Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Not a Hierarchy?

If you are reading this, thank you for supporting this newsletter and podcast. This is season two and our first episode is about Abraham Maslow's (1908-1970) work on motivation. In 1943, Maslow published an article titled A Theory of Human Motivation where he identified the basic needs of humans which seem to be aligned to motivational states. Out of it, we got five sets of what he called "goals" which seem to be synonymous with "needs". The order of these needs became known as the Hierarchy of Needs although Maslow rarely used hierarchy to explain their order.

Not Another Pyramid

Suffering the same fate as many other concepts where an order of elements is presumed i.e. Bloom's Taxonomy, nutritional pyramid, etc. Maslow's hierarchy has also been misrepresented as a pyramid over and over again.

The needs identified by Maslow are five:

1. Physiological Needs
2. Safety Needs
3. Love Needs
4. Esteem Needs
5. Self-actualization Needs

Maslow's Hierarchy Pyramid

Although, Maslow indicated these needs to have a prepotent relationship, that is, once a need is satisfied, the next one becomes a goal to accomplish. Imagine that you are running a training session and the room to be used is a chilly 65 degrees. Would the cold temp affect the participants' motivation to learn? Possibly, but only for those whom are affected by the low temp. The prepotent relationship seems very logical and something each of us can identify with. However, Maslow left several clues in his writings that indicate the order of these needs is not fixed and therefore not a pyramid.

Needs Are Just a Part of Motivation

Maslow recognized several reasons why his proposed order does not apply to everyone and how satisfying needs is just part of the motivation equation. At the end of his article, Maslow writes seven exceptions that make the hierarchy not as fixed as one would think. One of the exceptions that can resonate with many learning professionals is:

There are other, apparently innately creative people in whom the drive to creativeness seems to be more important than any other counter-determinant. Their creativeness might appear not as self-actualization released by basic satisfaction, but in spite of lack of basic satisfaction (p. 386).

I can certainly relate to the hypnotizing trance of being in a creative zone where nothing can deter me from completing a design or creative project. What about you?

It's great to have the support of experts like Joseph Mele who graciously pointed out the need to show more of Maslow's own critiques and limitations to his theory. So here are a few more, thank you Joseph!

There are some people in whom, for instance, self-esteem seems to be more important than love. This most common reversal in the hierarchy is usually due to the development of the notion that the person who is most likely to be loved is a strong or powerful person, one who inspires respect or fear, and who is self confident or aggressive. Therefore such people who lack love and seek it, may try hard to put on a front of aggressive, confident behavior. But essentially they seek high self-esteem and its behavior expressions more as a means-to-an-end than for its own sake; they seek self-assertion for the sake of love rather than for self-esteem itself. (p.386)

Here, Maslow gives us a powerful example of what could be attributed to be a stoic approach.

In certain people the level of aspiration may be per? manently deadened or lowered. That is to say, the less pre? potent goals may simply be lost, and may disappear forever, so that the person who has experienced life at a very low level, i.e., chronic unemployment, may continue to be satisfied for the rest of his life if only he can get enough food. (p.386)

In this one, Maslow seems to have read my diary LOL.

Perhaps more important than all these exceptions are the ones that involve ideals, high social standards, high values and the like. With such values people become martyrs; they will give up everything for the sake of a particular ideal, or value. These people may be understood, at least in part, by reference to one basic concept (or hypothesis) which may be called ‘increased frustration-tolerance through early gratification.’ People who have been satisfied in their basic needs throughout their lives, particularly in their earlier years, seem to develop exceptional power to withstand present or future thwarting of these needs simply because they have strong, healthy character structure as a result of basic satisfaction. They are the ‘strong’ people who can easily weather disagreement or opposition, who can swim against the stream of public opinion and who can stand up for the truth at great personal cost. (p.388)

Wrap Up

There are many more learning morsels to enjoy. In the next episode, we'll continue diving into Motivation Theory, how Maslow may have changed from his original position and another influential theorist from Maslow's era. Make sure you listen to new episode on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Would you like to be a guest in the podcast?

Fill out this form.

Alexander Salas is a US Navy vet turned corporate learning professional as well as Certified Professional of Talent Development, CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer, Agile Scrum Master and Product Owner with 16 years of experience in learning facilitation and instructional design. Alex has achieved graduate academic success in training and development and leadership studies. He specializes in highly interactive multimedia eLearning design, video production, and learning management systems. Alex has served several Fortune 100 enterprises including Philips Healthcare, Centene Corporation and Dell Technologies. When he's not enabling others professionally, Alex serves the learning community at large sharing his knowledge and skills as a speaker, podcaster, and YouTuber.