MODULE 3

MOTIVATION

 Motivation is an internal state of the organism which starts with a

physiological or psychological feeling of deficiency (need) that activates
(drives) behaviour which is directed towards attainment of a goal.
 Motivation is a set of one or more conditions which activate/turn-on
behaviour, direct the behaviour towards some goal and maintain the
behaviour until the goal is reached.

CHARACTERSTICS OF MOTIVATION

 Motivation is a particular state or condition of the organism.

 The state is aroused out of need, want or drive
 In motivational state, the organism finds himself in a state of
restlessness and tend to act.
 Motivational state is selective in nature which is directed towards
attainment of goal.
 The intensity of the action and state of restlessness decrease in degree as
he reaches towards the fulfilment of his goal and the action comes to a
halt as soon as the goal is attained.
 The halted activity may be reinitiated only when the motivating
conditions reappear.

MOTIVATIONAL PROCESS

UNSATISIFIED NEED TENSION DRIVES SEARCH

BEHAVIOR SATISFIED NEED REDUCTION OF TENSION

SOURCES OF MOTIVATION

 NEEDS; Need refers to lack or deficit of some necessity. The deficiency

motivates the person to engage in behaviours that helps satisfy, the need.
 DRIVES;
Needs lead to drives.
It is a state of tension or arousal produced by need.
Drive is action oriented and energise organism to alleviate needs.
Examples of drives are hunger, thirst, drive for affiliation, achievements,
power etc.

 INCENTIVES;
a. Incentive is the object of the environment that alleviates a need and
reduce drive.
b. Attainment of an incentive results in restoration of physiological or
psychological imbalance and brings hall to the initiated behaviour.
Eg; Eating food, drinking water, obtaining friends etc. are all incentives
which tend to restore the balance and cut off the motivated behaviour as
the aroused drives are reduced.

 INSTINCT;
a. The term instinct denotes inborn pattern of behaviour that are
biologically determined rather than learned.
b. These are innate tendencies found in all the members of species that
direct behaviour in predictable ways.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

1) DRIVE THEORY / DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY

 Proposed by Clark Hull in1943.

 According to drive theory of motivation, physiological disruptions to
homeostasis produce drives, states of internal tension that motivate an
organism to behave in ways that reduce this tension.
 This theory applies the concept of homeostasis proposed by Walter
Canon in 1932.
 HOMEOSTASIS- , a state of internal physiological equilibrium that the
body strives to maintain.
 Hull proposed that reducing drives is the ultimate goal of motivated
behaviour.
  According to drive theories, when individuals experience a drive, they’re
motivated to pursue actions that will lead to drive reduction. For
example, the hunger motive has usually been conceptualized as a drive
system. If you go without food for a while, you begin to experience some
discomfort. This internal tension (the drive) motivates you to obtain food.
Eating reduces the drive and restores physiological equilibrium.

NEED DRIVE DRIVE REDUCTION

BEHAVIOR

(eg. For food, water) (hunger, thirst) (eating, drinking)

DRAWBACK:

 Drive theories were not able to explain all motivation. Homeostasis

appears irrelevant to some human motives, such as a “thirst for
knowledge.Also, motivation may exist without drive arousal.
 drive theories assume that people always try to reduce internal tension,
they can’t explain this behaviour very well.

2) INCENTIVE THEORY:

 Incentive theories propose that external stimuli regulate motivational

states.
 An incentive is an external goal that has the capacity to motivate
behaviour.
 Ice cream, a juicy steak, a monetary prize, approval from friends, and a
promotion at work are all incentives. Some of these incentives may
reduce drives, but others may not.
 Drive and incentive models of motivation are often contrasted as push
versus pull theories.
 Drive theories emphasize how internal states of tension push people in
certain directions. Incentive theories emphasize how external stimuli pull
people in certain directions.
  According to drive theories, the source of motivation lies within the
organism. According to incentive theories, the source of motivation lies
outside the organism, in the environment. This means that incentive
models don’t operate according to the principle of homeostasis, which
hinges on internal changes in the organism. Rather, incentive theories
emphasize environmental factors and downplay the biological bases of
human motivation.

3) EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

 Darwin’s theory of evolution inspired early psychological views that

instincts motivate much of our behaviour.
 An instinct (also called a fixed action pattern) is an inherited
characteristic, common to all members of a species, that automatically
produces a particular response when the organism is exposed to a
particular stimulus.
 Evolutionary perspective assert that human motives and those of other
species are the products of natural selection, just as anatomical
characteristics are.
 They argue that natural selection favours behaviours that maximize
reproductive success that is, passing on genes to the next generation.
Thus, they explain motives such as affiliation, achievement, dominance,
aggression, and sex drive in terms of their adaptive value.

4) AROUSAL THEORY

 The theory state that the major reason people are driven to perform any
action is to maintain an optimal level of physiological arousal.
 Arousal refers to the activation of body and nervous system.
 Arousal is zero at death, low during sleep, normal during daily activities
and high at times of excitement, emotion, or panic
 There is often a close link between arousal and performance. For many
task, performance increases as arousal increases, upto some point
beyond that level, further increase in arousal actually decreases
performance.
 The arousal level varies in individuals depending on;
Intensity of task.
The variation in each individual stimulation level.
  Yerks-Dodson law: The law states that performance and arousal are
directly related. i.e, increase in arousal to certain level can help to boost
performance. Once the arousal crosses the optimal level, performance of
the individual starts to diminish.

5) GOAL-SETTING THEORY

 The theory was proposed by Edwin Locke and Lathan.

 This theory states that goal-setting is essentially linked to task
performance.
 The theory proposes that specific goal and challenging gaols along with
appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance.
 According to Locke and Lathan, there are five goal setting principle that
can improve our chances of success.
a. Clarity – a clear, measurable goal is more achievable than one
that is poorly defined.
b. Challenge – the goal must have a decent level of difficulty in
order to motivate one to strive towards the goal,
c. Commitment – put deliberate effort into meeting the goal.
d. Feedback - set up method to receive information on your
progress towards goal.
 e. Task complexity – the task must be such that it could be
completed in a realistic time scale.break down the process into
sub-goals with regular reviews.

6) MASLOWS HIREARCHY OF NEED THEORY

 Abraham Maslow, a humanistic theorist, proposed a broad motivational

model in 1954.
 He believed that psychology’s other perspectives ignore a key human
motive: our striving for personal growth.
 He proposed the concept of a need hierarchy, a progression containing
deficiency needs at the bottom and uniquely human growth needs at the
top. After our basic physiological needs are satisfied, we focus on our
need for safety and security. Once that is met, we then attend to needs at
the next higher level, and so on. If situations change.
 The five stages in Maslows theory are;
 Physiological needs
 Safety needs
  Belongingness
 Self esteem
 Self actualization
 He stated that an individual must satisfy lower levels deficit before
progressing onto meet higher level growth needs.
 This five-stage model can be divided into deficiency needs(first 3
levels)and growth needs(top 2 levels).
 To Maslow, self-actualization, which represents the need to fulfill our
potential, is the ultimate human motive.
 It motivates us to perfect ourselves mentally, artistically, emotionally,
and socially, to explore activities for their intrinsic satisfaction rather
than to gain esteem and belongingness, and to live deep and meaningful
lives dedicated to the betterment of all people, not just ourselves.
 COGNITIVE THEORIES

7) EXPECTANCY THEORY

 The theory was proposed by Victor Vroom.

 This theory is mainly applied at industrial areas.
 Expectancy theory suggest that employees are more likely to be
motivated when they perceive that their efforts will result in successful
performance and ultimately in desired rewards and outcomes.
 According to vroom’s model, the persons level of effort which in his
motivation will depend upon;
M = (E*I*V)
 E: EXPECTANCY: Individuals belief that a particular behaviour will
lead to aparticular outcome.
 I: INSTRUMENTALITY- this factor relates to a person’s belief and
expectation that, his performance will lead to a particular desired
reward.
 V:VALENCE –It is the value that a person assigns to his desired
reward.

8) COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY

 The term cognitive dissonance refers to the feeling of discomfort that result
from holding two conflicting beliefs.
 The theory was proposed by Leon Festinger.
 According to this theory, there is a tendency for individuals to seek
consistency among their cognitive thoughts (beliefs or opinions). When
there is inconsistency between attitudes or behaviours something must
change to eliminate the dissonance.
 People experience tension or discomfort when their beliefs and attitudes
doesn’t match their behaviour. People tend to seek consistency in their
beliefs and reduce discomfort/dissonance by following 3 methods.
I. Change one or more of the attitudes, behaviour, beliefs etc to make the
relationship between the elements a consistent one.
II. Acquire new information that out-weighs the dissonant belief.
III. Reduce the importance of the cognition (belief and attitudes).
9) ATTRIBUTION THEORY

 The theory is proposed by Bernad Weiner.

 Two people are in a race, and one of them wins. Did that individual win
because he or she was a faster runner or because the other person was
having an off day? The answer depends on which runner you ask. The
winner will attribute the victory to his or her ability and feel confident about
the next race. The loser will blame the loss on circumstances beyond his or
her control (feeling sick, poor night's sleep, painful shoes) and be less likely
to race again unless those factors change. Therfore, attribution is the
process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors.
 The basic principle of attribution theory states that a person's attributions
for success or failure determine the amount of effort the individual will
expend on the task.
 It explains how people attribute causes to events and how this cognitive
perception affects their motivation.
 One of the primary assumptions of attribution theory is that people will
interpret their environment in such a way as to maintain a positive self-
image.
 Example: Imagine a thief who breaks into a home and commits a burglary.
If the thief sees himself as a 'bad person,' he will feel remorse and be less
likely to repeat the behavior. However, if the thief can blame his actions on
society and believe he is entitled to steal, then he is more motivated to
perform additional burglaries.
 There are three main categories of attributes for explaining success or
failure and as a result the theory is also known as three dimensional
model
1. Locus of control- It refers to the perception of the cause of any
event as external or internal.
2. Stability- It refers to whether the cause of the event is stable or
unstable across time and situations.
3. Controllability-It refers to whether the cause of any event is
controllable/ uncontrollable.

10) BALANCE THEORY

 Balance theory is a theory of attitude change, proposed by Fritz Heider.

 It conceptualizes the cognitive consistency motive as a drive towards
psychological balance.
 Balance theory explains how people tend to maintain consistency in pattern
of their liking and disliking of one another and of inanimate objects.
 When patterns of liking and disliking are balanced, structures are stable.
When they are imbalanced, structures are unstable and there is pressure to
change in the direction that makes them balanced.
 P-O-X Model

P- Person, O- Other person, X- An object/person

Cognitive balance is achieved when there are three positive links or two
negatives with one positive. Two positive links and one negative like the
example above creates imbalance or cognitive dissonance.

Determining whether the triadic relationship is balanced or not:

+++ = +: Balanced

_+_ = _: Balanced

_++ = _: Unbalanced

Example:

“My friend’s friend is my friend”

“My friend’s enemy is my enemy”

“My enemy’s friend is my enemy”

“My enemy’s enemy is my friend”

TYPES OF MOTIVES

BIOLOGICAL MOTIVES

Biological motives are called as physiological motives. These motives are

essential for the survival of the organism. Such motives are triggered when
there is imbalancement in the body. The body always tends to maintain a state
of equilibrium called homeostasis.

Biological motives include hunger, thirst, the pursuit of pleasure, and the
avoidance of pain.

SEXUAL MOTIVATION

 Also known as sex drive.

 The impulse to gratify sexual needs, either through sexual activity or
through apparently unrelated activities.
 Sigmund Freud referred this drive as libido, an aspect of individuals
sexuality and it varies considerably between individuals under various
circumstances.

Hormonal regulation
 Hormones secreted by the gonads—the ovaries in females and the
testes in males—can influence sexual motivation
 Estrogens are the principal class of gonadal hormones in females.
 Androgens are the principal class of gonadal hormones in males.
 Actually, both classes of hormones are produced in both sexes, but the
relative balance is much different.
 The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland regulate these hormonal
secretions.
 In many species, females are sexually receptive only just prior to ovulation,
coinciding with an elevation in circulating levels of gonadal hormones.
 Hormones also influence sexual desire in males. , males who develop an
endocrine disorder called hypogonadism during adulthood exhibit
abnormally low levels of androgens and reduced sexual motivation, which
can be revived by hormone replacement therapy.
 In both sexes, it is androgen levels that seem to influence sexual
motivation. Higher levels of testosterone correlate with higher rates of
sexual activity in both males and females.

Erotic materials
 Laboratory studies show that erotic materials stimulatesexual desire in
many people.
 Generally speaking, men are more likely than women to report that they
find erotic materials enjoyable and arousing. However, this finding may
partly reflect the fact that the vast majority of erotic materials are scripted
to appeal to males and often portray women in degrading roles that elicit
negative reactions from female viewers.
 Consistent with this perspective, one study found that when subjects viewed
erotic films chosen by males, men rated the films as more arousing than
women did, but when subjects viewed erotic films chosen by females,
gender differences in participants’ responsiveness were negligible.
 Evidence suggests that exposure to erotic material elevates the likelihood of
overt sexual activity for a period of hours immediately after the exposure.
 Although erotic materials don’t appear to incite overpowering sexual urges,
they may alter attitudes in ways that eventually influence sexual behavior.
 Zillmann and Bryant (1984) found that male and female undergraduates
exposed to a large dose of pornography (three or six films per week for six
weeks) developed more liberal attitudes about sexual practices. For
example, they came to view premarital and extramarital sex as more
acceptable.
 Another study by Zillmann and Bryant (1988) suggests that viewing
sexually explicit films may make some people dissatisfied with their own
sexual interactions., the subjects exposed to a steady diet of pornography
reported less satisfaction with their partners’ physical appearance, sexual
curiosity, and sexual performance. Thus, pornography may create
unrealistic expectations about sexual relations.

Attraction to a partner

 Coolidge effect refers to the preference for variety in sexual partners that
is seen in males of many species, including rats, bulls, and monkeys.
 The strategies that organisms follow in mate selection appear to be a
product of natural selection, which brings us to evolutionary analyses of
human sexual behaviour

Evolutionary analysis of sexual behavior

Robert Trivers’s (1972) parental investment theory.

 Parental investment refers to what each sex has to invest— in terms of time,
energy, survival risk, and forgone opportunities—to produce and nurture
offspring
 According to Trivers, members of the sex that makes the smaller investment
(males in most species) will pursue mating opportunities vigorously and
compete with each other for these opportunities, whereas members of the
sex that makes the larger investment (females in most species) will tend to
be more conservative and discriminating about mating behaviour. This rule
of thumb predicts mating patterns in many types of animals.

Sexual orientation

 Sexual orientation refers to a person’s preference for emotional and sexual

relationships with individuals of the same sex, the other sex, or either sex.
 Heterosexuals -seek emotional-sexual relationships with members of the
other sex.
 Bisexuals- with members of either sex, and
 Homosexuals- with members of the same sex. In recent years, the terms
gay have become widely used to refer to homosexuals and heterosexuals,
respectively. Although gay can refer to homosexuals of either sex, most
homosexual women prefer to call themselves lesbians.

Environmental theories on homosexuality

 The Freudian theorists argued that a male is likely to become gay when
raised by a weak, detached, ineffectual father who is a poor heterosexual
role model and by an overprotective, close-binding mother, with whom the
boy identifies.
 Behavioral theorists argued that homosexuality is a learned preference
acquired when same-sex stimuli have been paired with sexual arousal,
perhaps through chance seductions by adult homosexuals. Extensive
 research on homosexuals’ upbringing and childhood experiences has failed
to support either of these theories.
 Research on homosexuals’ personal histories have yielded a number of
interesting insights. Extremely feminine behavior in young boys or
masculine behavior in young girls does predict the subsequent development
of homosexuality.

Biological theories on homosexuality

 In the 1990s when a pair of behavioural genetics studies reported findings

suggesting that homosexuality has a hereditary basis.
 In the first study, conducted by Bailey and Pillard (1991), the subjects were
gay men who had either a twin brother or an adopted brother. They found
that 52% of the subjects’ identical twins were gay, that 22% of their
fraternal twins were gay, and that 11% of their adoptive brothers were gay.
 A companion study of lesbians yielded a similar pattern of results. Given
that identical twins share more genetic overlap than fraternal twins, who
share more genes than unrelated adoptive siblings, these results suggest a
genetic predisposition to homosexuality
 More recent twin studies, with larger and more representative samples,
have provided further support for the conclusion that heredity influences
sexual orientation. However, these newer studies have yielded smaller
estimates of genetic influence, which have been attributed to improved
sampling.
 Many theorists suspect that the roots of homosexuality may lie in the
organizing effects of prenatal hormones on neurological development.
 Several lines of research suggest that hormonal secretions during critical
periods of prenatal development may shape sexual development, organize
the brain in a lasting manner, and influence subsequent sexual orientation.
 Several other independent lines of research suggest that atypical prenatal
hormonal secretions may foster a predisposition to homosexuality
 Another complication is that the pathways to homosexuality may be
somewhat different for males than for females.
 Females’ sexuality appears to be characterized by more plasticity than
males’ sexuality. In other words, women’s sexual behavior may be more
easily shaped and modified by sociocultural factors.
HUNGER MOTIVATION

 1912 study, Walter Cannon and A. L. Washburn verified what most people
have noticed based on casual observation: There is an association between
stomach contractions and the experience of hunger. Based on this
correlation, Cannon theorized that stomach contractions cause hunger.
Based on this correlation, Cannon theorized that stomach contractions
cause hunger. However, his theory was eventually discredited.
 Stomach contractions sometimes accompany hunger, but they don’t cause
it. Because later research showed that people continue to experience
hunger even after their stomachs have been removed out of medical
necessity. If hunger can occur without a stomach, then stomach
contractions can’t be the cause of hunger.
 This realization led to more complex theories of hunger that focus on
(1) The role of the brain
(2) Blood sugar level
(3) Hormones.

1) THE ROLE OF BRAIN

 the hypothalamus is a tiny structure involved in the regulation of a variety

of biological needs related to survival.
 the Lateral Hypothalamus and Ventro medial Hypothalamus were the
brain’s on-off switches for the control of hunger . However, a variety of
empirical findings complicated this simple picture and undermined the
dual-centers model of hunger.
 The current thinking is that the lateral and ventromedial areas of the
hypothalamus are elements in the neural circuitry that regulates hunger but
are not the key elements and are not simple on-off center.
 scientists believe that two other areas of the hypothalamus—the arcuate
nucleus and the paraventricular nucleus—play a larger role in the
modulation of hunger .
 In recent years the arcuate nucleus has been singled out as especially
important. This area in the hypothalamus appears to contain a group of
neurons that are sensitive to incoming hunger signals and another group of
neurons that respond to satiety signals.
 Contemporary theories of hunger focus more on neural circuits that pass
through areas of the hypothalamus rather than on anatomical centers in the
brain. These circuits depend on a remarkable variety of neurotransmitters.
 Neuropeptide Y and serotonin play prominent roles as do GABA, ghrelin,
and orexins.
 In recent years scientists have realized that increased levels of ghrelin play
a particularly crucial role in stimulating hunger. Ghrelin performs double
duty as a neurotransmitter in the nervous system and as a hormone in the
endocrine system.
 In both systems, elevated ghrelin levels are associated with increased food
intake.

2) BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL

 Regulation of much of the food taken into the body is converted into
glucose, which circulates in the blood.
 Glucose is a simple sugar that is an important source of energy.
 Decrease in blood glucose level can increase hunger. Manipulations
thatincrease glucose level can make people feel satiated. Based on these
findings, Jean Mayer proposed that hunger is regulated by the rise and fall
of blood glucose levels.
 Glucostatic theory proposed that fluctuations in blood glucose level are
monitored in the brain by glucostats—neurons sensitive to glucose in the
surrounding fluid.
 Like the dual-centers theory, the glucostatic theory of hunger gradually ran
into a number of complications.
 The digestive system also includes a variety of other mechanisms that
influence hunger.
 It turns out that Walter Cannon was not entirely wrong in hypothesizing
that the stomach regulates hunger. After you have consumed food, cells in
the stomach can send signals to the brain that inhibit further eating. For
example, the vagus nerve carries information about the stretching of the
stomach walls that indicates when the stomach is full.

3) HORMONES

 A variety of hormones circulating in the bloodstream also appear to

contribute to the regulation of hunger.
 Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. It must be present for cells
to extract glucose from the blood. Indeed, an inadequate supply of insulin is
what causes diabetes. Insulin levels increase when people eat.
 Moreover, insulin levels appear to be sensitive to fluctuations in the body’s
fat stores. These findings suggest that insulin secretions play a role in the
fluctuation of hunger.
 two other hormones play a key role in the short-term regulation of hunger.
After going without food for a while, the stomach secretes ghrelin, which
causes stomach contractions and promotes hunger. In contrast, after food is
consumed, the upper intestine releases a hormone called CCK that delivers
satiety signals to the brain, thus reducing hunger.
 Finally, evidence indicates that a hormone called leptin contributes to the
long-term regulation of hunger, as well as the modulation of numerous
other bodily functions. Leptin is produced by fat cells throughout the body
and released into the bloodstream. Higher levels of fat generate higher
levels of leptin.
 Leptin circulates through the bloodstream and ultimately provides the
hypothalamus with information about the body’s fat stores. When leptin
levels are high, the propensity to feel hungry diminishes.
 One theory of obesity suggests that many overweight people develop
leptin resistance—reduced responsiveness to the hunger-suppressing
effects of leptin. The hormonal signals that influence hunger (the fluctations
of insulin, ghrelin, CCK, and leptin) all seem to converge in the
hypothalamus, especially the arcuate and paraventricular nuclei of the
hypothalamus.

ENVIRORNMENTAL FACTORS REGULATING HUNGER

 Three key environmental factors are

(1) The availability and palatability of food,
(2) Learned preferences and habits, and
(3) Stress.

(1) The availability and palatability of food

Palatability- As you might expect, the better food tastes, the more of it
people consume. This principle is not limited to humans, as the eating
behavior of rats and other animals is also influenced by palatability.
 Quantity available- A powerful determinant of the amount eaten is
the amount available. People tend to consume what is put in front of
them. The more people are served, the more they eat. Thus, the large
portions served in modern American restaurants probably foster
increased consumption.
Variety- Humans and animals increase their consumption when a
greater variety of foods is available. As you eat a specific food, its
incentive value declines. This phenomenon is called sensory-specific
satiety. If only a few foods are available, the appeal of all of them can
decline quickly. But if many foods are available, people can keep shifting
to new foods and end up eating more overall. This principle explains
why people are especially likely to overeat at buffets where many foods
are available.
 Eating can also be triggered by exposure to environmental cues that have
been associated with food. Television commercials for delicious-looking
meals or by seductive odours coming from the kitchen. Consistent with this
observation, studies have shown that hunger can be increased by exposure
to pictures, written descriptions, and video depictions of attractive foods.

(2) Learned preferences and habits

 People from different cultures display enormous variations in patterns of

food consumption.
 Humans do have some innate taste preferences of a general sort. For
example, a preference for sweet tastes is present at birth, and humans’
preference for high-fat foods appears to be at least partly genetic in origin.
 Evidence also suggests that an unlearned preference for salt emerges at
around four months of age in humans.
 Nonetheless, learning wields a great deal of influence over what people
prefer to eat.
 Taste preferences are partly a function of learned associations formed
through classical conditioning. For example, youngsters can be conditioned
to prefer flavours paired with pleasant events. Taste aversions can also be
acquired through conditioning when foods are followed by nausea.
 Eating habits are also shaped by observational learning. To a large degree,
food preferences are a matter of exposure. People generally prefer familiar
foods. But geographical, cultural, religious, and ethnic factors limit people’s
exposure to certain foods. Young children are more likely to taste an
 unfamiliar food if an adult tries it first. Repeated exposures to a new food
usually lead to increased liking.
 Learned habits and social considerations also influence when and how
much people eat. For example, a key determinant of when people eat is
their memory of how much time has passed since they ate their last meal
and what they consumed. These expectations about how often and how
much one should eat are the product of years of learning.

(3) Stress and eating

 Studies have shown that stress leads to increased eating in a substantial

percentage of people.
 Some studies suggest that stress-induced eating may be especially common
among.
 Theorists have suggested that the negative emotions often evoked by stress
are what promotes additional eating. Some people respond to emotional
distress by eating tasty foods because they expect the enjoyable treats to
make them feel better. Unfortunately, this strategy of emotional regulation
does not appear to be very effective, as eating does not usually lead to
lasting mood changes.
 stress is another environmental factor that can influence hunger, although
it’s not clear whether the effects are direct or indirect

SOCIAL MOTIVE

 They are learnt in social groups as a result of interaction with the family
and society i.e why their strength varies from one individual to another.
 Need for achievement, autonomy, affiliation, dominance, etc are the
types of social motives.
 People acquire an unlimited number of social motives through learning
and socialization.
A. ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION:
 The achievement motive is the need to master difficult challenges, to
outperform others, and to meet high standards of excellence.
 The need for achievement involves the desire to excel, especially in
competition with others.
 Research on achievement motivation was pioneered by David
McClelland and his colleagues. McClelland argued that achievement
motivation is of the utmost importance.
 He viewed the need for achievement as the spark that ignites economic
growth, scientific progress, inspirational leadership, and masterpieces in
the creative arts.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE IN ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

 The need for achievement is a fairly stable aspect of personality. Hence,

research in this area has focused mostly on individual differences in
achievement motivation.
 The research on individual differences in achievement motivation has
yielded interesting findings on the characteristics of people who score
high in the need for achievement. They tend to work harder and more
persistently on tasks than people scored low in the need for
achievement.
 Persons high in achievement motivation differ from people low in this
motive in other ways too; firstly, persons high in achievement
motivation tend to prefer tasks that are moderately difficult and
challenging, because chances of failing on extremely difficult task is too
high, and such persons want success above everything else. Secondly,
they handle negative feedback about task performance more effectively
than others.

SITUATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF ACHIEVMENT

MOTIVATION

 Situational factors can also influence achievement strivings. John

Atkinson has elaborated extensively on McClelland’s original theory of
achievement motivation and has identified some important situational
determinants of achievement behaviour.
  Atkinson theorizes that the tendency to pursue achievement in a
particular situation depends on the following factors:
I. The strength of one’s motivation to achieve success. This factor is
viewed as a stable aspect of personality.
II. One’s estimate of the probability of success for the task at hand.
This factor varies from task to task.
III. The incentive value of success. This factor depends on the tangible
and intangible rewards for success on the specific task.
 The last two variables are situational determinants of achievement
behaviour i.e, it vary from one situation to another.
 According to Atkinson, the pursuit of achievement increases as the
probability and incentive value of success go up (and decreases as they
go down).
 The joint influence of these situational factors may explain why high
achievers prefer tasks of intermediate difficulty.
 Atkinson notes that the probability of success and the incentive value of
success on tasks are interdependent to some degree.
 As tasks get easier, success becomes less satisfying. As tasks get harder,
success becomes more satisfying, but its likelihood obviously declines.
When the probability and incentive value of success are weighed
together, moderately challenging tasks seem to offer the best overall
value in terms of maximizing one’s sense of accomplishment.

MEASURING ACHIEVMENT MOTIVATION

 Need for achievement can be measured effectively with the Thematic

Apperception Test.
 The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a projective test, one that
requires subjects to respond to vague, ambiguous stimuli in ways that
may reveal personal motives and traits.
 The stimulus materials for the TAT are pictures of people in ambiguous
scenes open to interpretation.
 Examples include a man working at a desk and a woman seated in a chair
staring off into space. Subject is asked to write or tell stories about what’s
happening in the scenes and what the characters are feeling. The themes
of these stories are then scored to measure the strength of various needs
B. AGGRESSIVE MOTIVATION

 The desire to harm or injure others in some manner.

 Aggression: behaviour directed toward the goal of harming another living
being.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE AGGRESSION

Social factors

 For many years psychologists viewed frustration as the major cause of

aggression but, research findings indicate that frustration is just one of
many different social causes of aggression.
 When individual feel that their interest have been blocked, and such
preventing is unfair, frustration can indeed be a powerful causes of
aggression.
 Another social factor that plays a role in aggression is direct
provocation from another person. Verbal insults or physical actions
interpreted as aggressive in nature often lead the person on the
receiving end to respond in aggressive way.
 Finally, evidence indicates that exposure to violence in the media-
television, movies, has been found to increase aggression on the part
of viewers.
Environmental factors

 Conditions in the Physical environment such as, uncomfortably high

temperature, disagreeable crowding, or unpleasant or irritating noise,
may contribute to increase aggressive motivation.
 Unpleasant feelings may lead us to think in ways that tend to activate
aggressive motives.
Hormonal influence
 Findings suggest that sex hormones, especially the male sex hormone
testosterone, may play a role in aggression.
 Ina research conducted by Harris and her colleagues indicate that for
both males and females, the higher the testosterone levels, higher the
tendency to engage in aggression and lower the tendency to engage in
helpful behaviour.
C. POWER MOTIVATION

 It is a social motive, in which the goals are to influence, control,

persuade, lead, charm others and enhance one’s own reputation in the
eyes of others.
 The behavioural expression of power motive take place in many forms
among them, oral expression of power, participation in competitive
sports, the joining of organisation, have built a high impact on others.
 In the case of men, it also takes the form of drinking and sexual
domination on women,
 People with power motive, generally have leadership quality which is
very high. They may have swinging behaviour, may not be geninue.
 Thematic apperceptiontest (TAT) is used to measure power
motive.

D. AFFILIATION MOTIVATION

 Need for affiliation also called motive for gregariousness is an

important social motive which is an integral part of our social lives.
 Affiliation refers to relating with others which is a major part of our
social life and is almost universal.
 In studies, it has been found that persons with moderate level of
affiliation needs are more effective managers.
 Biological attachment, reduction of fear, assistance stimulation,
information and self-evaluation are some of the important factors that
cause us to be affiliative.
 Studies have also revealed that people also differ in their strength of
need to affiliate.

E. INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

 Intrinsic motivation, performing an activity for its own sake—because

you find it enjoyable or challenging.
 It is generated by the sense of personal satisfactionthey bring.
 The needs or causes that lead to intrinsic motivation are
Autonomy- the need to have control over one’s own life.
Relatedness- to maintain companionship or connection with others.
Competence- the need to do the best or succeed.
  Intrinsic motivation lasts longer periods and often leads to higher level
of success.

F. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

 Extrinsic motivation, performing an activity to obtain an external

reward or avoid punishment.
 The needs or causes that lead a person extrinsically motivated are
Money
Praise
Competition
Threat of punishment
 Extrinsic motivation might only occur for limited period of time, and
the individual stops performing actions after the punishment or reward
is applied.