Essay Sample: aim and reason for the study by Maslow's principle

Lester (2013) conducted this study to try to find out whether there is a positive and significant association between two scales that were suggested to measure Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These scales were the Likert-type scale proposed by Lester, Hvezda, and, Plourde (1983) and a scale of 0 to 100 that was used by Strong and Fiebert (1987) to evaluate Maslow's need hierarchy by coupling reports from two needs at a time, seeking response of which was more significant to respondents. The purpose of conducting this study was to develop evidence that would either disapprove or approve the claim made by Maslow's principle of needs that suggests that ''basic needs were satisfied, the better would be the psychological health of the individual'' (Lester, 2013).

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Hypothesis and method of the study

Psychological health is influenced by the level to which human needs are attained majorly the basic needs, this was the hypotheses of the study. According to Maslow (1954), human needs are categorized into five sub-groups: physiological, safety and security, belongingness, esteem, and, self-realization. Maslow believed that the lower essentials- elementary needs are more influential than the upper needs when the health of human being is considered, therefore he argued that, the more the rudimentary essentials are attained the better the score of one's psychological health. To prove whether this hypothesis suggested by Maslow was true, Lester (2013) compared the two scales used by the two prior studies by submitting both scales to 51 participants, 42 being women and the rest men in undergraduate psychology courses, together with an 18- item manic-depressive record.

A summary of the results and Limitations of the Study

In the scale used by Strong and Fiebert, the current study recorded similar results with the only odd one out, being the score for belongingness needs which was ranked low than safety needs. Moreover, out of the five parallel scores on the Strong and Fiebert (1987) against Lester (1990) records related negatively and less significantly. However, the physiological needs score correlated positively. On the Mania score, it recorded a negative correlation with 10 scores on the two Maslow scales. This research did not find any thoughtful and positive connection between two scales suggested. Therefore, the study lacked evidence to support the hypothesis. In addition, this research faced limitations due to the utilization of psychology students, where the majority of the participants were female and the restricted sample size.

A personal reflection on the study and implications in daily life

This study has given me a new insight, which I will venture into by conducting studies to try to develop a valid method that will measure the concept of the hierarchy of needs. This study pushes me to try to experiment on a daily basis to find out the effect of attending or not attending to my basic needs would have on my psychological health.

Reference

Lester, D. (2013). Measuring Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Psychological Reports, 113(1), 15-17.