This document provides an overview of several important theories of motivation: - Instinct theory suggests humans are biologically programmed to behave in certain ways. William James identified instincts like attachment and love. - Incentive theory proposes people are motivated by external rewards like pay. Behavioral concepts of reinforcement are important. - Drive theory argues people act to reduce internal tension from unmet needs like thirst. It well explains biological drives but not all behaviors. - Arousal theory says people seek to maintain an optimal level of arousal, acting to decrease or increase it as needed. - Humanistic theory views people as cognitively motivated by needs like esteem and self-actualization in Maslow's hierarchy, once

1. BASIC MOTIVATION
THEORIES
Reported by: Raquel D. Bernabe-Ed.D student
Subject: OBAd
Prof. Helen Caparas, Ed. D

2. Motivation – Basic
concepts and theories
It intends to give a very brief
overview on the most
important concepts and
theories of motivation.

3. According to Arnold, there are 3
components
of
motivation:
●direction – what a person is
trying
to
do
●effort – how hard a person is
trying
●persistence – how long a
person
keeps
on
trying

4. Furthermore, literature distinguishes 2 types
of factors that influence motivation:
● intrinsic – self generated factors
(responsibility, freedom to act, scope to use
and develop skills and abilities, interesting
and challenging work, opportunities for
advancement) – they have a deeper and
longer-term
effect
● extrinsic - what is done for people to
motivate
them
(rewards, promotion, punishment) – they have
an immediate and powerful effect, but won’t
necessarily
last
long

5. Most influential is the Needs (content)
Theory
● The underlying concept is the belief that an
unsatisfied need creates tension and a state
of disequilibrium. To restore balance, a goal is
identified that will satisfy the need and a
behavior pathway to this goal is selected.
●
All behavior is motivated by unsatisfied
needs.
● People will be better motivated if their work
experience satisfies their needs and wants

6. Maslows hierarchy of needs
● Self-fulfillment
●
●
●
●
Esteem
Social
Safety
Physiological
● If a lower need is satisfied, the next higher
one becomes dominant.
●
Higher-order needs provide greatest
motivation.
●
Different people may have different
priorities

7. Alderfer’s ERG Theory
● About subjective states of
satisfaction and desire
 3 primary categories of human needs
 ● existence needs – need for material
and energy exchange
 ● relatedness needs – transactions
with human environment, process of
sharing or mutuality
●
growth needs – people make
creative or productive efforts for
themselves


8. McClelland’s needs
● Based mainly on studies of
managers
 ● 3 most important needs:
 ● achievement – need for
competitive success measured
against a personal standard of
excellence
 ● affiliation – need for warm, friendly
relationships with others
 ● power – need to control and


9. Herzbergs two-factor model
● Motivators – factors that really
motivate people,
 ● Hygiene factors – dissatisfiers;
their absence would demotivate
people, but their presence not
necessarily improves motivation;
essentially describe the
environment, little effect on positive
job attitudes


10. Process cognitive theory
● Emphasis on psychological
processes that effect motivation and
on basic needs
 ● Concerned with peoples
perceptions and the way they interpret
and understand it
 ● People will be highly motivated if
they can control the means to attain
their goals


11. Expectancy theory
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● By Vroom
● Value, instrumentality (belief that if we do one thing it will lead to
another), expectancy (probability that action or effort will lead to an
outcome)
● Strength of expectations may be based on past experiences
● Motivation is only likely when a clearly perceived relationship
exists between performance and an outcome that is seen as a
means of satisfying needs
● Porter and Lawler: two factors determining the effort people put
into their jobs:
● Value of rewards to individuals in so far as they satisfy their
needs
● Probability that rewards depend on effort, as perceived by
individuals, their expectation about relationships between effort and
reward
● Two additional variables:
● Ability – individual characteristics and skills
● Role perceptions – what he wants to do or thinks he is required
to do, good if they correspond with the viewpoint of the organisation

12. Goal theory
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● Latham and Locke
● Motivation and performance are
higher when individuals are set specific
goals
● Goals have to be difficult but
accepted
● Feedback on performance
● Participation in goal setting is
important – goals need to be agreed
● As long as they are accepted –
demanding goals lead to better
performance than easy goals

13. Reactance theory
● Brehm
 ● Individuals are not passive
receivers but responders
 ● They seek to reduce uncertainty by
seeking control about factors
influencing rewards


14. Equity theory
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● Adams
● Perceptions people have about how they are being
treated as compared with others
● Involves feelings and perceptions, is always a
comparative process
● People will work better if they are treated equitably
● Two forms of equity:
● Distributive – fairness people feel they are rewarded
in accordance with their contribution and in comparison
with others
● Procedural – perceptions of employees about
fairness of company procedures
● We hope/expect that the inputs we give into our job
equal the outputs we get

15. 
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Other theories
● Behavioral theory (Skinner): behavior is learnt from
experience, learning takes place mainly through reinforcement
● Social learning theory (Bandura) significance of reinforcement as
a determinant of future behavior, importance of internal
psychological factors, esp. Expectancies
● Attribution theory (Guest) explanation of performance after we
have invested considerable effort and motivation in a task; 4 types of
explanations: ability, effort, task difficulty, luck; motivation depends
on the factor used to explain success or failure
is the force that
initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what
causes us to take action, whether to grab a snack to reduce hunger
or enroll in college to earn a degree. The forces that lie beneath
motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature.
Researchers have developed a number of different theories to
explain motivation. Each individual theory tends to be rather limited
in scope. However, by looking at the key ideas behind each
theory, you can gain a better understanding of motivation as a
whole.

16. Instinct Theory of Motivation
According to instinct theories, people are
motivated to behave in certain ways because
they are evolutionarily programmed to do so. An
example of this in the animal world is seasonal
migration. These animals do not learn to do
this, it is instead an inborn pattern of behavior.
 William James created a list of human instincts
that included such things as
attachment, play, shame, anger, fear, shyness, m
odesty and love. The main problem with this
theory is that it did not really explain behavior, it
just described it. By the 1920s, instinct theories
were pushed aside in favor of other motivational
theories, but contemporary evolutionary
psychologists still study the influence of genetics
and heredity on human behavior.


17. Incentive Theory of Motivation

The incentive theory suggests that
people are motivated to do things
because of external rewards. For
example, you might be motivated to
go to work each day for the monetary
reward of being paid. Behavioral
learning concepts such as association
and reinforcement play an important
role in this theory of motivation.

18. Drive Theory of Motivation

According
to
the
drive
theory
of
motivation, people are motivated to take
certain actions in order to reduce the internal
tension that is caused by unmet needs. For
example, you might be motivated to drink a
glass of water in order to reduce the internal
state of thirst. This theory is useful in
explaining behaviors that have a strong
biological component, such as hunger or
thirst. The problem with the drive theory of
motivation is that these behaviors are not
always motivated purely by physiological
needs. For example, people often eat even
when they are not really hungry.

19. Arousal Theory of Motivation

The arousal theory of motivation suggests
that people take certain actions to either
decrease or increase levels of arousal. When
arousal levels get too low, for example, a
person might watch and exciting movie or go
for a jog. When arousal levels get too
high, on the other hand, a person would
probably look for ways to relax such as
meditating or reading a book. According to
this theory, we are motivated to maintain an
optimal level of arousal, although this level
can vary based on the individual or the
situation.

20. Humanistic Theory of
Motivation

Humanistic theories of motivation are based
on the idea that people also have strong
cognitive reasons to perform various actions.
This is famously illustrated in Abraham
Maslow'shierarchy of needs, which presents
different motivations at different levels.
First, people are motivated to fulfill basic
biological needs for food and shelter, as well
as those of safety, love and esteem. Once the
lower level needs have been met, the primary
motivator becomes the need for selfactualization, or the desire to fulfill one's
individual potential.

21. Thank’s for listening!