Psycho Bite Size – The hierarchy of needs
Roger Philby | 13 Jun 08
Maslow was one of the first psychologists to study human motivations from the perspective of an individual. His work in the 1950s pulled together research from a number ofstudies and sources into what he referred to as a hierarchy of needs.
These needs work from the bottom up and once one need is satisfied, a person willstrive for the next level. This serves as a useful model to understand humanbehaviour and has been used in a number of institutions including the British army.
Maslow’s position is thatpeople gradually aim to be self-actualised and as they do so, they become wiserand better at dealing with situations in life. The key in this model though isthat you must have your more basic needs fulfilled first, or you cannot moveforward.
This is interesting to consider in the context of a business, as thefulfilment of the basic comforts will affect the efficiency and motivation ofstaff. In fact, only 50% of the UK workforce are happy and motivated by theirrole and company. Many of the factors contributing to this relate to security,belonging and reward.
What might affect our motivation?
Apart from the needsoutlined in Maslow’s model, there are a number of factors that will affect ourmotivation. These can be broadly categorised as either intrinsic or extrinsic.Within these categories, there are a number of key areas and within each; thereare both negative and positive influences – what we would term the ‘carrot and stick’!
However, it is not only positive and negative incentives or threatsthat prompt behaviour - emotion also plays a key role in the initiation and persistence of behaviour. Behaviour will also be affected by our naturaltendencies. For example, if we have high self-esteem, we may continue to workhard when we are failing, as we believe we will get there in the end.
Intrinsic = influences from the inside
Extrinsic = influences from the outside
There are an infinitenumber of influences in these areas but below are just some basic examples.
It is key to make notehere that while these forces may guide our want to take or not take action,they will not determine the action that we take. Our other preferences,personality, culture and social learning will have more influence in this area.
