NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED421486
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1997-Jul
Pages: 4
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Herzberg's Theory of Motivation and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. ERIC/AE Digest.
Gawel, Joseph E.
Among the behavioral theories embraced by American business are those of Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow. Herzberg proposed a theory about job factors that motivate employees, and Maslow developed a theory about the rank and satisfaction of human needs and how people pursue those needs. This digest briefly outlines both theories and then summarizes a study of the Tennessee Career Ladder Program (TCLP), which suggested that teachers in this career development program do not match the behavior of employees in business. Herzberg's (1959) construction was a two-dimensional paradigm of "hygiene" (dissatisfiers) factors that do not actually motivate or create satisfaction and "motivators" (satisfiers). Five motivators in particular were strong determiners of job satisfaction: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement. Maslow's hierarchy ranks needs from the psychological, through safety, love and belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization. He theorized that a person could not pursue the next need until the currently recognized need was substantially or completely satisfied, a concept called prepotency. A study conducted by F. Bellott and F. Tutor (1990) found that for elementary and secondary school teachers in the TCLP Herzberg's characterization of salary as a hygiene factor and Maslow's view of esteem as a lower order need than self-actualization did not seem to hold true. These findings may help explain "why" good teachers are lost to higher paying positions and may help administrators focus on their needs for esteem. (Contains four tables and four references.) (SLD)
ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, 210 O'Boyle Hall, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064; phone: 800-464-3742.
Publication Type: ERIC Publications; ERIC Digests in Full Text
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A