Nature of motivation
The concept of motivation focuses on explaining
what moves behaviour. In fact, the term
motivation is derived from the Latin word movere.
Referring to movement of activity. Most of our
everyday explanation of behaviour is given in
term of motives. Motivation is a psychological
phenomenon which generates within an
individual. A person feels the lack of certain
needs, to satisfy which he feels working more. The
need satisfying ego motivates a person to do
better than he normally does. In other words,
motivation is one of the determinants of
behaviour. Instincts, drives, needs, goals, and
incentives come under the broad cluster of
motivation
The motivation cycle
A need is lack or deficit of some necessity. The
condition of need leads to drive. A drive is a state
of tension or arousal produced by a need. It
energises random activity. When one of the
random activities leads toa goal, it reduces the
drive, and the organism stops being active. The
organism return to a balanced state. The
motivation cycle showcases the chronological
process of how a person becomes motivated by a
need through the actualization of their desire. The
cycle features four stages, which include need,
drive, incentive, and goal/reward. A need refers to
something a person lacks or wants that drives a
person to make a change. Incentives, such as
rewards or punishments, help the person sustain
that drive so they can reach their final goal or
reward
.
Types of motives
There are two types of motives:-
1 biological motives
2 psychosocial motives
Biological motives
The approach adhering to the concept of adaptive act
holds that organisms have needs that produce drive,
which stimulates achieving certain goals, which reduce
the drive. The earliest explanations of motivation relied
on the concept of instinct. The term instinct denotes
inborn patterns of behaviour learned. Some common
human instincts include curiosity, flight, repulsion,
reproduction, parental care, etc. The biological
motives are rooted in the physiological state of
the body to a large extent. There are many such
motives, including hunger, thirst, sex,
temperature regulation, sleep and pain avoidance
of an individual.
Hunger - the sensation caused by a need for food.
Traditional conceptualizations viewed hunger as
resulting from imbalances in homeostasis and
food intake as necessary to maintain in the body
an optimum balance of carbohydrates, fats,
proteins, minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients.
Thirst - The thirst drive and motivation to
seek/consume water are vital aspects of the
homeostatic regulation of total body water
volume and tonicity, in response to intracellular
dehydration, increased plasma osmolality,
decreased plasma volume, decreased blood
pressure, and extracellular hypovolemia.
Sex- Sex refers to biological, physical and
physiological differences between males and
females, including both primary sex
characteristics (the reproductive system) and
secondary characteristics such as height and
muscularity, as well as genetic differences (e.g.,
chromosomes).
Psychological motives
Social motives are mostly learned or acquired.
Social groups such as family, neighbourhood,
friends, and relatives do contribute a lot in
acquiring social motives. These are complex forms
of motives mainly resulting from the individual
interaction with her/his social environment.
Need for affiliation - it is describes a person's
need to feel a sense of involvement and
"belonging" within a social group. Seeking other
human beings and wanting to be close to them
both physically and psychologically is called
affiliation. It involves motivation for social
contact.
Need for power - power either to control other
people (for [one's] own goals) or to achieve higher
goals (for the greater good), and describes people
high in this trait as seeking "neither recognition
nor approval from others - only agreement and
compliance.
Need for achievement - is an individual's desire
for significant accomplishment, mastering of skills,
control, or high standards. The term was first used
by Henry Murray and associated with a range of
actions. These include: "intense, prolonged and
repeated efforts to accomplish something
difficult..
Curiosity and exploration- The term curiosity is
used both as a description of a specific behaviour
as well as a hypothetical construct to explain the
same behaviour. Exploration refers to all activities
concerned with gathering information about the
environment.
Managing negative emotion
The following are tips for achieving the desired
balance of emotions:
Enhance self-awareness- be aware of your
own emotions and feelings. Try to gain
insight into the how and why of your feelings.
Appraise the situation objectively - it has
been proposed that emotions is preceded by
evaluation of the event. If the event is
experienced as disturbing, your sympathetic
nervous system is activated and you feel
stressed.
Do some self-monitoring – this involves
constant or periodic evaluation of your past
accomplishment, emotions and physical
states, real and vicarious experiences. A
positive appraisal would enhance your faith
and lead to enhanced feeling of wellness and
contentment.
Engage in self-modeling – be the ideal for
yourself. Repeatedly observe the best parts
of your past performance and use them as an
inspiration and motivation to perform better.
Perceptual reorganization and cognitive
restructuring – try viewing the events
differently and visualize the other side of the
coin. Restructure your thoughts to enhance
positive and reassuring feelings and eliminate
negative thoughts.
Bibliography
https://www.verywellmind.com ›
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.verywellmind.com
