Motivation

Chapter 6
 Motivation process
 Needs: are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological
imbalance
o E.g., Bodily cells deprived of food/water or being deprived from friends

 Drives: or motives are set up to alleviate needs; are action-oriented

o E.g., Need for food/water translated into hunger/thirst drives

 Incentives: anything that will alleviate a need and reduce a drive

o E.g., Eating food/drinking water, and obtaining friends (incentives) will tend to restore
balance and reduce the corresponding drives
 Definitions
 Motivation: Internal processes that serve to initiate, guide, and maintain
people’s action
 Need: Internal deficiency
 Drive: An energized motivational state; caused by Need
 Incentive: ‘Target’ of motivated behavior
o Incentive value: The ‘pull’ of a goal is called its incentive value (the goal’s appeal
beyond its ability to fill a need)
o Some desirable goals can motivate behavior in the absence of an internal need
o Some goals may be low in incentive value (and therefore rejected) even if they meet
internal need
 Classification of Human Motives
 Primary motives (Physiological/Biological/Unlearned)
o Are physiologically-based and unlearned (E.g., Hunger, thirst, pain avoidance, sleep etc.)
o Vital for survival
As human society develops economically and becomes more complex, primary motives
give way to secondary motives in motivating behavior
 Secondary motives
o are learned
o Key secondary needs: nPow, nAch and nAff
nPow: seeks position of authority to control people/activities
nAch: trying to outperform competitors; attaining/surpassing difficult goal
nAff: maintaining harmonious relationships/conflict avoidance; being liked by many
people/accepted as part of a group/team
 Classification of Human Motives
Intrinsic motives
o Are internally generated and often associated with meaningful work/contribution
o Intrinsic rewards include feelings of responsibility, being engaged productively

Extrinsic motives
o Are tangible and visible to others
o Distributed by other people/system (benefits, promotions, salary)
o Also include the drive to avoid punishment/termination/transfers

Extrinsic motivators can undermine intrinsic motivation (Cognitive Evaluation

Theory)
What sustains our motivation?
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Physiological needs: corresponds to unlearned primary needs
o Once met they no longer motivate; a person will get motivated only by the next higher level
of needs
 Safety needs: equivalent to security needs
o Emphasis on emotional and physical safety
 Belongingness needs: corresponds to the affection and affiliation (social) needs
 Esteem needs: represents higher needs of humans
o Includes need for power, achievement, status
o Includes both self esteem and esteem from others
 Need for Self-actualization: A stage where people are self-fulfilled and have
realized all their potential
o is a person’s motivation to transform perception of self into reality
 ERG Theory of Motivation
 Clayton Alderfer: 3 factor model
 Existence: relates to physical & psychological survival
 Relatedness: Sense of community & good relationship to oneself
 Growth: Self-development, fulfillment, sense of achieving one’s potential
 Individuals can be motivated by multiple levels of need simultaneously
o  Motivation may be fluid; can move between E, R and G over time
 Explains the motivation of a starving actor to pursue his/her passion
 Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory
 Job satisfiers are related to job content; and Job dissatisfiers, job context
Motivators Hygiene Factors
Recognition Salary
Responsibility Interpersonal relations, supervisor
Challenges Company policy & Administration
Advancement Working conditions

 Hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction; but do not lead to satisfaction

o Takeoff point for motivation
 Only the motivators, motivate employees on the job