By sumanOn

Theories of motivation provide general sets of principles to lead our understanding of the urges, wants, needs, desires and goals which come in the category of motivation.

As per the Psychologist, these are the basics theories of Motivation which are given below- 

  • Instinct Theory of Motivation
  • Incentives Theory of Motivation
  • Drive Theory (Push Theory of Motivation)
  • Arousal Theories of Motivation
  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of need

1. Instinct Theory of Motivation

According to instinct theories, Individuals are motivated to act in certain ways because they are evolutionarily instructed to do so. For example- In the animal world seasonal migration. Animals do not learn to do seasonal migration it is an in-born pattern of behaviour.

William James created a list of human nature such as Affection, recreation, shame, anger, fear, shyness, humility and love. The main problem with this theory is that it did not explain the behaviour of the human being, it just described it.

According to William McDougall- Behavioural acts are essentially instinctive and this instinctive behaviour is found to show three aspects- Cognitive (knowing), Affective (feeling) and Conative (acting or doing). For example, when a child sees a street dog coming towards him, he first sees the dog, secondly experiences an emotion of fear and finally tries to run away from that place. Thus, all human behaviours are explained in terms of some instinct.

2. Incentive theory of Motivation

It is based on behaviourist learning theories given by Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson and BF Skinner (1977). The incentive theory says that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards. This theory emphasizes that an attractive incentive motivates us to do something at our best possible level while an unattractive Incentive or no incentive discourages us to do something effectively. For example, a student is motivated by the scholarship of good percentages in their academics and a teacher is motivated by the incentive of a promotion or price.

By following this theory Government of India launched incentives in most of its programs for example-Family planning, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Screening of non-communicable Diseases etc. In health care Incentives are given to beneficiaries as well as healthcare workers to reach at the expected results.

In contrast with the push of drive theories, incentive theories are pulled theories of motivation. They stress on the principle that environmental stimuli may motivate behaviour by ‘pulling’ people towards them. We are pushed by our drives and pulled by incentives.

3. Drive Theory (Push Theory of Motivation)

The drive theory was given by Clark Leonard Hull in 1943. According to the drive theory of motivation, individuals are motivated to take definite actions to reduce the internal pressure caused by unmet needs. For example, a person might be motivated to have food to reduce the feeling of hunger.

Humans and other animals are motivated by four drives-

  • Hunger
  • Thirst
  • Sex
  • Avoid pain.

This theory is useful in explaining behaviours as this includes strong biological components such as hunger or thirst. The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that these behaviours are not always motivated entirely by physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are not really hungry. Drive theories are also described as the ‘push theories of motivation because behaviour is ‘pushed’ towards the aims by driving states within the individual.

Many drives such as eating, drinking, and sleeping are motivated by biological needs. Persons have a biological need for food, water, and sleep thus they are motivated to eat, drink, and sleep. The drive reduction theory of motivation says that individuals have these basic biological drives, and their behaviours are motivated by the need to fulfil these drives.

4. Arousal Theory of Motivation

According to this theory, Individuals are motivated to maintain ideal levels of arousal although it can vary depending on the individual or the situation.

Arousal is the level of alertness and activation caused by central nervous system activity. The ideal level of stimulation varies by person and activity. The theory of arousal motivation suggests that people take certain actions to increase or decrease the level of arousal. For example, when arousal levels are too low, a person may go jogging, Shopping, or watch an interesting movie or web series. When arousal levels are too high, the person may find ways to relax through meditation or reading.

5. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was a pioneer in the development of humanistic psychology and offered an interesting way of classifying human motivation. He expected a range of motivations ranging from basic biological needs present at birth to more complex psychological motives that only became important after the most basic needs had been met. The needs at one level must be at least partially met before needs at the next level become important determinants of action.

When food and security are hard to obtain, satisfying these needs will dominate a person’s actions and higher motives will no longer matter. Only when basic needs are easily satisfied does the individual have time and energy for aesthetic and intellectual interests. Artistic and scientific endeavours do not flourish in societies where people struggle to feed themselves, shelter and protect themselves.

Abraham Maslow suggested that five basic types of needs or motivations influence human behaviour. Needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy must be met before people can be motivated by higher-level goals (Figure ). According to Maslow, the five levels of motives from the bottom to the top of the hierarchy are-

1. Physiological needs

Physiological needs are the most basic, powerful and urgent for all humans, these needs are essential to the physical survival of individuals. If one of these needs remains unfulfilled the individual quickly becomes dominated by it and makes all other needs secondary. The needs, which are included in this group are food, water, oxygen, activity, Rest, sleep, sex, homeostasis and excretion.

2. Safety and Security Needs

Once the physiological needs are well-satisfied, safety and security need become predominant. These needs included the need for security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health and property. Safety needs are the greater importance in the early stage of life. The failure to satisfy the needs of a person may make them fearful, insecure adults who are unable to cope with the ordinary demands of the environment.

3. Need for Love and Belongingness

These needs become prominent when physiological and safety/security needs have been met. A person at this level looking for loving relationships with others and for a special place in the family and social groups. The secure individual will be able to reach out to friends, join a group and ultimately take on the responsibilities in the marriage of being both a spouse and a parent. The needs contained in this level are the need for friendship, family and sexual intimacy.

4. Self-esteem Needs

Once people find themselves safe, secure, loved and members of an accepting circle, they start to think highly of themselves and have others’ things. They want self-respect/respect, confidence and admiration of others.

Maslow divided these needs into two types- First self-respect and second respect from others.

Self-respect includes a person’s desire for competence, confidence, achievement and independence. Respect from others includes his desire for prestige, reputation, status, recognition, appreciation and acceptance from others.

Satisfaction of self-esteem needs comes with feelings of self-confidence, self-worth and a sense of being a useful and important person in the world. The dissatisfaction with self-esteem needs will generate feelings of inferiority, weakness, passiveness and dependency.

5. Self-actualization

Maslow Says, self-actualization is the highest human motive. It is the need for self-fulfilment. A person who has achieved this highest level and is able to do full use of his talents, capacities and potentialities. In short, the self-actualized person is someone who has reached the peak of his potential.

Motivation Cycle

Motivational cycles describe the process through which a person is motivated by the need to fulfil desires. The cycle consists of five phases including Need, Motivation, Incentive, Goal/Reward and relief. A need is something that a person lacks or wants to motivate them for a change. Incentives such as rewards and punishments help the person maintain that motivation and enable them to reach their ultimate goal or Objectives. Motivation Cycle are (Figure 1.3) –

  • Needs: –These are related to the biological states of cellular or bodily deficiencies that lead to drives. For example, individuals need water, food and oxygen to survive (Feist and Rosenberg, 2015)
  • Drives:- Drives Define as “the perceived states of tension that occur when our bodies are deficient in some need, creating an urge to relieve the tension”. This means that need leads to or compels drive. Thus, when an individual is hungry, she/he will seek food. The need leads to drive and makes an individual behave in such a way that the deficiency created is dealt with. (Feist and Rosenberg, 2015)
  • Incentives: – This is external or is from the environment and plays a role in motivating behaviours. It could be an object or an event. For Example, a financial prize won in a game can be termed as an incentive to do well in that game.
  • Goal: – After the drive and incentives, a person gets into goal-directed behaviour to achieve the need-based Goal.
  • Relief: – When people achieve their goal automatically reduction of driving state will start and at some point, there is no need required for the particular subject.

Reference:

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