Why are you still talking about Maslow? Spotting the academic charlatans in the Psychology of Education.

This article critically examines the continued prominence of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in educational motivation theory despite significant advances in the field. Maslow’s model, which posits a sequential hierarchy of physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation needs, is acknowledged as historically seminal but is argued to be overly simplistic and insufficient to explain motivated behavior in contemporary educational contexts. The author highlights more recent motivational theories, such as Dweck’s unified model emphasizing acceptance, optimal predictability, and competence as basic needs, and notes that many current frameworks (e.g., Self-Determination Theory, Expectancy-Value Theory, Achievement Goal Theory) provide more nuanced and evidence-based accounts. The article concludes that while Maslow’s concept of self-actualisation relates to well-being, educators and researchers should move beyond Maslow’s hierarchy to incorporate a broader, more complex understanding of motivation grounded in contemporary research.