Critical Review of Maslow’s hierarchy

Critical Review of Maslow’s hierarchy



Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.

The most significant restriction of Maslow’s theory concerns his methodology. Maslow formulated the uniqueness of self-actualized individuals from undertaking a qualitative methd called biographical analysis.

He looked at the biographies and writings of 18 people he identified as being self-actualized. From these sources, he developed a list of qualities that seemed characteristic of this specific group of people, as opposed to humanity in general.

From a scientific perspective, there are numerous problems with this particular approach. Frist, it could be argued that biographical analysis as a method is extremely subjective as it is based entirely on the opinion of the researcher. Personal opinion is always prone to bias, which reduces the validity of any data obtained. Therefore Maslow’s operational definition of self-actualization must not be blindly accepted as scientific fact.

Although Maslow (1970) did study self-actualized females, such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Mother Teresa, they comprised a small proportion of his sample. This makes it difficult to generalize his theory to females and individuals from lower social classes or different ethnicity. Thus questioning the population validity of Maslow’s findings.

 Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to empirically test Maslow’s concept of self-actualization in a way that casual relationships can be established.

Another criticism concerns Maslow’s assumption that the lower needs must be satisfied before a person can achieve their potential and self-actualize. This is not always the case, and therefore Maslow’s hierarchy or needs in some aspects has been falsified.

 

 

References

Armstrong, M. and Stephen Taylor (2014) Armstrong Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13^th edition. 

http://www.studymode.com/essays/Critical-Analysis-Od-Maslow's-Hierarchy-Of-306273.html Accessed 29 Nov 2017 at 3.55pm  

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https://www.scribd.com/document/26611898/Critical-Analysis-of-the-Maslow Accessed 29 Nov 2017

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