Maslow's hierarchy of needs, also known as "basic hierarchy of needs", is one of the theories of behavioral science, which was put forward by American psychologist abraham maslow in his paper "Theory of Human Motivation" 1943.

Maslow's theory divides needs into five categories: physiological needs, security needs, social needs, respect needs and self-realization needs, which are arranged from low level to high level. The basic meanings of requirements at all levels are as follows:

(1) physiological needs

This is the most basic requirement for human beings to maintain their own survival, including the demand for the following things:

◆ Breathe

◆ Water

◆ Food

◆ Sleep

◆ Physiological balance

◆ Secretion

◆ Sex

If any of these needs (except sex) are not met, people's physiological functions will not function normally. In other words, people's lives will be threatened. In this sense, physiological needs are the primary driving force to promote human action. Maslow believes that only when these basic needs are satisfied to the extent necessary for survival can other needs become new incentive factors, and at this time these relatively satisfied needs no longer become incentive factors.

(2) the need for security

This is the human demand for the following things:

◆ Personal safety

◆ Health protection

◆ Resource ownership

◆ Property ownership

◆ Moral protection

◆ Job security

◆ Family safety

Maslow believes that the whole body is a mechanism to pursue security, and human sensory organs, effective organs, intelligence and other energy are mainly tools to seek security, and even science and outlook on life can be regarded as part of meeting security needs. Of course, once this demand is relatively satisfied, it is no longer an incentive factor.

(3) the need for emotion and sense of belonging

This level includes the demand for the following things:

◆ Friendship

◆ Love

◆ Sexual intimacy

Everyone wants to get mutual relationship and care. Emotional needs are more detailed than physiological needs, which are related to a person's physiological characteristics, experience, education and religious beliefs.

(4) the need for respect

This level includes the demand for the following things:

◆ Self-esteem

◆ Self-confidence

◆ Achievement

◆ Respect others

Be respected by others

Everyone wants to have a stable social status, and requires personal abilities and achievements to be recognized by society. The need for respect can be divided into internal respect and external respect. Inner respect means that a person wants to be strong, competent, confident and independent in various situations. In short, internal respect is people's self-esteem. External respect means that a person wants to have status, prestige, respect, trust and high praise from others. Maslow believes that the need to respect can make people full of confidence in themselves, full of enthusiasm for society, and realize the usefulness and value of living.

(5) the need for self-realization

This level includes the demand for the following things:

◆ Morality

◆ Creativity

◆ Consciousness

◆ Ability to solve problems

◆ Degree of justice

◆ Ability to accept reality

This is the highest-level need, which refers to realizing one's ideals and ambitions, maximizing one's ability, reaching the realm of self-realization, accepting oneself and others, enhancing one's ability to solve problems, improving one's consciousness, being good at doing things independently, demanding to be alone without being disturbed, and accomplishing everything commensurate with one's ability. In other words, people must do competent work in order to feel the greatest happiness. Maslow pointed out that the ways to meet the needs of self-realization vary from person to person. The need for self-realization is to strive to realize one's potential and make oneself more and more the person one expects.

In 1954, Maslow discussed two other needs mentioned in his early works: the need for knowledge and the need for aesthetics. These two needs are not included in his level of needs, and he thinks they should be between the needs of respect and the needs of self-realization.

Basic hypothesis

● Satisfied demand is no longer an incentive. People are always trying to meet a certain demand. Once a demand is met, there will be another demand to replace it.

● Most people's needs are complex, and there are many needs that affect their behavior at any time.

Generally speaking, only when the lower-level needs are met can the higher-level needs have enough vitality to drive behavior.

● There are more ways to meet higher-level needs than to meet lower-level needs.

basic concept

(1) The five requirements are like a ladder, rising step by step from low to high, but the order is not completely fixed, it can be changed, and there are various exceptions.

(2) Generally speaking, when a certain level of demand is relatively satisfied, it will develop to a higher level, and the pursuit of higher-level demand will become the driving force of behavior. Accordingly, the demand for basic satisfaction is no longer an incentive force.

(3) Five needs can be divided into two levels, among which physiological needs, safety needs and emotional needs belong to the lower level and can be met by external conditions; The need for respect and self-realization is an advanced need, which can be met by internal factors. A person's need for respect and self-realization is endless. At the same time, a person may have several needs, but there is always one demand that plays a leading and decisive role in behavior in each period. Any kind of demand will not disappear because of the development of higher-level demand. The needs at all levels are interdependent and overlapping. After the development of high-level demand, low-level demand still exists, but its influence on behavior is greatly reduced.

(4) Maslow and other behavioral psychologists believe that the demand level of most people in a country is directly related to the level of economic development, scientific and technological development, culture and people's education. In underdeveloped countries, the proportion of people with physiological needs and safety needs is large, and the proportion of people with advanced needs is small; In developed countries, the situation is just the opposite.

evaluate

Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, to a certain extent, reflects the * * * same law of human behavior and psychological activities. Maslow explored human motivation and studied human behavior from the perspective of human needs, and grasped the key to the problem; Maslow pointed out that people's needs are developing from low to high, and this trend basically conforms to the law of needs development. Therefore, the hierarchy of needs theory has guiding significance for enterprise managers to effectively mobilize people's enthusiasm.

Maslow's study of human needs and structure is divorced from social conditions, historical development and social practice. Its theoretical basis is the humanistic theory of existentialism, that is, human nature is an abstract "natural person" beyond social history, so some viewpoints drawn from it are difficult to adapt to the situation of other countries.

In Maslow's view, there are two different needs in human value system. One is the instinct or impulse that gradually weakens along the rising direction of biological pedigree, which is called low-level demand and physiological demand. One kind is the potential or need that appears gradually with the evolution of organisms, which is called advanced need.

People hide these five different levels of needs, but the urgency of various needs is different in different periods. People's most urgent needs are the main reason and motivation to motivate people to act. People's needs gradually change from external satisfaction to internal satisfaction.

After the low-level demand is basically met, its incentive function will be reduced and it will no longer maintain its dominant position, and high-level demand will replace it as the main reason for promoting behavior. Once some needs are met, they cannot be the reason to stimulate people's behavior, so they are replaced by other needs.

High-level needs are more valuable than low-level needs. Enthusiasm is inspired by high-level needs. Man's highest need, that is, self-realization, is to express his potential in the most effective and complete way, and only in this way can he get a peak experience.

The five basic needs of people are often unconscious in ordinary people. For individuals, unconscious motivation is more important than conscious motivation. For experienced people, through appropriate skills, unconscious needs can be transformed into conscious needs. Maslow also believes that in the process of self-realization creation, a so-called "peak experience" emotion is produced. This time is the most exciting moment for people, and it is the highest, most perfect and harmonious state of human existence. At this time, people have a feeling of ecstasy, ecstasy, ecstasy.

Experiments have proved that people who stay in beautiful rooms are more energetic, lively and healthy than those who stay in simple rooms. A kind, sincere and beautiful person can appreciate the truth, goodness and beauty existing in the outside world better than others. When people find the highest value in the outside world, they may also produce or strengthen this value in their own hearts. In short, better people and people in better environments are more likely to have peak experiences.

study

Many studies show that senior managers can meet their higher-level needs better than basic managers, because senior managers are faced with challenging jobs in which they can realize themselves. On the other hand, grass-roots managers are more engaged in routine work, so it is relatively difficult to meet the needs of higher levels. In addition, the satisfaction degree of demand varies according to one's work in the organization, age, company size and cultural background of employees.

● Managers of the production command system feel more satisfied with the needs of safety, socialization, respect and self-realization than the employees of the department, and the gap between them is the biggest.

● Young employees (aged 25 or below) have stronger requirements than older employees (aged 36 or above) in respect of respect and self-realization.

Low-level management departments and managers in small companies are more likely to feel that their needs have been met than managers working in large companies.

Facts show that events in individuals and organizations can and do change demand. Customary practices in organizations will strongly affect the generation and satisfaction of many high-level needs. For example, promotion based on past abilities can stimulate employees' demand for respect. Moreover, with the development of managers in the organization, the demand for security is gradually weakened, while the demand for socialization, respect and self-realization is correspondingly enhanced. The following is a summary of the main findings of the hierarchy of needs theory:

● Demand can be considered as a wish that individuals strive to realize.

● Only when the lower-level needs are met can the high-level needs play an incentive role.

In addition to self-realization, other needs may be met, and then the importance to individuals decreases.

● At a given time, people may be motivated by various needs. Anyone's demand level will be affected by personal differences and will change with the passage of time.

Matters needing attention

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory to study the structure of human needs, which was initiated by American psychologist Maslow. He put forward this theory in the book Theory of Human Motivation published by 1943. The main points of attention of this theory are as follows:

1, physiological needs are not just appetite, sexual desire, etc. , but a higher level of abstract generalization.

2. When a person's body is ruled by a certain need, his whole philosophical concept of future life may change.

3. Usually, people's needs are from low to high, but they are not absolutely fixed, and their satisfaction process is rising step by step. When the lower-level needs are met, they will develop to a higher level. The higher the level, the more difficult it is to satisfy.

4, people's behavior is determined by the advantages of demand. At the same time, individuals can have multiple needs, but only one is dominant. The demand for advantages is constantly changing.

5. Demand at all levels is interdependent and overlapping. After the development of higher-level needs, lower-level needs still exist, but the proportion of influence on human behavior is reduced.

6. The development of different levels of demand adapts to the growth of individual age, and it is also related to the level of social economic, cultural and educational.

7. The satisfaction of high-level needs is stronger than that of low-level needs. At the same time, the satisfaction of high-level needs requires more preconditions and external conditions than the satisfaction of low-level needs.

8. The satisfaction of people's needs is directly proportional to their health. Other things being equal, the real satisfaction of any demand will contribute to the healthy development.

Maslow believes that the generation of demand is promoted from low level to high level in a wave-like way. When the low-level demand is not fully met, the high-level demand comes into being. When the peak of the low-level demand has not completely disappeared, the high-level demand will gradually increase until it occupies an absolute advantage.

Maslow's needs theory also has some shortcomings. First of all, Maslow called physiological needs, security needs, belonging and love needs and respect needs as basic needs, and thought that these needs were innate, and the development of needs was a natural mature process, which seriously underestimated the influence of environment and education on the development of needs. Secondly, Maslow emphasizes that individuals give priority to meeting low-level needs, ignoring the regulatory role of high-level needs on low-level needs. Even by his own admission, he "does not fully understand martyrs, heroes, patriots and selfless people".