BASIC MOTIVATION THEORIES

Reported by: Raquel D. Bernabe-Ed.D studentSubject: OBAdProf. Helen Caparas, Ed. D

Motivation – Basic concepts and theories

It intends to give a very brief overview on the most important concepts and theories of motivation.

According to Arnold, there are 3 components of motivation:

●direction – what a person is trying to do●effort – how hard a person is trying●persistence – how long a person keeps on trying

Furthermore, literature distinguishes 2 types of factors that influence motivation:

● intrinsic – self generated factors (responsibility, freedom to act, scope to use and develop skills and abilities, interesting and challenging work, opportunities for advancement) – they have a deeper and longer-term effect

● extrinsic - what is done for people to motivate them (rewards, promotion, punishment) – they have an immediate and powerful effect, but won’t necessarily last long

Most influential is the Needs (content) Theory

●   The underlying concept is the belief that an unsatisfied need creates tension and a state of disequilibrium. To restore balance, a goal is identified that will satisfy the need and a behavior pathway to this goal is selected.●   All behavior is motivated by unsatisfied needs.●   People will be better motivated if their work experience satisfies their needs and wants

Maslows hierarchy of needs

●   Self-fulfillment●   Esteem●   Social●   Safety●   Physiological ●   If a lower need is satisfied, the next higher one becomes dominant.●   Higher-order needs provide greatest motivation.●   Different people may have different priorities

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

●   About subjective states of satisfaction and desire

   3 primary categories of human needs●   existence needs – need for material

and energy exchange●    relatedness needs – transactions

with human environment, process of sharing or mutuality

●     growth needs – people make creative or productive efforts for themselves

McClelland’s needs

●   Based mainly on studies of managers

●   3 most important needs:●   achievement – need for

competitive success measured against a personal standard of excellence

●   affiliation – need for warm, friendly relationships with others

●   power – need to control and influence others

Herzbergs two-factor model

●   Motivators – factors that really motivate people,

●   Hygiene factors – dissatisfiers; their absence would demotivate people, but their presence not necessarily improves motivation; essentially describe the environment, little effect on positive job attitudes

Process cognitive theory

●   Emphasis on psychological processes that effect motivation and on basic needs

●   Concerned with peoples perceptions and the way they interpret and understand it

●   People will be highly motivated if they can control the means to attain their goals

Expectancy theory

●   By Vroom ●   Value, instrumentality (belief that if we do one thing it will lead

to another), expectancy (probability that action or effort will lead to an outcome)

●   Strength of expectations may be based on past experiences ●   Motivation is only likely when a clearly perceived relationship

exists between performance and an outcome that is seen as a means of satisfying needs

●   Porter and Lawler: two factors determining the effort people put into their jobs:

●   Value of rewards to individuals in so far as they satisfy their needs

●   Probability that rewards depend on effort, as perceived by individuals, their expectation about relationships between effort and reward

●   Two additional variables: ●   Ability – individual characteristics and skills ●   Role perceptions – what he wants to do or thinks he is required to

do, good if they correspond with the viewpoint of the organisation

Goal theory

●   Latham and Locke●   Motivation and performance are higher

when individuals are set specific goals●   Goals have to be difficult but accepted●   Feedback on performance●   Participation in goal setting is

important –  goals need to be agreed●   As long as they are accepted –

demanding goals lead to better performance than easy goals

Reactance theory

●   Brehm●   Individuals are not passive

receivers but responders●   They seek to reduce

uncertainty by seeking control about factors influencing rewards

Equity theory

●   Adams ●   Perceptions people have about how they are being

treated as compared with others ●   Involves feelings and perceptions, is always a

comparative process ●   People will work better if they are treated equitably ●   Two forms of equity: ●   Distributive – fairness people feel they are

rewarded in accordance with their contribution and in comparison with others

●   Procedural – perceptions of employees about fairness of company procedures

●   We hope/expect that the inputs we give into our job equal the outputs we get

Other theories ●   Behavioral theory (Skinner): behavior is learnt from experience,

learning takes place mainly through reinforcement ●   Social learning theory (Bandura) significance of reinforcement

as a determinant of future behavior, importance of internal psychological factors, esp. Expectancies

●   Attribution theory (Guest) explanation of performance after we have invested considerable effort and motivation in a task; 4 types of explanations: ability, effort, task difficulty, luck; motivation depends on the factor used to explain success or failure is the force that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger or enroll in college to earn a degree. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature.

Researchers have developed a number of different theories to explain motivation. Each individual theory tends to be rather limited in scope. However, by looking at the key ideas behind each theory, you can gain a better understanding of motivation as a whole.

 

Instinct Theory of Motivation

According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal migration. These animals do not learn to do this, it is instead an inborn pattern of behavior.

William James created a list of human instincts that included such things as attachment, play, shame, anger, fear, shyness, modesty and love. The main problem with this theory is that it did not really explain behavior, it just described it. By the 1920s, instinct theories were pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but contemporary evolutionary psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on human behavior.

Incentive Theory of Motivation

The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being paid. Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this theory of motivation.

Drive Theory of Motivation

According to the drive theory of motivation, people are motivated to take certain actions in order to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. For example, you might be motivated to drink a glass of water in order to reduce the internal state of thirst. This theory is useful in explaining behaviors that have a strong biological component, such as hunger or thirst. The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that these behaviors are not always motivated purely by physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are not really hungry.

Arousal Theory of Motivation

The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people take certain actions to either decrease or increase levels of arousal. When arousal levels get too low, for example, a person might watch and exciting movie or go for a jog. When arousal levels get too high, on the other hand, a person would probably look for ways to relax such as meditating or reading a book. According to this theory, we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, although this level can vary based on the individual or the situation.

Humanistic Theory of Motivation

Humanistic theories of motivation are based on the idea that people also have strong cognitive reasons to perform various actions. This is famously illustrated in Abraham Maslow'shierarchy of needs, which presents different motivations at different levels. First, people are motivated to fulfill basic biological needs for food and shelter, as well as those of safety, love and esteem. Once the lower level needs have been met, the primary motivator becomes the need for self-actualization, or the desire to fulfill one's individual potential.

Thank’s for listening!