Problem 1 – What drives them? - 1.7C- People at work- Organizational Psychology- 2020/2021
What influences people’s motivation?
What types of theories of motivation are there?
(focus on theories in problem: self-efficacy, goal-
setting, task characteristics, expectancy, needs
theory, equity)
Motivation: conditions responsible for variations in intensity, persistence, quality and direction of ongoing
behaviour. It is about choices, prioritizing goals, choosing where to expand your energy.
Metaphors for motivation:
Person as machine: suggests Person as scientist: suggests Person as judge: individuals like
that people’s behaviours/ that people are active to see how much they and
actions are reflexive and information gatherers and others are ‘blamed’ for good or
involuntary and are performed analysts who seek knowledge bad things that happen to
without conscious awareness. and understanding as a way of them. When making personal
mastering their environment. choices, the observer looks for
Criticism: Learning experiments People want to know. signs of intent in others' actions
demonstrated that participants and recognises those
developed expectancies about Criticism: assumes that motivations. We all have basic
the connections between individuals are perfectly rational self-interest motives, although
actions and rewards and set or but they aren’t ↓ the self-interest may be
accepted goals related to devoted to social goals as well
performance. as economic goals. We all have
self-esteem motives (the desire
to feel worthy, valued and
skilled).
Criticism: recognized by Simon and Kahneman, they defined limited rationality: inability of humans to
reason and make decisions in perfectly rational ways. It recognizes the influence of emotion and the
social world on decision making with greater emphasis ↔ as opposed to a focus on completely
internalized process in which someone calculates probabilities.
Maslow: Needs theory: person as machine theory: like instincts in Freud, needs were thought to be internal
motivations that are inborn and universally present in humans. Environment plays a role= when one set of
needs was satisfied by environmental forces → the next higher set of needs become activated. Individuals
motivated to fulfil most basic set of unfulfilled needs e.g. if physiological and security needs fulfilled→ expend
energy attempting to fulfil love needs, when love need met→ motivated by circumstances that satisfy the
esteem needs→ etc. Needs express themselves over ones’ lifespan as internal ‘pushes’.
Identified 5 basic needs:
1. Physiological 2. Security 3. Love or social 4. Esteem 5. Self-
needs: basic needs: the need needs: needs needs: actualization:
needs or drives, an individual are associated associated with refer to the
satisfied by has to produce with being respected desire to
food, water and a secure interpersonal for accomplish- develop ones’
sleep. environment, factors. They ments or capacities to
one free of refer to an capabilities. the fullest(few
threats to individual’s people
continued desire to be completely
existence. accepted by satisfy this
others. need).
Drive: nonhuman equivalent of motives and needs.
,Modification on Maslow:
Herzberg’s two-factor theory: there are two basic needs, not five and they’re not so much hierarchically
arranged as independent from each other.
1. Hygienic needs(Maslow’s physical and security 2. Motivator needs(Maslow’s social, esteem and
needs)- meeting these needs will eliminate actualization needs)- meeting these needs result in
dissatisfaction but not result in motivated behavior/ expenditure of effort as well as positive satisfaction.
state of positive satisfaction.
Neither Maslow’s nor Herzberg’s theory has received much research or attention, it was also difficult to
determine exactly what both theories predict. They’re nothing but historical markers of the person-as-machine-
era.
Skinner: Behaviorist approach/reinforcement theory: person as machine theory: places emphasis for behaviour
directly on environment rather than↔ internal needs or instincts. Behaviour depends on three simple
elements: stimulus, response, and reward= if a response in the presence of a particular stimulus is rewarded,
that response is likely to occur again in the presence of that stimulus.
Contingent reward: a reward Intermittent reward: a reward Continuous reward: a reward
that depends(contingent) on a that is given for only some that is presented every time a
particular response. correct responses. correct response occurs.
Criticism: approach is impractical. Few jobs or tasks can be neatly organized to make it clear exactly how
much reinforcement should be given and how often. We cannot observe some of the most important
behaviours that occur in the workplace because they are not simple physical actions but complex
cognitive processes. Fails to acknowledge higher mental activities such as reasoning and judgment.
Vroom’s VIE theory/expectancy theory: person-as scientist theory: individuals rationally estimate the
attractiveness and unattractiveness of different rewards or outcomes(valence), the probability that
performance will lead to particular outcomes or rewards(instrumentality) and the probability that effort will
lead to performance(expectancy). If a manager wanted to apply Vroom’s theory, he or she would concentrate
on three things:
1. Motivate employees by 2. Clarify instrumentalities 3. Clarify expectancies by
offering outcomes that by letting employees making it clear to
have high valence know that high employees that hard
performance is work will lead to higher
associated with positive performance.
outcomes.
Criticism: ignored many non-cognitive elements in choice, like personality and emotion(individuals in
positive emotional state = higher expectancy and instrumentality values).
Theory is a within-individuals theory instead of a ↔ between-individuals theory.
, (Less important for exam:)
Motivation and Work-Life balance Motivation and Personality
Workaholic: addicted to work and pays cost for Locus of control: extent to which an individual views
addiction in reduced physical health and mental events as resulting from his or her own actions
well-being= person is too motivated. Overemphasis (internal LOC) or from outside causes(external LOC).
on work has led to an underemphasis on other People with internal LOC believe they can control
aspects of life: workaholic lacks work-life balance. their environments↔people with external LOC
Nonworkaholic: feels tension between competing believe they are at mercy of external environments
forces: work on the one hand↔family, leisure, with little ability to influence outcomes.
school, healthy activities on the other. = Positive connection between internal LOC and
work motivation as they believe they can control
their fate.
Lock et.al.: Goal setting theory: person-as-intentional approach: assures that individuals are intentional in their
behaviour. A goal is seen as motivational force, individuals who set specific, difficult goals perform better than
individuals who simply adopt a ‘do your’ best goal/ no goal at all. Notion of purposefulness and intentionality =
unique to goal-setting theory. Goal difficulty = critical ingredient to both performance and satisfaction.
Goal acceptance: implies that goal has been Goal commitment: broader and include assigned
assigned. and self-set goals.
Proposes that goals have the effect of:
1. Direction: directing attention and action,
2. Effort: mobilizing energy expenditure or effort,
3. Persistence: prolonging effort over time and
4. Strategy: motivating the individual to develop relevant strategies for goal attainment.
Feedback loop: connection between knowledge of results and the intermediate states that occur between goal
commitment and performance. As the individual evaluates their performance, intermediate states may be
changed.
Second level explanation of goal setting theory. Goal comes from needs that influence motives, motives
influence goals and goals influence performance.
Criticism: depended heavily on laboratory and field research for the development of their theory.
Today’s workplace is complex and team based.
Self efficacy: Galatea effect: belief in one’s capability to perform a specific task/ reach a specific goal(differs
from broader notion of self-esteem= the pride(or lack thereof) in who one is as human being, often boosted by
the satisfaction or having accomplished a difficult task). Self-efficacy relates more specifically to our confidence
, in our ability that we will be able to successfully complete a difficult task, more closely related to motivation
and behaviour.
Four separate avenues on how self-efficacy is developed and increased:
1. Mastery experiences: successful performance of 3. Social persuasion: individuals can be encouraged
challenging tasks strengthens beliefs in one’s by others who express confidence in their ability to
capabilities↔ failures decrease those beliefs. accomplish a difficult task.→ E.g. Be a targeted
→ E.g. Provide guidance or technical or logistic ‘cheerleader’, emphasizing the individual’s
support to the individual, increasing the likelihood knowledge/ability(not simply expressing confidence
that they will experience success on a challenging that they will succeed).
task.
4. Physiological states: when people experience
2. Modeling: when individuals see someone similar stress or fatigue → interpret as indication that task
to themselves(in terms of abilities, knowledge, etc.) exceeds their capabilities, thus reducing their
succeed at a difficult task, their own efficacy beliefs feelings of efficacy. → E.g. Techniques that reduce
can be strengthened(or the other way around). the stress or fatigue will increase feelings of self
→ E.g. Provide successful role models, perhaps by efficacy when completing difficult task. Take steps
pairing an individual with a fellow worker of similar to reduce stress in the individual’s environment that
experience who has mastered a difficult task. is unrelated to the challenging task.
The job characteristics model(JCM): draws on both needs and expectancy theory with emphasis on employees
seeking to satisfy needs through the job. Five core characteristics of a job are given a numerical value and are
then combined into a single index called the motivating potential score(MPS).
Skill variety Focuses on extent to which a job requires a number of diff skills & talents, e.g. nurse scores
high using professional skills ↔ operator on production assembly line=low score
Task identity Extent to which job requires performance of a whole unit, which is identifiable with a visible
outcome. E.g. carpenter scores high constructing a piece of furniture from raw
material ↔ operator who solder wires on a piece of equipment = low score.
Task Extent to which job has impact on lives/work of other people inside/outside the organization
significance e.g. surgeon in hospital scores high ↔ clerk with basic administration work = low score.
Autonomy Degree of freedom, discretion and independence that job possesses at planning and
execution e.g. university lecturer scores high ↔ accounts clerk that is closely supervised =
low score.
Feedback from The extent to which direct and unambiguous info about the effectiveness of the employee’s
the job performance is available when they’re engaged in carrying out the job activities e.g. pilot
receiving info during flight from the instrument panel in cockpit + ground control scores high
↔ sales representative waiting to get a customer to establish the effectiveness of their
performance = low score.
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