Prestigious Maslow needs. From basic to more complex needs. Maslow's pyramid of needs: hierarchy, examples

Maslow's pyramid of needs

Pyramid of needs- the commonly used name for the hierarchical model of human needs, which is a simplified presentation of the ideas of the American psychologist A. Maslow. The pyramid of needs reflects one of the most popular and well-known theories of motivation - the theory of the hierarchy of needs. This theory is also known as need theory or hierarchy theory. His ideas are most fully outlined in his 1954 book, Motivation and Personality.

The analysis of human needs and their arrangement in the form of a hierarchical ladder is a very famous work by Abraham Maslow, better known as “Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs.” Although the author himself never drew any pyramids. However, the hierarchy of needs, depicted in the form of a pyramid, has become a very popular model of personal motivation in the USA, Europe and Russia. It is mostly used by managers and marketers.

Hierarchy of needs theory

Maslow distributed needs as they increase, explaining this construction by the fact that a person cannot experience high-level needs while he needs more primitive things. The basis is physiology (quenching hunger, thirst, sexual need, etc.). A step higher is the need for security, above it is the need for affection and love, as well as to belong to a social group. The next stage is the need for respect and approval, above which Maslow placed cognitive needs (thirst for knowledge, desire to perceive as much information as possible). Next comes the need for aesthetics (the desire to harmonize life, fill it with beauty and art). And finally, the last step of the pyramid, the highest, is the desire to reveal inner potential (this is self-actualization). It is important to note that each of the needs does not have to be satisfied completely - partial saturation is enough to move to the next stage.

“I am absolutely convinced that a person lives by bread alone only in conditions when there is no bread,” explained Maslow. “But what happens to human aspirations when there is plenty of bread and the stomach is always full? Higher needs appear, and it is they, and not physiological hunger, that control our body. As some needs are satisfied, others arise, higher and higher ones. So gradually, step by step, a person comes to the need for self-development - the highest of them.” Maslow was well aware that satisfying primitive physiological needs is the foundation. In his view, an ideal happy society is, first of all, a society of well-fed people who have no reason for fear or anxiety. If a person, for example, is constantly lacking food, he is unlikely to be in dire need of love. However, a person overwhelmed with love experiences still needs food, and regularly (even if romance novels claim the opposite). By satiety, Maslow meant not only the absence of interruptions in nutrition, but also a sufficient amount of water, oxygen, sleep and sex. The forms in which needs manifest themselves can be different; there is no single standard. Each of us has our own motivations and abilities. Therefore, for example, the need for respect and recognition may manifest itself differently in different people: one needs to become an outstanding politician and win the approval of the majority of his fellow citizens, while for another it is enough for his own children to recognize his authority. The same wide range within the same need can be observed at any stage of the pyramid, even at the first (physiological needs).

Diagram of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs.
Steps (from bottom to top):
1. Physiological
2. Security
3. Love/Belonging to something
4. Respect
5. Cognition
6. Aesthetic
7. Self-actualization
Moreover, the last three levels: “cognition”, “aesthetic” and “self-actualization” are generally called the “Need for self-expression” (Need for personal growth)

Abraham Maslow recognized that people have many different needs, but also believed that these needs can be divided into five main categories:

1. Physiological: hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc.
2. Security needs: comfort, consistency of living conditions.
3. Social: social connections, communication, affection, caring for others and attention to oneself, joint activities.
4. Prestigious: self-esteem, respect from others, recognition, achieving success and high praise, career growth.
5. Spiritual: cognition, self-actualization, self-expression, self-identification.

There is also a more detailed classification. The system has seven main levels (priorities):

1. (lower) Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc.
2. Security needs: a feeling of confidence, freedom from fear and failure.
3. The need for belonging and love.
4. Esteem needs: achieving success, approval, recognition.
5. Cognitive needs: to know, to be able to, to explore.
6. Aesthetic needs: harmony, order, beauty.
7. (highest) The need for self-actualization: the realization of one’s goals, abilities, development of one’s own personality.

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.

Criticism of the hierarchy of needs theory

The hierarchy of needs theory, although popular, has been unsupported and has low validity (Hall and Nougaim, 1968; Lawler and Suttle, 1972).

When Hall and Nougaim were conducting their study, Maslow wrote them a letter in which he noted that it was important to consider the satisfaction of needs depending on the age group of the subjects. “Lucky people,” from Maslow’s point of view, satisfy the needs for safety and physiology in childhood, the need for belonging and love in adolescence, etc. The need for self-actualization is satisfied by the age of 50 among the “lucky ones.” That is why it is necessary to take into account the age structure.

Literature

• Maslow A.H. Motivation and Personality. - New York: Harpaer & Row, 1954.
• Halliford S., Whiddett S. Motivation: A practical guide for managers / Translated from English - Password LLC. - M.: GIPPO, 2008. - ISBN 978-5-98293-087-3
• McClelland D. Human motivation / Translated from English - Peter Press LLC; scientific editor prof. E.P. Ilyina. - St. Petersburg. : Peter, 2007. - ISBN 978-5-469-00449-3

Notes

see also

Links

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See what “Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs” is in other dictionaries:

Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Maslov. Abraham Maslow (Abraham Maslov) Abraham Maslow ... Wikipedia

Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow American psychologist Date of birth: April 1, 1908 ... Wikipedia

Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow American psychologist Date of birth: April 1, 1908 ... Wikipedia

Abraham Maslow Abraham Maslow American psychologist Date of birth: April 1, 1908 ... Wikipedia

The pyramid of needs is a hierarchical system of human needs, compiled by the American psychologist A. Maslow. Diagram of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Steps (from bottom to top): 1. Physiological 2. Safety 3. ... ... Wikipedia

Pyramid: Wiktionary has an entry for "pyramid" Pyramid is a type of polyhedron. Pyramid ... Wikipedia

MASLOW- (Maslow) Abraham Harold (1908 1970) American psychologist, specialist in the field of personality psychology, motivation, abnormal psychology (pathopsychologists). One of the founders of humanistic psychology. He received his education at the University of Wisconsin... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

From this article you will learn:

• What is the essence of Maslow's pyramid of needs?
• How to correctly understand the hierarchy of needs theory
• Is Maslow's pyramid of needs applicable in marketing?
• What is an alternative to Maslow's pyramid of needs?

In the literature on the topic of psychology and management, one can very often find references to this theory about the hierarchy of human needs. There are assumptions that the author’s conclusions set out in it are based on the study of biographies of famous people who realized themselves in life and creative activity. As you probably already understood, we will talk about Maslow’s pyramid of needs.

The essence of Maslow's pyramid of needs

In his work “Motivation and Personality” (1954), Abraham Maslow suggested that innate human needs have a hierarchical structure, including five tiers. These are the following needs:

1. Physiological.

Their satisfaction is necessary in order to ensure survival and existence. Any living creature has its own physiological needs. Until the needs of this level are satisfied (for example, nutrition, sleep), a person will not be able to work or engage in other activities. For example, if he is very hungry, he will not be able to enjoy contemplating works of art, admire views of nature, be interested in the content of fiction, etc.

1. In safety.

A sense of security is necessary for people at any age. Babies feel protected by the presence of their mother nearby. Adults also strive to feel protected: they install good doors in their apartments with reliable locks, buy insurance, etc.

1. In love and belonging.

Maslow's pyramid of needs also includes social needs. It is important for a person to feel a sense of belonging to a group of people in order to feel useful and significant. This motivates him to make social contacts and interact with other individuals: he makes new acquaintances and looks for a life partner. A person needs to experience the feeling of love and be loved himself.

1. In recognition.

After the needs included in the previous tiers of the pyramid are satisfied (for love and for belonging to society), the individual has a desire to earn the respect of others, a desire for people significant to him to recognize his talents and skills. If these desires are realized, then he gains confidence in himself and his abilities.

1. In self-realization.

This is the level of spiritual needs: the desire for personal development and self-realization, the desire for creative activity, for the development of one’s talents and abilities. If the needs included in the previous tiers of the pyramid are satisfied, then at the fifth level a person begins to search for the meaning of existence and study the world around him, and can acquire new beliefs.

This is what Maslow’s pyramid of needs looks like in general, with examples of desires for each level of the hierarchy. Later, Abraham Maslow included two more tiers in it: cognitive abilities and aesthetic needs.

In its final form, the pyramid has 7 levels.

The scientist believed that needs at a higher level will appear if the needs at lower levels are satisfied. According to Maslow, this is very natural.

However, the researcher noted that this trend may have exceptions: for some people, self-realization is more important than attachments; for others, only the needs of the first levels of the pyramid will be significant, even if all of them seem to be satisfied. Maslow believed that such features are associated with the development of neurosis in a person or they are caused by unfavorable circumstances.

Hierarchy of needs theory

All of the above may lead the reader to incorrect conclusions. After all, one might think that the needs included in the higher tiers of the pyramid arise immediately after the needs of the previous levels are realized.

This may lead to the assumption that Maslow’s pyramid implies that the desires of each next stage appear only after all previous ones have been fully satisfied. However, it can be said that practically no modern person has 100% fulfilled basic needs.

To bring our understanding of hierarchy closer to reality, we should introduce the concept of “Measure of need satisfaction.” It is assumed that the needs included in the first tiers of the pyramid are always realized to a greater extent than those that are higher. This can be visually represented as follows (let’s take conventional figures): for example, the physiological needs of an ordinary citizen are satisfied by 85%, his need for security - by 70%, for love - by 50%, for recognition - by 40%, and for self-realization - on 10 %.

The measure of need satisfaction will give us a better understanding of how needs at higher levels arise after the desires located on the previous tiers of the pyramid (according to Maslow) are fulfilled. This is a gradual process, not sudden. The transition to all subsequent steps is smooth.

For example, the second need will not arise if the first is only 10% satisfied. However, if it is closed by 25%, the second need will appear by 5%. If 75% of the first need is realized, then the second will show itself at 50%.

Application of Maslow's pyramid of needs in marketing

Regarding the pyramid of needs, marketers often say that it is not applicable in practice. And indeed it is.

First. The fact is that this theory was not created by Maslow for marketing purposes. The scientist was interested in questions of human motivation, the answers to which were not provided by either Freud's teachings or behaviorism. Maslow's pyramid of needs theory is about motivation, but it is more philosophical than methodological. Every marketer, advertising or PR specialist should be familiar with it in order to have an idea of ​​the diversity of human needs and their complex interrelationship, but it cannot be considered a guide to action, since it was formed for completely different purposes.

Second. The task of a marketer is to motivate consumers to action and influence their decisions. The pyramid of needs theory focuses on human motivations, but not on their relationship to behavior. It is not suitable for marketers because it does not explain what motive determines this or that action, saying that it is impossible to understand motives by external manifestations, that a decision can be determined by several reasons.

The third reason why Maslow's pyramid of needs theory is not suitable for marketers is related to the sociocultural context: in the modern world, people's physiological needs and their need for safety are, by and large, fulfilled.

Therefore, it cannot be said that a product that helps in some way solve security issues will be more in demand than one that is needed to satisfy desires included in a higher level of the pyramid. For example, a detergent with an antibacterial effect (providing protection) will not be more desirable than a drink that is positioned as a product used in a friendly situation (that is, solving certain social problems).

When marketers tried to use the pyramid of needs in marketing, it didn't work. Which is not surprising, since this is a psychological theory that it is completely incorrect to try to use in areas for which it was not created. It turns out that criticism of Maslow’s pyramid regarding the fact that it is ineffective in marketing is completely inappropriate, since its goals and objectives were initially completely different.

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

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.

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.

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.”

4. Gertsberg's 2-factor model

The two-factor theory of F. Herzberg is based on two large categories of needs: hygiene factors and motivating factors. Hygiene factors are related to the environment in which work is carried out, while motivating factors are related to the nature of the work.

Herzberg called the first category of needs hygienic, using the medical meaning of the word “hygiene” (prevention), since, in his opinion, these factors describe the employee’s environment and serve primary functions, preventing job dissatisfaction. Herzberg called the second category of factors motivating or enabling, as they encourage employees to perform better.

Hygiene and motivating factors in Herzberg's theory

It should be noted that Herzberg made the paradoxical conclusion that wages are not a motivating factor. Indeed, in the table, wages are included in the category of factors leading to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

5. Complex system of economic conditions

Conjuncture- the state of any social phenomenon at a certain point in time. Depending on what particular phenomenon serves as the object of study, conditions are distinguished: economic, political, social; demographic; socio-political, etc. Each of these types of conjuncture, in turn, is the basis for a more complex typology of the states of elements within a given phenomenon. For example, economic conditions can be classified by hierarchy levels (world economic conditions, economic conditions of a specific local market) or by the scope of the product range (general economic or commodity). The situation can only be studied from the perspective of a dynamic approach.

The economic situation is a very complex system, the study of which can be carried out from a variety of positions. It is this circumstance that is the reason that there are almost as many definitions of economic conditions as there are authors devoting their scientific works to it. In the domestic economic literature there is a narrow and broad interpretation of the concept of economic conditions, however, in both cases, the term “conjuncture” means a temporary, transitory, peculiar combination of specific economic, social, weather and other conditions and factors that affect the formation and interaction of supply and demand. In order to give the most acceptable definition of the economic situation, it is necessary to carefully analyze the properties and structure of the economic situation. It should immediately be noted that, despite the relative autonomy of each economic situation in an individual market, it is only an element of a more complex economic situation at a higher level of the hierarchy. At the same time, each element of the economic situation being studied can itself be presented either in the form of a system of a lower level of hierarchy, or as a result of the functioning of such a system.

6. Functional structure assumes that each management body is specialized in performing individual functions at all levels of management.

Compliance with the instructions of each functional body within its competence is mandatory for production units. Decisions on general issues are made collectively. The functional specialization of the management apparatus significantly increases its efficiency, since instead of universal managers who must understand all functions, a staff of highly qualified specialists appears.

The structure is aimed at performing constantly recurring routine tasks that do not require prompt decision-making. They are used in the management of organizations with mass or large-scale production, as well as in cost-type economic mechanisms, when production is least susceptible to scientific and technical progress.

Functional management structure

Application area: single-product enterprises; enterprises implementing complex and long-term innovative projects; medium-sized highly specialized enterprises; research and development organizations; large specialized enterprises.

Key Benefits of a Functional Structure:

High competence of specialists responsible for the implementation of specific functions;

Freeing line managers from dealing with many special issues and expanding their capabilities for operational production management;

Use of experienced specialists for consultations, reducing the need for generalists;

Reducing the risk of wrong decisions;

Elimination of duplication in the performance of management functions.

The disadvantages of the functional structure include:

Difficulties in maintaining constant relationships between various functional services;

Lengthy decision-making procedure;

Lack of mutual understanding and unity of action between functional services; reducing the responsibility of performers for work as a result of the fact that each performer receives instructions from several managers;

Excessive interest in achieving the goals and objectives of their departments;

Reduced personal responsibility for the final result;

The difficulty of monitoring the progress of the process as a whole and for individual projects;

A relatively frozen organizational form that has difficulty responding to changes.

A type of functional structure is linear-functional structure. The linear-functional structure ensures such a division of managerial labor in which the linear management links are called upon to command, and the functional links are called upon to advise, assist in the development of specific issues and prepare appropriate decisions, programs, and plans.

Linear-functional management structure

Heads of functional departments (marketing, finance, R&D, personnel) exercise influence on production departments formally. As a rule, they do not have the right to independently give them orders. The role of functional services depends on the scale of economic activity and the management structure of the company as a whole. Functional services carry out all technical preparation of production; prepare solutions to issues related to the management of the production process.

Advantages of a linear-functional structure:

More in-depth preparation of decisions and plans related to the specialization of workers;

Freeing line managers from resolving many issues related to financial planning, logistics, etc.;

Building relationships “manager - subordinate” along the hierarchical ladder, in which each employee is subordinate to only one manager.

Disadvantages of a linear-functional structure:

Each link is interested in achieving its own narrow goal, and not the overall goal of the company;

Lack of close relationships and interaction at the horizontal level between production departments;

An overly developed vertical interaction system;

Accumulation at the top level along with strategic operational tasks.

7. Divisional structure - an enterprise management structure in which the management of individual products and individual functions is clearly separated. A divisional structure arises when the main criterion for uniting employees into departments is the products manufactured by the organization.

The divisional structure is sometimes called the product structure, program structure, or self-contained business unit structure. Each of these terms means the same thing: different departments come together to produce a single organizational result—a product, program, or service for a single customer.

The emergence of such structures is due to a sharp increase in the size of enterprises, the diversification of their activities, and the increasing complexity of technological processes in a dynamically changing environment.

The main difference between a divisional structure and a functional one is that the management chain for each function converges in the divisional hierarchy at a lower level. In a divisional structure, differences of opinion between departments will be resolved at the level of the division, rather than the head of the company.

In a divisional structure, divisions are created as autonomous units with their own functional departments for each division.

An alternative to product line divisionalization is to group companies' activities by geographic region or customer group.

In such a structure, all functions in a particular country or region report to one division manager. The structure helps to focus the company's efforts on the needs of the local market. Competitive advantage can be achieved through the production or marketing of a product or service that is tailored to the characteristics of a given country or region.

Abraham Maslow is known as the founder of the humanistic movement in the field of psychology. In his work “Motivation and Personality,” he put forward the assertion that all human needs can be built into a hierarchical system. This theory is today clearly presented in the form of a pyramid of 5 levels, although the psychologist himself did not create this diagram. He argued that this hierarchy cannot be strictly fixed and depends on the individual characteristics of the individual.

Requirements table

Maslow's pyramid is divided into levels, from the simplest at its base to the highest needs. According to A. Maslow’s theory, only after satisfying lower needs can a person strive for higher ones.

1. Physiological (organic)

The most powerful and urgent. Their satisfaction is the main occupation of every person throughout life. That is why they are at the base of the pyramid. Man, as a complex mammalian creature, has a need for sleep, oxygen, water and food. These needs help a person survive in nature and continue to reproduce. Without satisfying these needs, the body is destroyed.

2. Existential

This includes safety, stability, comfort and protection in all its forms. This need arises in us from infancy. Stability and protection are very important to young children. In adult life, the majority also tries to adhere to this stability, however, the need for security is maximally activated only in critical situations (wars, crises, famine), when the entire body begins to fight the threat. In ordinary life, it manifests itself in a milder form, for example, when people save money “for a rainy day.”

3. Social

All people have a need for communication, a desire to be accepted and loved.

This level of the pyramid includes three groups:

1. “For others” (willingness to make a sacrifice for the sake of another person, the ability to selflessly communicate and protect the weak);
2. “For oneself” (self-realization of a person as an individual, self-affirmation, the need to have a worthy place in society, power; but can only be realized through the need “for others”);
3. “Together with others” (the united activity of people, the stimulus for which was a significant reason: war, revolution, natural disaster).

Satisfying social needs provides a person with a sense of personal worth. The inability to satisfy them contributes to the manifestation of aggression and deviant behavior.

High self-esteem, self-confidence, self-esteem - all this appears as a result of achieving social needs.

4. Prestigious

This point includes self-respect and the respect of other “significant” people. A person wants to be recognized, achieve success and high results. Career growth, independence, status. Like social, prestigious needs are secondary. If they are not implemented, there is no threat to human health and life. However, dissatisfaction with one's position in society entails a feeling of inferiority. Each of us realizes this need in accordance with our own strengths. Someone goes to university, gains knowledge, applies it to work, achieving success and high status. And some are content with their average lifestyle, with a small salary, lack of career growth and development.
To achieve recognition and respect, a person must be confident in his abilities. This is the only way to achieve your goals.

5. Spiritual

The last stage includes the need for personal growth, knowledge, and self-actualization. Everything that a person is capable of takes place at this level. He develops as a person and realizes his full potential. In life, this manifests itself in creative activities, visiting cultural events, and developing talents. Achieving the fifth degree means that a person begins to study the world around him, search for meaning, and tries to bring something of his own into this world. Views and beliefs are formed.

Types of needs

All of the above needs are divided into:

• congenital (biological and existential);
• acquired (social, prestigious and spiritual).

In some works, A. Maslow divided the last stage into 3 levels: cognitive, aesthetic and the need for self-actualization. Therefore, the 7-step pyramid is also used in psychology.

The scientist noticed a pattern that when lower needs are satisfied, a person himself begins to reach for a higher level. However, there are exceptions when an individual stops at the level of lower needs. The reason for this may be neurosis or unfavorable external factors.

Maslow's theory has been criticized more than once, but continues to be used in psychology, pedagogy and even economics (the theory of motivation and consumer behavior). At the same time, the psychologist’s work itself is rather philosophical in nature, and its main goal was to form an idea of ​​the motives of human actions.

Maslow's theory of human motivation and needs is ambiguous. They say that its creator abandoned his ideas, recognized the technique as somewhat simplified and refined it in later works. Get to know Maslow's famous pyramid for educational purposes.

Abraham Maslow is a famous American psychologist, a native of Brooklyn. His parents, Rosa and Samuil Maslov, emigrated from Russia to America at the beginning of the last century. They were very different: the father was a lover of women, drinking and fighting, and the mother was very strict and religious.

The complexities of their characters also affected the upbringing of Abraham, the first of their seven children. The father considered the boy ugly and not smart enough, which he constantly reminded him of. His mother threatened him with punishment from the Almighty for the slightest offense, which resulted in Abraham’s rejection of religion in general. (Over time, he was able to forgive his father, but he never forgave his mother.)

To add to the family difficulties, another one was added: the Jewish family moved to a non-Jewish area, and Abraham, with his appearance typical of the sons of Israel, felt like a stranger there. And his confidence in his unattractiveness led him to the point that sometimes he missed several subway cars, waiting for an empty one, because it seemed to him that the passengers would look at him with regret or disgust.

When he, having become a psychologist, remembers his childhood, he will say that he himself does not understand how he was able to avoid any mental illness or serious psychological complexes. Probably, the books that became friends for him helped him, and he spent a lot of time in their company, in the reading room of the library.

Having graduated from school as one of the best, he entered law college, but quickly realized that law was not at all what he wanted to do. His life's work was psychology - “the science of the soul.” He studied it at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, receiving a bachelor's degree, master's degree, and then a doctorate in psychology.

At the same time, he proposed to a girl with whom he had been in love for a long time, but for fear of being rejected, he did not admit it. He was happy to receive consent. And these two events - marriage and professional success - became key in his life. He will say later: “...in fact, life began for me only when I moved to Wisconsin and I had my own family.”

Together with his wife, Abraham Maslow returned to New York, which in the 30s of the last century became the center of world psychology. Many world-famous scientists, including psychologists, moved here from Western Europe to escape Nazism. Some of them became friends and teachers of Maslow, now a professor at Brooklyn College.

Through his friendships with two of them, Max Wertheimer and Ruth Benedict, he created the theory of self-actualization. According to him, it was not enough for him to love and admire these people. He wanted to understand why they were completely different from other people.

It is curious that students adored Maslow, but American psychologists did not recognize his ideas for a long time, his colleagues avoided him, and scientific publications were in no hurry to publish his work. Obviously, the students turned out to be more perspicacious, since in 1967 Abraham Maslow, by then head of the psychology department at Brandeis University, was elected head of the American Psychological Association.

In 1970, Maslow suffered a heart attack from which he died.

“I oppose everything that closes doors to a person and cuts off opportunities”

Abraham Maslow is one of the founders of humanistic psychology, where a person is viewed not as a “constant quantity” with character traits inherent in him from birth, but as a personality who can develop, improve, create himself and fully reveal the possibilities inherent in him by nature. “To live in harmony with ourselves, we need to remain true to our nature, try to be who we are meant to be,” wrote A. Maslow. Everyone can develop their abilities, not just creatively gifted people.

One of the principles of humanistic psychology implies that all people are good from birth, and external circumstances make them evil and aggressive towards others. When studying the human psyche, one must focus on a full-fledged personality who has realized himself, and not on people with mental disorders, Maslow believed.

Maslow's pyramid of needs - what is it?

In 1943, in the scientific publication Psychological Review, Maslow presented the main human needs in the form of several levels - from simpler to more complex. You can move on to satisfying a need located at a higher level only after the one located at a lower level has been satisfied.

Maslow described these needs in more detail in his book “Motivation and Personality” (1954). And in the form of a diagram, the hierarchy of needs was presented in 1975 in a textbook by W. Stolp, 5 years after Maslow’s death.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs consisted of five levels. The first, lower one, is associated with the satisfaction of physiological needs; the level above it – with satisfaction of the need for security; the next one, located even higher, is with the satisfaction of social needs. Above this is the level where the need for recognition and self-esteem lies; and at the very top - spiritual needs, among which is the desire for self-actualization, the fullest possible development of one’s capabilities.

Maslow wrote that if a person does not have enough bread, that is, food, then only bread will be enough for him to be happy. But when he satisfies his need for food, he will have other needs - “man does not live by bread alone.” “When these are satisfied, even higher needs come into play, and so on,” wrote Maslow. That is, satisfaction of higher needs is possible only when simpler ones are satisfied.

All these needs, he believed, are inherent in people from birth.

Maslow spoke specifically about the hierarchy of needs, and it received the name “Maslow’s pyramid of needs” later. In addition, it was later supplemented with two more levels. So:

• physiological needs mean everything that a person needs in order to survive - food, water, rest, sex;
• under the need for security - absence of a threat to life, confidence in protection;
• under social needs - communication, attachment to someone, support and care for someone and receiving support and care in return;
• under the need to feel one’s importance – self-respect and recognition of oneself by other people;
• under spiritual needs is the desire for development.

And two new levels are aesthetic needs (the desire for beauty) and cognitive needs (the thirst for new knowledge, discoveries, research).

Maslow did not consider the levels of human needs to be strictly fixed and said that it often happens that, for example, someone’s need for self-actualization turns out to be stronger than for love. Or a person who has fully satisfied his physiological and safety needs does not strive to move to a higher level of spiritual development. Quite often it happens that a highly developed creative person experiences significant financial difficulties, which does not prevent her from self-improvement.

However, Maslow calls such a shift in priorities a violation of normal development caused by neurosis or unfavorable external circumstances. According to Maslow, an ideal society is a society of people who are well-fed and confident in their safety, who, having satisfied their basic needs, can engage in self-actualization.

After getting acquainted with Maslow’s pyramid, an interesting thought arises: aren’t those in power deliberately keeping people at lower levels of needs, artificially creating a shortage of products, intimidating them with negative news, so that they do not have the opportunity to think about “high things”? People with high spiritual potential cannot be kept in obedience, and they will become a direct threat to those in power and comfortably nestled near the “feeding trough.”

Criticism of Maslow's pyramid

Many modern psychologists criticize Maslow's pyramid because it makes incorrect generalizations, which means it is not applicable in practice. Some people, they believe, were able to achieve great success in life precisely because their basic needs were not satisfied. For example, there are many cases where the impetus for self-development was unrequited love. Again, a lonely person, not recognized by society, may well be a self-sufficient person.

For some people, in order to satisfy their need for recognition, it is enough to earn the love and respect of their friends and loved ones, while for others they need to conquer half the world. In addition, psychologists say, a person will never be able to satisfy all his needs completely - he will constantly need something else. Moreover, according to critics, it is impossible to apply Maslow’s pyramid in marketing, business or advertising.

Maslow himself said that he did not set out to create a methodological manual - his work was rather philosophical in nature, where he sought to explain the motives of human actions. And the purpose of the hierarchy of human needs he created is for people to learn to satisfy their desires in accordance with their needs, otherwise they will be disappointed in life.

Practical use

And yet, despite criticism, Maslow’s theory is still applied in practice. For example, it is used in a personnel management system when building, long-term planning to make forecasts about future needs for various goods and services.

In John Sheldrake’s book “Management Theory: From Taylorism to Japaneseization,” which contains the works of theorists and practitioners, the “fathers” of management, in Chapter 14 “Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs,” it is said that the activities of companies depend on the state of the market of needs. For example, during an economic crisis, human needs decrease and are mainly reduced to physiological ones, located at the bottom step of the pyramid, which are relevant at any time. Moreover, there will always be a demand for medical services, while in times of crisis interest in fashion trends decreases.

Therefore, during strategic planning, it is important to observe the market needs and tune in to serve those that are developing. And vice versa, if the need for that other need decreases, you need to leave this market in time. Thus, it is impossible to say that Maslow’s pyramid is completely inapplicable in marketing. However, the author of the above-mentioned book warns that it is not suitable for analyzing the work of large companies and organizations.