A Theory of Human Motivation
By A. H. Maslow
A Theory of Human Motivation
A. H. Maslow (1943)
Originally Published in Psychological Review, 50, 370-396.
[p. 370] I. INTRODUCTION
In a previous paper (13) various propositions were prented which would have to be included in any theory of human motivation that could lay claim to being definitive. The conclusions may be briefly summarized as follows:
1. The integrated wholeness of the organism must be one of the foundation
stones of motivation theory.丝溜溜
2. The hunger drive (or any other physiological drive) was rejected as a
centering point or model for a definitive theory of motivation. Any drive
that is somatically bad and localizable was shown to be atypical rather
than typical in human motivation.
3. Such a theory should stress and center itlf upon ultimate or basic
goals rather than partial or superficial ones, upon ends rather than means
to the ends. Such a stress would imply a more central place for
unconscious than for conscious motivations.
4. There are usually available various cultural paths to the same goal.
Therefore conscious, specific, local-cultural desires are not as fundamental
in motivation theory as the more basic, unconscious goals.
5. Any motivated behavior, either preparatory or consummatory, must be
understood to be a channel through which many basic needs may be
simultaneously expresd or satisfied. Typically an act has more than one
motivation.
6. Practically all organismic states are to be understood as motivated and
as motivating.
7. Human needs arrange themlves in hierarchies of pre-potency. That is
to say, the appearance of one need usually rests on the prior satisfaction of
another, more pre-potent need. Man is a perpetually wanting animal. Also未来之宰
no need or drive can be treated as if it were isolated or discrete; every
drive is related to the state of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of other drives.中秋礼物
8. Lists of drives will get us nowhere for various theoretical and practical宣统皇帝
reasons. Furthermore any classification of motivations [p. 371] must deal
假如我是男生with the problem of levels of specificity or generalization the motives to
be classified.
9. Classifications of motivations must be bad upon goals rather than
upon instigating drives or motivated behavior.
10. Motivation theory should be human-centered rather than animal-
centered.
11. The situation or the field in which the organism reacts must be taken
into account but the field alone can rarely rve as an exclusive
explanation for behavior. Furthermore the field itlf must be interpreted
in terms of the organism. Field theory cannot be a substitute for
motivation theory.
12. Not only the integration of the organism must be taken into account,
but also the possibility of isolated, specific, partial or gmental reactions.
It has since become necessary to add to the another affirmation.
13. Motivation theory is not synonymous with behavior theory. The
motivations are only one class of determinants of behavior. While
behavior is almost always motivated, it is also almost always biologically,
culturally and situationally determined as well.
The prent paper is an attempt to formulate a positive theory of motivation which will satisfy the theoretical demands and at the same time conform to the known facts, clinical and obrvational as well as experimental. It derives most directly, however, from clinical experience. This theory is, I think, in the functionalist tradition of James and Dewey, and is fud with the holism of Wertheimer (
19), Goldstein (6), and Gestalt Psychology, and with the dynamicism of Freud (4) and Adler (1). This fusion or synthesis may arbitrarily be called a 'general-dynamic' theory.
It is far easier to perceive and to criticize the aspects in motivation theory than to remedy them. Mostly this is becau of the very rious lack of sound data in this area. I conceive this lack of sound facts to be due primarily to the abnce of a valid theory of motivation. The prent theory then must be considered to be a suggested program or framework for future rearch and must stand or fall, not so much on facts available or evidence prented, as upon rearches to be done, rearches suggested perhaps, by the questions raid in this paper.[p. 372]
II. THE BASIC NEEDS
The 'physiological' needs. -- The needs that are usually taken as the starting point for motivation theory are the so-called physiological drives. Two recent lines of rearch make it necessary to revi our customary notions about the needs, first, the development of the concept of homeostasis, and cond, the finding that appetites (preferential choices among foods) are a fairly efficient indication of actual needs or lacks in the body.
Homeostasis refers to the body's automatic efforts to maintain a constant, normal state of the blood
stream. Cannon (2) has described this process for (1) the water content of the blood, (2) salt content, (3) sugar content, (4) protein content, (5) fat content, (6) calcium content, (7) oxygen content, (8) constant hydrogen-ion level (acid-ba balance) and (9) constant temperature of the blood. Obviously this list can be extended to include other minerals, the hormones, vitamins, etc.
Young in a recent article (21) has summarized the work on appetite in its relation to body needs. If the body lacks some chemical, the individual will tend to develop a specific appetite or partial hunger for that food element.
Thus it ems impossible as well as uless to make any list of fundamental physiological needs for they can come to almost any number one might wish, depending on the degree
of specificity of description. We can not identify all physiological needs as homeostatic. That xual desire, sleepiness, sheer activity and maternal behavior in animals, are homeostatic, has not yet been demonstrated. Furthermore, this list would not include the various nsory pleasures (tastes, smells, tickling, stroking) which are probably physiological and which may become the goals of motivated behavior.
In a previous paper (13) it has been pointed out that the physiological drives or needs are to be co
nsidered unusual rather than typical becau they are isolable, and becau they are localizable somatically. That is to say, they are relatively independent of each other, of other motivations [p. 373] and of the organism as a whole, and condly, in many cas, it is possible to demonstrate a localized, underlying somatic ba for the drive. This is true less generally than has been thought (exceptions are fatigue, sleepiness, maternal respons) but it is still true in the classic instances of hunger, x, and thirst.
天花吊顶
It should be pointed out again that any of the physiological needs and the consummatory behavior involved with them rve as channels for all sorts of other needs as well. That is
to say, the person who thinks he is hungry may actually be eking more for comfort, or dependence, than for vitamins or proteins. Converly, it is possible to satisfy the hunger need in part by other activities such as drinking water or smoking cigarettes. In other words, relatively isolable as the physiological needs are, they are not completely so. Undoubtedly the physiological needs are the most pre-potent of all needs. What this means specifically is, that in the human being who is missing everything in life in an extreme fashion, it is most likely that the major motivation would be the physiological needs rather than any others. A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably hunger for food more strongly than for anything el.
If all the needs are unsatisfied, and the organism is then dominated by the physiological needs, all other needs may become simply non-existent or be pushed into the background. It is then fair to characterize the whole organism by saying simply that it is hungry, for consciousness is almost completely preempted by hunger. All capacities are put into the rvice of hunger-satisfaction, and the organization of the capacities is almost entirely determined by the one purpo of satisfying hunger. The receptors and effectors, the intelligence, memory, habits, all may now be defined simply as hunger-gratifying tools. Capacities that are not uful for this purpo lie dormant, or are pushed into the background. The urge to write poetry, the desire to acquire an automobile, the interest in American history, the desire for a new pair of shoes are, in the extreme ca, forgotten or become of c-[p.374]ondary importance. For the man who is extremely and dangerously hungry, no other interests exist but food. He dreams food, he remembers food, he thinks about food, he emotes only about food, he perceives only food and he wants only food. The more subtle determinants that ordinarily fu with the physiological drives in organizing even feeding, drinking or xual behavior, may now be so completely overwhelmed as to allow us to speak at this time (but only at this time) of pure hunger drive and behavior, with the one unqualified aim of relief.
Another peculiar characteristic of the human organism when it is dominated by a certain need is that 寝室英语
the whole philosophy of the future tends also to change. For our chronically and extremely hungry man, Utopia can be defined very simply as a place where there is plenty of food. He tends to think that, if only he is guaranteed food for the rest of his life, he will be perfectly happy and will never want anything more. Life itlf tends to be defined in terms of eating. Anything el will be defined as unimportant. Freedom, love, community feeling, respect, philosophy, may all be waved aside as fripperies which are uless since they fail to fill the stomach. Such a man may fairly be said to live by bread alone.
It cannot possibly be denied that such things are true but their generality can be denied. Emergency conditions are, almost by definition, rare in the normally functioning peaceful society. That this truism can be forgotten is due mainly to two reasons. First, rats have few motivations other than physiological ones, and since so much of the rearch upon motivation has been made with the animals, it is easy to carry the rat-picture over to the human being. Secondly, it is too often not realized that culture itlf is an adaptive tool, one of who main functions is to make the physiological emergencies come less and less
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