Maslow’s Pyramid of Motivation

An American psychologist and a professor of the 20^th century, Abraham Maslow proposed a theory on the hierarchy of human needs. It can be depicted as a model of five basic motivational needs any human being has. These needs are −

• Physiological (or Biological) − Need for air, food, water, shelter, warmth, and sleep, which are required for the survival.

• Safety − Need for safety from harmful elements, freedom from fear, physical safety, economical safety, safety against accidents or their negative impacts. Safety may also manifest into security such as job security and financial security.

• Social − Need for having a family, need for intimacy, friends and social groups. Need for belonging and being accepted and loved by others.

• Self Esteem − Need of feeling accepted and respected by others, need for recognition and attention from others.

• Self-Actualization − Need to realize one’s full potential. A human being requires to attain this need after all the above needs are satisfied.

This pyramid helps to understand the priorities of the human needs in the order depicted. As we can see, the tourism covers the bottom four levels of the triangle.