Sometimes you might feel fired up and highly driven to reach your goals, while at other times you might feel listless or unsure of what you want or how to achieve it.
Even if you're feeling low on motivation, there are steps you can take that will keep you moving forward. Some things you can do include:. There are a few things you should watch for that might hurt your motivation. These include:. Talk to your doctor if you are feeling symptoms of apathy and low mood that last longer than two weeks. Sometimes a persistent lack of motivation might be tied to a mental health condition such as depression.
What are the things that actually motivate us to act? Throughout history, psychologists have proposed different theories to explain what motivates human behavior. The following are some of the major theories of motivation. The instinct theory of motivation suggests that behaviors are motivated by instincts, which are fixed and inborn patterns of behavior.
Such instincts might include biological instincts that are important for an organism's survival such as fear, cleanliness, and love. Many of your behaviors such as eating, drinking, and sleeping are motivated by biology. You have a biological need for food, water, and sleep.
Therefore, you are motivated to eat, drink, and sleep. Drive theory suggests that people have basic biological drives and that behaviors are motivated by the need to fulfill these drives. The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people are motivated to engage in behaviors that help them maintain their optimal level of arousal.
Understanding motivation is important in many areas of life, from parenting to the workplace. You may want to set the best goals and establish the right reward systems to motivate others as well as to increase your own motivation.
Knowledge of motivating factors and manipulating them is used in marketing and other aspects of industrial psychology. It's an area where there are many myths and everyone can benefit from knowing what works and what doesn't.
Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Nevid JS. Psychology: Concepts and Applications. Tranquillo J, Stecker M. Using intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in continuing professional education. Surg Neurol Int. Zhou Y, Siu AF. Motivational intensity modulates the effects of positive emotions on set shifting after controlling physiological arousal.
Scand J Psychol. Although she enjoys what she does in her new job, after a few months, she no longer has much desire to concoct tasty treats in her free time. Baking has become work in a way that changes her motivation to do it Figure 2. What Odessa has experienced is called the overjustification effect—intrinsic motivation is diminished when extrinsic motivation is given.
This can lead to extinguishing the intrinsic motivation and creating a dependence on extrinsic rewards for continued performance Deci et al. Figure 2. Research suggests that when something we love to do, like icing cakes, becomes our job, our intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to do it may change. For one, physical reinforcement such as money and verbal reinforcement such as praise may affect an individual in very different ways.
In fact, tangible rewards i. Furthermore, the expectation of the extrinsic motivator by an individual is crucial: If the person expects to receive an extrinsic reward, then intrinsic motivation for the task tends to be reduced.
If, however, there is no such expectation, and the extrinsic motivation is presented as a surprise, then intrinsic motivation for the task tends to persist Deci et al. In educational settings, students are more likely to experience intrinsic motivation to learn when they feel a sense of belonging and respect in the classroom. This internalization can be enhanced if the evaluative aspects of the classroom are de-emphasized and if students feel that they exercise some control over the learning environment.
Consider Hakim, a first-year law student with two courses this semester: Family Law and Criminal Law. The Family Law professor has a rather intimidating classroom: He likes to put students on the spot with tough questions, which often leaves students feeling belittled or embarrassed. Grades are based exclusively on quizzes and exams, and the instructor posts results of each test on the classroom door.
In contrast, the Criminal Law professor facilitates classroom discussions and respectful debates in small groups. Research suggests that Hakim will be less intrinsically motivated in his Family Law course, where students are intimidated in the classroom setting, and there is an emphasis on teacher-driven evaluations. Hakim is likely to experience a higher level of intrinsic motivation in his Criminal Law course, where the class setting encourages inclusive collaboration and a respect for ideas, and where students have more influence over their learning activities.
Figure 3. Another early theory of motivation proposed that the maintenance of homeostasis is particularly important in directing behavior. You may recall from your earlier reading that homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a balance, or optimal level, within a biological system. In a body system, a control center which is often part of the brain receives input from receptors which are often complexes of neurons.
The control center directs effectors which may be other neurons to correct any imbalance detected by the control center. According to the drive theory of motivation, deviations from homeostasis create physiological needs.
These needs result in psychological drive states that direct behavior to meet the need and, ultimately, bring the system back to homeostasis. This low blood sugar will induce a physiological need and a corresponding drive state i. Eating will eliminate the hunger, and, ultimately, your blood sugar levels will return to normal. Interestingly, drive theory also emphasizes the role that habits play in the type of behavioral response in which we engage.
A habit is a pattern of behavior in which we regularly engage. Figure 4. Hunger and subsequent eating are the result of complex physiological processes that maintain homeostasis. Extensions of drive theory take into account levels of arousal as potential motivators.
Just as drive theory aims to return the body to homeostasis, arousal theory aims to find the optimal level of arousal. If we are underaroused, we become bored and will seek out some sort of stimulation.
On the other hand, if we are overaroused, we will engage in behaviors to reduce our arousal Berlyne, Most students have experienced this need to maintain optimal levels of arousal over the course of their academic career.
Think about how much stress students experience toward the end of spring semester. They feel overwhelmed with seemingly endless exams, papers, and major assignments that must be completed on time. They probably yearn for the rest and relaxation that awaits them over the extended summer break. Generally, by the time the next semester is beginning in the fall, many students are quite happy to return to school.
This is an example of how arousal theory works. Figure 5. The concept of optimal arousal in relation to performance on a task is depicted here. Performance is maximized at the optimal level of arousal, and it tapers off during under- and overarousal. So what is the optimal level of arousal? What level leads to the best performance? Think of your arousal level regarding taking an exam for this class. If your level is very low, such as boredom and apathy, your performance will likely suffer.
Similarly, a very high level, such as extreme anxiety, can be paralyzing and hinder performance. Consider the example of a softball team facing a tournament. They are favored to win their first game by a large margin, so they go into the game with a lower level of arousal and get beat by a less skilled team.
But optimal arousal level is more complex than a simple answer that the middle level is always best. This relationship is known as Yerkes-Dodson law , which holds that a simple task is performed best when arousal levels are relatively high and complex tasks are best performed when arousal levels are lower.
Figure 6. Task performance is best when arousal levels are in a middle range, with difficult tasks best performed under lower levels of arousal and simple tasks best performed under higher levels of arousal.
Bandura argues that motivation derives from expectations that we have about the consequences of our behaviors, and ultimately, it is the appreciation of our capacity to engage in a given behavior that will determine what we do and the future goals that we set for ourselves.
For example, if you have a sincere belief in your ability to achieve at the highest level, you are more likely to take on challenging tasks and to not let setbacks dissuade you from seeing the task through to the end. Among the motives they describe are needs for achievement, affiliation, and intimacy. It is the need for achievement that drives accomplishment and performance.
The need for affiliation encourages positive interactions with others, and the need for intimacy causes us to seek deep, meaningful relationships. Henry Murray et al. For example, the need for achievement and recognition falls under the domain of ambition. Dominance and aggression were recognized as needs under the domain of human power, and play was a recognized need in the domain of interpersonal affection.
While the theories of motivation described earlier relate to basic biological drives, individual characteristics, or social contexts, Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs that spans the spectrum of motives ranging from the biological to the individual to the social.
These needs are often depicted as a pyramid Figure 7. Figure 7. In some versions of the pyramid, cognitive and aesthetic needs are also included between esteem and self-actualization. Others include another tier at the top of the pyramid for self-transcendence. At the base of the pyramid are all of the physiological needs that are necessary for survival. These are followed by basic needs for security and safety, the need to be loved and to have a sense of belonging, and the need to have self-worth and confidence.
To Maslow and humanistic theorists, self-actualization reflects the humanistic emphasis on positive aspects of human nature. According to Maslow , one must satisfy lower-level needs before addressing those needs that occur higher in the pyramid. So, for example, if someone is struggling to find enough food to meet his nutritional requirements, it is quite unlikely that he would spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about whether others viewed him as a good person or not.
Instead, all of his energies would be geared toward finding something to eat. Other research has more recently addressed that late in life, Maslow proposed a self-transcendence level above self-actualization—to represent striving for meaning and purpose beyond the concerns of oneself Koltko-Rivera, For example, people sometimes make self-sacrifices in order to make a political statement or in an attempt to improve the conditions of others.
Mohandas K. Examples of this include a dog shaking after it gets wet, a sea turtle seeking out the ocean after hatching, or a bird migrating before the winter season.
Ethologist Konrad Lorenz famously demonstrated the power of instincts when he was able to get young geese to imprint on him. He noted that geese would become attached to the first moving thing they encountered after they hatched, which in most cases would be their mothers.
However, by ensuring that he was the first thing the geese encountered, they instead became attached or imprinted, on him. In humans, many reflexes are examples of instinctive behaviors.
The rooting reflex, as mentioned earlier is one such example, as is the suckling reflex a reflex in which babies begin sucking when a finger or nipple places pressure on the roof of their mouth. The Moro reflex is a startle reaction seen in babies less than 6 months of age, and the Babkin reflex is when babies open their mouths and flex their arms in response to rubbing the palms of their hands. For example, brushing an infant's cheek will cause the child to turn their head and search for a nipple.
Psychologist William McDougall was one of the first to write about the instinct theory of motivation. He suggested that instinctive behavior was composed of three essential elements: perception, behavior, and emotion. He also outlined 18 different instincts that included curiosity, maternal instinct, laughter, comfort, sex, and food-seeking.
Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud used a broad view of motivation and suggested the human behavior was driven by two key forces: the life and death instincts. These included such things as fear, anger, love, shame, and cleanliness. The instinct theory suggests that motivation is primarily biologically based. We engage in certain behaviors because they aid in survival. Migrating before winter ensures the survival of the flock, so the behavior has become instinctive. Birds who migrated were more likely to survive and therefore more likely to pass down their genes to future generations.
So, what exactly qualifies as an instinct? In his book Exploring Psychology , author David G. Meyers suggests that in order to be identified as an instinct, the behavior "must have a fixed pattern throughout a species and be unlearned. In other words, the behavior must occur naturally and automatically in all organisms of that species. For example, infants have an innate rooting reflex that leads them to root for and suck on a nipple. This behavior is unlearned and occurs naturally in all human infants.
Doctors often look for an absence of such instinctive reflexes in order to detect potential developmental issues. While instinct theory could be used to explain some behaviors, critics felt that it had some significant limitations. While there are criticisms of instinct theory, this does not mean that psychologists have given up on trying to understand how instincts can influence behavior.
Modern psychologists understand that while certain tendencies might be biologically programmed, individual experiences can also play a role in how responses are displayed. In addition to instinct theory, there are other theories which have been proposed to help explain motivation. These include:. In actuality, none of these theories, including instinct theory, can fully explain motivation. It's likely that components of all of these theories, as well as theories not yet proposed, are integrated in a way that results in the motivation for the behaviors of humans.
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