Motivation, Motives and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

What is motivation? The motivational cycle

The word comes from Latin movere, "to move". Motivation is what starts behaviour, gives it a direction and keeps it going until a goal is reached. We cannot see it; we infer it from behaviour.

The motivational cycle

1. Need: a lack of something (water).
2. Drive: an inner state of tension that pushes us (feeling thirsty and restless).
3. Action: behaviour aimed at a goal (looking for water).
4. Goal: the thing that meets the need (drinking).
5. Relief: the drive reduces, until the need comes back.

A motive is a specific reason for a behaviour. Motives are grouped into biological and psychosocial.

Biological motives

Biological motives come from the body's needs and are found in all humans and animals. They follow homeostasis: the body's effort to keep a steady inner state (temperature, water, sugar).

• Hunger: stomach contractions, low blood glucose and hormones send signals; the hypothalamus in the brain has centres that start and stop eating. Sight and smell of food, and culture, also affect hunger.
• Thirst: when cells lose water, the mouth and throat dry and the hypothalamus triggers drinking.
• Sleep, sex, avoiding pain and keeping warm are other biological motives.

Psychosocial motives

Psychosocial motives are learnt through interaction with family, school and society. They differ from person to person.

• Need for affiliation: wish to be with others, make friends, belong. Rises when we feel unsure or afraid.
• Need for power: wish to influence, control or lead others.
• Need for achievement: wish to meet a standard of excellence; people high on it choose tasks that are challenging but possible.
• Curiosity and exploration: wish to seek new things and find out how they work, even without a reward.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow arranged human needs in a pyramid. Lower needs usually have to be fairly met before higher ones guide our behaviour.

1. Physiological: food, water, sleep, air.
2. Safety: shelter, health, security, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belonging: family, friendship, acceptance.
4. Esteem: self-respect and respect from others, recognition.
5. Self-actualisation: becoming everything one is capable of; creativity, growth.

The lower four are deficiency needs; self-actualisation is a growth need. Limits: the order is not rigid (a poor artist may paint while hungry; people may risk safety for love), and it is hard to test scientifically.

Key formulas and definitions

• Motivation = force that starts, directs and sustains behaviour
• Cycle: Need → Drive → Action → Goal → Relief
• Biological motives: hunger, thirst, sleep, sex (homeostasis)
• Psychosocial motives: affiliation, power, achievement, curiosity
• Maslow (bottom → top): Physiological → Safety → Love/belonging → Esteem → Self-actualisation
• Deficiency needs = lower four; Growth need = self-actualisation

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Mixing need and drive: a need is the lack; a drive is the felt push it creates.
• Calling achievement a biological motive: it is learnt, so psychosocial.
• Putting esteem below love and belonging on Maslow's pyramid.
• Saying Maslow's order is fixed for everyone: it is a general pattern with exceptions.