support your perspective | Nursing homework help
Alderfer’s ERG Theory was developed to address the criticisms of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It suggests that there are three basic needs—existence, relatedness, and growth—that drive human behavior. The existence needs refer to physical and material necessities such as food, water, safety, etc., while the relatedness needs refer to interpersonal connections with others in society.
Finally, growth needs are focused on personal development or self-actualization. This theory is more comprehensive than Maslow’s because it allows for multiple levels of satisfaction within each need category; this means that a person can have varying levels of existence need satisfaction simultaneously without having all their other needs met first.
Alderfer also put forward the idea that frustration can cause individuals to regress back down through their hierarchy rather than move up, something which Maslow did not touch upon. Therefore, Alderfer’s ERG Theory satisfies some of the critiques made against Maslow’s Hierarchy by providing additional detail and allowing for greater flexibility when looking at how people satisfy their needs.