Overview: To understand the behavior of others, we must know what we can not see, you must understand the motivation. The means knowing a set of theories useful in explaining what you see.
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Definitions of Motivation
“Motivation is the effort, the drive, the desire, and the energy a person uses to activate and maintain goal-driven behavior.” — Murray Johannsen
“Motivation is the reason for people’s actions, willingness and goals.” — Wikipedia
“A reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.‘ Example: escape can be a strong motivation for travel. b. Desire or willingness to do something; enthusiasm. Example: keep staff up to date and maintain interest and motivation. — Lexico.com
“1. the act or an instance of motivating 2. desire to do; interest or drive 3. incentive or inducement 4. (Psychology) psychol the process that arouses, sustains and regulates human and animal behavior.” — Source: The Free Dictionary
![Motivation Quote: If I knew what brand of whisky he [General Ulysses Grant] drinks, I would send a barrel or so to some other generals," by Abraham Lincoln](https://i0.wp.com/legacee.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/653b5-motivation_quote02.jpg?resize=474%2C356&ssl=1)
What is Motivation?
Common to all theories of motivation, is the assumption that there’s energy that shows up as behavior.
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation address the forces that exist within the black box of the mind. It’s like trying to describe the insides of the television by looking at the screen. Extrinsic motivation refers to environmental factors. For example, money is an extrinsic motivator while greed is an intrinsic one.
When we think of types of human motivation, we often start with a fundamental assumption that we are motivated by intrinsic OR extrinsic motivation factors. However, there is a third option, you are motivated by both.
Getting a college degree could be motivated by achievement motivation. But it could also be drive by the desire to have a good-paying job and other factors such as expectations of parents, career goals, and so on.
Research indicates that in some cases external rewards can lower internal motivation (Deci, 1971, 1977, 1985). An example of this is learning. All parents face this fundamental choice, should they, “Pay for the A.” If a child has a high desire to learn, research has shown money will lower a child’s “love of learning.” On the other hand, if there is no internal motivation to learn, perhaps a properly designed reinforcement schedule can bring about the behavior.
Case: THE ALLIGATOR POOL
A very wealthy man bought a huge ranch in Arizona and he invited some of his closest associates in to see it. After touring some of the 1500 acres of mountains and rivers and grasslands, he took everybody into the house. The house was as spectacular as the scenery, and outback was the largest swimming pool you have ever seen. However, this gigantic swimming pool was filled with alligators. The rich owner explained it this way: “I value courage more than anything else. Courage is what made me a billionaire. In fact, I think that courage is such a powerful virtue that if anybody is courageous enough to jump in that pool, swim through those alligators, and make it to the other side, I’ll give him anything he wants, anything – my house, my land, my money.” Of course, everybody laughed at the absurd challenge and proceeded to follow the owner into the house for lunch … when they suddenly heard a splash. Turning around they saw this guy swimming for his life across the pool, thrashing at the water, as the alligators swarmed after him. After several death-defying seconds, the man-made it, unharmed to the other side. The rich host was absolutely amazed, but he stuck to his promise. He said, “You are indeed a man of courage and I will stick to my word. What do you want? You can have anything – my house, my land, my money – just tell me what and it’s yours.” The swimmer, breathing heavily, looked up at his host and said, “I just want to know one thing – who pushed me into that pool?” as told by Dr. Charles Garfield, author of Peak Performance
Test Your Understanding: From standpoint of motivation, was the behavior of swimming across the pool:
- Intrinsically motivated?
- Extrinsically motivated?
- Both?
The Two Schools of Motivational Theory in Psychology
For convenience, motivational psychology divides the theories into two sets:
- Behavioral Theories
- Cognitive Theories
Behavioral theories of motivation focus on — well, behavior. They ignore the black box of the human mind. The cognitive theories all have some underlying reasons that exist within the mind and body.
Key Cognitive Motivational Theories
In this area, many, many theories take into account factors such as needs, beliefs, scripts, schemas, volition, attitudes, values, etc.
“Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not need money.” — Murray Johannsen
In stark contrast to the behavioral school of thought, there are many motivational theories within cognitive psychology. These theories take into account factors such as:
- Needs,
- Beliefs,
- Scripts,
- Schemas,
- Volition,
- Attitudes,
- Values etc.
However, when it comes to building motivational skills, there are three worth knowing something about: needs for achievement, equity theory, and expectancy theory.
1. McClelland’s Need For Power, Affiliation, and Achievement
McClelland (1961) felt that certain needs are not preprogrammed into the body via the genes, but learned from the environment. We learn to affiliate (or not affiliate), how to exercise power, and how to be achievement-oriented. This means we can teach achievement motivation, something associated with success in various fields of endeavor. It’s believed to be one of the primary motive forces driving entrepreneurs to start a business.
2. Equity Theory
Adams (1963) lays the groundwork to understand why people perceive something as fair or unfair. This is a most serious issue for leaders and managers, not to appear to have favorites and to treat people in such a way that they believe they are treated fairly.
3. Expectancy Theory
Proposed by Vroom (1964) this approach focuses on the beliefs that influence effort, outcomes, and performance. For example, when if one believes that one’s efforts result in a certain level of performance associated with the desired reward, one likely takes action. Of course, the exact opposite is also true. A low correlation between effort, performance, and reward breeds inaction.
We understand extrinsic motivation much more than intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation address the forces that exist within the black box of the mind. It’s like trying to describe the insides of the television by looking at the screen.
When we think of types of human motivation, we often start with a fundamental assumption that we are motivated by intrinsic OR extrinsic motivation factors. However, there is a third option, you are motivated by both.
Within the world of psychology, there are two general schools of thought regarding motivation. The first school is called the behaviorist school. Those who hold this philosophy are not interested in the black box of the human mind–they focus on observable behavior. There are three theories here one must know:
Behavioral Theories of Motivation
3 Conditioning Theories
There are three major theories in the behavioral school of motivation in psychology. Each of them is important and can be found in almost all introductory textbooks on psychology associated with learning although they are also theories of extrinsic motivation.
- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning, and
- Vicarious Learning (or modeling)
Of these three, the one most valuable to those in the organization is operant conditioning (behavior modification).
Three Primary Motivational Sources
Physiological (or Genetic) Motivators
The body has demands that must be satisfied. The three most basic are: hunger, sex, and thirst. These are captured in a common model of human motivation known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
A useful way of thinking about motivational needs is to divide them into categories that start with the body and end with the mind. In between, we have the social.
Social Motivators
Humans are pack animals who exist within a web of social relationships within different groups. Belonging to a group supplies social needs and motivates many behaviors.
Economic Motivation
If we are to believe the classical economists, the primary motivational factor driving humanity is money. And corporations? They are to engage in the never-ending quest to grow revenues, minimize costs and maximize their profits.
References
Adams, John S. (1963). Toward an understanding of inequity. Journal of Abnormal and, Social Psychology, 67(5), 422-436.
Bandura, A. (1977) Social Learning Theory. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Degaura, Josephine (2001). David McClelland: Three Needs Theory.
Deci, E. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 105-115
Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.
Deci, E. L. and Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Press
Franken, Robert (2007). Human Motivation, 6th Edition., Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
McClelland, D.C. (1961). The Achieving Society. New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc.
Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford University Press
McNerney, Same (2012). Ego Depletion, Motivation and Attention: A New Model of Self-Control, thinkbig.com September 12.
Redmond, Brian (2013). Equity Theory Overview. Wikispace Penn State University.
Schmidt, Charles (N.D.). Motivation: Expectancy Theory. Labor Research Center, University of Rhode Island.
Vroom, V. (1964). Work and Motivation. Wiley, New York: NY
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First published on September 20, 2014. Last update: October 10, 2023