Motivation Theory
Motivation Theory
Motivation Theory
Natural vs. Rational based on whether the underlying theory of human cognition is based on natural forces (drives, needs, desires) or some kind Motivation can be looked at as a cycle where thoughts
of rationality (instrumentality, meaningfulness, self- inuence behaviours, and behaviours drive performance,
identity).
performance impacts thoughts and the cycle begins again.
Each stage of the cycle is composed of many dimensions
Content vs. Process based on whether the focus is on
including attitudes, beliefs, intentions, eort, and withthe content (what) motivates vs process (how)
drawal which can all aect the motivation that an indimotivation takes place.
vidual experiences.
1.1
1.2
observe and to gain knowledge.[5] It is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the
individual rather than relying on external pressures or a
desire for reward. Intrinsic motivation has been studied
since the early 1970s. The phenomenon of intrinsic motivation was rst acknowledged within experimental studies of animal behavior. In these studies, it was evident
that the organisms would engage in playful and curiosity
driven behaviors in the absence of reward. Intrinsic motivation is a natural motivational tendency and is a critical
element in cognitive, social, and physical development.[6]
Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely
to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve
their skills, which will increase their capabilities.[7] Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they:
attribute their educational results to factors under
their own control, also known as autonomy or locus
of control
believe they have the skills to be eective agents
in reaching their desired goals, also known as selfecacy beliefs
Push motivations are those where people push themselves towards their goals or to achieve something, such
as the desire for escape, rest, and relaxation, prestige,
health and tness, adventure, and social interaction.[13]
However, with push motivation its also easy to get discouraged when there are obstacles present in the path of
achievement. Push motivation acts as a willpower and
peoples willpower is only as strong as the desire behind
the willpower. [14]
2.7
2.5
Drives
a daily life routine, turning on the television and watching an adventure lm, whereas seeking is described as
the desire to learn, turning on the television to watch a
documentary. Both motivations have some interpersonal
and personal facets for example individuals would like to
escape from family problems (personal) or from problems with work colleagues (interpersonal). This model
can also be easily adapted with regard to dierent studies.
2.8
Drive-reduction theory
There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept that people have
certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes
the strength of the drive increases if it is not satised (in
this case by eating). Upon satisfying a drive the drives
strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse ideas
from the theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such as a thermostat.
Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when preparing food, the drive model appears to
be compatible with sensations of rising hunger as the food
is prepared, and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in subjective hunger. There are several problems,
however, that leave the validity of drive reduction open
for debate. The rst problem is that it does not explain
how secondary reinforcers reduce drive. For example,
money satises no biological or psychological needs, but
a pay check appears to reduce drive through second-order
conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is viewed
as having a desire to eat, making the drive a homuncular
beinga feature criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this small man and his desires.
2.11
2.10.2
Alderfer, expanding on Maslows hierarchy of needs, created the ERG theory. This theory posits that there are
three groups of core needs existence, relatedness, and
growth, hence the label: ERG theory. The existence
group is concerned with providing our basic material existence requirements. They include the items that Maslow
considered to be physiological and safety needs. The
second group of needs are those of relatedness- the desire we have for maintaining important personal relationships. These social and status desires require interaction with others if they are to be satised, and they
align with Maslows social need and the external component of Maslows esteem classication. Finally, Alderfer isolates growth needs as an intrinsic desire for personal development. These include the intrinsic component from Maslows esteem category and the characteristics included under self-actualization.
motivational patterns, including working hard, a willing- respectively. Both processes require self-regulatory efness to pick learning tasks with much diculty, and con- forts. Several self-regulatory constructs are needed to optributing success to eort.[31]
erate in orchestration to attain goals. An example of such
Achievement motivation was studied intensively by David a motivational and volitional construct is perceived selfC. McClelland, John W. Atkinson and their colleagues ecacy. Self-ecacy is supposed to facilitate the formsince the early 1950s.[32] Their research showed that busi- ing of behavioral intentions, the development of action
ness managers who were successful demonstrated a high plans, and the initiation of action. It can support the transneed to achieve no matter the culture. There are three lation of intentions into action.
major characteristics of people who have a great need to John W. Atkinson, David Birch and their colleagues deachieve according to McClellands research.
veloped the theory of Dynamics of Action to mathematically model change in behavior as a consequence
and associated tenden1. They would prefer a work environment in which of the interaction of motivation
[34][35]
cies
toward
specic
actions.
The theory posits that
they are able to assume responsibility for solving
change
in
behavior
occurs
when
the
tendency for a new,
problems.
unexpressed behavior becomes dominant over the ten2. They would take calculated risk and establish mod- dency currently motivating action. In the theory, the
strength of tendencies rises and falls as a consequence
erate, attainable goals.
of internal and external stimuli (sources of instigation),
3. They want to hear continuous recognition, as well as inhibitory factors, and consummatory in factors such as
feedback, in order for them to know how well they performing an action. In this theory, there are three
causes responsible for behavior and change in behavior:
are doing.[33]
Goal-setting theory
Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach a clearly dened end
state. Often, this end state is a reward in itself. A goals
eciency is aected by three features: proximity, diculty and specicity. Good goal setting incorporates the
SMART criteria, in which goals are: specic, measurable, accurate, realistic, and timely. An ideal goal should
present a situation where the time between the initiation
of behavior and the end state is close. This explains why
some children are more motivated to learn how to ride
a bike than to master algebra. A goal should be moderate, not too hard or too easy to complete. In both cases,
most people are not optimally motivated, as many want a
challenge (which assumes some kind of insecurity of success). At the same time people want to feel that there is a
substantial probability that they will succeed. Specicity
concerns the description of the goal in their class. The
goal should be objectively dened and intelligible for the
individual. A classic example of a poorly specied goal
is to get the highest possible grade. Most children have
no idea how much eort they need to reach that goal.
2.20
2.18 Intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic Individuals formulate explanatory attributions to understand the events they experience and to seek reasons for
desires theory
Starting from studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss has proposed a theory that
found 16 basic desires that guide nearly all human
behavior.[40][41] The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and dene our personalities are:
Acceptance, the need for approval
Curiosity, the need to learn
Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values Approach motivation is a motivation to experience a posof ones clan/ethnic group
itive outcome. In contrast, avoidance motivation is a
motivation not to experience a negative outcome.[38] Re Idealism, the need for social justice
search suggests that, all else being equal, avoidance motivations tend to be more powerful than approach mo Independence, the need for individuality
tivations. Because people expect losses to have more
Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable powerful emotional consequences than equal-size gains,
environments
they will take more risks to avoid a loss than to achieve a
gain.[38]
Physical activity, the need for exercise
Power, the need for inuence of will
Romance, the need for sex and for beauty
3 Practical applications
The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many dierent approaches of
Social contact, the need for friends (peer relation- motivation training, but many of these are considered
pseudoscientic by critics. To understand how to control
ships)
motivation it is rst necessary to understand why many
Social status, the need for social stand- people lack motivation.
ing/importance
Saving, the need to collect
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Drugs
4. Autonomy - the degree to which the employee has in- Some authors, especially in the transhumanist movement,
dependence, freedom and discretion in carrying out have suggested the use of smart drugs, also known as
nootropics, as motivation-enhancers. These drugs work
the job
in various ways to aect neurotransmitters in the brain. It
5. Task Feedback - the degree to which the employee is generally widely accepted that these drugs enhance cogis provided with clear, specic, detailed, actionable nitive functions, but not without potential side eects.[51]
information about the eectiveness of his or her job The eects of many of these drugs on the brain are emperformance
phatically not well understood, and their legal status often
makes open experimentation dicult.
The JCM links the core job dimensions listed above to
critical psychological states which results in desired personal and work outcomes. This forms the basis of this 3.3 Education
'employee growth-need strength. The core dimensions
listed above can be combined into a single predictive in- Motivation is of particular interest to educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student
dex, called the Motivating Potential Score.
learning. However, the specic kind of motivation that
is studied in the specialized setting of education diers
Motivating potential score See also: Work motiva- qualitatively from the more general forms of motivation
tion and Job satisfaction
studied by psychologists in other elds.
Motivation in education can have several eects on how
The motivating potential score (MPS) can be calculated, students learn and how they behave towards subject
using the core dimensions discussed above, as follows:
matter.[52] It can:
Signicance Task + Identity Task + Variety Skill 1. Direct behavior toward particular goals
Feedback x Autonomy x
3
2. Lead to increased eort and energy
Jobs that are high in motivating potential must be high on
at least one of the three factors that lead to experienced
3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities
MPS =
3.3
Education
Nanayakkara, and Marshall conducted neuroscience research on childrens motivation orientation, neurologi5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing
cal indicators of error monitoring (the process of detecting an error), and academic achievement. Their re6. Lead to improved performance.
search suggests that students with high intrinsic motivation attribute performance to personal control and that
Because students are not always internally motivated, their error-monitoring system is more strongly engaged
they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found by performance errors. They also found that motivation orientation and academic achievement were related
in environmental conditions that the teacher creates.
to the strength in which their error-monitoring system was
If teachers decided to extrinsically reward productive engaged.[61]
student behaviors, they may nd it dicult to extricate
themselves from that path. Consequently student depen- Motivation has been found to be an important element
dency on extrinsic rewards represents one of the greatest in the concept of Andragogy (what motivates the adult
learner), and in treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, as
detractors from their use in the classroom.[53]
in Pivotal Response Therapy.
The majority of new student orientation leaders at colleges and universities recognize that distinctive needs of Doyle and Moeyn have noted that traditional methods
students should be considered in regard to orientation in- tended to use anxiety as negative motivation (e.g. use
formation provided at the beginning of the higher educa- of bad grades by teachers) as a method of getting stution experience. Research done by Whyte in 1986 raised dents to work. However, they have found that progressive
the awareness of counselors and educators in this regard. approaches with focus on positive motivation over punIn 2007, the National Orientation Directors Association ishment has produced greater eectiveness with learnreprinted Cassandra B. Whyte's research report allowing ing, since anxiety interferes with performance of complex
[62]
readers to ascertain improvements made in addressing tasks.
specic needs of students over a quarter of a century later
to help with academic success.[54]
Generally, motivation is conceptualized as either intrin- 3.3.1 Indigenous education and learning
sic or extrinsic. Classically, these categories are regarded
as distinct.[55] Today, these concepts are less likely to be For many indigenous students (such as Native Ameriused as distinct categories, but instead as two ideal types can children), motivation may be derived from social
organization; an important factor educators should acthat dene a continuum:[56]
count for in addition to variations in Sociolinguistics and
Cognition.[63] While poor academic performance among
1. Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are inter- Native American students is often attributed to low levnally motivated to do something because it either els of motivation, Top-down classroom organization is
brings them pleasure, they think it is important, often found to be ineective for children of many culor they feel that what they are learning is signi- tures who depend on a sense of community, purpose,
cant. It has been shown that intrinsic motivation and competence in order to engage.[64] Horizontallyfor education drops from grades 3-9 though the ex- structured, community-based learning strategies often
act cause cannot be ascertained.[57] Also, in younger provide a more structurally supportive environment for
students it has been shown that contextualizing ma- motivating indigenous children, who tend to be driven
terial that would otherwise be presented in an ab- by social/aective emphasis, harmony, holistic perspecstract manner increases the intrinsic motivation of tives, expressive creativity, and nonverbal communicathese students.[58]
tion.[65] This drive is also traceable to a cultural tradition of community-wide expectations of participation in
2. Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student the activities and goals of the greater group, rather than
is compelled to do something or act a certain way individualized aspirations of success or triumph.[66]
because of factors external to him or her (like money
In some indigenous communities, young children can
or good grades).
often portray a sense of community-based motivation
through their parent-like interactions with siblings.[67]
Cassandra B. Whyte researched and reported about the Furthermore, it is commonplace for children to assist and
importance of locus of control and academic achieve- demonstrate for their younger counterparts without being
ment. Students tending toward a more internal locus of prompted by authority gures. Observation techniques
control are more academically successful, thus encourag- and integration methods are demonstrated in such examing curriculum and activity development with considera- ples as weaving in Chiapas, Mexico, where it is commontion of motivation theories.[59][60]
place for children to learn from a more skilled other
Academic motivation orientation may also be tied with within the community.[68] The childs real responsibility
ones ability to detect and process errors. Fisher, within the Mayan community can be seen in, for example,
10
Self-determination in education
Self-determination is the ability to make choices and exercise a high degree of control, such as what the student
does and how they do it (Deci et al., 1991; Reeve, Hamm,
& Nix, 2003; Ryan & Deci, 2002). Self-determination
can be supported by providing opportunities for students
to be challenged, such as leadership opportunities, providing appropriate feedback and fostering, establishing
and maintaining good relationships between teachers and
students. These strategies can increase students interest, competence, creativity and desire to be challenged
and ensure that students are intrinsically motivated to
study. On the other hand, students who lack of selfdetermination are more likely to feel their success is out
of their control. Such students lose motivation to study,
which causes a state of helpless learning. Students who
feel helpless readily believe they will fail and therefore
cease to try. Over time, a vicious circle of low achievement develops.
3.3.3
Physical activity is body movement that works your muscles and requires more energy than resting. According to
a blog by the American Intercontinental University, college students should make time for exercise to maintain
and increase motivation. AIU states that regular exercise has impeccable eects on the brain. With consistent running routines, there are more complex connections between neurons, meaning the brain is able to access
its brain cells more exibly. By performing well physically, motivation will be present in education because of
how well the brain is performing. After exercising, the
brain can have more desire to obtain knowledge and better retain the information. In addition, exercise can relieve stress. Exercising can ease anxiety and relieve negative eects of stress on the body. Without stress factors,
individuals can perform better and more eciently, since
their minds will have a more positive outlook. This positive mood will help keep students motivated and more
open and willing to succeed academically. Lastly, ex-
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
3.4 Business
Main article: Work motivation
At lower levels of Maslows hierarchy of needs, such as
physiological needs, money is a motivator, however it
tends to have a motivating eect on sta that lasts only
for a short period (in accordance with Herzberg's twofactor model of motivation). At higher levels of the hierarchy, praise, respect, recognition, empowerment and a
sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than
money, as both Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation
and Douglas McGregor's theory X and theory Y (pertaining to the theory of leadership) demonstrate.
According to Maslow, people are motivated by unsatised needs.[74] The lower level needs such as Physiologi-
3.5
Games
11
need not consider psychological or social aspects of work.
In essence, scientic management bases human motivation wholly on extrinsic rewards and discards the idea of
intrinsic rewards.
In contrast, David McClelland believed that workers
could not be motivated by the mere need for money
in fact, extrinsic motivation (e.g., money) could extinguish intrinsic motivation such as achievement motivation, though money could be used as an indicator of success for various motives, e.g., keeping score. In keeping with this view, his consulting rm, McBer & Company, had as its rst motto To make everyone productive, happy, and free. For McClelland, satisfaction lay
in aligning a persons life with their fundamental motivations.
ization of its members. All underlying goals are consistent across the organization. Its American segment retains formality and authority amongst members and the
organization. Ultimately, Theory Z promotes common
structure and commitment to the organization, as well as
constant improvement of work ecacy.
Rewarding of nominators
Visibility of the recognition process
3.5 Games
According to the system of scientic management developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, a workers motivation Motivational models are central to game design, because
is solely determined by pay, and therefore management without motivation a player will not be interested in
12
See also
Adaptive performance
Addiction
Amotivational syndrome
Andragogy
Dopamine
Equity theory
Flow
Goal orientation
Happiness at work
Health Action Process Approach
Hedonic motivation
Human behavior
Human Potential Movement
Humanistic psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology
I-Change Model
Incentive program
Learned industriousness
Locus of control
Motivation crowding theory
Organismic theory
Organizational behavior
Personality psychology
Positive education
Positive Psychology in the Workplace
Regulatory Focus Theory
REFERENCES
5 References
[1] Maehr,
Martin L; Mayer,
Heather (1997).
Understanding Motivation and Schooling: Where
We've Been, Where We Are, and Where We Need to
Go. Educational Psychology Review 9 (44).
[2] Stretton, Hugh; Orchard, Lionel (1994). Public goods,
public enterprise, public choice : theoretical foundations
of the contemporary attack on government (1. publ. ed.).
Basingstoke u.a.: Macmillan u.a. ISBN 0333607244.
[3] Wright, Robert (1995). The moral animal : evolutionary
psychology and everyday life (1st Vintage books ed. ed.).
New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-76399-6.
[4] Unconscious Motivation. Clark, David Staord. What
Freud Really Said. New York Schocken Books, 1965.
[5] Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination
theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social
development, and well-being. American Psychologist,
55(1), 68-78. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
[6] Ryan, Richard; Edward L. Deci (2000). Intrinsic and
Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Denitions and New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25 (1):
5467. doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1020.
[7] Wigeld, A., Guthrie, J. T., Tonks, S., & Perencevich,
K. C. (2004). Childrens motivation for reading: Domain
specicity and instructional inuences. Journal of Educational Research, 97, 299-309.
[8] Dewani, Vijay. Motivation. slideshare. Retrieved 22
March 2013.
[9] Mark R. Lepper, David Greene and Richard Nisbet, Undermining Childrens Intrinsic Interest with Extrinsic Reward; A Test of Overjustication Hypothesis, " Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology 28, 1973, 12937.
[10] Barbara A. Marinak and Linda B. Gambrell, Intrinsic
Motivation and Rewards: What Sustains Young Childrens Engagement with Text?, " Literacy Research and
Instruction 47, 2008, 9-26.
[11] Wilson, T. D., & Lassiter, G. D. (1982). Increasing intrinsic interest with superuous extrinsic constraints. Journal
of personality and social psychology, 42(5), 811-819.
Self-determination theory
Self-ecacy
13
[49] How Employee Recognition Programmes Improve Retention CFO Insight Magazine, January 2013
[50] Five mistaken beliefs business leaders have about innovation by Freek Vermeulen in Forbes, May 2011
[51] Stevens, Sharni. Cognitive Enhancement: A Boost in the
Right Direction?. The Triple Helix. 2011.
14
REFERENCES
[59] Whyte, Cassandra B. (1979) Eective Counseling Methods for High-Risk College Freshmen. Measurement and
Evaluation in Counseling. 6 (4). 198-200.
[60] Lauridsen, K. (editor) and Whyte, C.B. (1980). An Integrated counseling and Learning Assistance Center. New
Directions Sourcebook. Jossey-Bass.
[76] Steinmetz, L.L. (1983) Nice Guys Finish Last: Management Myths and Reality. Boulder, Colorado: Horizon
Publications Inc. (pp. 4344)
[63] Instructional Conversations in Native American Classrooms (1994). Center for Applied Linguistics: Online
Digests (5).
[79] Human Resources Management, HT Graham and R Bennett M+E Handbooks(1993) ISBN 0-7121-0844-0
[80] Barnett, Tim, and Scott B. Droege. Theory Z. Encyclopedia of Management. Ed. Marilyn M. Helms. 5th ed.
Detroit: Gale, 2006. 914-916. Gale Virtual Reference
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[82] Rado, Jon. April 2011. Game On: Energize Your Business with Social Games. ISBN 978-0-470-93626-9
[83] Rado, Jon. Game Player Motivations. May 2011.
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[84] Popkin, Helen (June 1, 2010). FarmVille invades the real
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15
Understanding Motivation and Schooling: Where We've
Been, Where We Are, and Where We Need to Go | Martin L Maehr and Heather Mayer Educational Psychology
Review, Vol 9, No. 4, 1997
Further reading
Baumeister, R.F.; Vohs, K.D. (2004), Handbook of
self-regulation: Research, theory, and applications,
New York: Guilford Press, p. 574, ISBN 1-57230991-1
Carver, C.S.; Scheier, M.F. (2001), On the selfregulation of behavior, New York: Cambridge University Press, p. 460, ISBN 0-521-00099-8
Cervone, D.; Shadel, W.G.; Smith, Ronald E.; Fiori,
Marina (2006), Self-Regulation: Reminders and Suggestions from Personality Science, Applied Psychology: an International Review 55 (3): 333385,
doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00261.x
Cofer, Charles N; Appley, Mortimer H (1967), Motivation: Theory and Research, New York, London,
Sydney: John Wiley & Sons
Fishbein, M.; Ajzen, I. (1975), Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and
research, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
Gollwitzer, P.M. (1999), Implementation intentions: Strong eects of simple plans, American
Psychologist 54 (7): 493503, doi:10.1037/0003066X.54.7.493
Jones, Ishmael (2008), The Human Factor: Inside
the CIAs Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture (New
York: Encounter Books), ISBN 978-1-59403-3827
Murphy, Jim (2009), Inner Excellence, McGrawHill, ISBN 978-0-07-163504-2
External links
The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (1981), Richard
Feynman on intrinsic motivation: I don't know anything about the Nobel Prize. I don't understand what
its about, or what its worth ... I don't like honors.
I'm appreciated for the work that I did and I've noticed that other physicists use my work. I don't need
anything else. I don't think theres any sense to anything else. I don't see that it makes any point that
someone in the Swedish Academy decides that this
work is Nobel enough to receive a prize. I've already got the prize. The prize is the pleasure of nding the thing out, the kick in the discovery, the observation that other people use it. Those are the real
things. The honors are unreal to me.
16
8.1
Text
8.2
8.2
Images
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Images
8.3
Content license