MOTIVATION THEORIES

A Term Paper Written by Ezekiel Patrick Inyang

DECEMBER 2, 2020

By Ezekiel Inyang
Introduction

Motivational theory helps us understand what drives individuals to perform and behave

positively to work toward goals and desired outcomes. It is like the stimuli that act on or

within a person that causes one to act or perform with persistence voluntarily to achieve a goal or

desired result. I will be discussing these three popular motivation theories: Maslow’s Hierarchy

of Needs, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, and Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow did create a pyramid of five tiers of human needs from bottom-up: physiological,

safety, love/belonging, esteem, and the highest order or self-actualization. Higher-order needs

are pursued when lower-level needs are satisfied. The most basic of needs (air, food, water, sex,

etc.) are needed by all humans and animals and in their absence, nothing else matters. As needs

are satisfied, they are no longer motivators and so human behavior evolves up Maslow’s

pyramid.

“Maslow’s hierarchy of needs defines motivation as the process of satisfying certain needs that

are required for long-term survival and development” (Theories of Motivation, n.d., para. 10). In

a workplace setting where esteem and self-actualization are ideal this theory could throw a

wrench into the motivation, creativity, and productivity of a person suffering from illness or even

hunger or a divorce or death in the family. For someone to perform at their highest level of

creativity at the self-actualization, all needs below that level need to be stable and fulfilled.
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Victor Vroom (his name in full) suggests in his theory that the relationship between an

employee’s performance at work is based on the individual’s knowledge, skills, experience,

ability, and personality. His theory shows that even though people may have different sets of

goals, they will be motivated if they believe:

 A positive correlation occurs between efforts and performance

 Great performance results in desired rewards

 These rewards satisfy important needs

 “The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to make the effort worthwhile (Vroom’s

Expectancy theory, n.d., para. 2).

With the expectancy theory, we have learned that employees have different levels of

confidence and expectations of what they are capable of doing. To be effective, management

must discover what level of supervision, training, and resources are needed to help workers be

effective. Management must also understand the valence – or what emotional orientation people

hold to outcomes of their performance (promotions, compensation, time-off, etc.) as motivators.

For this theory to work, a person’s perception of being rewarded must come to actuality.

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Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory

Burrhus Skinner (full name) introduced the reinforcement theory in 1957, focusing on human

motivation. The theory does not consider personality, but does focus on personal behavior and

the three basic rules of consequences:

1. Reward for positive behavior that then reinforces the good behavior

2. Punish for negative behavior to weaken the undesired behavior

3. A behavior will fade if there is no reward or punishment (Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory,

2019, para. 3).

The expectancy theory is an incentive system. Rewards and punishments should be imminent

and delivered in short time intervals.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Vroom’s theory to me is actually the most effective approach to create a

motivational environment. It can be applied in all leadership roles like in government, teachers,

parents, and managers in organizations. The ‘influencer’ must understand what rewards and

incentives are important in order for them to be effective motivation tools. The reinforcement

theory is same way is also similar but do utilizes punishment. I strongly believe that the Vroom

theory creates the most positive environment.

References

Skinner’s Reinforcement Theory (2019). Retrieved from

https://managementmania.com/en/skinners-reinforcement-theory

Theories of Motivation (n.d.). Retrieved from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-

psychology/chapter/theories-of-motivation/

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/research/dstools/vrooms-expectancy-theory/