THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FIVE CATEGORIES OF NEEDS AMONG INDUSTRIAL WORKERS IN EIGHT COUNTRIES.

Abstract

The proposition that higher-order needs are more important than lower-order needs to workers today was tested at twenty-six industrial plants across eight countries -- the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. Need for self actualization was consistently ranked as most important across all twenty-six plants. Security needs were ranked among the two least important in all countries except Yugoslavia. Within each country, rankings of need importance were quite consistent across plants. In each of the eight countries, more educated workers tended to rank security needs as less important than did their less educated co-workers. In five countries, more educated workers tended to rank self-actualization needs as more important than did their less educated co-workers.