Understanding the Concept of Need in Human Society: Motivation and Personality by Abraham Maslow

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In his book “Motivation and Personality” Abraham Maslow proposed his psychological theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which means that he successively extended the Idea to include observations on people’s characteristic curiosity and not just what motivates them. Many psychological theories about stages in human development are similar to Maslow’s theories (Maslow 1970). To describe the general stages of what motivates humans he used the terms Safety, Love and Belonging, Physiological, Self- Actualization and Esteem. Maslow based his research on what he called “exemplary people” such as Jane Adams, Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein. The best way to portrait Maslow’s hierarchy of needs would be through a shape of a pyramid, which presents the largest and most fundamental levels of need on the bottom. Even that Maslow never used a pyramid to represent those levels of hierarchy; it became the most effective way to present them. Friendship and love, esteem physical needs and security which Maslow also called “deficiency needs” are the most basic and fundamental 4 layers the pyramid contains. Without the body giving any indication an individual could feel anxious and tense in their environment if these deficiency needs with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) needs are not satisfied. It is suggested in Maslow’s theory that an individual has to meet the most basic levels of needs first to be able to desire or be motivated by higher levels of need. “Metamotivation” was invented by Maslow to describe people who are motivated of going beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment (Maslow, 1987) Adults, children and families use the help of a disciplined professional social worker to impro... ... middle of paper ... ...care Partnership. [online] Available at: http://luvhull.co.uk/teenage-pregnancy-support-service/ [Accessed: 10 Mar 2014]. Maslow, A. H. n.d. A theory of human motivation. Maslow, A. H. and Frager, R. 1987. Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row. Safenetwork.org.uk. 2014. What is safeguarding? | Safeguarding legislation and guidance | The Safe Network. [online] Available at: http://www.safenetwork.org.uk/getting_started/Pages/Why_does_safeguarding_matter.aspx [Accessed: 09 Mar 2014]. Personality & Spirituality. 2010. The Hierarchy of Human Needs: Maslow's Model of Motivation - Personality & Spirituality. [online] Available at: http://personalityspirituality.net/articles/the-hierarchy-of-human-needs-maslows-model-of-motivation/ [Accessed: 08 Mar 2014]. (youtube, 2013, Expecting trouble, Accessed10 Mar 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p84l5oqNo68)

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