Motive Research - extremely important aspect in applied psychology, because it allows you to find out what motivates a person to achieve goals and satisfy their own needs.
The article provides information on the main categories, types of motive, its structure and hierarchy.
Definition of concepts in psychology
What does motive mean?
Motive in psychology understood as a driving force, in the intention of a person to achieve a goal.
It occurs as a sufficient response to the need. Sufficient, since it is not always when a need arises, a person strives to satisfy it.
The motive is concrete, understandable for a person. reason to act for closing needs.
Structure
Motive is often confused with need. But this is not the same thing. Need - one of the components of the motive, but not the only one.
Holistic structure The motive is as follows:
- demand block. At the beginning of a person there is a need of a physiological or social nature;
- internal evaluation unit. Then there is an analysis of how to meet the need. As well as the selection of available methods of achievement, means and opportunities;
- target block. As a result, a person finds and an object that can satisfy the need.
Will consider on the example of a biological motive:
- There is a need for reproduction.
- An individual evaluates his / her capabilities (how to please the partner) and preferences (which partner would be the most appropriate - an image is drawn).
- The individual is looking for a suitable person in a real plane in accordance with the desires and possibilities.
Hierarchy
What are the? Motives are divided into two categories: basic (they are also called acting) and potential. What is their difference?
Basic motives - central to human activity (organic motifs). They are aimed at meeting the primary, fundamental needs: food, sleep, safety, reproduction.
They are purely biological and selfish, since human survival depends on their fulfillment.
By the way, the main motives of consumer behavior intersect with basic needs (marketers appeal in advertising to sexual instinct, obtaining high status).
Potential motives - arise under certain circumstances. Some people, in principle, have no goal to follow, especially if the simplest needs are met.
In a certain way this kind of motifs can be neglected. Potential motives have less impact on a person than basic ones.
The hierarchy of motives built in accordance with the Maslow pyramid. The list begins with unconditional motives, without which the normal functioning of the body is impossible.
The higher in the pyramid (or further down the list), the more socially and “more humane”, more creative the motives.
The first three motives are basic, the rest are potential.
- Physiological. Aimed at finding food, quenching thirst. Support the body food. This also includes sleep and sexual desire (the instinct of reproduction, procreation).
- Security. The need for security. Here we are talking about the roof over our heads, and safety from predators (physical), as well as about a comfortable emotional state, the absence of conflicts (psychological security).
- Social motive. At this level implies the inclusion to the social group. It is important for a person who is collective in nature to feel part of a certain community. The motive of rejection is activated here - the fear of being expelled from the group, which forces a person to observe its internal rules and order.
- Communicative motives (affiliation motif). Based on the desire to communicate, and in the ideal case - with like-minded people. Share ideas, thoughts, experiences, find common interests.
- The motive of self-affirmation (respect, recognition). This level is not just about being in a group, but about a person’s place in it. When a person strives for a higher position, recognition of his merits, merits and achievements. The higher the social status of an individual rises, the stronger his self-esteem and self-esteem, self-confidence.
- Thirst for power. Unlike the need to occupy a high position, the motive of power is tied to the desire to lead other people. The social status of a professional programmer can be high (an excellent salary, a respected craft in society, recognition of merit by colleagues), but at the same time he does not occupy a managerial position, he remains a performer. People with a strong desire for power go into politics or business.
- The motive of self-development. The desire to improve themselves in different areas (physical - gym, intellectual - reading books, informative - travel).
A person feels the need to grow above himself, often - on several fronts.
- Self-realization. To be a professional in the chosen field, personally important to the individual. The difference from the motive of respect is that the craft itself is primary for a person. It is important as an end in itself. The profession does not necessarily bring a high income or is included in the list of popular. Here, the person is driven by the desire to be a master, to thoroughly understand their activities.
- Cognitive motives (teachings). Arises at a high level when physiological needs are well met. It is expressed in the desire to know, explore the world around us. Man craves for knowledge, why it is so, and not otherwise. The implementation of the motive is the most diverse: reading scientific books or encyclopedias, traveling (in order to know the life and life of other nations), practice (a person is looking for information in a real plane, without turning to the theoretical substantiation of textbooks).
The hierarchy of motives in preschool and early school age different from the adult. As an adult, a person is already attached to the society in which he was brought up.
Therefore, in addition to biological motifs, complex social and personal (self-actualization, cognition, aesthetic needs) are connected.
In childhood the most striking motives are simple social ones (communication and recognition in the peer collective) and cognitive (which are implemented at a primitive level - the child learns the world in practice, tries to study on his own).
Classification: types and groups, categories
There are a huge variety of motive classifications, and each individual theory offers its own.
Consider the most common types of motifs in general psychology.
External motives - much stronger in terms of effects on humans, since conditions are dictated by the environment. Most of the external motifs are primitive and biological in nature: hunger, thirst, reproduction, domination.
Internal motives arise in the head of the person himself and differ in a more complex form. For example, the desire to write a detective novel.
The need is of a higher level and has specificity personified from the person (one person wants to write a detective novel, the second one is a love affair, and the third one is an indecent word on the fence).
Internal motives are formed from the internal convictions, attitudes, principles, values and the general worldview of the individual. This is a key difference from external motives.
Since the desire to buy an apartment can be like external (status) and internal motive (comfort, desire for privacy, a certain degree of freedom). The inner motive is realized by the person himself, regardless of the opinions of the people around him.
Conscious and unconscious motives. The unconscious (hidden motive) refers to the limbic system and is not fixed by consciousness. These are instinctive needs.
Guided by the "steal" instinct, a person extracts a resource, and when asked in court why he did it, the person is lost. Or thinks the brain conscious motivation.
Steady motives. The duration of the motivation can be based on both external and internal factors. Long-term negative impact of the environment (war, famine, lack of housing) is able to maintain human activity for a long time.
If a person has strong values and beliefs, he can also go for a long time towards the goals that correspond to these beliefs.
Functional motives. Process orientation. In this type of motivation, the end result is either unimportant or not at all. A person likes the activity itself (communication, watching movies, video games).
Functions
The main function of the motive is to meet the needs, the lion’s share of which is survival related primary.
Not only must a need arise, but there must also be a justification for its realization. This justification is the motive, the intention to achieve the goals.
Theories: briefly
Maslow's motivation
Based on the needs pyramid he described.
Maslow thought that primary in the hierarchy - the simplest needs, a person pays great attention to them.
The scientist also focused on the fact that the satisfaction of a higher need is impossible without the satisfaction of the previous one (a person will not be able to engage in self-development if he is hungry or is in an uncomfortable situation).
Of expectations
According to this concept, the mere fact of having a need is not enough to form a motive. The person expects that the way he chose to realize the need is effective.
He hopes that a particular method will help him achieve the goal. The theory of motivation considers the problem of choosing a person from a variety of alternative ways to achieve the goal. According to the theory, the more clearly the individual sees the future result, the more motivated to receive it.
Of justice
According to her, a person compares the effort with the end result. And if he spent more resources than he received at the exit, then discomfort arises.
Discomfort transformed into sense of justice. In simple words, the question arises: "Why did I work so much, but got so little?".
Then man begins to look for a way to restore justice: either deliberately make less effort (since work will not be appreciated anyway), or it requires “to pay extra” for efforts (salary increase, promotion, award of bonuses or other status attributes).
This theory of motives is applied in management and considers, first of all, the motivation of employees.
Examples
Consider the main motives in practice - as they are traced in modern life, we give specific examples.
- External motive: buying a status car, flying to another country (because it is fashionable to fly into it, not because the person wants it), purchase of branded clothing.
- Internal motive: the desire to write a book, the development of a new profession, education (because the person himself wants it).
- Avoiding failure motive: work (avoid dismissal), work out in the gym (avoid obesity), stop drinking or smoking (avoid loss of health).
- Cognitive motive: reading scientific books or articles, watching documentaries, interviewing or communicating with erudite people, specialists, independent extraction of information in practice.
- Aesthetic motive: reading fiction, watching movies, going to a museum or gallery, to the theater.
Knowledge of the patterns of motive formation allows you to stimulate activitymake it productive and long lasting.
Thanks to the right motivation, a person can achieve maximum success in work and develop their own potential.
Types of motives and motivation mechanism:
