“The uncritical acceptance of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory despite the lack of empirical evidence is discussed and the need for a review of recent empirical evidence is emphasized. A review of ten factor-analytic and three ranking studies testing Maslow’s theory showed only partial support for the concept of need hierarchy. A large number of cross-sectional studies showed no clear evidence for Maslow’s deprivation/domination proposition except with regard to self-actualization. Longitudinal studies testing Maslow’s gratification/activation proposition showed no support, and the limited support received from cross-sectional studies is questionable due to numerous measurement problems.”
from “Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory”, by Wahba and Bridwell.
A theory that fits one’s intuition and has limited support seems better than nothing at all, though I agree that Maslow is not at the level of, say, the theory of continental drift.
As far as the point of the article goes, it may be enough to simply note (as Caplan does) that societal and individual incentives to “consume” irrationality differ, bypassng the intuition-pumping but possibly tenuous ideas about Maslow levels.
Although I largely agree, there is little actual experimental support for Maslow’s theory. He mostly just made it up. See http://lesswrong.com/lw/2j/schools_proliferating_without_evidence/ . See also eg.:
“The uncritical acceptance of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory despite the lack of empirical evidence is discussed and the need for a review of recent empirical evidence is emphasized. A review of ten factor-analytic and three ranking studies testing Maslow’s theory showed only partial support for the concept of need hierarchy. A large number of cross-sectional studies showed no clear evidence for Maslow’s deprivation/domination proposition except with regard to self-actualization. Longitudinal studies testing Maslow’s gratification/activation proposition showed no support, and the limited support received from cross-sectional studies is questionable due to numerous measurement problems.”
from “Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory”, by Wahba and Bridwell.
A theory that fits one’s intuition and has limited support seems better than nothing at all, though I agree that Maslow is not at the level of, say, the theory of continental drift.
As far as the point of the article goes, it may be enough to simply note (as Caplan does) that societal and individual incentives to “consume” irrationality differ, bypassng the intuition-pumping but possibly tenuous ideas about Maslow levels.