Definition
Within Maslow’s hierarchical organization of motives and theory of personality development (Maslow 1943), esteem needs refer to people’s desires to have a stable and realistically positive evaluation of themselves. Maslow (1943) conceptualized esteem needs as a broad category of motivations that consist of two distinct but related sets of strivings. One set of esteem needs consists of people’s desires for achievement, competence, and mastery. The other set of esteem needs consists of people’s desires for admiration, status, and respect from others. Maslow (1943) described the satisfaction of esteem motives as being reflected in feelings of efficacy and confidence, and the thwarting of these desires in feelings of discouragement and inferiority. According to Maslow’s (1943) hierarchical account, esteem needs become salient only after one has sufficiently satisfied the more primary desires for love, affection, and belongingness; in turn, motivations toward self-actualization...
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Di Domenico, S.I., Fournier, M.A. (2020). Esteem Needs. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1465
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