MOTIVATION

Introduction

Motivation is a term that refers to a process that elicits, controls, and sustains certain behaviors.
Motivation is a group of phenomena which affect the nature of an individual's behavior, the
strength of the behavior, and the persistence of the behavior. For instance: An individual has not
eaten, he or she feels hungry, as a response he or she eats and diminishes feelings of hunger. There
are many approaches to motivation physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social. It's the crucial
element in setting and attaining goals and research shows you can influence your own levels of
motivation and self-control.

According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize physical pain
and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired
object, goal, state of being, ideal, or at may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism,
selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Motivation is related to, but distinct from, emotion.

Meaning

Motivation is the word derived from the word 'motive' which means needs, desires, wants or drives
within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish the goals. In
the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people's behavior can be

❖ Desire for money

❖ Encouragement
❖ Success
❖ Recognition
❖ Job satisfaction
❖ Team work

Definitions of Motivation

• "Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continues him in the course of
action". "Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, desires, aspirations, need direct,
control or explain the behavior of human being.
Mc FARLAND
• "Motivation is the force within the individual that influences strength and direction of
behavior." MILLS
• "Motivation is a predisposition to act in a specific goal directed manner."

HELLRIEGEL AND SLOCUM

• According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, a motive is "something (a need or desire)

that causes a person to act." Motivate, in turn, means "to provide with a motive," and
motivation is defined as "the act or process of motivating."

The following are the features of motivation:

➢ Motivation is an act of managers

➢ . Motivation is a continuous process
➢ Motivation can be positive or negative
➢ Motivation is goal oriented
➢ Motivation is complex in nature
➢ Motivation is an art
➢ Motivation is system-oriented
➢ Motivation is different from job satisfaction.

Motivators

Motivators are things that induce an individual to perform and influence an individual's behavior.
While motivation reflect wants, motivators are the identified rewards, or incentives, that sharpen
the derive to satisfy these wants. They are also the mean by which conflicting needs may be
reconciled or one need heightened so that it will be given priority over another.

The motivation can be

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself,
and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic Motivation
is based on taking pleasure in an activity rather than working towards an external reward.

Extrinsic motivation It refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome,

which then contradicts intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the
individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, coercion and
threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to
win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the
individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives.

Classification of Motives

Psychologists do not totally agree on how to classify various human motives. However, some
psychologists tend to classify motives according as to whether they are unlearned or learned or
whether they are psychologically or physiologically based. The following is the classification:

❖ Primary motives are ones that are unlearned and are physiologically based. Defined this way
the most commonly recognized primary motives include hunger, thrust, sleep, avoidance of
pain, sex, etc.
❖ General motives are the ones that are unlearned but not physiologically based. Primary needs
seek to reduce the tension and stimulation. Although not all the psychologists agree the motives
such as curiosity, manipulative activity and affection, etc. fall in this category.
❖ Secondary motives develop as a human society develops economically and becomes more
complex. The examples of the secondary motives are needs for power, need for affiliation,
need for achievement, need for security and need for status, etc.
❖ The Achievement motive:. Achievement motive can be expressed as a desire to performing
in terms of a standard of excellence or to be successful in competitive situations. The specific
characteristics of a high achiever are:
• Moderate risk taking
• Need for immediate feedback
• Satisfaction with accomplishment
• Preoccupation with the task.
❖ The Power motive: According to Alfred Adler power motive is essentially to control others;
to direct other's behavior. The power attaches to one's personal competence. In an organization
because of his competence a person comes to acquire power. It is necessary that he recognizes
that the power he has is because of organization.
❖ The Affiliation motive: This motive is indicative of the need belong to and be accepted by
others. The consideration of this motive is important in the discussion of group dynamics. The
higher the need for affiliation among the members of the group; the higher is the group
cohesiveness,