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HP1000 Introduction to Psychology
Notes 9
A. Motivation
- Motivation: Refers to all the processes involved in initiating, directing, and maintaining
physical and psychological activities
o Synonymous for drive, instinct, energy, purpose etc.
o Internal psychological forces that presumably make us do what we do
o Motives are internal dispositions to act in certain ways, although they can be
influenced by multiple factors, both internal and external
- Motivation thus refers to all processes involved in:
o Sensing a need or desire
o Activating and guiding the organism by selecting, directing, and sustaining the mental
and physical activity aimed at meeting the need or desire
o When the need is met, reducing the sensation of need
- Many of our motives involve:
o A complex combination of biological and psychological needs
o Those involving our social interactions, emotions, and goals
1. McClelland’s Theory
- Types of Motivation:
o Extrinsic: The desire to engage in an activity to achieve an external consequence
▪ Involve external stimuli, such as a reward
o Intrinsic: The desire to engage in an activity for its own sake rather than for some
external consequence
▪ Arise from within the person, regardless of an external stimulus
- McClelland’s 3 Needs:
o Need for Achievement: A mental state that produces a psychological motive to excel
or to reach some difficult, but desired goal
▪ High Need for Achievement: Work hard, Are more successful at their work,
Show more persistence on difficult tasks, Tend to get better grades, Take
more leadership roles etc.
o Need for Affiliation: Desire for social relationships
o Need for Power: Wanting to plan projects and manage people to get a job done
(a) Industrial/Organizational Psychology
- Given these three needs for work, it becomes the manager’s task to structure jobs so that
workers simultaneously meet their own needs as well as the manager’s goal for productivity
o Managers, themselves, are motivated by needs for both power and achievement
- Using the 3 needs to motivate employees:
o Give employees high in Need for Achievement tasks that challenge them, but with
achievable goals
▪ Even though they are not primarily motivated by extrinsic rewards, you can
use bonuses, recognition effectively as feedback for good performance
o A cooperative, rather than competitive, environment is best for those high in the
Need for Affiliation
▪ Find opportunities for such employees to work with others in teams
o For those High in Need for Power, give them the opportunity to manage projects or
work teams
▪ Encourage power-oriented workers to become leaders who help their
subordinates satisfy their own needs
- Job Satisfaction: Satisfying people’s needs should make them happier with their jobs and more
motivated to work
o Higher job satisfaction indeed correlates with lower absenteeism, lower employee
turnover, and increased productivity
▪ All of which are reflected in increased profits for any business
(b) A Cross-Cultural View of Achievement
- Difference between cultures on achievement:
o American perspective on achievement motivation reflects a distinctively Western bias
▪ Americans tend to see achievement as the result of individual talent,
determination, intelligence, or attitude
o Much of the world, however, sees achievement differently
▪ As a combination of personal, social, and emotional factors
- Distinction between cultures that emphasize individualism or collectivism:
o Western cultures emphasize individualism: The view that places a high value on
individual achievement and distinction
o Eastern/African cultures emphasize collectivism: The view that values group loyalty
and pride over individual distinction
▪ The overarching goal is not achieving individual honors but bringing honor to
the family, team, or other group
- Hence, the Need for Achievement has a strong cultural component
o In collectivist cultures, the social context is considered just as important for
achievement as personal characteristics in individualistic cultures
2. Unexpected Effects of Rewards on Motivation
- Situation where people were given extrinsic rewards for doing things that they find
intrinsically enjoyable (e.g. leisure activities)
(a) Over-justification
- Lepper: Performed a classic experiment using two groups of schoolchildren who enjoyed
drawing pictures
o Experimental Method: One group agreed to draw pictures for a reward certificate,
while a control group made drawings without any expectation of reward
o Results: When given the opportunity to draw pictures again, without a reward, the
previously rewarded children were much less enthusiastic about drawing than those
who had not been rewarded
- Over-justification: The process by which extrinsic rewards can sometimes displace internal
motivation
o Hence, external reinforcement had squelched the internal motivation
▪ Hence, the children’s motivation had changed from intrinsic to extrinsic
(b) When do rewards work
- Subsequent experiments have made it clear that rewards can interfere with intrinsic
motivation, but only under certain conditions
o Specifically, the over-justification effect occurs when a reward is given without regard
for quality of performance
▪ E.g. Employees are given year-end bonuses regardless of performance
- Hence, rewards can be used effectively to motivate people, but only if contingent on quality
of performance; In general, rewards can have three major effects on motivation:
o Effective motivation for things they would not otherwise want to do
o Rewards can actually add to intrinsic motivation, if given for good performance
o Rewards can interfere with intrinsic motivation, if given without regard for the quality
of the work
- The danger of rewards seems to occur only when the rewards are:
o Extrinsic
o Given without regard to the level of performance
B. Determination of Motivational Priorities
- A new theory combining Maslow’s hierarchy with evolutionary psychology solves some long-
standing problems by suggesting that functional, proximal, and developmental factors set our
motivational priorities
Theories
Emphasis
Examples
Instinct Theory
Biological processes that
bird migration, fish schooling
motivate behavior patterns
specific to a species
Drive Theory
Needs produce drives that
hunger, thirst
motivate behavior until drives
are reduced
Maslow’s Theory
Motives result from needs,
esteem needs,
which occur in a priority order
self-actualization
(a needs hierarchy)
Evolutionary Theory
Priority of motives determined
Food odor (proximal stimulus)
by functional, proximal, and
may raise the priority of hunger
developmental factors
drive
1. Instinct Theory
- The outdated view that certain behaviors are completely determined by innate factors
o All creatures possess an inborn set of behaviors that promotes survival, which account
reasonably well for the regular cycles of animal activity
▪ E.g. Cycles in bird migrations
- Although instinctive behaviour patterns do not depend heavily on learning, experience can
modify them
