Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

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An interpretation of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, represented as a pyramid with the more basic needs at the bottom.[1]

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation,[2] which he subsequently extended to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity.

Maslow 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."[3] Maslow also studied the healthiest one percent of the college student population. In his book, The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, Maslow writes, "By ordinary standards of this kind of laboratory research... this simply was not research at all. My generalizations grew out of my selection of certain kinds of people. Obviously, other judges are needed."[4] Contents

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• 1 Representations • 2 Deficiency needs o 2.1 Physiological needs o 2.2 Safety needs o 2.3 Social needs o 2.4 Esteem o 2.5 Self-actualization • 3 Self-transcendence • 4 Marketing • 5 Criticisms • 6 See also • 7 References

• 8 External links [edit] Representations Maslow's hierarchy of needs is predetermined in order of importance.[5] It is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the lowest level is associated with physiological needs, while the uppermost level is associated with self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will not permanently regress to the lower level. For instance, a businessman at the esteem level who is diagnosed with cancer will spend a great deal of time concentrating on his health (physiological needs), but will continue to value his work performance (esteem needs) and will likely return to work during periods of remission.[6] [edit] Deficiency needs

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

The lower four layers of the pyramid are what Maslow called "deficiency needs" or "D- needs": physiological (including sexuality), security of position, friendship and love, and esteem. With the exception of the lowest (physiological) needs, if these "deficiency needs" are not met, the body gives no physical indication but the individual feels anxious and tense.

[edit] Physiological needs

For the most part, physiological needs are obvious - they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the exception of clothing and shelter), the human body simply cannot continue to function.

Physiological needs include:

• Breathing • Food • Sexual activity

Lack of air and food will kill an individual. A lack of sexual activity would mean the extinction of humanity, probably explaining the strength of the sexual instinct in individuals.

[edit] Safety needs

With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take over and dominate their behavior. These needs have to do with people's yearning for a predictable, orderly world in which injustice and inconsistency are under control, the familiar frequent and the unfamiliar rare. In the world of work, these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, and the like.

These have been lacking for most of human history, but at this point are mostly satisfied in the "First World" -- although the poor, both those who are poor as a class and those who are temporarily poor (university students would be an example), must often still address these needs.

Safety and Security needs include:

• Personal security • Financial security • Health and well-being • Safety net against accidents/illness and the adverse impacts

[edit] Social needs

After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. This psychological aspect of Maslow's hierarchy involves emotionally-based relationships in general, such as:

• Friendship • Intimacy • Having a supportive and communicative family

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs ("Safety in numbers"), or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression. This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.

[edit] Esteem

All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self-respect. Also known as the belonging need, esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. It may be noted, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-esteem, strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The last one is higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness.

Maslow stresses the dangers associated with self-esteem based on fame and outer recognition instead of inner competence. Healthy self-respect is based on earned respect.

[edit] Self-actualization

The motivation to realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities is considered to be the master motive or the only real motive, all other motives being its various forms. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the need for self-actualization is the final need that manifests when lower level needs have been satisfied. Classical Adlerian psychotherapy promotes this level of psychological development, utilizing the foundation of a 12-stage therapeutic model to realistically satisfy the basic needs, leading to an advanced stage of "meta-therapy," creative living, and self/other/task-actualization. Maslow's writings are used as inspirational resources. [edit] Self-transcendence

Near the end of his life Maslow proposed that there was a level on the hierarchy that was above self-actualization: self-transcendence[7]. "[Transcenders] may be said to be much more often aware of the realm of Being (B-realm and B-cognition), to be living at the level of Being… to have unitive consciousness and “plateau experience” (serene and contemplative B-cognitions rather than climactic ones) … and to have or to have had peak experience (mystic, sacral, ecstatic) with illuminations or insights. Analysis of reality or cognitions which changed their view of the world and of themselves, perhaps occasionally, perhaps as a usual thing."[8] Maslow later did a study on 12 people he believed possessed the qualities of Self-transcendence. Many of the qualities were guilt for the misfortune of someone, creativity, humility, intelligence, and divergent thinking. They were mainly loners, had deep relationships, and were very normal on the outside. Maslow estimated that only 2% of the population will ever achieve this level of the hierarchy in their lifetime, and that it was absolutely impossible for a child to possess these traits. [edit] Marketing

Maslow's hierarchy is one of the first theories taught to marketing students as a basis for understanding consumers' motives for action. Marketers have historically looked towards consumers' needs to define their actions in the market. If producers design products meeting consumer needs, consumers will more often choose those products over those of competitors. Whichever product better fulfills this void will be chosen more frequently, thus increasing sales. This makes the model relevant to Transpersonal business studies. [edit] Criticisms

While Maslow's theory was regarded as an improvement over previous theories of personality and motivation, it had its detractors. For example, in their extensive review of research which is dependent on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Bridgewell[9] found little evidence for the ranking of needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all. Chilean economist and philosopher Manfred Max-Neef has also argued fundamental human needs are non-hierarchical, and are ontologically universal and invariant in nature - part of the condition of being human; poverty, he argues, is the result of any one of these needs being frustrated, denied or unfulfilled. [edit] See also

• ERG theory that further expands and explains this theory. • John Curtis Gowan • Self actualization • Murray's Psychogenic Needs [edit] References

1. ^ Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 2. ^ A.H. Maslow, A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review 50(4) (1943):370-96. 3. ^ Maslow, Abraham (1954). Motivation and Personality.New York:. Harper. p. 236. 4. ^ Maslow, A.H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature. New York: Penguin Compass. Chpt 3, "Self-actualizing and beyond", p. 41. 5. ^ Clark, Timmy J. Success Through Quality. Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press, 1999. 6. ^ Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - Success Circuit 7. ^ “Theory Z” The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, NY: Viking, 1972 8. ^ Abraham Maslow, Transpersonal Psychology, and self-Transcendence 9. ^ Wahba, A; Bridgewell, L (1976). "Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory". Organizational Behavior and Human Performance (15): 212–240. [edit] External links

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , by Shane Hudson. • Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , Teacher's Toolbox. A video overview of Maslow's work by Geoff Petty. • A Theory of Human Motivation . • A Theory of Human Motivation: Annotated . • Theory and biography including detailed description and examples of self- actualizers. • Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs , Valdosta. • Abraham Maslow by C George Boheree • Hierarchy of Needs Maslow's hierarchy integrated into Ken Wilber's AQAL Theory

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs" Categories: Human development | Interpersonal relationships | Organizational studies and human resource management | Personal development | Personal life | Developmental psychology | Motivational theories | Happiness Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from October 2009 | All articles needing additional references

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MASLOW'S THEORY OF MOTIVATION AND HUMAN NEEDS MASLOW'S THEORY OF MOTIVATION AND HUMAN NEEDS

LEVELS OF NEEDS MOTIVATION & BEHAVIOR

Level 5 = Self-Actualization Level 5 = Self-Actualization FULFILLMENT OF GOALS & DREAMS CREATIVITY Need for self-fulfillment. Desire to realize your Be a self-starter, have enthusiasm, be full potential and become the best you are creative, be dedicated, enjoy capable of becoming. challenges, love to accomplish results! Level 4 = Self-Esteem Level 4 = Self-Esteem SELF RESPECT & ACCEPTANCE BRAINPOWER Need for reputation, prestige, and recognition Display your talents and skills, have from others. Contains the desire to feel self-confidence, appreciate attention important, strong and significant. and recognition from others. Level 3 = Love & Relationships Level 3 = Love & Relationships COMMUNICATION & RESPONSE VALIDATION Need to be loved and to love. Includes the Join and be active in clubs and groups, desire for affection and belonging. be able to talk to others, contribute to society, marry and have a family. Level 2 = Your Family & Work Level 2 = Your Family & Work SOCIAL SAFETY & SECURITY SURVIVAL SKILLS Need to be safe from physical and Work, save for future, improve skills psychological harm in the present and future, and talents, be responsible, and want and trust in a predictable future. an organized predictable world. Level 1 = Your Body Level 1 = Your Body PHYSICAL SAFETY & SECURITY SURVIVAL SKILLS Need to stay alive! Biological and cultural Eat, sleep, and take care of your bodily imperatives to live. Includes having enough needs, provide for clothing, shelter, healthy food, air, and water to survive. comfort, be free from pain. Go to: How to Improve Human Performance (book) Go to: Achievement Issue at Work Go to: Motivation Issue at Work Go to: Leadership Control Essay Go to: Home Page Index Go to: Interactive Index

Volume: 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Permission is granted to distribute this article for nonprofit, educational purposes if it is copied in its entirety and the journal is credited. Please notify the editor if an article is to be used in a newsletter. Gawel, Joseph E. (1997). Herzberg's theory of motivation and maslow's hierarchy of needs. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 5(11). Retrieved November 10, 2009 from http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=11 . This paper has been viewed 307,332 times since 11/13/1999.

Herzberg's theory of motivation and Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Joseph E. Gawel, The Catholic University of America

Among various behavioral theories long generally believed and embraced by American business are those of Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow. Herzberg, a psychologist, proposed a theory about job factors that motivate employees. Maslow, a behavioral scientist and contemporary of Herzberg's, developed a theory about the rank and satisfaction of various human needs and how people pursue these needs. These theories are widely cited in the business literature.

In the education profession, however, researchers in the '80s raised questions about the applicability of Maslow's and Herzberg's theories to elementary and secondary school teachers: Do educators, in fact, fit the profiles of the average business employee? That is, do teachers (1) respond to the same motivators that Herzberg associated with employees in profit-making businesses and (2) have the same needs patterns as those uncovered by Maslow in his studies of business employees?

This digest first provides brief outlines of the Herzberg and Maslow theories. It then summarizes a study by members of the Tennessee Career Ladder Program (TCLP). This study found evidence that the teachers in the program do not match the behavior of people employed in business. Specifically, the findings disagree with Herzberg in relation the importance of money as a motivator and, with Maslow in regard to the position of esteem in a person's hierarchy of needs.

Herzberg's theory of motivators and hygiene factors

Herzberg (1959) constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting people's attitudes about work. He concluded that such factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are hygiene factors rather than motivators. According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction.

In contrast, he determined from the data that the motivators were elements that enriched a person's job; he found five factors in particular that were strong determiners of job satisfaction: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement. These motivators (satisfiers) were associated with long-term positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level.

In summary, satisfiers describe a person's relationship with what she or he does, many related to the tasks being performed. Dissatisfiers, on the other hand, have to do with a person's relationship to the context or environment in which she or he performs the job. The satisfiers relate to what a person does while the dissatisfiers relate to the situation in which the person does what he or she does.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

In 1954, Maslow first published Motivation and Personality, which introduced his theory about how people satisfy various personal needs in the context of their work. He postulated, based on his observations as a humanistic psychologist, that there is a general pattern of needs recognition and satisfaction that people follow in generally the same sequence. He also theorized that a person could not recognize or pursue the next higher need in the hierarchy until her or his currently recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept called prepotency. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is shown in Table 1. It is often illustrated as a pyramid with the survival need at the broad-based bottom and the self-actualization need at the narrow top.

Table 1 Maslow's hierarchy of needs Level Type of Need Examples 1 Physiological Thirst, sex, hunger 2 Safety Security, stability, protection 3 Love and To escape loneliness, Belongingness love and be loved, and gain a sense of belonging 4 Esteem Self-respect, the respect others 5 Self- To fulfill one's actualization potentialities

According to various literature on motivation, individuals often have problems consistently articulating what they want from a job. Therefore, employers have ignored what individuals say that they want, instead telling employees what they want, based on what managers believe most people want under the circumstances. Frequently, these decisions have been based on Maslow's needs hierarchy, including the factor of prepotency. As a person advances through an organization, his employer supplies or provides opportunities to satisfy needs higher on Maslow's pyramid.

TCLP study in relation to Herzberg's theory

According to Bellott and Tutor (1990), the problems with Herzberg's work are that it occurred in 1959--too long ago to be pertinent--and did not cover teachers. They cite earlier research by Tutor (1986) with Tennessee Career Ladder Program as a means of overcoming both those problems. TCLP has three levels, the largest and beginning one of which (Level I) has 30,000 members. Bellott and Tutor believe that the data from the study clearly indicate that the Level I participants were as influenced by motivation factors as by hygiene factors (Table 2), contrary to Herzberg's position that hygiene factors do not motivate.

Table 2 Distribution of motivation and hygiene tendencies among teachers at the various Career Ladder levels (from Bellott and Tutor) Tendency Level Level Level Total I II III Motivation 71 101 149 321 Hygiene 70 11 24 105 Total 141 112 173 426

The survey asked classroom teachers, "To what extent did salary influence your decision to participate in the (TCLP) program?" Teachers responded using a scale of from 1 (little influence on deciding to participate in the program) to 7 (large influence). The results for the four highest-average items, shown in Table 3, indicate that at all three levels teachers viewed salary as a strong motivating factor, easily the most important of 11 of Herzberg's hygiene factors on the survey. Table 3 The importance of various of Herzberg's hygiene factors in teachers' decisions to participate in TCLP (from Bellott and Tutor) Factor Level Level Level I II III Personal life 3.658 4.794 4.984 Possibility for 4.013 5.528 5.394 growth Salary 5.980 6.500 6.468 Status 2.960 4.373 4.261 Items ranked lower than those shown were Interpersonal relations with peers, with students, and with superiors; job security; school policy and administration; supervisor; and working conditions.

On Herzberg's five motivation factors, achievement ranked as the most important one. However, the overall conclusion drawn from the research is that salary was the single most important influence on the teachers' decisions to participate in TCLP, regardless of level in the organization. Further, actual salary increases ranged from $1000 to 7000 per year. The teachers perceived the amount of salary increase to be tied to achievement and the other motivation factors.

The study and Maslow's theory

According to data from the TCLP survey, the teachers at all three experience levels are less satisfied with their personal achievement of esteem (a middle level need according to Maslow) than with their achievement of self-actualization. These results are summarized in Table 4. Therefore, it can be concluded that self-actualization is a prepotent need for esteem. Two reasons seem to account for this. First, self-actualization provides the basis for self-esteem. Second, this self-actualized performance is also the basis for reputation, the esteem of others.

Table 4 Arithmetic means of perceived need deficiency areas by Career Ladder levels (from Bellott and Tutor) Teacher Level in TCLP Need I II III Deficiency Security 1.4266 1.0563 0.7906 Social 1.0312 1.1537 0.8747 Esteem 2.1173 2.3278 1.9016 Autonomy 1.8640 2.1188 1.5052 Self- 1.8265 2.2883 1.3792 actualization

Conclusion

Although Herzberg's paradigm of hygiene and motivating factors and Maslow's hierarchy of needs may still have broad applicability in the business world, at least one aspect of each, salary as a hygiene factor (Herzberg) and esteem as a lower order need than self- actualization (Maslow), does not seem to hold in the case of elementary and secondary school teachers. These findings may begin to explain why good teachers are being lost to other, higher paying positions and to help administrators focus more closely on the esteem needs of teachers, individually and collectively.

References

Bellott, F. K., & Tutor, F. D. (1990). "A Challenge to the Conventional Wisdom of Herzberg and Maslow Theories." Paper presented at the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association. New Orleans, LA.

Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., & Snyderman, B. B. (1959). The Motivation to Work (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and Personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper and Row.

Tutor, F. D. (1986). The Relationship between Perceived Need Deficiencies and Factors Influencing Teacher Participation in the Tennessee Career Ladder. Doctoral dissertation, Memphis State University, Memphis, TN. Descriptors: Career Ladders; Elementary Secondary Education; Industrial Psychology; *Job Satisfaction; *Motivation; *Needs; *State Programs; *Teachers

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See main subjects index for more materials, ideas and resources. home » leadership/management » frederick herzberg motivational theory frederick herzberg motivational theory

Frederick Herzberg's motivation and hygiene factors

Frederick Herzberg (1923-2000), clinical psychologist and pioneer of 'job enrichment', is regarded as one of the great original thinkers in management and motivational theory. Frederick I Herzberg was born in Massachusetts on April 18, 1923. His undergraduate work was at the City College of New York, followed by graduate degrees at the University of Pittsburgh. Herzberg was later Professor of Management at Case Western Reserve University, where he established the Department of Industrial Mental Health. He moved to the University of Utah's College of Business in 1972, where he was also Professor of Management. He died at Salt Lake City, January 18, 2000.

Frederick Herzberg's book 'The Motivation to Work', written with research colleagues Bernard Mausner and Barbara Bloch Snyderman in 1959, first established his theories about motivation in the workplace. Herzberg's survey work, originally on 200 Pittsburgh engineers and accountants remains a fundamentally important reference in motivational study. While the study involved only 200 people, Herzberg's considerable preparatory investigations, and the design of the research itself, enabled Herzberg and his colleagues to gather and analyse an extremely sophisticated level of data.

Herzberg's research used a pioneering approach, based on open questioning and very few assumptions, to gather and analyse details of 'critical incidents' as recalled by the survey respondents. He first used this methodology during his doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh with John Flanagan (later Director at the American Institute for Research), who developed the Critical Incident method in the selection of Army Air Corps personnel during the Second World War. Herzberg's clever open interviewing method gleaned far more meaningful results than the conventional practice of asking closed (basically yes/no) or multiple-choice or extent-based questions, which assume or prompt a particular type of response, and which incidentally remain the most popular and convenient style of surveying even today - especially among those having a particular agenda or publicity aim.

Herzberg also prepared intensively prior to his 1959 study - not least by scrutinizing and comparing the results and methodologies of all 155 previous research studies into job attitudes carried out between 1920 and 1954.

The level of preparation, plus the 'critical incident' aspect and the depth of care and analysis during the 1959 project, helped make Herzberg's study such a powerful and sophisticated piece of work.

Herzberg expanded his motivation-hygiene theory in his subsequent books: Work and the Nature of Man (1966); The Managerial Choice (1982); and Herzberg on Motivation (1983).

Significantly, Herzberg commented in 1984, twenty-five years after his theory was first published:

"The original study has produced more replications than any other research in the history of industrial and organizational psychology." (source: Institute for Scientific Information)

The absence of any serious challenge to Herzberg's theory continues effectively to validate it.

herzberg's main theory and its significance

Herzberg was the first to show that satisfaction and dissatisfaction at work nearly always arose from different factors, and were not simply opposing reactions to the same factors, as had always previously been (and still now by the unenlightened) believed.

In 1959 Herzberg wrote the following useful little phrase, which helps explain this fundamental part of his theory, i.e., that the factors which motivate people at work are different to and not simply the opposite of the factors which cause dissatisfaction:

"We can expand ... by stating that the job satisfiers deal with the factors involved in doing the job, whereas the job dissatisfiers deal with the factors which define the job context."

For graphical presentation of this principle, see the Herzberg hygiene factors and motivators graph diagram (revised April 2008), and the Herzberg diagram rocket and launch pad analogy diagram, (both are pdf files).

The rocket analogy diagram, which incidentally is my own interpretation and not Herzberg's, is also available as a doc file and a powerpoint slide: Herzberg rocket diagram doc (MSWord) format, and Herzberg rocket diagram ppt (MSPowerpoint) format.

The graph diagram is also available in MSPowerpoint slide fomat: Herzberg's hygiene factors and motivators graph diagram ppt slide format.

The 2008 graph diagram is based on the total percentages of 'First- Level' factors arising in Herzberg's 1959 research of high and low attitude events among 200 engineers and accountants, encompassing short and long duration feelings.

While Herzberg's overall conclusions were clear and consistent, the statistics from Herzberg's study can be interpreted in many different ways in their finer details, because of the depth and layering of Herzberg's survey methodology and analysis.

For full details of the Herzberg study figures, and to fully appreciate the complexity and subtlety of his findings, see Herzberg's book The Motivation to Work. In addition to being really interesting and relevant to modern times, the book contains many tables of statistics and analysis, structured differently and extensively according to the variables that Herzberg considered to be important, for example, including the obvious main perspectives:

• high and low attitude (basically satisfaction and dissatisfaction, also defined as motivators and hygienes or hygiene factors) • short and long term duration of feelings (of high/low attitude effect) • first and second level factors (i.e., main causal factors, and secondary factors deriving from the main stimulus, identified by further probing during interviews) • the interrelationship of factors

These different perspectives obviously provided (and still provide) endless ways to analyse and present the results, although as stated already the main conclusions remain consistent.

Incidentally, the 2008 revised graph diagram replaces the previous Herzberg factors diagram 2003 version, which I based on an interpretation of Herzberg's work by BACIE (British Association for Industrial and Commercial Education), appearing in their Handbook of Management Training Exercises published in 1978. BACIE referenced Herzberg's book Work and the Nature of Man, Staples Press 1966, but the root statistics and study are found in The Motivation to Work, 1959. I am unclear exactly how BACIE arrived at their figures reflected in the 2003 diagram, and it remains on this website mainly because it featured here for so long. If you use it please ensure you explain the background suitably. I am sure there are very many graphical interpretations of Herzberg's study results, which for the reasons explained will probably vary somewhat in the detail, although probably not too much in overall impression.

The purpose of the diagram (either version) is to illustrate how Herzberg's research showed that certain factors truly motivate ('motivators'), whereas others tended to lead to dissatisfaction ('hygiene factors').

According to Herzberg, Man has two sets of needs; one as an animal to avoid pain, and two as a human being to grow psychologically.

He illustrated this also through Biblical example: Adam after his expulsion from Eden having the need for food, warmth, shelter, safety, etc., - the 'hygiene' needs; and Abraham, capable and achieving great things through self-development - the 'motivational' needs. Certain parallels can clearly be seen with Maslow.

Herzberg's ideas relate strongly to modern ethical management and social responsibility.

Many decades ago Herzberg, like Maslow, understood well and attempted to teach the ethical management principles that many leaders today, typically in businesses and organisations that lack humanity, still struggle to grasp. In this respect Herzberg's concepts are just as relevant now as when he first suggested them, except that the implications of responsibility, fairness, justice and compassion in business are now global.

Although Herzberg is most noted for his famous 'hygiene' and motivational factors theory, he was essentially concerned with people's well-being at work. Underpinning his theories and academic teachings, he was basically attempting to bring more humanity and caring into the workplace. He and others like him, did not develop their theories to be used as 'motivational tools' purely to improve organisational performance. They sought instead primarily to explain how to manage people properly, for the good of all people at work.

Herzberg's research proved that people will strive to achieve 'hygiene' needs because they they are unhappy without them, but once satisfied the effect soon wears off - satisfaction is temporary. Then as now, poorly managed organisations fail to understand that people are not 'motivated' by addressing 'hygiene' needs. People are only truly motivated by enabling them to reach for and satisfy the factors that Herzberg identified as real motivators, such as achievement, advancement, development, etc., which represent a far deeper level of meaning and fulfilment.

Examples of Herzberg's 'hygiene' needs (or maintenance factors) in the workplace are:

• policy • relationship with supervisor • work conditions • salary • company car • status • security • relationship with subordinates • personal life

Herzberg's research identified that true motivators were other completely different factors, notably:

• achievement • recognition • work itself • responsibility • advancement

N.B. Herzberg identified a specific category within the study responses which he called 'possibility of growth'. This arose in relatively few cases within the study and was not considered a major factor by Herzberg. Where referring to 'growth' or 'personal growth' in terms of Herzberg's primary motivators, 'growth' should be seen as an aspect of advancement, and not confused with the different matter of 'possibility of growth'.

to what extent is money a motivator?

This question commonly arises when considering Herzberg's research and theories, so it's appropriate to include it here.

Herzberg addressed money particularly (referring specifically to 'salary' in his study and analysis). Herzberg acknowledged the complexity of the salary issue (money, earnings, etc), and concluded that money is not a motivator in the way that the primary motivators are, such as achievement and recognition.

Herzberg said about 'salary':

"It [salary] appears as frequently in the high sequences ['sequences' refers to events causing high or low attitude feelings recalled by interviewees in the study] as it does in the low sequences... however... we find that in the lows [events leading to dissatisfaction], salary is found almost three times as often in the long-range as in the short- range attitude changes..." (There was no such bias towards the more important long-range feelings in the high attitude events.) And about the interrelation of salary and other factors:

"...when salary occurred as a factor in the lows (causes of dissatisfaction) it revolved around the unfairness of the wage system within the company... It was the system of salary administration that was being described... [or] it concerned an advancement that was not accompanied by a salary increase... In contrast to this, salary was mentioned in the high stories (events causing satisfaction) as something that went along with a person's achievement on the job. It was a form of recognition; it meant more than money; it meant a job well done; it meant that the individual was progressing in his work..."

And Herzberg concluded about salary (i.e., money, earnings, etc):

"Viewed within the context of the sequences of events, salary as a factor belongs more in the group that defines the job situation and is primarily a dissatisfier."

Many people argue nevertheless that money is a primary motivator.

For most people money is not a motivator - despite what they might think and say.

For all people there are bigger more sustaining motivators than money.

Surveys and research studies repeatedly show that other factors motivate more than money. Examples appear in the newspapers and in other information resources every week.

For instance, a survey by Development Dimensions International published in the UK Times newspaper in 2004 interviewed 1,000 staff from companies employing more than 500 workers, and found many to be bored, lacking commitment and looking for a new job. Pay actually came fifth in the reasons people gave for leaving their jobs.

The main reasons were lack of stimulus jobs and no opportunity for advancement - classic Herzberg motivators - 43% left for better promotion chances, 28% for more challenging work; 23% for a more exciting place to work; and 21% and more varied work.

Lots of other evidence is found in life, wherever you care to look.

Consider what happens when people win big lottery prize winners. While many of course give up their 'daily grind' jobs, some do not. They wisely recognise that their work is part of their purpose and life- balance.

Others who give up their jobs do so to buy or start and run their own businesses. They are pursuing their dream to achieve something special for them, whatever that might be. And whatever it means to them, the motivation is not to make money, otherwise why don't they just keep hold of what they've got? Why risk it on a project that will involve lots of effort and personal commitment? Of course the reason they invest in a new business venture is that pursuing this sort of plan is where the real motivators are found - achievement, responsibility, advancement, etc - not money.

The people who are always the most unhappy are those who focus on spending their money. The lottery prize-winners who give up work and pursue material and lifestyle pleasures soon find that life becomes empty and meaningless. Money, and spending it, are not enough to sustain the human spirit. We exist for more.

Money is certainly important, and a personal driver, if you lack enough for a decent civilized existence, or you are striving for a house or a holiday, but beyond this, money is not for the vast majority of people a sustainable motivator in itself.