A Guide to Motivation: Motivation Psychology
Motivation has always been a crucial topic in both the Psychology and Studying fields. It involves understanding what drives individuals to pursue certain goals and how they maintain the drive to achieve them. Many theories have attempted to explain it and how impactful it is on a person’s behaviour and emotions.
According to Positive Psychology, motivation psychologists usually attempt to show how motivation varies within a person at different times or among different people at the same time. The purpose of the psychology of motivation is to explain how and why that happens.
Broad views of how to understand motivation were created by psychologists based on various types of analyses. Cognitive analyses, behavioral anticipation, and affective devices are often used to account for motivation in terms of expecting an end state or goal.
What is Motivation Psychology?
Motivation psychology is a study of how biological, psychological, and environmental variables contribute to motivation. That is, what do the body and brain contribute to motivation; what mental processes contribute; and finally, how do material incentives, goals, and mental representations motivate individuals?
Motivation psychology comes in many shapes and forms, including studying motivation. In this blog, we’ll be discussing motivation psychology in general, and in the next one, we’ll talk about how to be motivated for studying.
Theories of Motivation:
Theories of motivation are often separated into content theories and process theories.
1- Content Theories:
A content theory is a subset of motivational theories that try to define what motivates people. Content theories of motivation often describe a system of needs that motivate peoples’ actions.
2- Process Theories:
A process theory is a system of ideas that explains how an entity changes and develops. Process theories are often contrasted with variance theories, that is, systems of ideas that explain the variance in a dependent variable based on one or more independent variables. In other words, process theories describe how motivation occurs.
There are also a large number of cognitive theories that relate to motivation and explain how our way of thinking and perceiving ourselves and the world around us can influence our motives.
From self-concept, dissonance, and mindset to values, orientation, and perceived control, these theories explain how our preference toward certain mental constructs can increase or impair our ability to take goal-directed action.
Some Examples Over Content Theories of Motivation:
a- Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs
b- Alderfer’s ERG theory
c- McClelland’s achievement motivation theory
a- Maslow’s Theory of the Hierarchy of Needs:
The most recognized content theory of motivation is that of Abraham Maslow, who explained motivation through the satisfaction of needs arranged in a hierarchical order. As satisfied needs do not motivate, it is the dissatisfaction that moves us in the direction of fulfillment.
Needs are conditions within the individual that are essential for the maintenance of life and the nurturance of growth and well-being. Hunger and thirst exemplify two biological needs that arise from the body’s requirement for food and water. These are required nutriments for the maintenance of life.
Competence and belongingness exemplify two psychological needs that arise from the self’s requirement for environmental mastery and warm interpersonal relationships. These are required nutrients for growth and well-being.
Needs serve the organism, and they do so by:
⟿ generating wants, desires, and strivings that motivate whatever behaviors are necessary for the maintenance of life and the promotion of growth and well-being, and
⟿ generating a deep sense of need satisfaction from doing so.
Maslow’s legacy is the order of needs progressing in the ever-increasing complexity, starting with basic physiological and psychological needs and ending with the need for self-actualization. While basic needs are experienced as a sense of deficiency, the higher needs are experienced more in terms of the need for growth and fulfillment.
b- Alderfer’s ERG Theory:
Alderfer’s theory of motivation expands on the work of Maslow and takes the premise of need categories a bit further. He observes that when lower needs are satisfied, they occupy less of our attention, but the higher needs tend to become more important, the more we pursue them.
He also observed a phenomenon that he called the frustration-regression process where when our higher needs are thwarted, we may regress to lower needs. This is especially important when it comes to motivating employees.
When a sense of autonomy or the need for mastery is compromised, the employee may focus more on the sense of security or relatedness the job provides.
c- McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory:
McClelland took a different approach to conceptualizing needs and argued that needs are developed and learned, and focused his research away from satisfaction. He was also adamant that only one dominant motive can be present in our behavior at a time. McClelland categorized the needs or motives into achievement, affiliation, and power and saw them as being influenced by either internal drivers or extrinsic factors.
A high need for achievement can come from one’s social environment and socialization influences, like parents who promote and value the pursuit and standards of excellence, but it can also be developed throughout life as a need for personal growth toward complexity (Reeve, 2014).
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation:
Intrinsic motivation refers to being driven by internal factors such as personal satisfaction, enjoyment, and interest in an activity.
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, involves external rewards or punishments that influence behavior, such as grades, money, or praise.
Factors Affecting Motivation:
➽ personality traits
➽ social support
➽ environmental factors
Personality traits such as self-efficacy and locus of control can impact a person’s motivation to achieve their goals. Social support from friends, family, and mentors can also provide encouragement and motivation.
Motivation psychology is a vast topic that has always sparked interest in psychologists and those interested. It can have practical applications in numerous fields, including education, business, and sports. It’s the key to the door of success, and fully understanding it, as well as being able to imply it on a consistent basis, will make your life so much easier.
