Introduction

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943) is well known. If you do not know much about it, please watch our PsyToolkit tutorial video below.

Toarmina and Gao (2013) created a questionnaire to measure the degree to which people are satisfied on the five dimensions.

This is a great scale to empirically test one of the most influential theories in the field of psychology.

Scores and interpretation

Toarmina and Gao (2013) tested the degree to which a group of relatively weathly professionals (n=32, professors, doctors, business people) with under or unemployed migrant works (n=30). Below are the group means (with standard deviation in brackets). All five group differences were statistically significant.

Type Under-employed Professionals

Physiological needs satisfaction

2.55 (0.49)

4.19 (0.63)

Safety needs satisfaction

2.18 (0.41)

4.41 (0.72)

Love needs satisfaction

2.42 (0.57)

4.61 (0.53)

Esteem needs satisfaction

2.03 (0.67)

4.31 (0.58)

Self actualization needs satisfaction

1.95 (0.40)

3.82 (0.40)

There were no sex differences in any of the needs.

Run the demo

It seems that the the five need satisfaction measures can be used for research, but you need to acknowledge the authors and their research paper when writing about it (References).

Technically

This is a simple scale question.

The survey code for PsyToolkit

Copy and paste this code to your PsyToolkit account if you want to use the scale in your own online research project
scale: satisfied
- Completely unsatisfied
- Somewhat unsatisfied
- Neither unsatisfied nor satisfied
- Somewhat satisfied
- Completely satisfied


scale: agree
- strongly disagree
- somewhat disagree
- neither disagree nor agree
- somehwat agree
- strongly agree

l: maslow_physiological
t: scale satisfied
o: buildup
q: For each of the following statements, indicate how satisfied you are with each item listed.
- the quality of the food I eat every day
- the amount of food that I eat every day
- the quality of the water I drink every day
- the amount of water that I drink every day
- the amount of heating I have when the weather is cold
- the amount of cooling I have when the weather is hot
- the quality of the air I breathe every day
- the amount of sex I am having
- the quality of sex I am having
- every aspect of my physical health
- the amount of sleep I get to feel thoroughly relaxed
- the quality of sleep I get to feel fully refreshed
- the amount of exercise I get to keep me healthy
- the type of exercise I get to keep my body toned
- my overall physical strength

l: maslow_safety
t: scale satisfied
o: buildup
q: For each of the following statements, indicate how satisfied you are with each item listed.
- the quality of the house/apartment I am living in
- the space available for me in my house/apartment
- How secure I am in my house/apartment
- How safe I am from being physically attacked
- the safety of my neighborhood
- How safe I am from catching any diseases
- How secure I am from disasters
- How protected I am from dangers in the environment
- the protection that the police provide for me
- the protection that the law provides for me
- How safe I am from destructive terrorist acts
- How safe I am from acts of war
- My financial security
- My ability to get money whenever I need it
- the money I reserved for me to have a secure retirement

l: maslow_love
t: scale satisfied
o: buildup
q: For each of the following statements, indicate how satisfied you are with each item listed.
- the amount of rapport I share with the people I know
- the quality of the relationships I have with my friends
- the love I receive from my spouse/partner
- the intimacy I share with my immediate family
- the camaraderie I share with my colleagues
- how much I am welcomed in my community
- the warmth I share with my relatives
- the emotional support I receive from my friends
- the feeling of togetherness I have with my family
- how much I am cared for by my spouse/partner
- the happiness I share with my companions
- the sympathy I receive from my confidants
- the enjoyment I share with associates
- the affection shown to me by my friends
- the closeness I feel with my associates

l: maslow_esteem
t: scale satisfied
o: buildup
q: For each of the following statements, indicate how satisfied you are with each item listed.
- the admiration given to me by others
- the honor that many people give me
- how much other people respect me as a person
- the prestige I have in the eyes of other people
- how highly other people think of me
- the high esteem that other people have for me
- the recognition I receive from various people
- the high regard that other people have for me
- How much I like the person that I am
- How sure I am of myself
- How much respect I have for myself
- All the good qualities I have as a person
- My sense of self-worth
- the amount of esteem I have for myself
- How positive I feel about myself as a person

l: maslow_sa
t: scale agree
o: buildup
q: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements
- I am totally comfortable with all facets of my personality.
- I feel that I am completely self-fulfilled.
- I am now being the person I always wanted to be.
- I am finally realizing all of my innermost desires.
- I indulge myself as much as I want.
- I am now enjoying everything I ever wanted from my life.
- I completely accept all aspects of myself.
- my actions are always according to my own values.
- I am living my life the way I want.
- I do the things I like to do whenever I want.
- I am actually living up to all my capabilities.
- I am living my life to the fullest.

l: score_physiological
t: set
- mean $maslow_physiological

l: score_safety
t: set
- mean $maslow_safety

l: score_love
t: set
- mean $maslow_love

l: score_esteem
t: set
- mean $maslow_esteem

l: score_sa
t: set
- mean $maslow_sa

l: feedback
t: info
q: Your scores on Maslow's five need levels (scores range between 1 and 5)
Physiologial Needs: {$score_physiological}
Safety Needs: {$score_safety}
Love Needs: {$score_love}
Esteem Needs: {$score_esteem}
Self actualization Needs: {$score_sa}

References

  • Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.

  • Taormina, R.J. and Gao, J.H. (2013). Maslow and the Motivation Hierarchy: Measuring Satisfaction of the Needs. The American Journal of Psychology, 126(2), 155-177