Maylows, Eudaimonic and Hedonic Theories of Motivation - Research Paper Example

The Maylow’s, Demonic and Hedonic theories of Human Motivation The Maylow’s, Eudaimonic and Hedonic Theories of Human Motivation Many theorists have come up with Ideas, aimed at explaining human behavior as far as satisfaction and happiness are concerned. These theories may be differing a lot, but are widely accepted depending on the area of application of the principles that come with them. Some of these theories, however, have faced great criticism are at times done away with as their applicability may be in question (Wood, Froh & Geraghty, 2010). However, some of these theories have been generally accepted as they relate to actual occurrences in the society and are being put into practice by the human race. Some of these beliefs and theories have been discussed herein. The notion of subjective well-being has been brought out clearly by the theories of Hedonic and Eudaimonic well-being. The Hedonic principle of well-being is driven towards explaining the fact that if pleasure is increased and sadness reduced, the final effect is a happy life. Positive occurrences and satisfaction are taken to be the attributes of a happy life (Bohart & Greening, 2001). The theory dwells in the pressing for maximization of pleasure and minimization of pain in the quest for happiness. This theory, however, is not satisfactory as happiness is now always derived from pleasure. The Eudaimonic was formed as an alternative for the Hedonic theory of true happiness. According to Aristotle, who came up with the Eudaimonic theory, not all pleasures provide a well-being, as much as they always give happiness (Vittersø, 2013). The theorist believed that the only way towards true happiness was doing what was worth without caring about the initial results as the right results will be finally achieved thereby yielding the originally expected happiness. The Eudaimonic theory lays its basis for a sense of control, a feeling of purpose, competence, belongingness, personal expressiveness, social contribution, personal growth and self-acceptance. The idea of Eudaimonic well-being argued that the ultimate human goal was realizing one’s potential. The idea was further enhanced and developed by great thinkers such as John Locke, who claimed that prudence is the means through which happiness is pursued and Stoics who really Stressed on the value of personal self-discipline. (Bohart & Greening, 2001) Under the study of psychology, both hedonistic and Eudaimonic views are classified under positive psychology. Happiness under both is defined in terms of pleasant, good and meaningful life. Peterson et al dwells in identifying these three pathways to happiness under the view of positive psychology. According to Paterson et al, pleasure is the process of minimizing negative emotions and maximizing positive emotion in one’s life. A pleasant life is full of enjoyment and positive experiences. Engagement is also taken to be the process of a person being actively involved in the activities that revolve around their lives and all their requirements and demands. Meaning is taken to be the process of having a purpose in life. These three form the basic background of a happy life. (Bohart & Greening, 2001) However, according to Abraham Maslow, an American known for formulating the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, these three points do not form the basis for satisfaction. According to his hierarchy of needs, if the basic need is not met, then the other needs that are higher in the hierarchy cannot be met either. The hierarchy categorizes the needs into five groups. The first category is taken to be the psychological needs. They are the needs of survival. They are those without which, survival becomes difficult. The second need in the hierarchy is the need for safety. This need cannot, however, be fulfilled if the psychological needs are not satisfied first. Safety is further classified into health, financial needs, physical and emotional security too. The third need in the hierarchy is the need to belong. This is the need to love and to feel loved. It involves the social needs of people and the urge to belong to a certain group of people in the society. Esteem is taken as the next need. It is the need to feel respected. It is guided by a feeling of self-accomplishment. The last need in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization. This is taken to describe the need for a person to achieve what he/she believes they were meant to achieve. According to this humanistic psychologist, the satisfaction of human needs follows a sequence that is similar to the occurrence of the needs in the needs in the hierarchy. It becomes evident that the satisfaction of one need, gives room for the satisfaction of the next (Maslow, 1943). Both the hedonist and the Eudaimonic theories and Maslow’s theory indicate that happiness is related to the satisfaction of certain needs. These needs were, however, not arranged in any form of hierarchy in the hedonistic and Eudaimonic theories as they were in Maslow’s theory. Furthermore, the criterion for achieving happiness, according to Maslow was a little complex with the person having to satisfy all five categories of needs before satisfaction can be attained. If the Maslow’s theory is analyzed using the Hedonistic theory, it becomes evident that all the needs in the category may be met yet happiness may not result in the end it all. Hedonistic theory tends to relate pleasure with success, whereas Maslow categorizes pleasure under one of the categories of needs, therefore indicating that its effect in happiness is just minimal. However, the Eudaimonic theory indicates that the right thing does not always lead to satisfaction and therefore not a source of happiness. The theory outlines the fact that the ultimate goal of human kind is finding one’s potential. This indicates that the hierarchy of needs is meaningless if one hasn’t found their true potential in life. This potential, according to the Eudaimonic theory, is the sole source of happiness and satisfaction of mankind. (Bohart & Greening, 2001) In conclusion, it would be right to indicate that these theories are all applicable, though all in different cases, and should be used considering their different applicability. The hierarchy of needs has been widely used to explain human satisfaction as is recommended for use especially in explaining human behavior among small children. References Bohart, A. C., & Greening, T. (2001). Humanistic psychology and positive psychology. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological review, 50(4), 370. Mills, A.S. (1985) Participation Motivations for outdoor recreation: a test of Maslow’s theory, Vol. 17 No. 3 pp. 184-199 Vittersø, J. (2013). Functional well-being: Happiness as feelings, evaluations and functioning. The Oxford handbook of happiness, 227-244. Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J., & Geraghty, A. W. (2010). Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical psychology review, 30(7), 890-905. Read More