Types of motivation

Five Types of Motivation:

Have you ever wondered what drives you, to want to become a better person? That feeling you get when you want to accomplish something that seems out of reach, that feeling that makes you do dumb things that you know you should not do, but do it anyway so a certain someone would like you better. That feeling that made you want to work harder in class to get that gold star up by your name, or that fear of being punished if you did not work harder. Well each one of those feelings is a different type of motivation. What is motivation? “Motivation is internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal. Motivation is the energizer of behavior and mother of all action. It results from the interactions among conscious and unconscious factors such as the (1) intensity of desire or need, (2) incentive or reward value of the goal, and (3) expectations of the individual and of his or her significant others.’ (BusinessDictionary.com, 2009) There is many different types of motivation but the five main ones that I will cover in this paper are Achievement motivation, Socialization motivation, Incentive motivation, Fear motivation, and Change motivation.

Achievement motivation is the motivation that a person gets when they want to attain a goal. It is that drive that makes you do what needs to be done to reach that goal no matter what the cost. This form of motivation can be related to a track and field athlete. That sprinter knows that his competitor is a few seconds faster than he is. So that athlete is going to feel that drive to practice harder and longer to become that few seconds faster to win. If there is a goal that needs to be reached Achievement motivation is most likely to be used. Most individuals with high Achievement motivation have distinctive characteristics witch separate them from their peers.

First they like to put themselves in situations where they can take a personal responsibility for their finding solutions to problems. This gives them a personal satisfaction for their achievements. A second characteristic of Achievement motivation people is that they like to set moderately high goals. This will give that person more personal satisfaction for reaching them goals. Another distinctive characteristic of high achievers is that they love to get feedback on their performance.

Socialization motivation is the motivation that drives people to act or do certain things to fit in. The dictionary definition of Social motivation is “An incentive or drive resulting from a sociocultural influence that initiates behavior toward a particular goal.” (Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 2009) This motivation is most evident when there is a lot of peer pressure. Some people use this motivation to gain feeling of acceptance or being equal to their peer group. Some examples of socialization motivation could be that young kid being passed that first drink, being told that he is not cool if he doesn’t drink it.

Incentive motivation is influenced by beliefs, that if they accomplish the task they will receive a reward. Incentive motivation is closely linked to achievement motivation. The only difference is that with incentive motivation, your drive is to attain that reward after you reached that goal. Whereas achievement, is more focused on just attaining the goal itself.

Fear motivation is mostly used when incentives do not work. This motivation is the drive to do things because the fear of punishment or failure. Fear motivation is the fastest – acting tactics to motivate someone to do something. An example of this motivation is the motivation you feel when you see that speed limit sign and want to go a little faster but are scared of that cop that could be up the road waiting for you. Or when someone shoots at you and you become motivated to run a lot faster. Another example of this is test anxiety or fear of failure. Having this fear will get you to study harder or concentrate little better to succeed. “Most of this research fails to distinguish among the components of test anxiety or to recognize it as only the negative side of motivation, that is, only half the story of the performance in evaluative situations. The positive side of motivation (e.g., need for achievement) is also aroused in evaluative situations and makes a contribution. (Harold F. O’neil, 1994) Fear motivation always points out consequences you will receive if you don’t do or accomplish certain tasks.

Change motivation is the push you feel when you want to bring change in your life or surroundings. It’s that motivation you feel to get out in your front yard to cut that grass because you are sick of seeing it long every day. It’s the motivation you get after you become tired of how things are and seek ways to improve it and make it better.

These five theories of motivation are just a few types that drive you to be the person you have become today, and that will push you to become a better person and make you want to improve yourself every day. Now knowing each one of these five types of motivation, you know what gets you through each day.

References

• BusinessDictionary.com. (2009). BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved 11 19, 2009, from BusinessDictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/motivation.html
• Harold F. O’neil, M. D. (1994). Motivation : theory and research. Hilsdale, New Jersey : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Mosby’s Medical Dictionary. (2009). The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 11 25, 2009, from The Free Dictionary: <a href=”http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/social+motivation”>social motivation</a>