-aware, concerned with personal growth, and pay less attention to the opinions of others.
If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days in your life.1
— Abraham Maslow
Key Terms
Humanistic psychology: A psychological perspective that emphasizes a holistic understanding of individuals and their unique potential for growth, self-actualization, and personal development. It focuses on human experiences, values, and the inherent drive to achieve personal fulfillment.
Deficiency needs: These are the base levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, including physiological, safety, love and belonging, and esteem needs. They are referred to as "deficiency needs" because they arise from a lack or deprivation of something essential for basic survival or well-being.
Growth-based needs: These are the higher-level needs in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, primarily represented by esteem needs (self-esteem and recognition) and self-actualization (realizing one's full potential). Unlike the lower levels, these needs are not driven by a deficiency or lack of something but by a desire for personal development, creativity, fulfillment, and growth.
History
The now-famous “pyramid” was first introduced by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation.”3 At this time, Maslow was frustrated with the two popular branches of psychology, Freudian psychoanalysis and behavioral psychology.4 Maslow felt that both fields were too pessimistic as they focused on problematic behaviors instead of positive aspects of humanity, like happiness.2 Maslow was not alone in his frustrations, and, along with other critics such as Carl Rogers, he contributed to the development of a new branch of psychology: humanistic psychology. Proponents of humanistic psychology believe that psychoanalysis and behavioral psychology can be dehumanizing and promote a holistic evaluation of an individual and their life to make improvements.
In his original characterization of the pyramid of human needs, Maslow suggested that each level needs to be fulfilled for people to be motivated to fulfill more complex needs.
It is quite true that man lives by bread alone when there is no bread. But what happens to a man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled? At once other (and ‘higher’) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers, dominate the organisms. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new and still ‘higher’ needs emerge and so on. (p. 375)3
— Abraham Maslow in A Theory of Human Motivation.
Essentially, Maslow believed that to move past deficiency needs to a stage of growth-based needs, each need on each level would have to be fulfilled. The pyramid seemed to answer many of the questions that perplexed psychologists about what individuals were really after and how they arranged their priorities based on their daily competing wants and needs.5 Additionally, the pyramid had a prescriptive element: it helped people to understand that before self-actualization was possible, they first needed to ensure their more rudimentary needs were met. The hierarchy of needs could act as a guide toward achieving happiness, a goal for humanist psychologists.
Maslow continued to work on his hierarchy of needs, expressing his theory more robustly when he published Motivation and Personality in 1954 and continuously adapting it in the face of criticism.3
Wait… so it’s not really a pyramid?
However, that’s only half the story of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The simple pyramid format, which is now synonymous with Maslow’s theory, wasn’t actually created by Maslow himself.11 The story of how Maslow’s theory came to be visualized as a pyramid is slightly more complicated.
The metamorphosis of Maslow’s original hierarchy began during the 1950s when it began to gain traction in multiple fields beyond psychology, including education, business management, marketing, and development. Douglas McGregor, a close friend of Maslow’s, brought the motivational theory into the field of management studies but with a few changes. McGregor recognized that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs could be useful for managers, but he intentionally overlooked many of its complexities to make it more accessible. As a result, the version found in management textbooks today is largely McGregor’s simplified adaptation. Many critiques of Maslow’s theory are actually directed at McGregor’s interpretation rather than Maslow’s original work.12
In addition to bringing Maslow’s work to the management world, McGregor adapted his friend’s theory to create two contrasting theories of human work motivation and management. Theory X, which assumes employees are lazy, dislike work and need strict supervision to be productive, leads to authoritarian management. Theory Y, which assumes employees are self-motivated, enjoy work, and seek responsibility when given the right conditions, promotes participative and innovative work cultures. However, despite popularizing motivational theory and Maslow’s ideas in management, no pyramids or triangles feature in McGregor’s work.
The next step in the transformation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs occurred under the pen of Keith Davis, a member of the Academy of Management and a largely forgotten pioneer during the time when management was becoming a recognized profession. In his 1957 book, Human Relations in Business,13 Davis adapted Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into a right-angled triangle with steps leading to the peak, visually reinforcing the idea of progression through different need levels. Davis also added pictures to the model, specifically a business-attired executive depicted at various stages of his successful career.12 The final step shows the executive raising an American flag, reminiscent of the famous image of the flag raising during the Battle of Iwo Jima. This contrasts starkly with Maslow’s hierarchy, which was meant to apply to all people. Davis’ new model was designed to elevate experts in the fledgling field of management, providing an easily applicable framework for managers that could be understood across industries.
The final step in the transformation was completed by Charles McDermid in his 1960 article ‘How Money Motivates Men.’14 At the time, McDermid was a consulting psychologist at Humber, Mundie, and McClary, an innovative consulting firm. Following the idea that ‘maximum motivation at the lowest cost is the desired result,’ McDermid advised clients to use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a pyramid diagram to evaluate the needs of their employees and adjust their compensation packages accordingly.12
The pyramid’s visual appeal and simplicity helped it become a widely used and easy-to-implement framework despite criticisms that it misrepresents Maslow’s more nuanced theory, which did not suggest rigid, sequential progression through the levels. Over the decades, Maslow's motivational theory, in all its guises, has made significant contributions to psychology, education, management training, and even healthcare.
People
Abraham Maslow
American psychologist specializing in humanistic psychology and, later in his career, self-transcendence. Maslow’s work emphasized personal growth, free will, and positive human potential, challenging the dominant behaviorist and psychoanalytic approaches of his time.
Douglas McGregor
American social psychologist best known for his work on management theory, particularly his development of Theory X and Theory Y, which he introduced in his 1960 book The Human Side of Enterprise. McGregor played a key role in the popularization and development of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in the field of management.
Keith Davis
An American management scholar known for contributing to organizational behavior and human relations in business. He was active in the Academy of Management, an association comprised of thinkers and academics in the management field, eventually serving as its president in 1964.
Charles McDermid
American psychologist who explored the complexities of motivation, especially in relation to monetary rewards, and is often cited in discussions about behavioral economics and organizational management. McDermid developed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into its iconic pyramid shape.
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Impacts
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs had significant implications for the field of psychology because it focused on aspects that had been ignored by Freudian psychoanalysis, particularly happiness. Maslow’s theory was also more focused on the uniqueness of human behavior compared to behavioral psychology, which often bases its theories on animal research.4 Although today, modern psychology concerns itself with topics like happiness, hope, optimism, or love, such topics in Maslow’s time were reserved for religion.4 The hierarchy of needs, therefore, has had great implications for the methodology of psychology and paved the way for what is known today as positive psychology. Maslow’s desire to help people achieve their full potential has served as an inspiration to the field and is partially responsible for changing the trajectory of psychology, which was previously concerned with mental illness.4
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also helped bring together both spiritual and pragmatic beliefs of human purpose. While people who focus solely on spiritual motivation may forget about more basic needs, like thirst and sleep, pragmatists ignore intangible needs like love and acceptance.5 The theory can, therefore, holistically capture the complexity of human needs and show how multifaceted people are. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provided evidence for humanistic psychology that people were not just products of their environment but that their behavior was connected to inner emotions and self-image.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs also had significant implications for business and is now considered one of the foundational frameworks for business models. Just like humans, businesses have a range of needs to be met to be successful. At the most basic level is positive cash flow, which we equate to human physiological needs.6 Once that need is met, the company can focus on higher needs, such as innovation, creativity and organizational culture. The pyramid reminds businesses that basic needs must be met before they can grow. According to Mike Michalowicz, one of the most prominent authors on entrepreneurship, one of the biggest problems businesses face is not knowing their main problem. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be used as a guide to address this commonality.7
The pyramid can also inform companies about how to improve productivity through their employee-employer relationships. The pyramid demonstrates that people will not be able to work towards becoming the best version of themselves (or the best employees) if their lower needs are not met. That means that companies should ensure that their employees aren’t burnt out, feel secure in their jobs, have social interactions at work, and get enough praise and recognition to foster employee engagement and meaningful work.8
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs provides a guide for growth and personal development, issues that are incredibly important for both individuals and businesses.
Controversies
The biggest criticism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs refers to its claim that lower-level needs should be completely satisfied for higher-level needs to be met. While other research has confirmed the different kinds of needs that motivate human behavior, little to no research has substantiated the hierarchical formation of these needs.2 The pyramid raises some ethical concerns, suggesting that only people in privileged positions (who have their basic needs met) can self-actualize.
Following such criticism, Maslow continued to adapt and refine his theories, claiming that the hierarchy structure was not as rigid as he had made it seem in his original paper.3 Later, in 1987, he stated that behavior is multi-motivated rather than driven only by one level of need and suggested that the categories could, in fact, overlap.3 Maslow also later added new components to the hierarchy, including cognitive, aesthetic and transcendence needs.3
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has also been criticized for suggesting a one-size-fits-all conception of human motivation, which fails to recognize individual variations and how factors such as culture, gender, or age could shape and impact motivation. In particular, many argued that Maslow's hierarchy of needs did not illustrate the difference between the social and intellectual needs of people born and raised in individualistic societies and collectivist societies. In collectivist societies, for example, the need for acceptance among community members far outweighs the motivation for freedom and individuality. Recognizing this failure of the hierarchy of needs, Maslow revised his theory, stating that the structure is flexible and that the order of levels might be different for different individuals. For example, esteem might take precedence over belongingness for some people or cultures.3
Moreover, much criticism of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs focuses on his lack of scientific methodology. Maslow came up with his conception of self-actualization by examining the characteristics of individuals who he believed were self-actualized. This type of biographical analysis is clearly highly subjective, meaning Maslow’s definition of self-actualization may not hold up universally.3
Case Studies
Strategic palliative care through hierarchy of needs
Over the years, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has gained most of its popularity in the fields of business and education. However, a recent study suggests that it also can have impacts on hospice care. A hospice is all about ensuring that the needs of the sick or terminally ill are met; some argue that the system could benefit from a prescriptive guide on how to best meet its goals.
Medical professionals Robert Zalenski and Richard Rapsa suggest that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can help structure patient care by pointing to the urgency of fulfilling basic needs before moving on to more complex needs.9 In this context, the pyramid provides a logic that, although at times needs to be flexible, can be used to standardize hospice care. At the bottom of the pyramid would be ensuring that physical pain is diminished; the second level would be to relieve fears so that patients can feel secure; the third level would be to ensure the patient has support systems; the fourth would be to ensure the patient feels like their life achievements are recognized.9 By addressing all these needs, patients would have the best chance of achieving self-actualization and may feel more at peace with their lives ending.
Nurses throughout the pandemic
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been applied to other healthcare settings, including the well-being and motivation of nurses and frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.15 In a study of nurses’ creative problem-solving during this time, the authors highlight how healthcare organizations had to address the basic physiological and safety needs of nurses first, such as ensuring physical safety, providing personal protective equipment, and securing essential resources like food and childcare. Only after these foundational needs were met could higher-level needs like trust and professional development be considered, allowing nurses to better perform their roles and adapt to the crisis.
Social protection and community needs
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is based on the concept that humans have different levels of needs, some of which need to be fulfilled before others can be addressed. By extrapolating this notion to communities, policing practice can be adapted to suit the particular needs of each community. In their 2016 study, criminal justice professors Melchor de Guzman and MoonSun Kim suggested applying the model of a hierarchy of needs to address when Community Oriented Policing (COP) will be successful.10 These days, much of the controversy surrounding police demonstrates the public’s lack of trust in the police, making it an important area to research.
The study draws from previous research on a hierarchy of social needs, which also assumed that base levels of need had to be fulfilled to address higher needs. This previous hierarchy of social needs placed social order recovery as the base community need, followed by social order maintenance, and finally, social order enhancement. De Guzman and Kim suggested that more traditional police strategies are necessary for the first two levels but that COP better addresses the third need, enhancement, which follows from Maslow’s self-actualization.10 When a community has their basic needs addressed by the police force, it will then be able to focus on addressing higher growth needs.
Related TDL Resources
Supporting Our Frontline Workers with Behavioral Science
The ideology behind Maslow’s pyramid is now being used in the medical field in order to properly address the needs of both patients and physicians. In this article, our writer Neir Mazur explores the way the public can support frontline workers by trying to ensure that their more basic needs are met, allowing them to focus on self-actualization. By focusing on their purpose as frontline workers, they would in turn be better physicians and better able to help patients.
Nudging Against Polarization: Jesse Itzkowitz
While critics of behavioral economics suggest that nudging is a manipulative tool, behavioral scientist Jesse Itzkowitz suggests that nudging can be used to enhance people’s lives. He suggests that a model like Maslow’s can help people understand the different levels of human need, and therefore address them adequately.
How Scarcity Affects the Working Poor
Sendhil Mullainathan’s theory of scarcity posits that poor people make worse decisions as a result of their basic needs not being met. This theory is backed by research and has major implications for how society treats and helps their impoverished.
Sources
- BrainyQuote. (n.d.). 34 Abraham Maslow quotes. Retrieved November 8, 2020, from https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/abraham-maslow-quotes
- Cherry, K. (2020, June 3). The 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-maslows-hierarchy-of-needs-4136760
- McLeod, S. (2007, February 5). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html#self
- Selva, J. (2020, July 26). Abraham Maslow, His Theory & Contribution to Psychology. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/abraham-maslow/
- The School of Life. (2020, September 28). The Importance of Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs. Retrieved November 8, 2020, from https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/the-importance-of-maslows-pyramid-of-needs/
- Sudarikov, N. (2020, February 5). Maslow’s Pyramid Applied to the Company. The Future Shapers. https://thefutureshapers.com/maslows-pyramid-applied-to-the-company/
- Ladagga, R. (2020, October 5). What ‘hurts’ your business? Find out with the Maslow Pyramid of SMEs. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/357199
- Horne, K. (2019, February 27). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Why it still matters in 2020. Digital.com. https://digital.com/how-to-become-an-entrepreneur/maslows-hierarchy/
- Zalenski, R. J., & Raspa, R. (2006). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: A framework for achieving human potential in hospice. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 9(5), 1120-1127. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2006.9.1120
- de Guzman, M. C., & Kim, M. (2016). Community hierarchy of needs and policing models: Toward a new theory of police organizational behavior. Police Practice and Research, 18(4), 352-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2016.1242425
- Bridgman, T., Cummings, S., & Ballard. (2019). Who built Maslow’s pyramid? A history of the creation of management studies’ most famous symbol and its implications for management education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 18(1), 81-98.
- Kauffman, S. B. (n.d.). Who created Maslow’s iconic pyramid? Scott Barry Kauffman. https://scottbarrykaufman.com/who-created-maslows-iconic-pyramid/
- Davis, K. (1967). Human Relations in Business. McGraw-Hill.
- McDermid, C. (1960). How Money Motivates Men. Business Horizons, 3(4), 93-100.
- Hayre-Kwan, S., Quinn, B., Chu, T., Orr, P., & Snoke, J. (2021). Nursing and Maslow’s Hierarchy. Nurse Lead., 19(6), 590-595.
About the Authors
Dan Pilat
Dan is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. Dan has a background in organizational decision making, with a BComm in Decision & Information Systems from McGill University. He has worked on enterprise-level behavioral architecture at TD Securities and BMO Capital Markets, where he advised management on the implementation of systems processing billions of dollars per week. Driven by an appetite for the latest in technology, Dan created a course on business intelligence and lectured at McGill University, and has applied behavioral science to topics such as augmented and virtual reality.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
