Question 1

Referring to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory, one would agree that U.S. workers are more often interested in satisfying their physiological and safety needs, as opposed to their self-esteem needs.

Accepted Answer

Physiological needs refer to the need for food, clothing, shelter, and other needs associated with basic survival. Safety needs refer to the need for security and safety at home and at work. These are the two lowest levels of needs in Maslow's hierarchy. In developed countries such as the United States, most employees have already satisfied these lower-level needs. According to Maslow, when needs are satisfied, they are no longer sources of motivation.

Question 2

Robert is a talented guitarist and has won a number of awards. However, he still practices at least two hours a day to reach his highest potential. Robert is motivated by self-actualization needs.

Accepted Answer

Self-actualization needs include the need to reach one's fullest potential.

Question 3

Lately, Seth is frustrated at work because he feels he isn't recognized for his on-the-job accomplishments. He earns a decent salary and is on friendly terms with the other employees in his department. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, Seth will have a desire to satisfy his self-esteem needs before his self-actualization needs.

Accepted Answer

Because Seth earns a decent salary, he should be able to meet physiological and safety needs, which are basic survival needs, and he is accepted at work by others in his department, satisfying social needs. However, since he is frustrated by a lack of recognition and appreciation, he appears to be motivated by the desire to meet his esteem needs, which reflect the desire to be acknowledged and respected by others.

Question 4

Herzberg's research focused on determining which management style achieved the highest level of worker motivation.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's research primarily focused on understanding what factors in the workplace led to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, leading to his Two-Factor Theory, rather than determining which management style was most effective.

Question 5

Herzberg found that the sense of achievement employees experienced when they performed their jobs was an important motivator.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation identified job content factors, such as achievement, recognition, and responsibility, as important motivators for employees.

Question 6

Herzberg's research found that improvements in the work environment were a more effective way to motivate employees than improvements in job content.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory suggests that improvements in job content (such as recognition, responsibility, and opportunities for achievement) are more effective in motivating employees than improvements in the work environment (hygiene factors like salary, work conditions, and company policies).

Question 7

According to Herzberg, when a hygiene factor is not fulfilled, employees will become dissatisfied.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg proposed the Two-Factor Theory which states that there are hygiene factors and motivators that impact employee satisfaction and motivation. Hygiene factors are basic necessities like fair pay, job security, and working conditions. When these factors are not met, employees become dissatisfied. However, meeting these hygiene factors alone does not lead to motivation or satisfaction. For that, motivators like recognition, growth opportunities, and challenging work are needed.

Question 8

Blakely just took a job with higher pay and better job security. She now lives in a nicer apartment and maintains a fairly comfortable lifestyle. However, she is still new at the company and feels like an outsider. She does not feel as though her fellow employees have accepted her into their group yet. According to Maslow's theory, Blakely is driven by a desire to satisfy her social needs.

Accepted Answer

Maslow classified the need to feel accepted and part of a group as a social need. He felt that people who have met their physiological and safety needs, as Blakely apparently has done, would be motivated by the desire to meet social needs.

Question 9

Herzberg's research identified the key factors that motivate workers, including company policies and administration, wage rates, interpersonal relations with co-workers, and physical environment at work.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's research identified two factors that influence employee motivation and satisfaction: 1) Hygiene factors, which include company policies, wage rates, interpersonal relations, and physical environment, but these do not motivate workers; they can only prevent dissatisfaction. 2) Motivators, which truly motivate workers, include achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, and growth.

Question 10

Often we hear that teenagers have unmet social needs. According to Maslow, their desire to become socially accepted will consume them, at the expense of reaching for higher goals, such as developing to their fullest potential.

Accepted Answer

According to Maslow, lower-order needs must be satisfied first, before turning one's attention to higher-order needs. If relying on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid, social needs will be satisfied before self-actualization needs.

Question 11

Herzberg's research examined how conditions related to the job itself affected the motivation of employees.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's research focused on the job itself and how factors such as task variety, autonomy, and opportunities for growth and achievement impacted employee motivation.

Question 12

The late famous broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite said that one of his regrets in life was not actively participating in the space program as an astronaut. Back in the 1980s, he was selected as a candidate to be the first journalist to fly into space, but NASA decided to take a teacher instead. In some ways, this may appear as though Cronkite was pursuing a self-esteem need; however, having already achieved celebrity status, for Cronkite, this was the pursuit of a self-actualization need.

Accepted Answer

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the next level of higher-order needs (after self-esteem needs) is self-actualization needs. According to Maslow, a self-actualization need involves the need to develop to your fullest potential.

Question 13

Maslow identified and categorized basic needs that most persons would like to satisfy, while Herzberg's research identified motivators and hygiene factors that inspire employees to fulfill their needs.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory categorizes human needs into a hierarchy of five levels, while Herzberg's two-factor theory explains how certain factors in the workplace can either motivate or demotivate employees.

Question 14

Maslow believed that lower-level needs may emerge at any time when they are not met and take our attention away from higher-level needs.

Accepted Answer

Maslow's hierarchy of needs proposes that lower-level needs such as physiological and safety needs must be met before an individual can focus on fulfilling higher-level needs such as self-esteem and self-actualization. However, if lower-level needs are not met, they may emerge and take priority over higher-level needs at any time.

Question 15

Herzberg used the term hygiene factor to refer to an element of job content that was most important as a source of worker motivation.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg used the term hygiene factor to refer to elements of job content that are necessary to prevent dissatisfaction or discomfort, such as fair pay, safe working conditions, and reasonable work hours. These factors are not seen as a source of motivation but rather as a means of preventing job dissatisfaction. Herzberg believed that motivation comes from factors such as job autonomy, meaningful work, and opportunities for personal growth and development. He referred to these as motivators.

Question 16

According to Maslow, if you have a self-esteem problem, you probably will not be able to concern yourself with developing to your fullest potential.

Accepted Answer

According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, one must satisfy lower-order needs first, before satisfying a higher-order need. Satisfying esteem needs must be met before satisfying self-actualization needs.

Question 17

In Maslow's view, social needs include the need to feel loved and accepted.

Accepted Answer

Maslow included the need to feel loved and accepted as part of his social needs category.

Question 18

In Maslow's hierarchy, self-actualization needs are associated with basic survival, such as the need for food and shelter.

Accepted Answer

Self-actualization needs are actually at the top of Maslow's hierarchy, meaning they are associated with personal growth, fulfillment, and reaching one's full potential. Basic survival needs, such as food and shelter, are part of the physiological needs category at the bottom of the hierarchy.

Question 19

Herzberg's study showed that pay was the job characteristic that ranked highest as a motivator.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's study showed that pay was not the job characteristic that ranked highest as a motivator. Instead, factors such as recognition, achievement, and growth were found to be more important motivators.

Question 20

Herzberg found that the factors associated with job content ranked high as employee motivators.

Accepted Answer

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory found that factors such as job content and achievement ranked high as employee motivators, while factors such as salary and working conditions were considered hygiene factors that only prevented dissatisfaction but did not motivate employees.

Quiz 10: Motivating Employees