A THEORY OF HUMAN MOTIVATION – MEANING

INTRODUCTION

In 1943, Dr. Abraham Maslow’s article “A THEORY OF HUMAN MOTIVATION” appeared in psychological review, which were further expanded upon in his book. Toward a psychological of being in this article 

Abraham H. Maslow attempted to formulate a needs based framework of human motivation and based upon his clinical experiences with people, rather than as did prior psychology theories of his day from authors such as Frend and B.F  skinner, which were largely

theoretical  or  based upon animal bahaviour.

From this theory of motivation, modern leaders and  executive  managers find means of motivation for the purposes of employee and workforce management. Abraham Maslows  book motivation and personality (1959)  formally introduced  the  hierarchy of need. The studies gave rise to the   human relations movement which maintained that  man does not just work for money  that other personal  and interpersonal considerations, such as personal  work,  recognition,  friendship, social pressures from group  members and status, are as powerful in determing  production and level of job satisfaction.

THE MEANING OF MOTIVATION

The concept “motivation” has  been defined by different writers. According to Schein (quoted in croft, 1966:46) motivation can be defined as “impulses that stem  from within a  person and lead him to act in ways that satisfy those impulses”. In other words, the  concept,  motivation, implies that  “there  is some driving force within individuals, which  drives them to attempt to achieve a goal or objective, in order  to satisfy their need or needs.

The basis of  Maslow’s  motivation theory is that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied  needs, and that certain lower factors need to be  satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied.

According  to Maslow  there are general types of needs (physiological,  survival, safety,  love and esteem) that  must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly. He  called these needs”  deficiency needs”. As long as  we are motivated to satisfy these cravings.

We are moving towards growth, toward self-actualization. Satisfying needs is health, while preventing gratification makes us sicker act evilly.

As a result, for adequate workplace motivation it is important that leadership understands the active needs for individual’s   employee motivation.

In this manner Maslow model indicates that fundamental, lower – order need like safety and  physiological requirements have to be satisfied in order  to pursue  higher – level motivators along the lines of self fulfillment as depicted in the following hierarchical diagram, sometimes called Maslows needs pyramid  Maslows needs

 After a need is satisfied it  stops  acting as a motivators and  the next  need one rank higher starts to motivate.

Physiological needs:  physiological needs are those required to sustain life such as  Air, water, food, sleep.

According to this theory, if  these fundamental needs are not  satisfied then one will surely  be motivated l to satisfy them. Higher  needs such as social needs  and esteem are not recognized until one satisfies the  need basic to existence.

Safety needs:  once physiological needs are met, once attention turns  to safety and security  in order  to be free from the threat of physical  and  emotional  harm  such needs might be fulfilled  by 

–         Living in a safe area

–         Medical insurance

–         Job security

–         Financial reserves

According  to the Maslow hierarchy, if a person feels threatened, needs further up the pyramid will not receive  attention until that need has been resolved

SOCIAL  NEEDS

Once a person has met the lower level physiological and safety needs, higher level motivators awaken. The first  level of higher level needs are social needs. Social  needs are those related to interaction with other sand may include friendship. Belonging to a group, giving and  receiving love

ESTEEM NEEDS

After a person feels that they ‘belong’  the urge to attain  a degree of importance emerges. Esteem needs can be categorized   as external and internal motivators.  Internally motivating esteem needs are those such as  self –esteem, accomplishment and self  respect  external esteem needs are those such as  reputation  and recognition.

Some  examples of esteem needs  are

–         Recognition (external motivator )

–         Attention (external motivation )

–         Social status (external  motivation )

–         Accomplishment (internal  motivator )

–         Self – respect  (internal motivator)

Maslow later  improved  his model to add a layer  in between self- actualization and esteem needs.

Self – actualization is the summit of  Maslow’s  motivation theory. It is about the quest of reaching ones full potential as a person . Unlike lower level needs, this need is never fully satisfied, as one  grows psychologically  there are always   new opportunities to continue to  grow.

Self – actualized people tend to have motivators such  as truck, justice, wisdom, meaning

Self – actualized person have frequent occurrence of peak experiences, which are energized moments of profound happiness and harmony. According to Maslow, only a small percentage of the population reaches the level  of self  actualization. 

REFERENCES

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Alugbu C.C. (2000)  Elements of Management. Nigeria :

Concave Publishers Ltd.

Ezeani E.O  (2005)  Fundamentals of Public Administration.

Enugu: Nigeria

Gallerman.S.w (1953)  Motivation and Productivity  N.Y.

American Management Association.