Page 9 - Navy Journal E-Book 7-6-20

HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AND THE NAVY :
A HYPOTHESIS

Rear Admiral M Moyeenul Haque, NPP, nswc, psc

The ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ was first theorised by an American
psychologist Abraham Harold Maslow. His hierarchy of (human) needs model is
frequently used in various professional applications to identify employees’ needs
and motivations for higher productivity. The idea can similarly be also used for

pursuing organisational needs and growth opportunities. The idea of hierarchy of
needs for the professional development of an officer’s career in the Navy can be
quite interesting, as there exists a striking resemblance between these two. This
writing will attempt to explain those with some deductions.

Maslow first published his
concept of hierarchy of needs in a
paper titled ‘A Theory of Human
Motivation’ in 1943 in the scientific
journal ‘Psychological Review’.
The same was subsequently
published in 1953 in his book
‘Motivation and Personality’.
Maslow categorised human needs
in several levels and postulated
human behaviour to be motivated
by the desire to have those needs
fulfilled, and individuals are
motivated to fulfil lower level needs
before moving on to more complex
higher needs.
Figure 1: Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often represented by a 5-level pyramid
with its base forming the lowest level of needs, where needs gradually become
more sophisticated with each level ascended.

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