Page 14 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 23

Review of Key Needs-Based Theories of Mo�va�on sed mo�va�on pa�ern in adults through discovery
Maslow (1943) developed a somewhat fluid hierar-
chy of needs-based mo�va�on theory, based on his
meta-analysis and clinical work that is s�ll well re- that parental a�tudes or behaviors and prac�ces
cognized in the modern day. A summary of his hu-
man-needs compila�on is as follows:
Food (Physiological hungers); Safety (Orderly, Pre-
dictable, Organized and Familiar world; Love, (Gi-
ving and Receiving Love, Affec�on, Belongingness);
Esteem (Self-respect, Self-esteem and the Esteem
of others, based upon real capacity, achievement
and respect from others. This is divided into Desires the avoidance mo�ves” (McClelland, 1987, p. iv).
(first for Strength, for Achievement, for Adequacy,
for Confidence in the face of the world, and for
Freedom; second for Reputa�on, Pres�ge, Recogni-
�on, A�en�on, Importance or Apprecia�on); and
finally, Self-actualiza�on/Self-fulfillment, what a
man can he must be (pp. 378, 381, 382).
Though the hierarchy of needs did not have a dia-
gram during Maslow’s life�me, his followers deve-
loped the well-known pyramid. This is further deli-
neated by Lefrancois (2013), also in pyramid form,
as “Maslow’s Updated Hierarchy of Needs” (Figure
5.5 as shown in George, et al., 2023, p. 269). This is based factors in what they iden�fy as intrinsic mo-
broken down into:
Basic Needs (Deficiency Needs) and Meta Needs
(Growth Needs): The Basic Needs include Physiolo-
gical (Food, Drink); Safety (Psychological Safety, Se- enced as the locus of causality if it is internal to and
curity); Belongingness and Love (Affilia�on, Accep-
tance, A�en�on); and Self-Esteem (Competence,
Recogni�on, Approval). The Meta Needs include
Cogni�ve (Knowledge, Symmetry); Aesthe�c
(Goodness, Beauty, Truth, Jus�ce) and Self-Actuali-
za�on (p. 269).
It was noted by Maslow (1943) that basically sa�s-
fied people were not the norm, and that research
found this problema�c:
But a want that is sa�sfied is no longer a want. The
organism is dominated and its behavior organized
only by unsa�sfied needs…Thus man is a perpetu-
ally wan�ng animal… The average member of our
society is most o�en par�ally sa�sfied and par�ally
unsa�sfied in all of his wants (pp. 375, 395).
He also clarified that there are mul�ple mo�va�ons
for most behavior. “Any behavior tends to be deter-
mined by several or all of the basic needs simulta-
neously, rather than by only one of them” (p. 390).
McClelland began his work by defining what was
called “the achievement mo�ve” (1949). Together,
McClelland and Pilon (1983) iden�fied a needs-ba-
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of the impact of paren�ng styles during the early
stage of their childhood development. They found
at certain periods in a child's life were cri�cal for
healthy mo�ve development. McClelland went on
to delineate the Mo�ve Disposi�on Theory (MDT)
with the view that mo�ves direct and energize ac-
�on focused on need sa�sfac�on. His focus was on
“four major mo�ve systems – the achievement mo-
�ve, the power mo�ve, the affilia�ve mo�ve, and
The mo�ve components also included the addi�on
of hope and fear-based aspects (pp. 381-408). He
believed that emo�on/affec�ve incen�ves underlie
mo�va�onal movement and direc�on (1987, pp.
116-128; 2020, p. 236).
Deci and Ryan (1985), highly respected researchers
in the field of mo�va�onal science through their
prolific synthesis of research along with their own
research and theories development, define mo�va-
�on as “the energiza�on and direc�on of behavior”
(p. 3). Ryan and Deci iden�fied three core needs-
�va�on. These are the needs for competence, au-
tonomy and relatedness (Ryan & Deci, 2000b).
They emphasized that competence is only experi-
self-determined by the individual (SDT) (Ryan &
Deci, 2000b), “meaning with a sense of voli�on and
consent” (2008, p. 7). Deci & Ryan made it clear
that this pertains to having experience of choice
rather than assuming independence from others
(2008).
Sheldon (2011) developed the “two-process model
of psychological needs” which “dis�nguishes bet-
ween needs that produce adap�ve behaviors, cal-
led the needs-as-mo�ves perspec�ve…and needs
as universally required experiences, called needs-
as-requirements perspec�ve” (Schüler et al., 2019,
p. 40-41). The first is considered “wan�ng” as in be-
havior requirements and the second is “needing”
as in experien�al requirements. Like SDT theory,
themes include achievement (competence), and
affilia�on (social relatedness). The third need fac-
tor that their research has shown is the need for
power (p. 41).
Emergence of Two Direc�ons of Mo�va�on Theory
Deci & Ryan describe key historical development of
mo�va�on theory in their book Intrinsic Mo�va�on