Was Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs proven true and how?

Question

does anyone know how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was proven true (or false)? like did he do any research experiments to prove his theory?

Answer 1

This is a somewhat pedantic answer to give, but it is reality as I see it: One cannot "prove" a theory; instead, theories are what humans use to model and make order of phenomena in the world.  Theories are subject to change; they are molded to work in specific cases and to be as inclusive as possible. However, theories change over time to fit the needs of the phenomena and the people who seek to model the phenomena. Scientific research cannot prove that the atom exists, that the earth is near spherical, or that chemical life proceeds towards the greatest level of entropy. Experimental data can only strongly suggest or demonstrate that nothing has disproved the theory which has been generated from the experimental data. Theories, however, will always change to be more inclusive. This is also true of sociological theories, such as Maslow's, which, in their essence, are theories used to model human behaviour. I hope this helps, for what it's worth..

Answer 2

Ask Bush

Answer 3

Yeah it's proven in today's society.

Answer 4

Hi there

Abraham Maslows theory of hierarchy of needs is one of about five perspectives that psychology can use to apply to and explain different behaviours. It is a common sense approach that basically believes that human beings need to fulfill basic needs such as food and shelter before being able to achieve higher goals such as a job or hobbies, which make sense as without a house or food it would be difficult to pursue a job. Hope this makes sense.

Answer 5

Haire, Ghiselli and Porter (Indstrial Relations 12, no. 2 (Feb. 1963), pp 95-117 surveyed 3,641 managers in 14 countries. They concluded that Maslow's needs, in particular the upper level ones, are important at the managerial level.

Ronen (S. Ronen. "Comparative and Multinational Management:, Wiley, 1986) )investigated whether the motivation categories of Maslow apply universally.  Studying trained, nonmanagerial male employees in Germany, canada, France, Japan, and the UK, he concluded that Maslow's need hierarchy is confirmed.

In Asian cultures, Maslovian conclusions may be skewed.  Different hierarchies might better reflect other cultures.

Answer 6

Not really. It's used frequently, but more in management motivation that therapy. Evidence is inconsistant. I.e. the source below found evidence that these needs were important, but did not show that you need growth in all of them.