Theories of Motivation

1. FACTORS INFLUENCING MOTIVATION
Presented by:
Dr. S.M. Yasir Arafat
MBBS (DMC), MBA, FCPS (P1)
Psychiatry,
MD Phase A Resident Psychiatry,
BSMMU.
MPH, Batch-11, ID: 14-2-42-0004
ASAUB, Dhaka.
December 05, 2014.

2. Motivation
The set of forces that cause people
to behave in certain ways

3. Motivation
 Factors that direct and energize behavior of
humans and other organisms
 Motives - particular desired goals that underlie
behavior
 Exemplified in behavior
 Steer one’s choice of activities
 Forces that direct future behavior

4. Conceptual Approaches
 Instinct
 Drive-reduction
 Arousal approaches
 Incentive approach
 Cognitive approach

5. Instinct approach
 Inborn pattern of behavior
 Biologically determined not learned
 Born with preprogrammed set of behavior
essential for survival
 Provide energy that channels behavior in
appropriate directions

7. Drawbacks
 No agreement on nature & number of primary
instinct
 18 instinct (McDougall, 1908)
 5,759 instinct (Bernard, 1924)
 Can’t explain development of specific behavior
pattern of a given species
 However focus on evolution and genetic
inheritance

8. Drive-reduction approaches
 Hull, 1943
 Lack of some basic biological requirement produce a
drive to obtain that requirement
 Drive- a motivational tension or arousal that
energizes behavior to fulfill some need
 Primary drives: related to biological needs of body or
species as a whole; hunger, thirst, sleepiness, sex
 Secondary drives: created by prior experience and
learning: achievement, affiliation, power

10. Homeostasis
 Try to satisfy primary drive by reducing the
need underlying it
 Body has a tendency to maintain a steady
internal state
 Operates through feedback loops bring
deviations in body function back to an optimal
state

12. Drawbacks
 Inadequate to explain behavior to maintain or
even increase level of excitement or arousal
 Curiosity and thrill seeking behavior

13. Arousal Approaches
 Try to maintain a certain level of stimulation
and activity
 Increasing or reducing them as necessary

15. Incentive approaches
 Based on Operant Conditioning Theory
 Stem from the desire to obtain valued external
goals or incentives
 Desirable properties of external stimuli
account for a person’s motivation
 Act as an anticipated reward or incentive
 Punishment

17. Drawbacks
 Not a complete explanation of motivation
seek to fulfill needs even when incentives
are not apparent
 Internal drives proposed by drive-reduction
theory work in tandem with the external
incentives theory to “push” and “pull”
behavior

18. Cognitive approaches
 Product of people’s thoughts and expectations
– their cognition
 Intrinsic motivation: participate for our own
enjoyment
 Extrinsic motivation: for any concrete, tangible
reward

19. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Motivation
 Motivation progresses up the pyramid from
the broadest, most fundamental biological
need to higher order ones.
 Certain primary, lower order needs, at the
bottom level, must be satisfied before more
sophisticated, higher, order needs, in order to
work effectively.

20. Lower and higher order need
 Basic physiological need
 Safety & security
 Then, need for love and belongingness
 Strive for esteem, to develop a sense of self-worth
by knowing that other know and value
one’s competence, comes next.
 Highest-level need, self-actualization – a state
of self fulfillment.

21. Hierarchy of Needs
Need Level Description Examples
Self-
Actualization
Realize one’s
full potential
Use abilities
to the fullest
Esteem
Feel good
about oneself
Promotions
& recognition
Belongingness
Social
interaction, love
Interpersonal
relations, parties
Safety Security, stability
Job security,
health insurance
Physiological
Food, water,
shelter
Basic pay level
to buy items

23. Drawbacks
 Unable to validate the specific ordering
 Difficult to measure self-actualization
Important:
 Highlights the complexity of human needs
 Emphasizes that until more basic biological
needs are met, people will be unconcerned
with higher order needs.

24. Secondary Drive
 Need for achievement: striving for success
 Astable, learned characteristic in which a
person obtains satisfaction by striving for and
attaining a level of excellence.

25. People with high achievement need
 Seek out situation to compete with standard to
prove success
 Tend to avoid situation where success is easy
or unlikely
 Take task of intermediate difficulty
 Produce positive outcome in success oriented
society
 Indicates future economic and occupational
success

26. Personality & Motivation
 Internal Locus of Control
 External Locus of Control
 Type-A personality
 Type-B personality

27. Need for Affiliation
 Striving for friendship
 Interest in establishing and maintaining
relationships with other people.
People with higher affiliation need:
 Emphasize desire to maintain or reinstate
friendships
 Show concern over being rejected by friends
 Sensitive to relationships with others
 More time with friends- gender difference

29. Need for Power
 Striving for impact on others
 Atendency to seek impact, control, or
influence over others,
 To be seen as a powerful individual
People with strong need for power:
 Apt to belong to organizations and seek office
 Work in professions that fulfill power need
 Gender differences exist

30. References
1. Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry:
Behavioral Sciences, 10th Edition
2. Psychology, 6th Edition- Andrew B. Crider
3. Understanding Psychology, 10th Edition- Feldman
4. Principles of Marketing, 11th Edition- Kotler