Motivational Theories
Write a 3-5 page paper that discusses motivation and the leading theories that explain it. Consider the following:
What is motivation? Discuss its definition and different components.
What are motives? Explain the different types of motives.
Discuss biological approaches (theories) to motivation.
Discuss behavioral and social-cognitive theories of motivation.
Explain Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Which level of Maslow’s hierarchy provides the strongest motivation for your behavior in general? Support your answer.
ANSWER
Motivation and Components
Motivation is the procedure of stimulating individuals to do a specific task and accomplish it. In a work context, psychological factors that motivate people might include recognition, money, teamwork, and success. One of the essential duties of any management is to create willingness amongst workers to perform in the best of their efforts or abilities. The first component of motivation is an activation that engages the decision to do a behavior or action, such as enrolling in a psychology class. The second component is persistence that makes one frequently strike to accomplish a specific objective even when hit with different challenges (Nandy, 2019). Persistence engages using a great deal, including energy and resources, to overcome the problems and achieving the intended intensions. The third component is the intensity, which allows a person to put more effort in concentration and vigor to accomplish a given goal. All three components are necessary for having a high level of motivation to meet the intended goals.
Types of Motives
Motives are actions that make a person do something; the act is a given manner or fulfills a want. Motives are divided into three groups, mainly personal, social, and biological. Biological motives are essential for an organism’s wellbeing and are stimulated when there is instability in the human body. Some of the characteristics of biological motives include their necessity to be accomplished and rooted mainly in the body’s physiological state. On the other hand, social motives involve other people and are generally learned in social groups more so in a family. Social motives can further be classified into three types: the need for achievement, human aggression, and hunger. Such motives give an insight into other people’s social behavior. Physiological motives emerge from the needs of the human body tissues and are innately determined. These motives satisfactory are essential to survival as they decide whether one will survive or not.
Biological Theories of Motivation
The intuition theory highlights that motivation levels are controlled by a neural process recognition mechanism within the human body. Subconscious drives make people to acquire success or to spend their efforts on providing services to humanity. The five theories of motivation explain why some people use extra energy than others to accomplish their goals. The instinct theory explains that motivated behavior is typically biological instinct and intends to lower the tension of drives controlled by sensations, including pain or hunger.
Behavioral and Social-Cognitive Theories
Social cognitive theory is described as a learning theory created by Professor Albert Bandura; it provides a scheme for evaluating how various people effectively shape their environment. Still, the theory talks about the procedures of observational learning and modeling and the effects of self-efficacy on human behavior development (Bandura, 2014). The theory also synthesizes concepts and procedures ranging from behaviorist, cognitive, and emotional schemes, so that it can easily be used in counseling interventions for ailment prevention and management. The simple principle of social cognitive hypothesis is that individuals study not only throughout their own experiences but also through observing others’ actions and the results of the actions. On the other hand, behavior assumption is a emotional plan to evaluate and explain human beings. Behaviorism can be outlined as a doctrine and a means of monitoring the psychology of the human mind and explaining the performance, motivation, and all of the learning engaged in psychology through human actions.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
This is a motivational hypothesis in psychology made up of a five-tier model of a person needs, typically outlined as hierarchical stages within a pyramid. Human wants lower down in the chain should be met before attending to other wants higher up the ladder. From the bottom to up includes needs such as physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow’s primary concept is physiological that incorporates essentials such as water, food, and air. When a person is hungry, all the behavior is channeled at getting food, and once he or she has eaten, the urge to look for food fades, and the promise of food no longer serves as a motivator. Safety is the next thing that people considered once their physiological needs have been met. As documented by Maslow, the safety of adults living in developed countries is more apparent in emergencies.
Strongest Motivation
Self-actualization is a level within the Maslow’s hierarchy that motivates my general behavior. This level refers to the feeling that people live up to their potential; for instance, my self-actualization involves assisting other people to achieve their primary goals in life. This level means feeling that a person should feel they are doing what was designed for them to do. As a professional motivator, I feel I was created to provide physical help to people and make them feel like part of a community. Even though achieving self-actualization might be difficult, one can still focus on his purpose and acquire the best out of the process.
References
Bandura, A. (2014). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. In Handbook of moral behavior and development (pp. 69-128). Psychology Press.
Nandy, D. (2019). 3 Main Components Of Motivation – Success Mystic. Success Mystic. Retrieved from https://successmystic.com/3-main-components-of-motivation/.
