Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors.
It is
what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book
to gain knowledge. Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces
that activate behavior.
Types of Motivation
Different types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic:
• Extrinsic motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often
involve rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition, or praise.
• Intrinsic motivations are those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a
complicated crossword puzzle purely for the personal gratification of solving a problem.
Uses
There are many different uses for motivation. It serves as a guiding force for all human behavior,
but understanding how it works and the factors that may impact it can be important in a number
of ways.
Understanding motivation can:
• Help improve the efficiency of people as they work toward goals
• Help people take action
• Encourage people to engage in health-oriented behaviors
• Help people avoid unhealthy or maladaptive behaviors such as risk-taking and addiction
• Help people feel more in control of their lives
• Improve overall well-being and happiness
• Maslow’s Motivation Theory
• What motivates human behaviour?
• According to humanist psychologist Abraham Maslow, our actions are motivated in order achieve certain
needs.
• Maslow first introduced his concept of hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”
and his subsequent book Motivation and Personality.
• This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more
advanced needs.
• Maslow was interested in learning what makes people happy and the things that they do to achieve that aim.
• As a humanist, Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized, to be all they can
be.
• Maslow’s hierarchy is particularly important for educators.
•
• From Basic to More Complex Needs
• This hierarchy of needs given by Maslow is most often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the
pyramid are made up of the most basic needs.
• The more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid.
Needs at the bottom of the pyramid are basic physical requirements
including the need for food, water, sleep, and warmth.
Once these lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs, which are for safety
and security.
As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social.
Soon, the need for love, friendship, and intimacy become important.
Further up the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority.
Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person
in order to achieve individual potential.
Five Levels of the Hierarchy of Needs
There are five different levels in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
1. Physiological Needs
These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food, and sleep. Maslow
believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become
secondary until these physiological needs are met.
Most of these lower level needs are probably fairly apparent. We need food and water to survive. We also need to
breath and maintain a stable body temperature. In addition to eating, drinking, and having adequate shelter and
clothing, Maslow also suggested that sexual reproduction was a basic physiological need.
2. Security Needs
These include the needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as
demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health
care, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment.
Human needs become more complex at this point in the hierarchy.
Now that the more basic survival needs have been fulfilled, people begin to feel that they need more control and
order to their lives.
A safe place to live, financial security, physical safety, and staying healthy are all concerns that might come into play
at this stage.
3. Social Needs
These include needs for belonging, love, and affection. Maslow described these needs as less basic than physiological
and security needs.
Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments, and families help fulfill this need for companionship and
acceptance, as does involvement in social, community, or religious groups.
4. Esteem Needs
After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the
need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition, and accomplishment.
At this point, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to
accomplish things and then have their efforts recognized.
People often engage in activities such as going to school, playing a sport, enjoying a hobby, or participating in
professional activities in order to fulfill this need.
Satisfying this need and gaining acceptance and esteem helps people become more confident.
Failing to gain recognition for accomplishments, however, can lead to feelings of failure or inferiority.
5. Self-actualizing Needs
This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with
personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested in fulfilling their potential.
The key concept behind Maslow’s pyramid is the fact that one can only move up, provided that the more basic needs
are satisfied. For example, if an employee feels that his job is under a threat, Maslow’s theory suggests that this
employee will be less productive, because he cannot realize higher level potential due to his safety concerns.
McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory
McClelland’s Human Motivation Theory is also known as Three Needs Theory, Acquired Needs Theory, Motivational
Needs Theory, and Learned Needs Theory.
David McClelland built on Maslow’s work in his 1961 book, “The Achieving Society.”
He identified three motivators that he believed we all have:
1. a need for achievement,
2. a need for affiliation, and
3. a need for power.
People will have different characteristics depending on their
dominant motivator.
According to McClelland, these motivators are learned, which is why this theory is sometimes called the Learned
Needs Theory.
McClelland says that, regardless of our gender, culture, or age, we all have three motivating drivers, and one of these
will be our dominant motivating driver. This dominant motivator is largely dependent on our culture and life
experiences.
These characteristics are as follows:
Dominant Motivator Characteristics of This Person
Achievement · Has a strong need to set and accomplish challenging
goals.
· Takes calculated risks to accomplish their goals.
· Likes to receive regular feedback on their progress and
achievements.
· Often likes to work alone.
Affiliation · Wants to belong to the group.
· Wants to be liked, and will often go along with whatever
the rest of the group wants to do.
· Favours collaboration over competition.
· Doesn’t like high risk or uncertainty.
Dominant Motivator Characteristics of This Person
Power · Wants to control and influence others.
· Likes to win arguments.
· Enjoys competition and winning.
· Enjoys status and recognition.
Power · Wants to control and influence others.
· Likes to win arguments.
· Enjoys competition and winning.
· Enjoys status and recognition.
Those with a strong power motivator are often divided into two groups: personal and institutional.
People with a personal power drive want to control others.
People with an institutional power drive like to organize the efforts of a team to further the company’s goals.
As you can probably imagine, those with an institutional power need are usually more desirable as team members!
