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Motivation is the activation or energization of goal-oriented behavior. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but, theoretically, it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation. According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting, or a desired object, hobby, goal, state of being, ideal, or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, selfishness, morality, or avoiding mortality. Conceptually, motivation should not be confused with either volition or optimism.[1] While competing, the crowd may cheer on the performer, which may motivate him or her to do well. Trophies are also extrinsic incentives. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to overjustification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition and to children who received no extrinsic reward[4] The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Yale School of Management professor Victor Vroom's "expectancy theory" provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self control to pursue a particular goal.
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Motivation Subcategories
Motivation Articles
How To Spot the Five Qualities of a Master Salesperson - You Can Learn These Too!
by Paul J. Meyer
Oct 06, 2009
When Ron Legrand first got involved in real estate, he was a dead broke auto mechanic just trying to make ends meet. He was 35 years old, bankrupt, and he knew he didn't want to spend his future fixing cars in the hot Florida sun. He wanted to sel...
The Secret to Employee Trust in Tough Times
by Wendy Mack
Sep 25, 2009
Communication with employees is often the first thing to drop off when a company is struggling to survive in a bad economy. This avoidance can affect overall company performance for a number of reasons. Employee stress must be recognized and dealt wi...
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