Motivation can be frequently encountered in Social Psychological studies as an idea which refers to a driving force which empowers an action. But generally, it is often defined and understood as intentions, inner thoughts or conscious desires (McClelland, 1987). Examples of this can be the desire to perform a specific art, the desire to reach for a specific dream and a desire to solve a certain problem.
In deeper and more technical terms on the other hand, motivation can also be explained to have something to do with the reasons a behavior is initiated, sustained, directed or stopped.Also, it can be characterized to have a connection on how a behavior is contrasted, controlled or managed (Jones, 1955 qtd. In McClelland, 1987). Hence, motivation in the area of psychology is explained through the feature which drives a person to work for a set goal which also gives direction and purpose to that person’s actions (Miller). Motivation in this field of study is also further categorized into two types, the Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation.
Intrinsic MotivationIn understanding human motivation it appears helpful to consider the nature of the driving forces which have a huge deal to do with the aforementioned concept. Intrinsic motivation can is directly associated with natural incentives (McClelland, 1987). It has also been studied and explained to be the driving force to do things which ought to develop and improve a person’s self-concept (Purdue University). In simpler terms, it can be referred to as the motivation which roots from the individual like personal driving forces such as high grades and material rewards rather than outside and non-personal factors (About. com).Thus, this type of motivation is more about the pleasure a person finds from personal acts.
An intrinsically motivated student for example would want to study hard in order to achieve that fulfilling feeling of attaining a high grade. Thus, the driving force comes from one’s own acts and efforts and not from other people of other external forces. Extrinsic Motivation While intrinsic motivation deals with internal driving forces, extrinsic motivation on the other hand is the type of motivation which deals with the more material and tangible reward.It deals with the desire of a person to achieve a goal in the hope of an external reward or in the hope to avoid an external punishment (Tileston, 2004). Thus, a reward corresponds to every attained objective while a punishment or a negative reinforcement comes after a failure to attain a desired goal. In this concept, the rewards and punishments are more material than that of the intrinsic motivation.
Also, the motivations come from outside sources like from other people, the environment, society, etc.and not within the individual. Self-image Self-image and self-concept has the largest significance in a determining a person’s self-esteem and self-confidence. This relationship was proven as self-image was found to have a huge deal to do with how a person identifies him/herself from the rest of the world. It can be explained as the person’s awareness and knowledge of him/herself about his/her own characteristics, values, abilities, and roles (Social Issues Reference).It can also be seen to represent a person’s over-all perception of his/herself according to the three components of the self-concept which are the ideal self- the person one would like to be; the public self- the image of a person as seen by others; and the real self- who the person actually is (Answers.
com). Personality Trait A personality trait would be described in social psychology as the consistent and enduring personal characteristic which pushes and causes an individual to behave and act in different ways in different situations and conditions (Answers. com).Traits are significant aspects in studying human personality since these measure how the constant patterns of behavior, thought and emotion affects the over-all self-image (Answers.
com). Work Success In explaining and defining in the simplest terms, work success is the state where in the objectives and goals set before the actual effort and work are met and achieved in a desirable manner. This shall mean that success can only be attained when the desired goals are achieved.The article discussed about the case of numerous job loss in the Frostbelt regions of the Northwest where in the wide cut-offs in employment has been found to be a major societal problem since more families have been struck and affected by the economic crisis brought by the employment cut-off. Terms like employee motivation and behavior have been mentioned which implies the relation of the social issue to such psychological ideologies.The paper generally dealt with discerning the effects of employee ownership on an individual’s attitudes and sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
Moreover, it also talked about the role of motivation in an employee’s ability to fulfill his desired objectives in a business or cooperative. The study posted a great significance in determining how situational and attitudinal sources of motivation affect the levels of success of employee owned establishments.It appeared evident in the paper that motivation as a social psychological concept indeed plays a great part in a person’s ability to work hard for a specific goal. This case of employees who were taken out of the mentioned industries is just an example of how situational and attitudinal sources of motivation certainly have a huge deal to do with a goal-achieving success of an individual. Analysis of Jerry Dermer’s Research Notes on The Interrelationship of Intrinsic and Extrinsic MotivationThis paper of Jerry Dermer explains the effects of extrinsic motivation in the level of effectiveness of intrinsic motivation.
Generally, the study argues that extrinsic rewards have the tendency to reduce the effectiveness of intrinsic motivation for the reason that a person tends to dwell and be dependent on material rewards and motivations once they get used to it instead of the intrinsic and self-enforced motivations. This was the initial hypothesis of the study.However, the results were able to show that intrinsic and performance-dependent extrinsic motivations can be independent from each other, thus, there can be no significant positive or negative relationship between the two (Dermer, 1975). Thus, the paper implies that people have different expectations in dealing with intrinsic and extrinsic motivations which gives people no solid basis to believe that being dependent on extrinsic rewards may totally reduce the effectiveness of intrinsic motivation for an individual to work hard for a desired purpose or goal.
