MOTIVATION

Why do we do the things we do?

Why are some people motivated and others not?

THE NATURE OF MOTIVATION

• motivation is not easy to explain or understand

EVERYBODY IS MOTIVATED!

• contrary to what people think, everyone is motivated
• but we are not all motivated by the same things
• one can be motivated by work but not school, for example
• motivation can depend on the event, the time, the place, people
• when we say a person is not motivated, what we are saying is they are not doing what we want, how we want, or when we want

REASONS FOR BEHAVING

• looking for the reason behind behaviour is difficult
• person may lack self-awareness as to the reason for their own behaviour
• person could be hiding their intentions
• we might project our own motivations onto others

CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS

CONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS

• motivations that are willful and we are aware of
• we can provide rationale and an explanation

  UNCONSCIOUS MOTIVATIONS

• motivations that we are not aware of-we donÕt have an understanding of them
• we behave and then question why we did or said that
• these behaviours may be the result of repressed fears, anxieties, latent hostilities
• Freud and Jung would say these actions are from unconscious

INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL

A wrong behaviour takes place ---"The devil made me do it."

One person becomes angry at another. Did the other person cause it?

• what we attribute events and actions to depends on how we view things
• some researchers believe much of human behaviour is environmentally determined
• A person exhibits bad behaviour- what is it attributed to

1. External cause: poor living environment? alcoholic parent?

This is external locus of control

2. Internal cause: behaviour is caused by self

This is Internal Locus of Control

INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL

• a person with internal locus of control accepts responsibility for own actions
• high internal locus of control person feels self-governed
• doesn't feel like a victim
• "I have choices, they are mine; I determine what happens to me."

Why does person do a kind act?

A. If it for attention, money reward, to be in will--then this is external reason

or B. If it is to do good, if the act is rewarding to self, then this is Internal Motivation

• this is more rewarding Internal Motivations
• art for art's sake- doing a good job for the job
• doing well in school to learn rather than to get high mark, or praise from parent

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION-WHAT MAKES US TICK?

1. PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

INSTINCTS

• instincts are forces that drive personality
• Freud says human is complex energy system that requires energy to do psychological work :thinking,perceiving,remembering, dreaming)
• instincts are responsible for generating psychic energy
• behaviour has biological basis-instinctual drives are activated by bodily needs that motivate
• humans seek gratification
• we have urge to satisfy self to reach state of homeostasis: (balanced state) a state of peaceful freedom from need

NIRVANA AND PLEASURE PRINCIPLE

Nirvana Principle

• humans seek to reduce excitation and tension to reach state of homeostasis ( Nirvana previously called constancy principle) Freud
• originally Freud saw nirvana linked to pleasure; later he revised thinking to say that some states of pleasure require an increase in excitation rather than a decrease
• this would explain those who seek tension and excitement to have pleasure
• Freud distinguished two types of instincts: Eros and Thanatos

Eros

• life instincts and sexual instincts
• aim is to survive, self preservation, procreation, pleasure
• these belong to libido

Libido

• is not purely sexual, includes hunger, pain avoidance and erotic urges
• libido seeks to gratify physical and pleasurable feelings associated with life instincts

Thanatos

• includes all instincts that do not fall under Eros, includes death instincts
• Freud said "Aim of all life is death"
• we seek homeostasis-orgasmic quietude
• aggression instinct-tension can be reduced by verbal, physical or symbolic attack
• examples of self aggression: taking drugs
• acceptable aggression: contact sports
• aggression released through catharsis
• human must learn to control aggressive instinct before it controls
• humans sublimate aggression into sports, or creative activities: art writing acting

2. MASLOW'S HUMANISTIC THEORY OF HUMAN NEEDS

• Maslow believed human is not at war as Freud says
• Maslow says human nature essentially good not potentially evil
• emphasis is on human strength and virtue
• Maslow studied the healthy individual

  Maslow's HIERARCHY OF HUMAN NEEDS

• human is a wanting animal reaching for satisfaction
• once one need is satisfied, human reaches to fulfill another need
• there are universal human needs: physiological, safety and security, social needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs,aesthetic needs and self actualization needs
• these needs help us to grow and self actualize

SELF ACTUALIZATION NEEDS

AESTHETIC NEEDS /COGNITIVE NEEDS

ESTEEM NEEDS

SOCIAL NEEDS FOR LOVE AND BELONGING

SAFETY AND SECURITY NEEDS

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS

1. ONE MOVES UP THE LEVELS

2. SATISFIED NEEDS DON'T MOTIVATE

3. All people donÕt necessarily reach the top level

LEVEL ONE: PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS

• survival needs: food, water, sex, sleep, air

LEVEL TWO: SAFETY AND SECURITY NEEDS

• shelter, transportation, routines

LEVEL THREE: SOCIAL NEEDS FOR LOVE AND BELONGING

• intimacy, caring relations, groups

LEVEL FOUR: ESTEEM NEEDS

• need to feel good about self-worthy (internal/external)

LEVEL FIVE/SIX: COGNITIVE/AESTHETIC NEEDS

• satisfy curiosity, search for meaning
• search for beauty symmetry and closure

LEVEL SEVEN: SELF ACTUALIZATION

• to reach our potential- become what we can -to grow

CHARACTERISTICS OF SELF ACTUALIZED PEOPLE

• perceive clearly and efficiently-to detest dishonesty see confused reality
• accept themselves and others without guilt or complaint
• behave spontaneously, simply and naturally
• focus on problems external not own ego-completing some life task
• enjoy privacy and solitude more than average person
• autonomous not dependent on physical/social world
• display fresh appreciation for life
• have mystical or peak experiences
• posses a deep feeling for humanity
• respectful and humble before others
• deep relationships with limited number of people
• ethically strong, possessing moral standards
• can distinguish between means and ends
• display unusual sense of humour philosophical rather than hostile

Maslow's Metamotivation

• self actualizing people are motivated by different things
• Maslow calls this metamotivation or B- motivation (Being Motivation)
• self actualizer not preoccupied by reducing tensions but enriching life motivation to self actualize is intrinsic- an act for the sake of the act rather than for some external reward

Maslow's D- Motivation ( Deficiency motivation)

• D- motivation rectifies deficiencies-biologic, psychological
• gratification through lower level needs

Metapathology

• frustrated meta needs can lead to metapathology
• frustrated need for truth leads to cynicism
• frustrated need for meaning leads to despair

3. BEHAVIOURIST ACCOUNT OF MOTIVATION

• behaviourist is only interested in what can be seen or measured
• unconscious is irrelevant to behaviourist--look at behaviour-external
• Behaviourist: What we do is what we have learned
• Learning: any relatively permanent change in behaviour attributed to experience

  Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov - studied salivation in dogs -dogs salivated to food- food is an unconditioned stimulus
• Pavlov noticed that event before the food also produced salivation
• pairing a bell and food- bell produced salivation -bell had become a conditioned stimulus
• many events that are paired in life become associated

  Operant Conditioning

• Thorndike's Law of Effect: a response followed by pleasurable consequence will tend to be repeated; a response followed by unpleasant consequence will tend not to be repeated
• difference from classical is that person or animal must act (operate) on the environment and the act must be followed by a consequence
• eg. bird pecks at level and food follows- bird learns lever gets food
• Reinforcer: anything that creates a pleasant or satisfying state of affairs
• Reinforcement can be negative or positive
• positive reinforcement: praise for doing good job
• negative reinforcement: headache-take pill- pill takes headache away
• punishment: aversive or noxious state of affairs that will tend to stop behaviour
• Behaviourist: we are shaped by our experiences

4. BANDURA SOCIAL LEARNING

• much learning occurs through observation- vicarious learning
• we imitate what we see Observational Learning
• attention and retention required
• motivation or incentive is required then motor reproduction
• we may directly imitate another ( when we are unfamiliar how to act)
• we may indirectly imitate ( see one person being friendly, also act friendly)
• imitation depends on consequences
• Bandura and Bobo doll experiment

5. CHOICE THEORY OF MOTIVATION-WILLIAM GLASSER

Glasser's Basic needs:

1. need to survive and reproduce

2. need to belong, love and share and cooperate

3. need for power

4. need for freedom

5. need for fun

• all basic needs are produced by genetics and biology
• everyone is motivated
• BUT how needs are satisfied is not universal
• we all have a picture album in mind where we store images of what we want and what we have
• we have an ideal world in mind- the picture of the ideal may change
• some people have an unrealistic picture -therefore getting that may be unattainable
• human is a behavioural control system: if what we want and what we get is equivalent, then little frustration
• the greater the frustration the greater the motivation to act ( this explains why people fly into action)

Source: Mastering Human Relations 3rd Edition, A Falikowski, 2002. Pearson Education

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