Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist. He was best known for creating the hierarchy of needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theory of motivation that suggests that five categories of human needs dictate an individual's behavior. Maslow thinks that humans have all the needs that must be satisfied, from the most basic to the most complex.
The procedures and knowledge involved in controlling an individual's motivational state are known as meta-motivation. Two reciprocal processes together form meta-motivation. The first procedure includes evaluating an individual's strength and quality of motivation to pursue a significant goal, i.e., motivational monitoring. The second procedure includes utilizing the output of the first process to select and impose strategies for maintaining a significant motivational orientation, i.e., meta-motivational control. The hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow was founded in 1943. According to Maslow, meta-motivation differs from the motivation operating at the lower level of needs, termed deficiency motivation. It emerges only after the basic needs are fulfilled. The basic needs must be fulfilled before the individual desire the next level. This theory of needs is portrayed in the form of a pyramid, which includes physiological needs, security and safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Malow suggests that self-actualized people have successfully navigated through basic needs in the lower levels of the pyramid and thus move on to achieve higher levels on a path called growth motivation.
Abraham Maslow categorized human needs into deficiency, psychological, and self-fulfilment needs. Below is a brief description of the needs.
Physiological Needs − These basic needs include food, clothing, shelter, air, rest, water, sexual satisfaction, and sleep. These basic needs lie at the lowest level in the hierarchy of needs because they are the most important of all the other needs. These needs cannot be ignored, as, without the fulfillment of these needs, an individual cannot live.
Security and Safety Needs − Safety and security needs are connected with the psychological fear of job loss, loss of property, natural calamities or hazards, etc. Every individual requires protection from these types of fears. Everyone prefers sufficient Safety and security. Such physiological needs lose their motivational possibilities when they are satisfied.
Social Needs − An individual is a human being rightly treated as a social animal. Individuals prefer to remain in a group at all times. Every human being dreams of being connected to this kind of group, which is treated as an individual's basic social need. Human beings feel that they should be loved and cared for by the other group members. Everyone requires friends and families with whom they can interact. Social needs, i.e., love and belonging, occupy the third position in the hierarchy of needs.
Esteem Needs − The category of esteem needs involves the need to be respected by others, the need to be admired by others, the need to have power, and lastly, holding a prestigious position. Once the previous needs are fulfilled, an individual feels held in high esteem by themselves and other individuals around them.
Self-Actualization Needs − A self-actualization need is a top need in the hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow. Self-actualization is the dream of becoming what an individual is capable of becoming. Though everyone has the ability for self-actualization, many do not reach this stage, and human beings rarely fulfill this need.
Maslow argued that it is critical to distinguish between the intentions and motives of those still at lower levels of self-actualization and those at higher levels of self-actualization. He believed that their motivations differed. Who is a self-actualized person? In order to understand meta-motivation, it is important to understand the concept of self-actualization. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-transcendence and self-actualization are placed at the top and are considered higher-level needs. Self-transcendence is the next level of motivation after self-actualization. Maslow defined self-transcendence as pursuing higher-order wants and aspirations, which he later referred to as "meta-motivations."
According to Carl Rogers, self-actualization is a "curative force" that involves using all of one's resources to improve one's conception of self. According to Maslow, "self-actualization" is a human being fulfilling their desires of what they must be. Maslow initially identified self-actualization as a human being's ultimate driving need. When individuals have reached self-actualization, their other needs in the hierarchy are achieved and comparatively satisfied. They walk the path of growth and meaningfulness, where they realize that they will feel more fulfilled personally if they can contribute positively to the world around them.
Maslow was convinced that the nature of meta-motivation is higher than just the need to achieve self-actualization. Several implicit concepts come under the definition of meta-motivation, and he stated that people who have meta-motivations also have a strong desire for self-regulation and self-control. Maslow said that a person could conduct themselves profoundly and generously through meta-motivation. Here are some related concepts of meta-motivation:
Subjective mental representation is one of the vital factors in successful goal pursuit. The word "construal" means people's understanding of events and captures not only their thoughts and beliefs but also their behavioral and motivational orientations. According to the construal level theory, individuals represent programs at a different level of abstraction as a function of psychological distance. This theory suggests that people present psychologically distant programs by involving high-level construal, i.e., an orientation toward the abstract and essential significance of those programs, and low-level construal, i.e., an orientation toward the solid and distinctive information that differentiates a program from similar others. Judgment, decision-making, and behavior can be affected by the constant shift in construal levels. The performance of tasks connected with goals is affected by conceptual levels, and higher and lower conceptual levels can increase performance on tasks needing accurate behavioral responses.
| Self Regulation and Construal Level |
|---|
| Subjective mental representation is one of the vital factors of successful goal pursuit. |
| The word construal means people's understanding of events and captures not only their thoughts and beliefs but also their behavioral and motivational orientations as well. |
| This theory suggests that people present psychologically distant programs by involving in high level construal i.e. an orientation toward the abstract and essential significance of those programs and low level construal i.e. an orientation toward the solid and distinctive information that differentiates a program from similar others.Judgment |
A truly human being strives to meet basic needs before progressing to meet psychological and growth needs. Recognizing that what seems hard to attain in improving oneself is achievable helps one become that "truly human" person that dwells within.
A met need, according to Maslow, is any desire for wisdom, beauty, or creativity. The highest level of needs, known as meta needs, have a role in self-actualization and arise mostly after the needs at lower levels have been satisfied. Meta needs are linked to self-actualization impulses in the Maslow hierarchy. Here are some examples of metaneeds as explained by Maslow.
Although basic needs are important for survival, a person with meta motivation does not make a big deal about not fulfilling their basic needs. They are grateful for the abundance of necessities, and their primary focus is always on meeting higher-level growth requirements.
Meta-motivation is associated with a life where an individual thrives on doing one's best and lives a meaningful life. People with this kind of motivation strive to be at their best.
According to the preceding discussion, Maslow's theory of motivation, i.e., meta-motivation, includes five physiological or basic needs: social needs, safety needs, security needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. All needs are met only after the previous ones have been met. Metamotivation research shows that people are sensitive to and can discern between distinct motivational states and their impact on task performance. Maslow's Metamotivation was criticized as well. Criticism of this theory is oversimplified and is based on only human needs. The hierarchy of needs may not apply to all categories of workers equally, and his theory is widely accepted. However, there is very little scientific evidence to support this. His writings are more philosophical than scientific.
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