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1.7C Problem 1 - What drives them? Summary
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Problem 1 – What drives them?MOTIVATION: it is about prioritizing goals, choosing where to expend your energy; concerns the
conditions responsible for variations in intensity, persistence, quality, and direction of ongoing behavior
Evolution of motivation theories:
1. Earliest I-O theories of motivation were anchored in the notions of Instincts→ inborn tendencies
that direct behavior
- the existence of that “instinct” was inferred from the fact that the individual engaged in work
Criticism: circular nature, emphasized in internal causes → ignoring the interaction between an
individual and environment
2. Maslow’s need theory: needs are inborn and universally present in humans; replaced an infinite
number of instincts with a specific set of need
- drives: the nonhuman equivalent of motives and needs
- allowed for the environment to play a role in motivated behavior → when one set of needs
was satisfied by environmental forces, the next higher set of needs became activated
3. Behaviorist approach (Skinner): placed the emphasis for behavior directly on the environment,
ignoring any internal needs/instincts
4. Lewin’s field theory: proposed that various forces in the psychological environment interacted
and combined to yield a final course of action
- each force has a valence that attracted/repelled the individual
→→→ GROUP DYNAMICS
Metaphors for motivation (Weiner)
Person as machine →people’s behaviors/actions are reflexive and involuntary and are
performed without conscious awareness
- psychoanalytic theory, drive theory, behaviorism, versions of fiend theory support it
Person as scientist →people sought knowledge and understanding as a way of mastering their
environment; the ultimate aim of the individual is to accurately predict her environment
- people WANT TO KNOW! – what they want to know varies from theory to theory
Criticism: the assumption that individuals are perfectly rational
- limited rationality (Simon) → inability of humans to reason and make decisions in perfectly
rational ways
Person as judge → an individual seeks information about the extent to which the self and others
are (perceived as) responsible for positive and negative events; looks for evidence in intention in
the actions of other and considers those intensions in choosing a personal course of action
Modern motivational theory → views the individual as an active information gatherer (scientist) rather
than a passive respondent to either internal or external (machine). The individual is not perfectly
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, rational in gathering and using information and is influenced by social information in the form of
attributions involving intensions of other (judge).
Motivation and Performance
- Viteles → equated motivation with productivity; noted that in a survey, 73% identified the general
indifference in workers the major reason for a decline in postwar productivity
- Pritchard → developed ProMES → an intricate performance and productivity measurement system,
based on the premise that increasing the amount of time and effort that a person devotes to a task will
result in high levels of performance
Performance = (Motivation x Ability) – Situational Constraints
- motivation plays a role in both successful and unsuccessful performance
- motivation is not simply about productivity! – sabotage and absence are motivated behaviors too!
- positive work environments influence motivation, job satisfaction/performance
Motivation and Work-Life Balance
- a workaholic lacks work-life balance → if too much is spent in one area there is little left for other areas
- old theories → focused on energizing an individual since it was believed that unless incentives were
available, an individual would remain passive
- newest theories → focus on directing energy enhancement and understand the tension between
competing forces (work, family, leisure, health).
THE EMPLOYER IS COMPETING WITH OTHER FORCES FOR THE TIME/ATTENTION OF THE EMPLOYEE
Work motivation can only have meaning within the context of a rich and complex life!
Motivation and Personality
- personality can be a predictor of performance
- strong and consistent relationships do exist between personality characteristics and performance
motivation → conscientious and emotionally stable individuals are more likely to believe that hard work
would lead to rewards, and more confident in their ability to accomplish a task/job
- Locus of control (LOC) → the extent to which an individual views events as resulting from her own
actions (internal LOC) or from outside causes (external LOC)
Internal LOC ppl → believe that they can control their environments
External LOC ppl → believe that they are at the mercy of external environments with little ability to
influence outcomes
- There is a positive connection between an internal LOC and work motivation
- Xenikou → there is a positive relationship between an optimistic view of life (positive attributional
style) and work motivation among Greek managerial/nonmanagerial employees; optimism seemed to
diminish with organizational tenure (4years)
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