All human beings have the basic need to be recognized by other people for carrying out any type of positive action that makes us worthy of said recognition. The satisfaction of this need is vital for strengthening our self-references, according to Maslow’s pyramid of needs theory; We need to satisfy the basic needs categorized in a hierarchical way to advance in the satisfaction of the other needs until we reach our self-realization, which means that we would have managed to overcome the other needs such as physiological needs, security needs, social needs (affiliation ), esteem needs and self-actualization needs.
Satisfying this need is vital for strengthening our self-references.
Getting into the topic; The need for recognition refers to the recognition of the person, the particular achievement and the respect of others towards us; By satisfying this need, people tend to feel self-confident and valuable within a society; When these needs are not satisfied, they feel inferior and worthless (Quintero, 2007).
Maslow proposed two esteem needs: a lower one that includes the respect of others towards us, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, and dignity; and a higher one, which determines the need for self-respect, including feelings such as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence and freedom (Maslow, 2014).
By knowing that our need for recognition is based on the importance given to earning a certain level of respect, success, obtaining recognition from others, etc., we see how linked it is to our self-esteem. This is why the risks of not maintaining a balance between lack of satisfaction (feeling of inferiority, insecurity, low self-esteem) and excessive satisfaction (egocentrism) of this need could have negative consequences for ourselves.
From childhood to adulthood we will have to satisfy the need to be recognized by all the people around us, whether they are our parents (or caregivers), peers, relatives, partners, etc.
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Wallon (1977) mentions that if the mother adequately attends to the needs of her children, they will grow up with a security that will be reflected in favorable social attitudes; Otherwise it will cause insecurity in the child.
Recognition affects self-esteem and self-esteem affects job performance.
“To recognize a person is to take them into account, to consider them visible and audible, to accept their right to “be” and “be”, not just to “do”. “It is not, initially, about evaluating her behavior but about confirming and accepting her presence.” (Ares Parra, 2013).
Recognition makes a person feel accepted, and as a professional it increases self-esteem. Workers who are allowed to give their opinion, question, contribute new ideas or criticize feel more satisfied (Ares Parra, 2013).
An example of the above could be that of a teenager who shows his good school grades to his parents to receive positive recognition, no matter how simple it may be, and the parents ignore him or do not meet his expectation of recognition.
Another example could be:
An adult who sacrifices his quality time, which he could use with his family or his partner, to do work that is above normal with the desire (conscious or unconscious) to receive positive recognition from his boss and that he does not give it to him, this translates as a failure in the need to be recognized since he fails to satisfy the need.
In the future, these people could function in a wrong way, seeking excessive self-satisfaction through the recognition of others for the dissatisfaction of this need in the past (insecurity), which leads to a functioning considered outside of normal that It could have negative consequences for the person such as unemployment, difficulty in obtaining and maintaining stable relationships (friendships, intimate relationships, etc.).
This almost obsessive search for recognition usually arises from a lack of appreciation of ourselves, so we need others to value what we do in order to value it ourselves.
References:
Maslow, A., (2014), Motivation and PersonalityMadrid, Spain: DIAZ DE SANTOS.
Quintero, J., (2007), Fermin Toro University; Doctoral School; Seminar, Theories and educational paradigms; Venezuela; extracted on June 28, 2012 on the website: http://doctorado.josequintero.net
Ares Parra A. (2013) Importance of recognition to promote good job performance. Journal of transactional analysis and humanistic psychology. ISSN 0212-9876 No. 69 p. (192-202) Spain.
Wallon, H. (1977). The psychological evolution of the child. Mexico: Grijalvo.