Title: Motivation Theories: Individual Needs
Headings: Motivation Theories: Individual Needs
Principles of Management
Motivation Theories: Individual Needs
Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory
Herzberg's two-factor theory
Alderfer's ERG theory
McClelland's acquired needs theory

Content: These needs vary significantly by culture and by individual. Secondary needs consist of internal states, such as the desire for power, achievement, and love. Identifying and interpreting these needs is more difficult because they are demonstrated in a variety of ways. Secondary needs are responsible for most of the behavior that a supervisor is concerned with and for the rewards a person seeks in an organization. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory
Several theorists, including Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, David McClelland, and Clayton Alderfer, have provided theories to help explain needs as a source of motivation. Abraham Maslow defined need as a physiological or psychological deficiency that a person feels the compulsion to satisfy. This need can create tensions that can influence a person's work attitudes and behaviors. Maslow formed a theory based on his definition of need that proposes that humans are motivated by multiple needs and that these needs exist in a hierarchical order. His premise is that only an unsatisfied need can influence behavior; a satisfied need is not a motivator.