Question

To motivate employees, employers should focus on fulfilling each level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order from bottom to top.

a. True
b. False

Answer 1

The statement is false as higher-level needs can motivate behavior even if lower-level needs are unmet; real-world examples and Maslow's later work on self-transcendence support this.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer to the question is false. While Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that lower-level needs must be satisfied before individuals can attend to higher-level needs, there is evidence that higher-level needs can still motivate behavior even if lower-level needs remain unsatisfied. Maslow's theory indicates that motivations such as self-actualization are present at the top of the hierarchy, but real-world examples, like Gandhi's hunger strikes, demonstrate that people can act based on higher-level motives, even when their basic needs are unmet. Maslow later acknowledged a level of self-transcendence above self-actualization, further indicating that individuals can pursue meaning beyond their personal needs.

Answer 2

The statement that employers should focus on fulfilling each level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order to motivate employees is false, as real-world examples and research show that higher-level needs can be pursued even when lower ones are not completely satisfied.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the question whether employers should focus on fulfilling each level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in order from bottom to top to motivate employees is b. False. Maslow's theory suggests that lower-level needs must be satisfied before one can address higher-level needs. However, real-world phenomena and subsequent research on motivation reveal that individuals can pursue higher-level motives like self-transcendence, even when lower-level needs are unmet. Instances such as Gandhi’s hunger strike for political reasons illustrate this point. This indicates that while Maslow's hierarchy is a useful framework for understanding motivation, it is not a strict guide that must be followed in a linear fashion for motivation in the workplace.