PSYCHOLOGY &
ORGANISATIONS
MOTIVATION AT WORK.
Need Theories.
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow 1970)
1. Biological & Psychological needs → Stage that focuses on the basic needs for
survival, this can be water, shelter, food clothing, etc…
2. Safety needs → Stage that focuses on a range of safety and security needs, such
as knowing that calamities (death chances) will not happen, as well as appropri-
ate legal and political systems ensuring no financial risks or war crises.
3. Social belonging → Stage that focuses on fulfilling the sense of belonging, to a
group, team or any social area. Also feeling loved and socially accepted by
friends, family and lovers.
4. Self-Esteem → Stage that focuses on achieving the feeling of recognition, status
and achievement. Feeding our ego. Self-esteem can be fulfilled differently by each
individual some are driven by family, others by work, voluntary jobs, etc…
5. Self- actualization → This is when individuals reach their maximum potential,
therefore becoming completely fulfilled.
Maslow’s Criticisms
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, 1. He based the development of his theory on individuals he supposed were self-ac-
tualised (Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein). It can be said that these individuals
gained their max potential after their death.
2. Maslow claimed only 2% of humans achieve self-actualization, this survey was
made in the 1970s, and in 2022 probably the statistics have changed.
3. Furthermore, he assumes that everyone wants to reach their maximum potential,
there are people who are conformists. And assumes that everyone self-actualizes
in the same way.
ERG Theory (Alderfer 1972)
1. Existence → basic survival needs are described by Maslow in the physiological
needs and safety needs, A conjuncture of the two giving them the same impor-
tance.
2. Relatedness → The social and self-esteem needs, basically the need for interper-
sonal connections social status and recognition of others.
3. Growth → related to the self-actualization of Maslow. This is the need for personal
development, including creative and meaningful work.
Differences from Alderfer to Maslow
1. Alderfer claims that people can be motivated by needs from more than one level
at the same time. There is not a strict progression from one to the next level
2. Alderfer claims that the needs vary in people’s life circumstances, you can go up
the hierarchy and down (progression & regression) for example you can be satis-
fied with your group of friends and continue to personal growth, but then lose the
friends.
3. It has the factors of frustration and satisfaction, if you progress you will be satis-
fied, but you can go backwards and become frustrated.
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,Theory of Achievement Motivation (McClelland 1965)
McClelland’s Theory says that there are different needs that motivate people and that
these needs are measurable.
● Achievement → Desire to do better, solve problems and master complex prob-
lems. They; are Challenging, like working alone or with other achievers, are Self-
motivated, like feedback to assess progress, and will work better if money is
linked to their achievements
● Affiliation → Desire for friendly and warm relationships with others. They; are
concerned with being liked and accepted, Form
informal relationships mostly, are very cooper-
ative, and perform better in a team
● Power → The desire to control others and in-
fluence others' opinions, behaviors, etc…
They; Like to control others, are argumenta-
tive, have the ability to influence people, and
are suitable for leadership roles.
Measuring the need for achievement (N-Ach)
This is done by using the thematic apperception test
A Projective test is an examination that commonly
employs ambiguous stimuli, inkblots and enigmatic
pictures, to evoke responses that may reveal facets of the subject's personality by the
projection of internal attitudes, traits and behavior patterns upon external stimuli
McClelland used projective tests to measure the need for achievement.
Cognitive Theories.
Goal-Setting Theory (Latham and Locke 1984)
Locke & Latham came up with the goal-setting theory of motivation, which opposes Mc-
Clelland’s theory as McClelland claimed that the needs appeared in people’s mind uncon-
sciously, whilst Lock & Latham claim that goal setting is purely conscious.
Goals give direction on what needs to be done and how much efforts are required to put
in.
● They claim that a specific and challenging goal along with appropriate feedback
contributes to higher and better task performance
● Clear, Specific and challenging goals are a better motivating factor as they give a
sense of pride and triumph which motivates towards attaining the next goal.
Whereas vague and easy goals are not as motivating.
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, ● Better and appropriate feedback of results directs the employee behavior and
contributes to higher performance than absence of feedback. It helps employees
to work with more involvement and leads to greater job satisfaction.
Key principals of goal setting theory (4C F)
● Clarity → goals should be clear, specific, unambiguous and measurable
● Challenge → goals should be relevant and linked to reward
● Complexity → Goals should be achievable within a specific time period
● Commitment → Goals must be understood and accepted in order of being
effective
● Feedback → Goal-setting must involve feedback on task progress and
achievement it needs to be positive and constructive, allowing for reflexion, not
only superior orders
S.M.A.R.T goals
An anagram which simplifies the process of goal making:
● Specific → ensure that the goal proposed is concrete and obviously specific. Eg: I
want to achieve an A* on Business studies
● Measurable → ensure that you can measure whether you have or haven’t
completed your goal, or still in process of. Eg: If the goal is an A* do past papers
to check how distant you are from the A*
● Attainable → Not only setting something you want, but also knowing what you can
do. Eg: you want an A* but do you have the level or capabilities to achieve that
grade.
● Realistic →
● Time-specific → setting a fixed deadline by which you should have completed your
goal. Eg: I want to achieve an A* on the day of the exam.
Expectancy Theory (Vroom 1964)
Vroom’s Expectancy theory seeks to explain what motivates people to choose one option
over another (
● Expectancy → Work set that the colleagues think that they can complete and
therefore achieve the result expected of them. If the thing they can achieve the
result they have high expectancy.
● Instrumentality → The belief that if the organization will give you a reward or
you will receive a reward, you will actually receive the reward. If you don’t think
that the enterprise will reward you as promised you have low instrumentality.
● Valence → That the reward offered to the worker will be valuable for them, if the
worker is not pleased with the reward, the worker will have no Valence.
MOTIVATION = EXPECTANCY x INSTRUMENTALITY x VALENCE
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