Abraham Maslow and Motivation

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how Abraham Maslow was considered the father of human psychology and how he coined his way of thinking as the "Third Force." This differed from the thoughts of Sigmund Freud or behaviorists who focused on man's shortcomings. It looks at how Maslow believed that man was intrinsically good and was destined to reach his ultimate potentials and how he believed that man had a hierarchy of needs and was driven to attain one goal after another. It also examines how with these assumptions and observations, he developed his theory of human motivation to further understand man and his nature.

From the Paper:

"Motivation is defined by many as the intention to perform a specific activity. It is initiated with the desire or wish to attain something. The person is motivated to accomplish cognitive or motor goal-directed actions addressed to the environment to satisfy central and intrinsic personal needs, as well as in an attempt to achieve predominantly extrinsic goals (Dai and Sternberg, 2004). Intrinsic needs are those imposed by man himself, while extrinsic needs refer to those goals that are induced or imposed by others in the society or the situation. In the workplace, determinants of work motivation depend on the employee's characteristics or internal needs (i.e. employee motives and job satisfaction) and the external environment (i.e. what the job is and its work content) (Wright, 2004). Some people are primarily motivated by an extrinsic need to support his family; he then seeks for work with adequate salary. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Coy, D.R. & Kovacs-Long, J. (2005). "Maslow and Miller: An exploration and affiliation in the journey of competence." Journal of Counseling and Development, 83(2): 138-145.
• Dai, D.Y. & Sternberg, R.J. (2004). Motivation, emotion and cognition: Integrative perspectives on intellectual functioning and development. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Moss, D. (1999). Humanistic and transpersonal psychology: A historical and biographical sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Thiedke, C.C. (2004). "What motivates staff?" Family Practice Management, 11(10): 54-55.
• Trigg, A.B. (2004). "Deriving the Engel Curve: Pierre Bourdieu and the social critique of Maslow's hierarchy of needs." Review of Social Economy, 62:393-406.

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