Indeed, Maslow never drew anything like that. The psychologist Scott Bary Kaufman debunks this myth more thoroughly in his 2019 write-up here[1]. (Aside: Kaufman updates Maslow's "hierarchy" idea with a "sailboat" metaphor[2].)
Maslow always emphasized the relative satisfaction of needs. To quote from his famous paper[3]:
[quote]
... As for the concept of emergence of a new need after satisfaction of the prepotent [i.e. dominant] need, this emergence is not a sudden, saltatory phenomenon but rather a gradual emergence by slow degrees from nothingness. For instance, if prepotent need A is satisfied only 10 per cent then need B may not be visible at all. However, as this need A becomes satisfied 25 per cent, need B may emerge 5 per cent, as need A becomes satisfied 75 per cent need B may emerge 90 per cent, and so on.
[/quote]
If you want to understand Maslow, there's no escaping his two seminal books:
• Motivation and Personality, 1954
• Toward a Psychology of Being, 1962
He writes with superb clarity, and is an absolute joy to read. If you're really, really short on time, at least read his paper, A Theory of Human Motivation[3].
If you like reading fiction, anyway. Like many of the works of this time, all of it is smart sounding writing, none of it has anything to do with scientific knowledge.
Yeah, I gave up halfway through Toward a Psychology of Being because it felt more like wishful thinking about what could possibly happen in the future in this field, with a touch of esotericism, rather than actual well-founded insights.
I hear you. Maslow does make some leaps and he often points out it when he's making. He was acutely self-aware. I disagree with several of his arguments, which are quite outdated now. But he made many valuable observations that are still relevant.
He's is still the 9th most cited psychologist. That wouldn't happen if it's all "fiction".
Maslow always emphasized the relative satisfaction of needs. To quote from his famous paper[3]:
[quote]
... As for the concept of emergence of a new need after satisfaction of the prepotent [i.e. dominant] need, this emergence is not a sudden, saltatory phenomenon but rather a gradual emergence by slow degrees from nothingness. For instance, if prepotent need A is satisfied only 10 per cent then need B may not be visible at all. However, as this need A becomes satisfied 25 per cent, need B may emerge 5 per cent, as need A becomes satisfied 75 per cent need B may emerge 90 per cent, and so on.
[/quote]
If you want to understand Maslow, there's no escaping his two seminal books:
• Motivation and Personality, 1954
• Toward a Psychology of Being, 1962
He writes with superb clarity, and is an absolute joy to read. If you're really, really short on time, at least read his paper, A Theory of Human Motivation[3].
[1] https://scottbarrykaufman.com/who-created-maslows-iconic-pyr...
[2] https://scottbarrykaufman.com/sailboat-metaphor/
[3] http://worrydream.com/refs/Maslow%20-%20A%20Theory%20of%20Hu...