The Theory Of Human Motivation

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. (Cherry, 2016) Motivation plays the role in everyday lives. Ones motivation to do something differs from ones feels and the type of motivation towards the action that is being done. By studying motivation, we learn what gives our behavior its purpose, direction and sustainability. (Bond & McConkey, 2001, p. 6.3).

Motivation is a very broad term that is discussed in a variety of settings. There is the motivation to perform in a business setting, the motivation to perform on the field of competition, the motivation to provide for friends and family, and the motivation to accomplish goals that have been set. These are all various motivations that any one person can be involved with at any time. According to Maslow, motivation always exists within a person and in various forms, “...motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating, and complex, and that it is an almost universal characteristic of practically every organismic state of affairs” (Maslow, 1954). As complex as motivation seems, it is everyone’s intention to identify their personal

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who introduced the concept of the motivational needs in his paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” written in 1943. He explains that humans have certain needs that need to be fulfilled and when

Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist and at the forefront of the humanist movement in psychology, proposed a theory concerning basic human motivations that are based upon a hierarchy of needs. (Boeree 1998, 2006) Often described or pictured as a pyramid, basic physiological drives like thirst, hunger and sleep, as well as the need for safety, shelter and some feeling of security are the motivational needs that occupy the bottom tiers of the pyramid.. They provide the foundation for higher levels of needs to become present and available that the individual is aroused or driven to attain. Once those physiological and safety needs are met then the individual looks to love and be loved, to belong

The self-determination theory is the general theory of motivation that states people need to feel autonomous and in control of the decisions they make for themselves about themselves. Our objective within this report is to show that by allowing individuals to make the decision for behavior change, there is a greater probability of long term success for that change than if the decision is made from an outside source. We examined several studies that used the self-determination theory to motivate change for improved health. We then looked at how successful those studies were in creating change long term.

“Motivation is the will and desire that a person has to engage in a particular behaviour or perform a particular task” (Lawley & King, P269). In life motivation will be needed to enhance the workforce in various ways, many organisations will use motivation to increase the percentage yield of an individual or to make an individual feel a part of the business or organisation. Incentives have a huge influence on behaviourist & extrinsic approach. In addition other aspects; humanist theorist, intrinsic approach, Taylorism and Fordism have a part in perception of motivation.

* Principle that performance on a task is best when arousal level is appropriate to the difficulty of the task:

Abraham Maslow developed the theories of motivation because he felt that the sophistication of human behavior could not be portrayed through reinforcement or rewards. He felt that human action were directed toward realization and fulfillments and that behavior could be gratified while using multiple types of needs at the same time. Maslow wanted to find positive motivation as to why people react or engage in certain behaviors. He felt that basic survival was based upon his five theories and that long lasting success could be mastered upon the completion of these theories.

What is Motivation? Motivation is a word popularly used to explain why people behave as they do.

Maslow’s description of motivations range from meeting basic, lower-order needs such as those for safety and physiological needs through attainment of increasingly higher-order needs, such as self actualization and esteem. Maslow’s body of work in the 1940’s proposed that humans are only motivated to achieve the higher level needs after fulfillment of the basic needs and that there is a single path through these (Guillén et al., 2012).

The four motivation theories are Biological theory, Psychosocial theory of motivation, Biopsychosocial, and Achievement theory. Everyone has their own motivation in life for continuing education, and career choices. Each person also has Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivators. Intrinsic is an internal motivation for self satisfaction. Extrinsic is an external motivation, or reward for a person’s accomplishment.

In his essay "Theory of Human Motivation" first published in 1943, Abraham Maslow, father of behavioural psychology observed, that people are motivated to fulfill three basic needs. The three basic human needs are food, shelter and clothing. And many people will try to fulfill these three needs, before any other need.

Abraham Maslow developed the theories of motivation because he felt that the sophistication of human behavior could not be portrayed through reinforcement or rewards. He felt that human action were directed toward realization and fulfillments and that behavior could be gratified while using multiple types of needs at the same time. Maslow wanted to find positive motivation as to why people react or engage in certain behaviors. He felt that basic survival was based upon his five theories and that long lasting success could be mastered upon the completion of these theories. Maslow based his observations on positive healthy individuals because he felt his predecessors gave too much attention to human weaknesses.

Motivation is a theoretical construct used to explain individual’s internal drive that alters their behaviors (Martinez, 2010). Motivation involves biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior (Martinez, 2010). There are several reasons why a person does something. For example individuals are motivated due to food, water, sexual desires, biological needs, and learning. A motive is what stimulates an individual to respond in a certain manner or develop a specific behavior (Martinez, 2010).

Without motivation, a person might never get out of bed because for the average person, motivation is behind every single action. For psychologists, motivation means much more than that, too, as it is important to understand human motivation to understand human behavior. Motivation can be studied from a variety of psychological schools of thought including behaviorism, cognition, psychoanalysis, humanism, and cognitive-behavioral theory. There are many theories of motivation that can help psychologists to understand how motivation works, why we have it, and how to manipulate it in order to create a desired behavioral change. Motivation theories can be applied to any field or area of psychology including marketing.