Theories

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Main points Maslow thought that most behavior occurred in response to some kind of motivation, which was made up of the interplay among different needs, or drives. Previous (mostly psychoanalytic) theories of motivation had suggested that behavior was controlled by inborn physiological drives, particularly the sex drive, which governed all behavior at an unconscious level. Maslow disagreed with this viewpoint, suggesting that human behavior was influenced by a number of different needs, not all of which were physiologically based and not all of which were unconscious. He thought that most behavior was influenced by multiple needs interacting with one another.

To explain how different needs might interact, Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs. According to his theory, the...