How does ERG theory differ from Maslow hierarchy of needs-00604
This subjective question is related to the book/course
vu cs402 Theory of Automata.
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vu cs402 Mid Term Solved Past Paper No. 3.
Abraham Maslow's theory of needs describes five levels of needs and from bottom to top order they are:
Physiological needs
These include basic needs of food, existence, shelter etc. This is the lowest level of needs in Maslow's hierarchy.
Safety needs
These include the needs for feeling safe and protected from environmental hazards.
Social needs
These include the need for belongingness and having social relationships
Esteem needs
These needs include the need for being recognized and having respect in society
Self actualization needs
This is the highest level of needs and means that a person reaches the full potential he is capable of reaching.
In contrast to this, Clayton Alderfer's ERG needs are three and they are :
Existence needs
The need for existence i.e food, shelter etc.
Relatedness needs
The need for having social relationships and being related to.
Growth needs
The needs for growth and achieving something and doing something good in life.<
p>The major difference however between the two is that according to Maslow the lowest level needs starting from physiological needs will be more important for an individual to fulfill before he moves on to the next level of needs. This means that the needs at a next higher level will not be important for an individual until he completely or to a good extent satisfies his needs at the immediate lower level. Once the needs at the lower level are met completely or sufficiently they will no longer remain the source of motivation for the individual and he will move on to the next level up and will try to fulfill those needs and they will become the motivation for him. But according to Alderfer this was not the case. The needs priority for different people can be different. Some people might give more importance to the growth needs and will be motivated to behave in ways that satisfies their need for growth more than the satisfaction of the need for relatedness or existence.This assumption of Maslow that the lower level needs should be fulfilled before the individual deems higher level needs as a source of motivation was the biggest flaw in the theory as different people have different
