CHAPTER 7

Every human experience involves a causative factor that produces a kind of response. Motivation is often considered as an answer to the question of why an action is performed.

In explaining the behavior of people, we started our description with reference to some kind of active driving force: the individual seeks, the individual wants, the individual fears.

Motivation cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the behavior. The property that organizes behavior and defines its end states is called a MOTIVE.

Terms synonymous with motive are needs, drive, urges,

desires, goals, aspirations and purpose. Man’s want desire, drives and urges are the explanation of a person’s behavior.

A woman may desire a new pairs of earrings to add to her collection of jewelry. A child may desire chocolate candy after eating ice cream. This means a desire may be very strong, while the needs for it can be very slow.

A need is “ a general state of deficiency or lack ( ex. Food) or state of deprivation within an organism. Drives are state of uncomfortable tension that spur activity until a goal or incentive is reached.”

need ( ex. Food)

Drives

Wants and Urges•they are instinctive.•they are primitive unless modified by will power,

determination, self control, training and experience.

The sex urge can become an expression of love and affection with someone dear to you.

sex urge can become an expression of love affection

Classification of MotivesMotives can be classified into two:

1.) Physiological motives -which are sometimes called

survival motivesSurvival motives -are those directly related to normal body functions such as the needs for food,

water, air, rest, excretion, exercise and peace.

Classification of Motives2.) Psychological motives

-which are sometimes called psychological needs.

Psychological needs -are those that arise from interaction with other people such as the need for affection, belongingness, achievements, social recognition, self-actualization, self-esteem and acceptance.

The motivational needs of human being are hierarchical in nature because physiological needs must be given first priority over psychological needs, like safety, belongingness, love, self-fulfillment, and self-esteem.

hierarchical in nature

psychological needs,

Motivation and IncentivesMotivations are both internal and external: External incentives

- may come in the forms of prizes, money, promotion, medals, plaques, diplomas, certificates, and citations.

Internal incentives- are the satisfaction

one derives from good grades, and the pride and honor parents get when their children graduates from college.

Factors Which May Influence Motivation

1.) Interest-A person will always give vent to

whatever is his interest in life.

2.) Power and Authority-Some people are born to have a

strong desire to be on top of other people-having high intelligence, great self-

confidence, and belief in one’s capacity.

3.) Personal Growth-Life is a continuous process of

becoming, of growing and developing.4.) Self-fulfillment

-This is the stage when the goals in life are attained. This can only take place at a normal pace at 45 years old and above.

Motivation of Behavior

-A useful and distinctive way of viewing motives has been suggested by Abraham H. Maslow. He views human motives are arranged in an ascending hierarchy of steps exerting from the basic biological needs to the most complex social and personal desire.

2 (two) general need systems-Basic and meta needs-

The basic needs are: 1.) The physiological needs

-which are the need for food, water and air and so on.2.) The safety needs

-which are those needs that are manifested in people’s efforts to maintain a sociable, predictable, orderly, and non-threatening environment.

3.) Love and belongingness-the need to develop relationships

reciprocal affection; the need to become a member of a group.

4.) Self-esteem-cultivating and maintaining this need

will be attended to only after the lower-level ends are satisfied.5.) Self-actualization

-the highest need in Maslow’s system is our tendency toward self-actualization.

A Maslow’s theories are based on Clark Hull’s drive theory which

states the following:

1.) A need will always dominate man’s behavior.2.) A hierarchy of needs exist.3.) Satisfied need no longer motivates.

Varied Theories of Motivation

Edward Tolman-was more interested in the effects

on incentives and on internal cognitions about them.John Atkinson

-in his analysis of the achievement need, found out that there is a need to seek success and a need to avoid failure.

Matina Horner-found that many women have a

“fear of success” motive. Effort and ability are both internal factors but people with a high achievement motive attribute success to internal factors while low achievement people attribute success to external factors and attribute failure to lack of ability.

McDougall-believe in instinct which are called

native properties that dominate man and animals. They are the prime movers of human activities.Sigmund Freud

-the self-preservation instinct of an individual is motivated by sexual instincts; Alfred Alder, on the other hand, claims that it is due more to a desire for power and superpriority as a reaction to one’s feeling of inferiority.

Combs and Snygg-advanced the theory that the

fundamental need of man is the preservation and enhancement of his phenomenal self.Gaudencio aquino

-define phenomenal self to include those aspect of the total situation in which the individual perceives himself, as a distinct being, separated but a part of other aspects of the environment.

Henry Murray-the need theory states that

when a man’s needs is aroused, he is under a state of tension but when it is satisfied, his tension and anxieties are relieved and satisfaction ensues.

Gordon Allport-maintain that there is functional

autonomy of motives in the sense that when motives are attained, they snowball into more and more other motives.

Yerkes-Godson’s-law of motivation states,

“The level of task performance depends on the level of arousal or performance.” This means that the optimal level of arousal for simpler task is relatively higher, while the optimal level of arousal for more complex tasks is relatively lower

Berent-the expectancy value theory

states, “Our actions result from a conscious or unconscious estimation of the probability of a certain outcome, multiplied by the strength of the value which is placed on the outcome.” This theory focuses more on the incentives found in the environment.

Edgardo S. Mata

BSCS-1

CHAPTER 7