“Mason’s Hierarchy of Needs” Mason’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Moscow in his 1943 paper ‘A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review. Moscow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans’ innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. Moscow used the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence needs to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through.
Moscow studied what he called exemplary people such as Albert Einstein, Jane Addams, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Frederick Douglass rather than mentally ill or neurotic people, writing that “the study of crippled, stunted, immature, and unhealthy specimens can yield only a cripple psychology and a cripple philosophy. “Moscow studied the healthiest 1% of the college student population. Mason’s theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.
While the hierarchy remains a very popular framework in sociology research, management training and secondary and higher psychology instruction, it as largely been supplanted by attachment theory in graduate and clinical psychology and psychiatry. Hierarchy Mason’s hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top. While the pyramid has become the De facto way to represent the hierarchy, Moscow himself never used a pyramid to describe these levels in any of his writings on the subject.
The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Moscow called “deficiency needs” r “d-needs”: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these “deficiency needs” are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Mason’s theory suggests that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs.
Moscow also coined the term Meta motivation to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. The human mind and brain are complex and have parallel processes running at the same time, thus many different motivations from various levels of Mason’s hierarchy can occur at the same time. Moscow spoke clearly about these levels and their satisfaction in terms such as “relative,” “general,” and “primarily. ” Instead of stating that the individual focuses on a certain need at any given time, Moscow stated that a certain need “dominates” the human organism.
Thus Moscow acknowledged the likelihood that the different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the unman mind, but he focused on identifying the basic types of motivation and the order in which they should be met. Physiological needs Physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot function properly, and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs are thought to be the most important; they should be met first.
Air, water, and food are metabolic requirements for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. While maintaining an adequate birth rate shapes he intensity of the human sexual instinct, sexual competition may also shape said instinct. ] Safety needs With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual’s safety needs take precedence and dominate behavior. In the absence of physical safety – due to war, natural disaster, family violence, childhood abuse, etc. People may (re-)experience post-traumatic stress disorder or transliteration trauma. In the absence of economic safety ? due to economic crisis and lack of work opportunities – these safety needs manifest themselves in ways such as a reference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, reasonable disability accommodations, etc. This level is more likely to be found in children because they generally have a greater need to feel safe.
Safety and Security needs include: Personal security Financial security Health and well-being Safety net against accidents/illness and their adverse impacts Love and belonging After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third level of human needs is interpersonal and involves feelings of belongingness. This need is especially strong in childhood and can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. Deficiencies within this level of Mason’s hierarchy – due to hospitalize, neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc. Can impact the individual’s ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general, such as: Friendship Intimacy Family According to Moscow, humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance among their social groups, regardless if these groups are large or small. For example, some large social groups may include clubs, co-workers, religious roofs, professional organizations, sports teams, and gangs. Some examples of small social connections include family members, intimate partners, mentors, colleagues, and confidants.
Humans need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by others. Many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression in the absence of this love or belonging element. This need for belonging may overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure. Esteem All humans have a need to feel respected; this includes the need to have self- esteem and self-respect. Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition.
These activities give the person a sense of contribution or value. Low self-esteem or an inferiority complex may result from imbalances during this level in the hierarchy. People with low self-esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person to build their self-esteem until they accept who they are internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can hinder the arson from obtaining a higher level of self-esteem or self-respect. Most people have a need for stable self-respect and self-esteem.
Moscow noted two versions of esteem needs: a “lower” version and a “higher” version. The “lower” version of esteem is the need for respect from others. This may include a need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The “higher” version manifests itself as the need for self-respect. For example, the person may have a need for strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence, and freedom. This “higher” version takes precedence over the “lower” version because it relies n an inner competence established through experience.
Deprivation of these needs may lead to an inferiority complex, weakness, and helplessness. Moscow states that while he originally thought the needs of humans had strict guidelines, the “hierarchies are interrelated rather than sharply separated”. This means that esteem and the subsequent levels are not strictly separated; instead, the levels are closely related. Self-actualization “What a man can be, he must be. ” This quotation forms the basis of the perceived need for self-actualization. This level of need refers to what a person’s lull potential is and the realization of that potential.
Moscow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual may have the strong desire to become an ideal parent. In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings, pictures, or inventions. As previously mentioned, Moscow believed that to understand this level of need, the person must not only achieve the previous needs, but master them. Emotion” In psychology and philosophy, emotion is a subjective, conscious experience that is characterized primarily by psycho physiological expressions, biological reactions, and mental. Emotion is often associated and considered reciprocally influential with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation, as well as influenced by hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenalin,serotonin, extinction, cortical and GAB. Emotion is often the driving force behind motivation, positive or negative.
An alternative definition of emotion is a “positive or negative experience that is associated tit a particular pattern of physiological activity. ” The physiology of emotion is closely linked to arousal of the nervous system with various states and strengths of arousal relating, apparently, to particular emotions. Although those acting primarily on emotion may seem as if they are not thinking, cognition is an important aspect of emotion, particularly the interpretation of events. For example, the experience of fear usually occurs in response to a threat. The cognition of danger and subsequent arousal of the nervous system (e. . Rapid heartbeat and breathing, sweating, muscle tension) is an integral component o the subsequent interpretation and labeling of that arousal as an emotional state. Emotion is also linked to behavioral tendency. Research on emotion has increased significantly over the past two decades with many fields contributing including psychology, neuroscience, medicine, history, sociology, and even computer science. The numerous theories that attempt to explain the origin, neurobiology, experience, and function of emotions have only fostered more intense research on this topic.
The current research that is being conducted about the concept of emotion involves the development of materials hat stimulate and elicit emotion. In addition PET scans and fem. scans help study the affective processes in the brain. “Theories of Emotion” The major theories of motivation can be grouped into three main categories: physiological, neurological, and cognitive. Physiological theories suggest that responses within the body are responsible for emotions. Neurological theories propose that activity within the brain leads to emotional responses.
Finally, cognitive theories argue that thoughts and other mental activity play an essential role in the formation of emotions. The James-Lange Theory of Emotion The James-Lange theory is one of the best-known examples of a physiological theory of emotion. Independently proposed by psychologist William James and physiologist Carl Lange, the James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to events. According to this theory, you see an external stimulus that leads to a physiological reaction.
Your emotional reaction is dependent upon how you interpret those physical reactions. For example, suppose you are walking in the woods and you see a grizzly bear. You begin to tremble and your heart begins to race. The James- Lange theory proposes that you will interpret your physical reactions and conclude that you are frightened (“l am trembling, therefore I am afraid”). The Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion Another well-know physiological theory is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. This theory states that we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling and muscle tension simultaneously.
More specifically, it is suggested that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to the brain in response to a stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction. Behavioral Theory (Chatters-Singer Theory) Also known as the two-factor theory of emotion, the Chatters-Singer Theory is an example of a cognitive theory of emotion. This theory suggests that the physiological arousal occurs first, and then the individual must identify the reason behind this arousal in order to experience and label it as an emotion.
Cognitive theories With the two-factor theory now incorporating cognition, several theories began to argue that cognitive activity in the form of judgments, evaluations, or thoughts was entirely necessary for an emotion to occur. One of the main proponents f this view was Richard Lazarus who argued that emotions must have some cognitive intentionality. The cognitive activity involved in the interpretation of an emotional context may be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing.
Opponent-Process Theory Emotion developed by two psychologists called Richard Solomon and John Corbett. This theory is a completely different type of theory and explains our experience of emotions in relation to its opposites. Richard Solomon and John Corbett suggest that the experience of an emotion disrupts the body’s state of balance and that our basic emotions typically have their opposing counterparts (Solomon & Corbett, 1974). For example, the opposite of pleasure is pain, the opposite of fear is relief, the opposite of depression is elation, etc.
When we experience one emotion, it suppresses the opposite emotion. Once the initial emotion subsides, we naturally experience the opposing emotion to balance out the two. For example, we might feel a high level of fear before bungee jumping off the ledge. After the jump, we feel a high level of relief, the opposite emotion of fear. This theory is also commonly used to explain drug addiction. The pleasure associated with taking an addictive drug makes us feel the painful withdrawal effect of the drug afterwards. To escape this painful withdrawal effect, the addict takes more of the drug right away.
But because we are trying to experience pleasure from a state of experiencing pain (and not a normal state) we need more of the drug than before. This is considered to be what creates the addictive cycle of drugs. “Phobia” A phobia (from the Greek: , Boss, meaning “fear” or “morbid fear”) is, when used in the context of clinical psychology, a type of anxiety disorder, usually fined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational.
In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. [ The terms distress and impairment as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (ADSM-IV-TRY) should also take into account the context of the sufferer’s environment if attempting a diagnosis. The ADSM-IV-TRY states that if a phobic stimulus, whether it be an object or a social situation, is absent entirely in an environment ? a diagnosis cannot be made.
An example of this situation would be an individual who has a fear of mice (Acrophobia) but lives in an area devoid of mice. Even though the concept of mice causes marked distress and impairment within the individual, because the individual does not encounter mice in the environment no actual distress or impairment is ever experienced. Proximity and the degree to which escape from the phobic stimulus is impossible should also be considered. As the sufferer approaches a phobic stimulus, anxiety levels increase (e. G. S one gets closer to a snake, fear increases in pedophilia), and the degree to which escape of the phobic stimulus is limited has the effect of varying the intensity of fear in instances such as riding an elevator (e. G. Anxiety increases at the midway point between floors and decreases when the floor is reached and the doors open). The term phobia is encompassing and usually discussed in terms of specific phobias and social phobias. Specific phobias are nouns such as arachnophobia or acrophobia which are specific, and social phobias are hobbies within social situations such as public speaking and crowded areas.
