Maslow (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation

ATHEORYOFHUMANMOTIVATIONBYA.H.MASLOWBrooklynCollegeI.INTRODUCTIONInapreviouspaper(13)variouspropositionswerepre-sentedwhichwouldhavetobeincludedinanytheoryofhumanmotivationthatcouldlayclaimtobeingdefinitive.Theseconclusionsmaybebrieflysummarizedasfollows:1.Theintegratedwholenessoftheorganismmustbeoneofthefoundationstonesofmotivationtheory.2.Thehungerdrive(oranyotherphysiologicaldrive)wasre-jectedasacenteringpointormodelforadefinitivetheoryofmotivation.Anydrivethatissomaticallybasedandlocalizablewasshowntobeatypicalratherthantypicalinhumanmotivation.3.Suchatheoryshouldstressandcenteritselfuponultimateorbasicgoalsratherthanpartialorsuperficialones,uponendsratherthanmeanstotheseends.Suchastresswouldimplyamorecentralplaceforunconsciousthanforconsciousmotivations.4.Thereareusuallyavailablevariousculturalpathstothesamegoal.Thereforeconscious,specific,local-culturaldesiresarenotasfundamentalinmotivationtheoryasthemorebasic,un-consciousgoals.5.Anymotivatedbehavior,eitherpreparatoryorconsumma-tory,mustbeunderstoodtobeachannelthroughwhichmanybasicneedsmaybesimultaneouslyexpressedorsatisfied.Typicallyanacthasmorethanonemotivation.6.Practicallyallorganismicstatesaretobeunderstoodasmotivatedandasmotivating.7.Humanneedsarrangethemselvesinhierarchiesofpre-potency.Thatistosay,theappearanceofoneneedusuallyrestsonthepriorsatisfactionofanother,morepre-potentneed.Manisaperpetuallywantinganimal.Alsononeedordrivecanbetreatedasifitwereisolatedordiscrete;everydriveisrelatedtothestateofsatisfactionordissatisfactionofotherdrives.8.Listsofdriveswillgetusnowhereforvarioustheoreticalandpracticalreasons.Furthermoreanyclassificationofmotivations370ATHEORYOFHUMANMOTIVATION371mustdealwiththeproblemoflevelsofspecificityorgeneralizationofthemotivestobeclassified.9.Classificationsofmotivationsmustbebasedupongoalsratherthanuponinstigatingdrivesormotivatedbehavior.10,Motivationtheoryshouldbehuman-centeredratherthananimal-centered.n.Thesituationorthefieldinwhichtheorganismreactsmustbetakenintoaccountbutthefieldalonecanrarelyserveasanexclusiveexplanationforbehavior.Furthermorethefielditselfmustbeinterpretedintermsoftheorganism.Fieldtheorycannotbeasubstituteformotivationtheory.12.Notonlytheintegrationoftheorganismmustbetakenintoaccount,butalsothepossibilityofisolated,specific,partialorsegmentalreactions.Ithassincebecomenecessarytoaddtotheseanotheraffirmation,13.Motivationtheoryisnotsynonymouswithbehaviortheory.Themotivationsareonlyoneclassofdeterminantsofbehavior.Whilebehaviorisalmostalwaysmotivated,itisalsoalmostalwaysbiologically,culturallyandsituationallydeterminedaswell.Thepresentpaperisanattempttoformulateapositivetheoryofmotivationwhichwillsatisfythesetheoreticalde-mandsandatthesametimeconformtotheknownfacts,clinicalandobservationalaswellasexperimental.Itderivesmostdirectly,however,fromclinicalexperience.Thistheoryis,Ithink,inthefunctionalisttraditionofJamesandDewey,andisfusedwiththeholismofWertheimer(IQ),Goldstein(6),andGestaltPsychology,andwiththedynamicismofFreud(4)andAdler(i).Thisfusionorsynthesismayarbi-trarilybecalleda'general-dynamic'theory.Itisfareasiertoperceiveandtocriticizetheaspectsinmotivationtheorythantoremedythem.Mostlythisisbe-causeoftheveryseriouslackofsounddatainthisarea.Iconceivethislackofsoundfactstobedueprimarilytotheabsenceofavalidtheoryofmotivation.Thepresenttheorythenmustbeconsideredtobeasuggestedprogramorframe-workforfutureresearchandmuststandorfall,notsomuchonfactsavailableorevidencepresented,asuponresearchesyettobedone,researchessuggestedperhaps,bythequestionsraisedinthispaper.372A.H.MASLOWII.THEBASICNEEDSThe'physiological'needs,—Theneedsthatareusuallytakenasthestartingpointformotivationtheoryaretheso-calledphysiologicaldrives.Tworecentlinesofresearchmakeitnecessarytoreviseourcustomarynotionsabouttheseneeds,first,thedevelopmentoftheconceptofhomeostasis,andsecond,thefindingthatappetites(preferentialchoicesamongfoods)areafairlyefficientindicationofactualneedsorlacksinthebody.Homeostasisreferstothebody'sautomaticeffortstomaintainaconstant,normalstateofthebloodstream.Can-non(2)hasdescribedthisprocessfor(i)thewatercontentoftheblood,(2)saltcontent,(3)sugarcontent,(4)proteincontent,(5)fatcontent,(6)calciumcontent,(7)oxygencon-tent,(8)constanthydrogen-ionlevel(acid-basebalance)and(9)constanttemperatureoftheblood.Obviouslythislistcanbeextendedtoincludeotherminerals,thehormones,vitamins,etc.Younginarecentarticle(21)hassummarizedtheworkonappetiteinitsrelationtobodyneeds.Ifthebodylackssomechemical,theindividualwilltendtodevelopaspecificappetiteorpartialhungerforthatfoodelement.Thusitseemsimpossibleaswellasuselesstomakeanylistoffundamentalphysiologicalneedsfortheycancometoalmostanynumberonemightwish,dependingonthedegreeofspecificityofdescription.Wecannotidentifyallphysio-logicalneedsashomeostatic.Thatsexualdesire,sleepiness,sheeractivityandmaternalbehaviorinanimals,arehomeo-static,hasnotyetbeendemonstrated.Furthermore,thislistwouldnotincludethevarioussensorypleasures(tastes,smells,tickling,stroking)whichareprobablyphysiological