The need priority model may not apply at all times in all places. Surveys in continental European countries and Japan have shown that the model does not apply very well to their managers. The degree of satisfaction of needs does not vary according to the need priority model. For example, workers in Spain and Belgium felt that their esteem needs are better satisfied than their security and social needs. Apparently, cultural differences are an important cause of these differences. Thus, need hierarchy may not follow the sequence postulated by Maslow. Even if safety need is not satisfied, the ego or social need may emerge.
The proposition that one need is satisfied at one time is also of doubtful validity. The phenomenon of multiple motivation is of great practical importance in understanding the behaviour of man. Man’s behaviour at any time is mostly guided by multiplicity of motives. However, one or two motives in any situation may bp predominant while others may be of secondary importance. Moreover, at different levels of needs, the motivation will be different. Money can act as a motivator only for physiological and social needs, not for satisfying higher order needs. Employees are enthusiastically motivated by what they are seeking, more than by what they already have. They may react protectively to try to keep what they already have, but they move forward with enthusiasm only when they are seeking something else. In other words, man works for bread alone as long as it is not available.
There are always some people in whom, for instance, need for self-esteem seems to be more prominent than that of love. There are also creative people in whom the drive for creativeness seems to be more important. In certain people, the level of motivation may be permanently lower. For instance, a person who has experienced chronic unemployment may continue to be satisfied for the rest of his life if only he can get enough food. Another cause of reversal of need hierarchy is that when a need has been satisfied for a long time it may be under-evaluated.
