《'a theory of human motivation'abraham maslow：马斯洛亚伯拉罕的“人类动机理论”.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《'a theory of human motivation'abraham maslow：马斯洛亚伯拉罕的“人类动机理论”.doc（2页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、A Theory of Human Motivation by Abraham MaslowEero Ringme, 010636IAPM02. December 2006Total pages: 21 (+ 8 pages of preface that was published separately)Total characters (excluding spaces): 51 071BackgroundAbraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) was a well-known American psychologist. He made his most importa
2、nt academic contributions in the 1940s and 1950s. He is considered one of the founders of humanist psychology. The Theory of Human Motivation, originally published in 1943 in Psychological Review, Vol. 50, NO. 4, pp. 370-396 is one of his best known articles.The theory consists of two parts. The fir
3、st part is a short preface, first published in 1943 in Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 5, pp. 85-92. The preface describes the most important presumptsions to the motivation theory, while being Maslows definition of humanist psychology. The main thesis of the theory itself is that all human needs can be
4、 categorized into a hierarchy where higher needs emerge only once the lower needs have been (partially) satisfied.The prefaceThe presumptions to the theory of motivation, that are listed in the preface, form the authors definition of humanist psychology. The key propositions are the following: A hum
5、an being should be viewed as a an integrated unit. The needs of a human being are felt more unconsciously than conciously, thus cultural and social context do not play a significant role in the theory of needs. Man is a perpetually wanting animal. Behaviour is motivated by a complex set of conscious
6、 and unconscious needs, as well as the socio-cultural context. Thus, studying one single need is usually too little to explain behaviour.The theoryAs described, the main thesis of the theory of human motivation is that all human needs can be arranged into a hierarchy of pre-potency, where the appear
7、ance of a certain need is connected to the satisfaction of the other, more pre-potent needs.The author proposes a five-level hierarchy. Starting from the most pre-potent needs, the hierarchy is the following:1. Physiological needs, such as - breathing, drinking, eating, staying warm (homeostasis).2.
8、 Safety needs the personal mental and pshysical safety.3. Love/belonging needs finding a partner, establishing relationships, building a community.4. Esteem needs finding a status/reputation in the community.5. Self-actualization needs unleashing the creative power inside.The first four levels of ne
9、eds, as the author describes, can be called deficit needs. He explains that these needs are felt by every human being, but once any of these needs is satisfied, it is no longer motivating. The fifth level of needs, however, is called the being need. It differs from the lower levels, because it is ne
10、ver fully satisfied. The author explains that although people are mostly occupied with satisfying their urgent lower needs, it is the self-actualization need that drives us to the real innovation and satisfaction. A famous quote from the article states: what a man can be, he must be! LimitationsAbra
11、ham Maslows article offers the motivation theory in a form of a philosophical argumentation. The author himself does not back the theory with any real-life experiments. He underlines the fact that the hierarchy of needs is never fully exposed in human behaviour, as behaviour is always affected by a large number of factors. He underlines that although cultural differences make a difference on how people satisfy their needs, the needs are felt in the sub-conscious level and thus they not much affected by social or cultural circumstances.
