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Pyramid of life needs. Hierarchy of needs by A. Maslow. Controversy over Maslow's pyramid

Famous Maslow's pyramid of needs, which is familiar to many from social studies lessons, reflects the hierarchy of human needs.

Recently, it has been criticized by psychologists and sociologists. But is it really useless? Let's try to figure it out.

The essence of Maslow's pyramid

In addition, it is obvious that under the same conditions one person will feel some need satisfied, but another will not.

We can say that different people have different heights of the steps of the pyramid. Let's talk about them in more detail next.

Levels of Maslow's pyramid

Quite briefly and succinctly, the essence of Maslow’s pyramid can be explained as follows: until the needs of the lowest order are satisfied to a certain extent, a person will not have “higher” aspirations.

The work of the scientist himself and common sense suggest that the previous level of the pyramid does not necessarily have to be “closed” 100% before there is a desire to be realized at the next level. In addition, it is obvious that under the same conditions one person will feel some need satisfied, but another will not. We can say that different people have different heights of the steps of the pyramid. Let's talk about them in more detail next.

Physiological needs

First of all, this is the need for food, air, water and enough sleep. Naturally, without this, a person will simply die. Maslow also included the need for sexual intercourse in this category. These aspirations make us related and it is impossible to escape them.

Need for security

This includes both simple “animal” safety, i.e. the presence of a reliable shelter, the absence of the threat of attack, etc., both due to our society (for example, people experience enormous stress when there is a risk of losing their job).

Need for belonging and love

This is the desire to be part of a certain social group, to take a place in it that is accepted by other members of this community. The need for love needs no explanation.

Need for respect and recognition

This is recognition of a person’s achievements and successes by as many members of society as possible, although for some their own family will be enough.

Need for knowledge, research

At this stage, a person begins to be burdened by various ideological issues, such as the meaning of life. There is a desire to immerse yourself in science, religion, esotericism, and try to understand this world.

The need for aesthetics and harmony

It is understood that at this level the person strives to find beauty in everything and accepts the Universe as it is. In everyday life he strives for maximum order and harmony.

Need for self-realization

This is the definition of your abilities and their maximum implementation. A person at this stage is primarily engaged in creative activities and actively develops spiritually. According to Maslow, only about 2% of humanity reaches such heights.

You can see a generalized view of the pyramid of needs in the figure. A large number of examples can be given both confirming and refuting this scheme. Thus, our hobbies often help satisfy the desire to belong to a certain community.

Thus they pass one more step. Around us we see many examples of people who have not reached level 4 of the pyramid and therefore experience some mental discomfort.

However, not everything is so smooth. You can easily find examples that do not fit into this theory. The easiest way to find them is in history. For example, young Charles Darwin’s thirst for knowledge appeared during a very dangerous voyage, and not in a calm and well-fed home.

Such contradictions lead to the fact that today a large number of scientists reject the familiar pyramid of needs.

Application of Maslow's pyramid

And yet Maslow’s theory has found its application in our lives. Marketers use it to target certain aspirations of the individual; some personnel management systems, by manipulating employee motivation, are built on the basis of a pyramid.

Abraham Maslow's creation can help each of us when setting personal goals, namely: deciding what you really want and what you really need to achieve.

In conclusion, we note that Maslow's original work did not directly contain the pyramid. She was born only 5 years after his death, but of course on the basis of the scientist’s work. According to rumors, Abraham himself reconsidered his views at the end of his life. How seriously to take his creation these days is up to you.

« Maslow's pyramid" is the unofficial name of the theory of motivation developed in the 1950s of the twentieth century by the outstanding American psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow.

At the core Maslow's theories of motivation (pyramids) lies the thesis that human behavior is determined by a number of basic needs that can be arranged in a certain hierarchy. From Maslow’s point of view, these needs are universal, that is, they unite all people, regardless of skin color, nationality, lifestyle, habits, demeanor and other external manifestations.
Abraham Maslow recognized that people have many different needs, but also believed that these needs could be divided into five main categories

Physiological: hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc. Existential: security of existence, comfort, constancy of living conditions. Social: social connections, communication, affection, caring for others and attention to oneself, joint activities. Prestigious: self-esteem, respect from others, recognition, achieving success and high praise, career growth. Spiritual: cognition, self-actualization, self-expression, self-identification.

1. Physiological needs The most urgent, the most powerful of all needs. A person living in extreme need, deprived of all the joys of life, according to Maslow’s theory of motivation, will be driven primarily by physiological level needs. If a person has nothing to eat and if he lacks love and respect, first of all he will strive to satisfy his physical rather than emotional hunger. According to Maslow, if physiological urges dominate in the body, then all other needs may not even be felt by the person. The desire to write poetry, buy a car, interest in native history, passion for yellow shoes against the background of physiological needs, all these interests and desires either fade or disappear altogether, because a person feeling mortal hunger will not be interested in anything other than food.

2. Need for security After satisfying physiological needs, their place in the motivational life of an individual is taken by needs, which in the most general form can be combined into the category of security (the need for stability, protection, freedom from fear, anxiety and chaos, order, law, restrictions) . According to Maslow's theory of motivation, these desires can also dominate the body and usurp the right to organize human behavior. As Maslow notes, the need for security of a healthy and successful member of our culture is usually satisfied. In a normal society, among healthy people, the need for security manifests itself only in mild forms, for example, in the form of a desire to get a job in a company that provides its employees with social guarantees, etc. In its most general form, the need for security and stability manifests itself and in conservative behavior (most people tend to give preference to familiar and familiar things). In turn, as Maslow points out, the unexpected threat of chaos in most people causes a regression of motivation from its highest levels to the level of security. The natural and predictable reaction of society to such situations is calls to restore order, at any cost, even at the cost of dictatorship and violence.

3. The need for belonging and love After the needs of the physiological level and the needs of the security level are satisfied, according to Maslow’s theory of motivation, the need for love, affection, and belonging is updated. A person, more than ever, begins to acutely feel the lack of friends, the absence of a loved one, wife or children, and craves warm, friendly relationships. He needs a social group that would provide him with such relationships. It is this goal that becomes the most significant and most important for a person. The rapid development in the modern world of various personal growth groups, as well as interest clubs, according to Maslow, is to some extent dictated by an unquenched thirst for communication, the need for intimacy, belonging, and the desire to overcome the feeling of loneliness. The inability to satisfy the need for love and belonging, from Maslow’s point of view, usually leads to maladjustment, and sometimes to more serious pathology.

4. The need for recognition Every person, according to Maslow, (with rare exceptions associated with pathology) constantly needs recognition, a stable and, as a rule, high assessment of his own merits. Each of us needs both the respect of those around us and the opportunity to respect ourselves. Maslow divided the needs of this level into two classes. The first class includes desires and aspirations associated with the concept of “achievement”. A person needs a feeling of his own power, adequacy, competence, he needs a feeling of confidence, independence and freedom. In the second class of needs, the author included the need for reputation or prestige, that is, to gain status, attention, recognition, fame. Satisfaction of all these needs, according to Maslow's theory of motivation, gives the individual a sense of self-confidence, self-worth and strength. An unsatisfied need, on the contrary, causes a feeling of humiliation, weakness, helplessness, which, in turn, serves as a basis for despondency and triggers compensatory and neurotic mechanisms.

5. The need for self-actualization (self-realization) Even if all of the above needs are satisfied, according to Maslow, a person will soon again feel dissatisfaction because he is not doing what he is predisposed to. If a person wants to live at peace with himself, he must be who he can be. Maslow called this need the need for self-actualization. In Maslow’s understanding, self-actualization is a person’s desire for self-embodiment, for the actualization of the potentials inherent in him. This desire can be called the desire for idiosyncrasy, for identity. This is the highest human need, according to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. As a rule, a person begins to feel the need for self-actualization only after he has satisfied the needs of all lower levels.

There is also a more detailed classification. The system distinguishes seven main levels (priorities): (lowest) Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc. Security need: a sense of confidence, freedom from fear and failure. The need for belonging and love. Esteem needs: achieving success, approval, recognition. Cognitive needs: to know, to be able to, to explore. Aesthetic needs: harmony, order, beauty. (highest) The need for self-actualization: the realization of one’s goals, abilities, development of one’s own personality.

In his later works, published in the 1960s and 70s, Maslow classified the need for self-actualization not as a basic need, but as a higher category of needs, which he described as “(personal) growth needs” (also called “value” needs). or “existential needs” or “meta-needs”). This list also included the need for understanding and knowledge (cognitive need) and the need for beauty (aesthetic need), which were previously mentioned outside the main hierarchy, as well as the need for play.

As lower-lying needs are satisfied, higher-level needs become more and more relevant, but this does not mean that the place of the previous need is taken by a new one only when the previous one is fully satisfied. Also, the needs are not in an unbroken sequence and do not have fixed positions, as shown in the diagram. This pattern is the most stable, but the relative arrangement of needs may vary among different people.

Maslow notes that the hierarchy of needs is not at all as stable as it might seem at first glance. The basic needs of most people, in general, follow the order described, but there are exceptions. For some people, for example, the need for self-affirmation manifests itself as more pressing than the need for love. This is the most common case of reversion.

Was there a pyramid? The image of a pyramid, widespread throughout the world to illustrate Maslow’s theory of motivation, is in fact far from indisputable. !!! Maslow himself does not mention the pyramid in his works (neither in verbal nor in visual form)!!! On the contrary, in the works of Maslow there is a different visual image of a spiral (Maslow writes about the individual’s transition to needs of a higher level: “the motivational spiral begins a new turn”). The image of a spiral, undoubtedly, better reflects the main postulates of Maslow’s theory of motivation: dynamism, development, smooth “flowing” of one level into another (as opposed to the static and strict hierarchy of the pyramid).

Internet resources: company-vils1991.narod formatta.ru/pages/id/319 http://mirfinance.biz/finansovaya-gramotnost/psixologiya-denezhnyx-trat/ http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ www, psychoanalyst.ru/depression/hierarchy.ht m www. psychologos.ru/articles/view/piramida_po trebnostey_maslou

American psychologist Abraham Maslow spent his entire life trying to prove the fact that people are constantly in the process of self-actualization. By this term he meant a person’s desire for self-development and constant realization of internal potential.

Self-actualization is the highest level among the needs that make up several levels in the human psyche. This hierarchy, described by Maslow in the 50s of the 20th century, was called the “Theory of Motivation” or, as it is commonly called now, the pyramid of needs. Maslow's theory, that is, the pyramid of needs has a step structure. The American psychologist himself explained this increase in needs by saying that a person will not be able to experience higher-level needs until he satisfies the basic and more primitive ones. Let's take a closer look at what this hierarchy is.

What is Maslow's Pyramid? Classification of needs

Maslow's pyramid of human needs is based on the thesis that human behavior is determined by basic needs, which can be arranged in the form of steps, depending on the significance and urgency of their satisfaction for a person. Let's look at them starting from the lowest.

These five points contain the entire pyramid, that is, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As the creator of the theory of motivation himself noted, these stages are not as stable as they seem. There are people whose order of needs is an exception to the rules of the pyramid. For example, for some, self-affirmation is more important than love and relationships. Look at careerists and you will see how common such a case is.

Maslow's pyramid of needs has been challenged by many scientists. And the point here is not only the instability of the hierarchy created by the psychologist. In unusual situations, for example during war or in extreme poverty, people managed to create great works and perform heroic deeds. Thus, Maslow tried to prove that even without satisfying their basic and fundamental needs, people realized their potential. The American psychologist responded to all such attacks with only one phrase: “Ask these people if they were happy.”

A satisfied need no longer motivates

The main question here is the relevance of needs for a person. For example, a self-sufficient person who is indifferent to communication does not need it and will not strive for it. Anyone who feels protected will not strive even more to protect themselves. Simply put, a satisfied need loses its relevance and moves to another level. And in order to determine current needs, it is enough just to identify unsatisfied ones.

Advantages and disadvantages of the theory

As is easy to see, the pyramid of needs is not just a classification of them, but reflects a certain hierarchy: instinctive needs, basic, sublime. Every person experiences all these desires, but the following pattern comes into force here: basic needs are considered dominant, and higher-order needs are activated only when the basic ones are satisfied. But it should be understood that needs can be expressed completely differently for each person. And this happens at any level of the pyramid. For this reason, a person must correctly understand his desires, learn to interpret them and adequately satisfy them, otherwise he will constantly be in a state of dissatisfaction and disappointment. By the way, Abraham Maslow took the position that only 2% of all people reach the fifth stage.

What's in practice?

According to many modern psychologists, despite the fact that Maslow’s pyramid is a clearly structured model, it is quite difficult to apply it in practice, and the scheme itself can lead to completely incorrect generalizations. If we put all the statistics aside, a number of questions immediately arise. For example, how dark is the existence of a person who is not recognized in society? Or, should a person who is systematically malnourished be considered absolutely hopeless? After all, in history you can find hundreds of examples of how people achieved enormous results in life precisely because their needs remained unsatisfied. Take, for example, poverty or unrequited love.

The aspirations of individuals do not undergo transformation. The only thing that may be different is the ways to satisfy them. How to apply a scientist's theory in real life? Having considered the levels of Maslow's pyramid, a personnel manager can build the most effective motivational ladder in a particular situation. When it comes to finding a job, it’s important to first outline your own goals. Answer yourself the question of what you want to get from a certain position. What factors are important? By understanding your personal motives, you can avoid mistakes in choosing a company or even a profession.

Maslow's pyramid of needs (its levels were briefly discussed above) is often used in marketing. Some experienced marketers claim that, guided by the presented hierarchy of human aspirations, it is possible to identify what level of needs is served by a particular company. It is no secret that the activities of a particular company are directly dependent on the dynamics and state of the needs markets being satisfied. For example, when the economy is in crisis, consumer needs quickly fall to the lower levels of the well-known pyramid. As for food needs, they are eternal. The same can be said about medical services.

But the desire to follow fashion trends fades as income declines. The basic principle of strategic planning for any type of activity is the need to keep abreast of market needs. If there is a tendency for one of the needs to develop, it makes sense to tune in to service it. As John Sheildrek noted, the levels of Maslow's pyramid of needs are only relevant to humans. It makes no sense to apply the postulates of this theory to large companies, since the behavior of organizations is particularly complex, and to analyze it one should be armed with other theoretical tools.

American psychologists have proposed their own version of the pyramid in question. As the researchers noted, although realization is undoubtedly a significant motive, it cannot be considered leading from the point of view of evolutionary theory. The vast majority of the actions listed by Maslow in his theory reflect basic biological needs based on obtaining status in order to attract a partner and subsequently continue one's own race. As one of the participants in the experiments, Douglas Kenrick, noted, among the fundamental aspirations of people, the main one is the desire to have offspring. That is why raising children can be considered a basic level in modern pyramid of needs.

You weren't promoted at work. Of course, this upset you, but what made you even worse was your significant other who left you. Besides, you were late for the bus and almost turned gray while walking along a creepy dark alley. But all your troubles turned out to be insignificant compared to an empty refrigerator when you really wanted to eat. Indeed, our needs replace each other in importance. And higher needs fade until the basic ones are satisfied. This fact suggests that all our desires, or rather needs, are in a clear hierarchical sequence. You can understand which needs can deprive us of our strength, and which ones we can do just fine without using Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of needs.

Abraham Maslow - pyramid of needs

American psychologist Abraham Maslow spent his entire life trying to prove the fact that people are constantly in the process of self-actualization. By this term he meant a person’s desire for self-development and constant realization of internal potential. Self-actualization is the highest level among the needs that make up several levels in the human psyche. This hierarchy, described by Maslow in the 50s of the 20th century, was called the “Theory of Motivation” or, as it is commonly called now, the pyramid of needs. Maslow's theory, that is, the pyramid of needs has a step structure. The American psychologist himself explained this increase in needs by saying that a person will not be able to experience higher-level needs until he satisfies the basic and more primitive ones. Let's take a closer look at what this hierarchy is.

Classification of needs

First stage - physiological needs. A person who is not rich and does not have many of the benefits of civilization, according to Maslow’s theory, will experience needs, first of all, of a physiological nature. Agree, if you choose between lack of respect and hunger, first of all you will satisfy your hunger. Physiological needs also include thirst, the need for sleep and oxygen, and sexual desire.
Second stage - need for security. Infants are a good example here. Not yet having a psyche, babies at the biological level, after satisfying thirst and hunger, seek protection and calm down only by feeling the warmth of their mother nearby. The same thing happens in adulthood. In healthy people, the need for security manifests itself in a mild form. For example, in the desire to have social guarantees in employment.
Third stage - the need for love and belonging. In Maslow's pyramid of human needs, after satisfying physiological and security needs, a person craves the warmth of friendships, family or love relationships. The goal of finding a social group that will satisfy these needs is the most important and significant task for a person. The desire to overcome the feeling of loneliness, according to Maslow, became a prerequisite for the emergence of all kinds of interest groups and clubs. Loneliness contributes to social maladaptation of a person and the occurrence of serious mental illnesses.
Fourth stage - need for recognition. Every person needs society to evaluate his or her merits. Maslow's need for recognition is divided into a person's desire for achievement and reputation. It is by achieving something in life and earning recognition and reputation that a person becomes confident in himself and his abilities. Failure to satisfy this need, as a rule, leads to weakness, depression, and a feeling of despondency, which can lead to irreversible consequences.
Fifth stage – the need for self-actualization (aka self-realization). According to Maslow's theory, this need is the highest in the hierarchy. A person feels the need for improvement only after satisfying all lower-level needs.

(“pyramid” by A. Maslow) – a theory of motivation, according to which all the needs of an individual can be placed in a “pyramid” as follows: at the base of the “pyramid” are the most important human needs, without which the biological existence of a person is impossible, at the higher levels of the “pyramid” are the needs that characterize a person as a social being and as an individual.

brief information on the term

A. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the most famous theories of the content of motivation and is based on the results of numerous psychological studies. Needs are considered as the conscious absence of something that causes an urge to action. Needs are divided into primary, characterizing a person as a biological organism, and cultural or higher, characterizing a person as a social being and personality.

According to A. Maslow’s theory, the first level needs are physiological(the need for food, rest, warmth, etc.) - are innate and inherent in all people. And the needs of higher levels of the “pyramid” can appear only if a certain level of satisfaction of the needs of the previous level is achieved.

So, need for security, protection and order arises if a person’s physiological needs are satisfied by at least 85%.

Social needs (friendship, respect, approval, recognition, love) arise when the need for security is satisfied by 70%.

Social needs must also be satisfied by 70% in order for a person to develop need for self-esteem, which implies the achievement of a certain social status and freedom of action.

When the need for self-esteem is satisfied by 60%, the person begins to experience need for self-actualization, self-expression, realization of one’s creative potential. This last need is the most difficult to satisfy, and even when a person reaches a 40% level of self-actualization, he feels happy, but only 1–4% of the Earth’s population reaches this level.

From the point of view of personnel management and the implementation of a labor motivation system, it is extremely important to achieve the necessary level of satisfaction of physiological, social and safety needs, so that the employee has a need for self-expression, as well as to create conditions for its implementation at a given enterprise.

Publications

Brandin V.A. Personnel as an interested party in the enterprise management system
The role of personnel in the efficiency of the enterprise is considered. Personnel motivation is considered as one of the main components of management.

Motivation and reward
A selection of materials on motivation and material incentives for staff work.

Gromova D. Personnel motivation in the conditions of crisis management and restructuring
Approaches to personnel motivation at OJSC “Volgograd Tractor Plant” at various stages (anti-crisis management, restructuring, implementation of reforms) of the activity of this enterprise are considered.

Volgina O.N. Features and mechanisms of labor motivation in financial and credit organizations
Both existing principles and new approaches to strengthening labor motivation and the most effective use of the potential of employees of financial and credit organizations (using the example of a commercial bank) are reviewed and analyzed.