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Toriana Alfred

Dr. Antecio

Psychology 101

October 8, 2018

MOTIVATION
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Abstract

Are you the type of person that wants more in life? The type of person that want to beat

the odds; or are you the type of person that is comfortable being ordinary? The type of person

that is content with staying on a basic level, with the feelings of not needing to do more than

what has already been done? What motivates you? These questions should be taken into

consideration when thinking about your life. Have you ever sat down and thought about where

you came from, and how far you’ve made it? Have you ever realized it, then wonder where you

want to be in the next five years? When thinking about these topics, do you get emotional? Do

you gain a urge to do something instantly that’ll help you get to where you want to be? Do you

think that your past could be a motive to make your future better? In this essay I will explain the

answers to all of these questions, as well the ins and outs to motivation.

Motivation

Motivation is what makes you act on what you desire. For instance, a person whose

parents were young and new to parenting (with no guidance as to how to raise a child)

knowledge may be at a lower level than one whose parents had guidance. The child’s knowledge

is based off of what the parents taught them. For an example, as a child growing up with young

parents, my lack of knowledge of the important things in life was because my parents nor any

other guardian took the time out to inform me of those things. So, as I grew older, I began to ask

questions about things that were happening that I knew nothing about. The fact that I wasn’t

informed about these things growing up, it motivated me to learn what I was never taught.

In psychology, there are two types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. “Extrinsic

motivations are those that arise from outside of the individual and often involve rewards such as
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trophies, money, social recognition, or praise.” (Cherry) Whereas, “intrinsic motivations are

those that arise from within the individual, such as doing a complicated crossword puzzle purely

for personal gratification of solving a problem.” (Cherry) “Intrinsically motivated behaviors are

generated by the sense of personal satisfaction that they bring.” (Boundless) For an example, a

college student that is intrinsically motivated enjoys learning about what they study. For

instance, I’m a double major of Psychology and Sociology. I enjoy learning the ins and outs

about my majors, reason being is because this is what interests me. However, a college student

that is extrinsically motivated will only go through college to earn a degree, causing them to be

able to make more money once they graduate. “Extrinsically motivated behaviors are performed

in order to receive something from others.” (Boundless)

“Early attempts to understand motivation focused on the biologically determined and

innate patterns of behavior, which is called instincts, exist in both people and animals.”

(Ciccarelli, White. 357) For instance, say a bird is close to laying her eggs, her natural instinct

will be to build a nest in a safe environment. After she lays them and they hatch, her instinct now

is to feed them. Furthermore, if someone or something brings harm towards her babies, the

instinct is to now protect, which may result in aggressive behavior. So far as for humans, say a

group of people that you’re cool with begin to brag on this new candy, your instinct will arise

curiosity on what’s so good about this candy. “Instinct approaches accomplished one thing by

forcing psychologists to realize that some human behavior is controlled by hereditary factors.”

(Ciccarelli, White. 357)

The drive-reduction theory is based upon the concepts of needs and drives. “A need is

a requirement of some material that is essential for survival of the organism.” (Ciccarelli, White.

357) Whereas, “when an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological tension”, which is
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classified as the drive. In the the drive-reduction theory, there are two different types of drives,

primary and acquired. Primary drives consist of needs of the body, whereas acquired drives

consist of needs from society. Drive-reduction theory also includes homeostasis, which is “the

tendency of the body to maintain a steady state” (Ciccarelli, White. 357)

“Psychologist David C. McClelland proposed a theory of motivation that highlights the

importance of three psychological needs not typically considered by the other theories:

affiliation, power, and achievement.” (Ciccarelli, White. 359) When someone has a need for

affiliation, they are wanting to be accepted by others. When someone has the need for power,

they are wanting to have the most control over people. Lastly, when someone has a need for

achievement , they are wanting to be successful in anything they do. For instance, college

students all have mixtures of the three needs. Athletes are most likely either going to have the

need for affiliation or the need for achievement. I say this because most athletes are cocky,

knowing that they are good at what they do so they want recognition. Whereas, the need for

achievement athletes are good at what they do, but always see room for improvement. A person

who has the need for power are more than likely used to either being bossy or being bossed

around. If they were bossed around, I say they would want a need of power because they are

tired of it and want the upper hand. Whereas, those who has always been bossy, will always want

control. Psychologist Carol Dweck believes that based upon one’s personality, it will determine

the way the view themselves and affect their success.

Another need of motivation is the need for stimulation, which is stimulative motive, “a

motive that appears to be unlearned, but causes an increase in stimulation.” (Ciccarelli, White.

360) Arousal theory is when one has a normal level of drive. For instance, when someone wants

something, they are going to go and get it. This leads to Yerkes-Dodson law, where when one
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has either a high or low arousal level, they are more than likely to complete the task at hand.

Now, there is a sensation seeker, where they will need more arousal than the norm. “Incentives

are things that attract people to action.” For an example, a fight breaks out at a party, majority of

the crowd will focus their attention on the fight to see who’s winning and/or who’s losing.

Another example, is if there’s a dance battle, it’s more than likely that people will surround the

dancers in a circle hyping them up.

“Abraham Maslow attempted to synthesize a large body of research related to human

motivation.” (Huitt) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs describes the different levels of needs a person

must have in order to meet the highest fulfilling level of their personality. As a person lives, they

reach a different level from life experiences, as well as the wisdom and knowledge they gain

through their journey. For an example, as I grew older, I began to gain knowledge and wisdom

from the things I’ve encountered. Instead of it being taught to me, I had to go through it in order

to grow through it. I would say I’ve reached my self-transcendence level now that I’m twenty-

one years old. Reason being is because, the things and people that I’ve come across has taught

me more than life itself, forcing me to want to feel something on a soulful level that’ll help me

continue to grow. The levels are as followed from highest to lowest: transcendence needs, which

is when one needs to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment

and realize potential; self-actualization needs, which is when one needs to find self-fulfillment

and realize their potential; aesthetic needs, which is when one needs symmetry, order, and

beauty; cognitive needs, which is when one needs to know, understand, and explore; esteem

needs, which is when one wants to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition;

belongingness and love needs, which is when one wants to be affiliated with, or to be accepted

by others; safety needs, which is when one wants to be out of danger; and physiological needs,
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which is when one is of hunger, thirst, or bodily comforts. (Huitt) Maslow believes that one

gains wisdom as they become more self-actualized and self-transcendent.

Self-determination is a type of “theory of human motivation, where the social context of

an action has an effect on the type of motivation existing for the action.”(Ciccarelli, White. 365)

Self-determination consist of three needs that help one gain “sense of self and whole”(Ciccarelli,

White. 365), and relationships with other people. The three needs are as followed: anatomy,

which is the need to be in control of someone’s behavior and goals; competence, which is the

need to challenge someone of the tasks they have; and relatedness, which is the need to feel a

sense of security. A person with self-determination is more than likely going to be successful. I

say this because, with self-determination comes discipline. I feel as though if you discipline

yourself well enough through any task you encounter, you are determined to reach the next level.

Although it may sometimes be tough, the fact that you’ve accomplished what most of the norm

couldn’t should be motivation for you to keep pushing to be greater than what you already are.

Work Cited
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Huitt, W. “Educational Psychology Interactive: Motivation.” Educational Psychology Interactive: Readings

in Educational Psychology, www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html.

(Huitt)

Cherry, Kendra. “The Psychology of What Motivates Us.” Verywell Mind, Verywellmind,

www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378.

(Cherry)

Boundless. “Boundless Psychology.” Lumen, Lumen Learning, courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-

psychology/chapter/introduction-to-motivation/.

(Boundless)

Ciccarelli, Saundra K., et al. Psychology. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2012.

(Ciccarelli, White, & Ciccarelli 2012)