Psychology : What Motivates People Do What They Do

Motivation is a key driving force in most human beings and lies hidden to be discovered

The article “The Secret of Effective Motivation” by Amy Wrzesniewski and Barry Schwartz, appeared in Sunday Review on July 4, 2014. The article introduces different types of motives and examines their effectiveness with the help of real life social experiments. The differences between two main types of motives: internal and instrumental, are introduced in the first part of the article. Although, many people think that both internal and instrumental motives are good in engaging some kind of activity, authors argue that instrumental motives are not so useful and sometimes can be counterproductive for success. Authors develop their argument by analyzing the results

The standard way of thinking about motivation has it that the only way to get people to be driven is to reward them extrinsically. In other words, the way we generally try to motivate people is by dangling a carrot in front of their face, or pushing them with a poke to the ribs with stick. Many people assume that if you want someone to do something, you incentivize them with external compensation. For example, if you want a student to work harder in class, offer them extra credits. If you want your basketball team to be better, make them run more suicides as punishment. However, in this book, Drive: ’’The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us’’ by Daniel Pink challenges this conventional, preconceived notion of motivation of carrot and stick mentality. Pink divided motivation into three categories that evolved over time: motivation 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0.

P1. Personality is the sum of those characteristics that make a person unique. Personality has been defined as "an individual's characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, behaviour, together with the psychological mechanisms.

Human motivation is a physiological drive that we all have inside ourselves. There is no way to completely avoid it. Some drives we have are for basic necessities of survival, like the feelings of thirst and hunger. Obviously we must give into the drive that our body is signaling to us we must have because food and water are essential for us to live. When our behavior is directed by means of survival this is something known as homeostasis. “According to drive theory, the body maintains a condition of homeostasis, in which any particular system is in balance or equilibrium (C.L. Hull, 1951). Any departure from homeostasis, such as depletion of nutrients or a drop in temperature, produces an aroused condition, or drive, which impels the individual to engage in appropriate action such as eating, drinking, or seeking warmth. As the body’s need is met, the drive and associated arousal subside.” (Garrett, pg. 161)

Psychologists who have researched the topic of motivational concepts conclude that there are four theories of motivation. They are the instinct theory, the drive-reduction theory, the arousal theory, and the Maslow hierarchy of needs theory. This experiment is a research that the psychologist could take part in by examining their behavior patterns as they too are a part of the human factor.

Instructions: This exam contains 50 questions. Each question is worth ½ point. Please select the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. There is only one best answer although some answers may appear similar. Please make your choice by changing the font color of your answer for each question. Your choice must be clear. If no answer is marked, or if your choice is unclear, the qu

What are some factors that motivate people? Family and friends motivate people, or if they have a goal they want to reach they will try harder to pursue it.

Why are People Motivated to Change the World? People are inspired to change the world when they are too strongly attached to a controversial opinion. Some people share out their opinion which turns into a conflict with others causing a huge deal. They don't want to face the new change in the situation and just move on.

“Motivation is the will and desire that a person has to engage in a particular behaviour or perform a particular task” (Lawley & King, P269). In life motivation will be needed to enhance the workforce in various ways, many organisations will use motivation to increase the percentage yield of an individual or to make an individual feel a part of the business or organisation. Incentives have a huge influence on behaviourist & extrinsic approach. In addition other aspects; humanist theorist, intrinsic approach, Taylorism and Fordism have a part in perception of motivation.

As people we strive for three basic human psychological needs which subconsciously motivate individuals (Deci 2013). The first is competence, to feel like you are interacting effectively in a specific environment. Competence drives people to strive for more and to challenge themselves to continue to interact effectively. Next, autonomy this not necessarily means being independent, but rather having a sense of choice. As people we can choose to be dependent or independent but it is having a choice that is important. Finally, relatedness or, positive human interaction and a need to form secure

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When we see a person acting in an abnormal way, we cannot help but think “why are they doing that?” We form judgements about people and question the reasoning behind their actions in an attempt to better understand their situation. This ability to understand intentions plays an important role in today’s society, allowing us to relate to one another and form deep connections through picturing ourselves in that same position. Nevertheless, there are times when we are unable to relate, and unable to understand why someone chooses to act in a certain way, say a certain thing, or be a certain type of person. This desire – this motivation to do something – has been felt by each and every human being

Use as many of your senses as you can to help you visualize your goal. If it’s being able to go to Hawaii on vacation because you made a lot of sales then smell the ocean, hear the waves, feel the sun, and how happy you are.

Over the past years different theories on motivation have been developed. These theories reach different conclusions on what motivate employees in their workplace. Job satisfaction, motivation, and reward systems are included in one area of organizational theory. A review of the classical literature on motivation reveals four major theory areas: