Esteem Needs

Esteem may have two distinct subsets of motivation:

1. The desire for approval or recognition by others
2. The desire for the freedom to do what we want to do or to discover ourselves

These two subsets were defined by Maslow in his initial 1943 paper, A theory of human motivation

In terms of the first subset - wanting to be held in regard by other people - it makes sense that this comes after the fulfillment of Belongingness & Love Needs. Why care what other people think of you if you don’t care about other people?

As for the second subset, we can see how this would be a precursor to Self-actualization. We cannot be who we are without the freedom to discover who we are.

In both cases, the order of this need makes more sense than the so-called “lower” needs.

Previous: Belongingness & Love Needs Next: Self-actualization

references

1. Koltko-Rivera, Mark E. `Rediscovering the Later Version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Self-Transcendence and Opportunities for Theory, Research, and Unification.` Review of General Psychology, vol. 10, no. 4, 1 Dec. 2006, pp. 302–317., doi:10.1037/1089-2680.10.4.302. [https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow(2).pdf].
2. Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346. [https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm].
3. `Hierarchy of Needs of Abraham Maslow.` A First Look at Communication Theory, by Emory A. Griffin et al., Mcgraw-Hill Education, 2019, pp. 124–133. http://www.afirstlook.com/docs/hierarchy.pdf.
4. Mcleod, S. A. (2020, March 20). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Simply Psychology. [https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html].