Psychology Lecture Notes 6 - Motivation PDF

Psychology 101 Lecture Notes 6- Motivation Motivation is defined as an inner state that activates or moves people towards goals, resulting in purposive means/ends behaviour. The reason given is that all human beings want to be successful, we all want direction and drive, and we all want to b...

Psychology 101 Lecture Notes 6- Motivation Motivation is defined as an inner state that activates or moves people towards goals, resulting in purposive means/ends behaviour. The reason given is that all human beings want to be successful, we all want direction and drive, and we all want to be seen as motivated. The psychology of motivation focuses on the whys of behaviour. Why do people do this or that? What are the motives, needs or drives? A motive is a hypothetical state that activates behaviour and propels an individual towards a goal. Motives may take the form of a need or drive. Needs can be both physiological and psychological in nature and give rise to drives which arouses us to action. There are several distinct theories of motivation we will discuss in this section. Some include basic biological forces, while others seem to transcend concrete explanation. Major theories of motivation include: 1. Instinct Theory Instinct theory is derived from our biological make-up. All creatures are born with specific innate knowledge about how to survive. Animals are born with the capacity and often times knowledge of how to survive by spinning webs, building nests, avoiding danger, and reproducing. These innate tendencies are preprogrammed at birth, they are in our genes, and even if the spider never saw a web before, never witnessed its creation, it would still know how to create one. Humans have the same types of innate tendencies. Babies are born with a unique ability that allows them to survive; they are born with the ability to cry. Without this, how would others know when to feed the baby, know when he needed changing, or when she wanted attention and affection? Crying allows a human infant to survive. We are also born with particular reflexes which promote survival. The most important of these include sucking, swallowing, coughing, blinking. Newborns can perform physical movements to avoid pain; they will turn their head if touched on their cheek and search for a nipple (rooting reflex); and they will grasp an object that touches the palm of their hands. 2. Drive Reduction Theory According to Clark Hull (1943, 1952), humans have internal internal biological needs which motivate us to perform a certain way. These needs, or drives, are defined by Hull as internal states of arousal or tension which must be reduced. A prime example would be the internal feelings of hunger or thirst, which motivates us to eat. According to this theory, we are driven to reduce these drives so that we may maintain a sense of internal calmness. 3. Arousal Theory Similar to Hull's Drive Reduction Theory, Arousal theory states that we are driven to maintain a certain level of arousal in order to feel comfortable. Arousal refers to a state of emotional, intellectual, and physical activity. It is different from the above 1 theory, however, because it doesn't rely on only a reduction of tension, but a balanced amount. It also does better to explain why people climb mountains, go to school, or watch sad movies. 4. Psychoanalytic Theory Sigmund Freud as part of his personality development theory believed that humans have two basic drives: Eros and Thanatos, or Life and Death. According to Psychoanalytic theory, everything we do, every thought we have, and every emotion we experience has one of two goals: to help us survive or to prevent our destruction. This is similar to instinct theory; however, Freud believed that the vast majority of our knowledge about these drives is buried in the unconscious part of the mind. Psychoanalytic theory therefore argues that we go to school because it will help assure our survival in terms of improved finances, more money for healthcare, or even an improved ability to find a spouse. We want criminals locked away, and we want to be protected against poisons, terrorists, and any thing else that could lead to our destruction. According to this theory, everything we do, everything we are can be traced back to these two basic drives 5. Humanistic Theory Although discussed last, humanistic theory is perhaps the most well know theory of motivation. According to this theory, humans are driven to achieve their maximum potential and will always do so unless obstacles are placed in their way. These obstacles include hunger, thirst, financial problems, safety issues, or anything else that takes our focus away from maximum psychological growth. The best way to describe this theory is to utilize the famous pyramid developed by Abraham Maslow (1970) called the Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow believed that humans have specific needs that must be met and that if lower level needs go unmet, we can not possible strive for higher level needs. The Hierarchy of Needs shows that at the lower level, we must focus on basic issues such as food, sleep, and safety. Without food, without sleep, how could we possible focus on the higher level needs such as respect, education, and recognition? 2  According to Maslow's basic theory we possess five basic needs which can be placed in a hierarchy such that as lower-order needs are satisfied we lose interest in them and concentrate upon satisfying needs at the next higher level which have become the most pressing. The five steps in the hierarchy in ascending order are: (1) physiological needs; (2) safety needs; (3) love needs; (4) esteem needs; (5) self-actualization needs. 1. The physiological needs. These include the needs we have for oxygen, water, protein, salt, sugar, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins. Also, there’s the needs to be active, to rest, to sleep, to get rid of wastes (CO2, sweat, urine, and feces), to avoid pain, and to have sex. 2. The safety and security needs. When the physiological needs are largely taken care of, this second layer of needs comes into play. You will become increasingly interested in finding safe circumstances, stability, and protection. You might develop a need for structure, for order. 3. The love and belonging needs. When physiological needs and safety needs are, by and large, taken care of, a third layer starts to show up. You begin to feel the need for friends, a sweetheart, children; affectionate relationships in general, even a sense of community. Looked at negatively, you become increasing susceptible to loneliness and social anxieties. 4. The esteem needs. Next, we begin to look for a little self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, fame, glory, recognition, attention, reputation, appreciation, dignity, even dominance. The higher form involves the need for 3 self-respect, including such feelings as confidence, competence, achievement, mastery, independence, and freedom. Note that this is the “higher” form because, unlike the respect of others, once you have self-respect, it’s a lot harder to lose. The negative version of these needs is low self-esteem and inferiority complexes. Throughout our lives, we work toward achieving the top of the pyramid, self actualization, or the realization of all of our potential. As we move up the pyramid, however, things get in the way which slow us down and often knock us backward. Imagine working toward the respect and recognition of your colleagues and suddenly finding yourself out of work and homeless. Suddenly, you are forced backward and can no longer focus your attention on your work due to the need for finding food and shelter for you and your family. 5. Self-actualization According to Maslow, nobody has ever reached the peak of his pyramid. We all may strive for it and some may even get close, but no one has achieved full self- actualization. Self-actualization means a complete understanding of who you are, a sense of completeness, of being the best person you could possibly be. To have achieved this goal is to stop living, for what is there to strive for if you have learned everything about yourself, if you have experienced all that you can, and if there is no way left for you to grow emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually. 6. Frederick Hertzberg's motivation and hygiene factors Motivational Factors: Frederick Hertzberg, contributed to human relations and motivation in terms of organization development, two theories of motivation as follows:  Hygiene Theory  Motivation The first part of the motivation theory involves the hygiene theory and includes the job environment. The hygiene factors include  The company, its policies and its administration, the kind of supervision which people receive while on the job, working conditions, interpersonal relations, salary, status, and security. These factors do not lead to motivation but without them there is dissatisfaction. The second part of the motivation theory involves what people actually do on the job. The motivators are 4   Achievement, recognition, growth / advancement and, interest in the job. These factors result from internal generators in employees, yielding motivation rather than movement. Both these approaches (hygiene and motivation) must be done simultaneously. Treat people as best you can so they have a minimum of dissatisfaction. Use people so they get achievement, recognition for achievement, interest, and responsibility and they can grow and advance in their work. Therefore, the hygiene and motivation factors can be listed as follows: Hygiene  Company policies and administration  Supervision  Working conditions and interpersonal relations  Salary, status and security Motivators  Achievement  Recognition for achievement  Interest in the task  Responsibility for enlarged task  Growth and advancement to higher-level tasks. 7. David McClelland’s Theory of Needs McClelland's theory, which is sometimes referred to as the three need theory or as the learned needs theory of human motivation, is dominated by three needs.  the need for achievement ( N-Ach),  the need for power ( N-Pow) and  the need for affiliation ( N-Affil). 5 The importance of each of these needs will vary from one person to another. If you can determine the importance of each of these needs to an individual, it will help you decide how to influence that individual. McClelland asserted that a person’s needs are influenced by their cultural background and life experiences. He also asserted that the majority of these needs can be classified as the needs for affiliation, achievement or power. A person’s motivation and effectiveness can be increased through an environment, which provides them with their ideal mix of each of the three needs (N-Ach, N-Pow and/or N-Affil). The need for affiliation (N-Affil); This is the need for friendly relationships and human interaction. There is a need “to feel liked” and “accepted” by others. A person with a high need for affiliation is likely to be a team player and thrive in a customer services environment. They will perform best in a co-operative environment. McClelland said that a strong need for affiliation will interfere with a manager’s objectivity. The “need to be liked” will affect a manager’s decisions, prompting them to make decisions to increase their popularity rather than furthering the interests of the organisation. The need for power (N-Pow); This is the need to lead others and make an impact. This need can exhibit itself in two ways. The first which is the need for personal power may be viewed as undesirable as the person simply needs to feel that they have “power over others”. They don’t have to be effective or further the objectives of their employer. The second type of “need for power” is the need for institutional power. People with the need for institutional power; want to direct the efforts of their team, to further the objectives of their organisation. The need for achievement (N-Ach); This is the need to achieve, excel and succeed. A person with this type of need, will set goals that are challenging but realistic. The goals have to be challenging so that the person can feel a sense of achievement. However the goals also have to be realistic as the person believes that when a goal is unrealistic, its achievement is dependant on chance rather than personal skill or contribution. This type of person prefers to work alone or with other high achievers. They do not need praise or recognition, achievement of the task is their reward. A person with a “need for achievement” (N-Ach) needs regular job-related feedback so that they can review their progress and achievement. Feedback includes advancement in the person’s position in the organisation. Salary scale will also be viewed as measure of 6 progress. The amount of salary is not about increasing wealth for a person with a high need for achievement. Instead this type of person is focusing on how their level of salary symbolises their progress and achievement. Theories of Emotions James-Lange theory, originated from two theorists called William James (1884) and Carl Lange (1887). Even though they developed this theory independently from each other, it is interesting that they came up with the same idea around the same time (1884- 1887). This theory says that emotion is not directly caused by the perception of an event but rather by the bodily response caused by the event. This means that, in order to experience emotion, we must first experience the bodily response (e.g., fast breathing, racing heart, sweaty hands) that corresponds to the emotion. Once we experience the bodily response we experience the emotion. For example, if I see a big scary dog barking at me, my heart begins to race. Noticing my heart race, my brain figures out that I am experiencing fear. Cannon-Bard theory, which began with the work of Walter Cannon. He thought that the James-Lange theory was flawed for a number of reasons (Cannon, 1927). In his experiments, he found that in certain animals like cats, emotion occurs even if the brain was cut off from the information about bodily responses. He also argued that the same bodily responses accompany many different emotions. For example, when your heart is racing, it may mean you are angry, but it may also mean you are excited in a positive way. This means that our brain cannot just rely on our bodily responses to know which emotion we are experiencing ( i.e., there must be something else that tells us whether we are angry or excited). Philip Bard agreed with Cannon and continued examining emotion in the brain. Through their research, Cannon and Bard concluded the experience of an emotion does not depend on input from the body and how it is responding. Both the experience of the emotion and the bodily response occur at the same time independently of each other. Theory of Cognitive Appraisal developed by two psychologists called Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer. This theory is also known as the Schachter-Singer theory. Its suggests that experiencing an emotion requires both bodily response and an interpretation of the bodily response by considering the particular situation the person is in at the moment (Schachter & Singer, 1962). If my heart is racing and an alligator is chasing me, I might interpret that as fear. If my heart is racing and I am looking at the person I am in love with, I might interpret that as excitement. Even though the bodily response is the same, I might experience very different emotions depending on the type of situation I am in. 7