Motivation

Psychology Today defines motivation as “…literally the desire to do things. It’s the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. So figure out what you want, power through the pain period, and start being who you want to be.” See this link for more information.  When “Googling” the term, the definition becomes a little more specific:  the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way, or “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”  These definitions clearly have one thing in common: motivation is an internal driver of behavior and one on the external may never really know what motivates behavior of another.  In a world where communication no longer is information “exchange” but information “giving”, one’s motivation may never be known.

In a recent article in Psychology Today called “The Mystery of Motivation”, author Gary Drevitch explores the question of “What does it really take to get people to do the “right” thing?”. Drevitch showcases his analysis with the example of the Wells Fargo Bank account scandal which caused the bank untold amounts in fines and reputation loss. Drevitch also quotes George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University: “Research shows that if goals are unrealistic, but you can achieve them by cheating, then people will cheat. They will commit fraud to obtain the incentive.”  The old idea, too, of motivation from a purely economic standpoint has gone the way of the dinosaur.  Old working ways involved individuals who developed careers based on knowledge and experience.  Today’s world has more moving parts and people often must rely on others in team-like settings.  For an organization to be successful, it cannot rely on a single individual to retain all of the knowledge.  Therefore, a pure financial incentive for a single individual may no longer be the ultimate motivator.  And, even in a team-like setting, the purpose or function to be accomplished may take a back seat to the motivation. “If you take a group of people who are intrinsically motivated and start introducing all sorts of incentives for accomplishing different goals, then they focus on the incentives and lose track of why they are in the profession in the first place,” Loewenstein says.

This makes sense to me.  When one focuses on the incentive as a reason for doing something, one loses track of the entire purpose for their activity.  And, it is said purpose that was the driver of the activity in the first place.  Kendra Cherry, a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, discusses two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Cherry writes: “Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is intrinsically rewarding. This contrasts with extrinsic motivation, which involves engaging in a behavior in order to earn external rewards or avoid punishments.”  Cherry adds that “In work settings, productivity can be increased by using extrinsic rewards such as bonuses, but the actual quality of the work performed is influenced by intrinsic factors. If you are doing something that you find rewarding, interesting, and challenging, you are more likely to come up with novel ideas and creative solutions.”  Business becomes stronger through innovation and creativity.

This information then transfers to one’s own personal goals, too.  If you are looking to improve your health, is it effective to reward achievement through an external reward like a cookie or a new pair of shoes? Or, is it more effective to create an extrinsic motivation situation that pushes motivation to be more intrinsic? Like a reward of a new journal which, when used, would help one through introspection? The key is probably both and each individual and situation may call for a different type of motivation.  Cherry cites a study by Malone and Lepper (1987) and discusses the factors identified to increasing intrinsic motivation are:

Challenge: People are more motivated when they pursue goals that have personal meaning, that relate to their self-esteem when performance feedback is available, and when attaining the goal is possible but not necessarily certain.

Curiosity: Internal motivation is increased when something in the physical environment grabs the individual’s attention (sensory curiosity) and when something about the activity stimulates the person to want to learn more (cognitive curiosity).

Control: People want control over themselves and their environments and want to determine what they pursue.

Cooperation and Competition: Intrinsic motivation can be increased in situations where people gain satisfaction from helping others and in cases where they are able to compare their own performance favorably to that of others.

Recognition: People enjoy having their accomplishment recognized by others, which can increase internal motivation.

The idea of motivation is an interesting topic and is useful in both one’s personal and professional life. Many times, you may hear someone say “I don’t know what motivated that person to do XX or YY.” Motivation is very individual, perception-heavy, and situational…and a much deeper topic to examine.

References:

Malone, T. W. & Lepper, M. R. (1987). Making learning fun: A taxonomy of intrinsic motivations for learning. In R. E. Snow & M. J. Farr (Eds.), Aptitude, learning, and instruction: III. Conative and affective process analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

The Mystery of Motivation | Psychology Today. (2017, January 3). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201701/the-mystery-motivation

What is Intrinsic Motivation? (2016, November 22). Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-intrinsic-motivation-2795385