Unsplash/Kinga Cichewicz
Per traditional self-help narratives, if you can’t accomplish your goal, you should ask for advice. Find someone who has successfully landed the job, gotten the promotion, made the grades, achieved the weight loss, or created the financial stability that you want.
Tell this person you’re struggling. Then do what she says. According to two leading psychologists, this theory isn’t just hackneyed, it’s wrong. Their research suggests that the key to motivation is giving advice, not receiving it…Story continues…
By: Leah Fessler
Source: Two psychologists have a surprising theory on how to get motivated
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Expectancy theory states that whether a person is motivated to perform a certain behavior depends on the expected results of this behavior: the more positive the expected results are, the higher the motivation to engage in that behavior. Expectancy theorists understand the expected results in terms of three factors: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence. Expectancy concerns the relation between effort and performance.
If the expectancy of a behavior is high then the person believes that their efforts will likely result in successful performance. Instrumentality concerns the relation between performance and outcomes. If the instrumentality of a performance is high then the person believes that it will likely result in the intended outcomes. Valence is the degree to which the outcomes are attractive to the person.
These three components affect each other in a multiplicative way, meaning that high motivation is only present if all of them are high. In this case, the person believes it likely that they perform well, that the performance leads to the expected result, and that the result as a high value. Equity theory sees fairness as a key aspect of motivation.
According to it, people are interested in the proportion between effort and reward: they judge how much energy one has to invest and how good the outcome is. Equity theory states that individuals assess fairness by comparing their own ratio of effort and reward to the ratio of others. A key idea of equity theory is that people are motivated to reduce perceived inequity.
This is especially the case if they feel that they receive less rewards than others. For example, if an employee has the impression that they work longer than their co-workers while receiving the same salary, this may motivate them to ask for a raise. Goal-setting theory holds that having clearly defined goals is one of the key factors of motivation.
It states that effective goals are specific and challenging. A goal is specific if it involves a clear objective, such as a quantifiable target one intends to reach rather than just trying to do one’s best. A goal is challenging if it is achievable but hard to reach. Two additional factors identified by goal-setting theorists are goal commitment and self-efficacy.
The former expresses the idea that a goal can provide more motivation if a person is strongly dedicated to achieving it. The latter is based on the notion that people are more motivated if they believe that they have the skills to achieve the goal. According to self-determination theory, the main factors influencing motivation are autonomy, competence, and connection.
It states that autonomy increases motivation since humans usually prefer to act in accordance with their wishes, values, and goals without being coerced by external forces. The factor of competence implies that motivation is usually higher for tasks in which the person feels skilled and competent. Self-determination theorists further claim that people are more likely to engage in an activity if this activity is associated with positive social connections to others.
Reinforcement theory is based on behaviorism and explains motivation in relation to positive and negative outcomes of previous behavior. It uses the principle of operant conditioning, which states that behavior followed by positive consequences is more likely to be repeated, while behavior followed by negative consequences is less likely to be repeated.
This theory predicts, for example, that if an aggressive behavior of a child is rewarded then this will reinforce the child’s motivation for aggressive behavior in the future. Motivation plays a key role in education since it affects the students’ engagement with the studied topic and shapes their learning experience and academic success. Motivated students are more likely to participate in classroom activities and persevere through challenges.
One of the responsibilities of educators and educational institutions is to establish a learning environment that fosters and sustains students’ motivation to ensure effective learning. Educational research is particularly interested in understanding the different effects that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have on the learning process. In the case of intrinsic motivation, students are interested in the subject and the learning experience itself. Students driven by extrinsic motivation seek external rewards, like good grades or peer recognition.
Intrinsic motivation is often seen as the preferred type of motivation since it is associated with more in-depth learning, better memory retention, and long-term commitment. Extrinsic motivation in the form of rewards and recognition also plays a key role in the learning process. However, it can conflict with intrinsic motivation in some cases and may then hinder creativity. Various factors influence student motivation. It is usually beneficial to have an organized classroom with few distractions.
The learning material should be neither too easy, which threatens to bore students, nor too difficult, which can lead to frustration. The behavior of the teacher also has a significant impact on student motivation, for example, in regard to how the material is presented, the feedback they provide on assignments, and the interpersonal relation they build with the students. Teachers who are patient and supportive can encourage interaction by interpreting mistakes as learning opportunities.
Motivation is a central factor in implementing and maintaining lifestyle changes in the fields of personal development and health.[154]Personal development is a process of self-improvement aimed at enhancing one’s skills, knowledge, talents, and overall well-being. It is realized through practices that promote growth and improve different areas in one’s life. Motivation is pivotal in engaging in these practices.
It is especially relevant to ensure long-term commitment and to follow through with one’s plans. For example, health-related lifestyle changes may at times require high willpower and self-control to implement meaningful adjustments while resisting impulses and bad habits. This is the case when trying to resist urges to smoke, consume alcohol, and eat fattening food.
Motivation plays a key role in economics since it is what drives individuals and organizations to make economic decisions and engage in economic activities. It affects diverse processes involving consumer behavior, labor supply, and investment decisions. For example, rational choice theory, a fundamental theory in economics, postulates that individuals are motivated by self-interest and aim to maximize their utility, which guides economic behavior like consumption choices.
In video games, player motivation is what drives people to play a game and engage with its contents. Player motivation often revolves around completing certain objectives, like solving a puzzle, beating an enemy, or exploring the game world. It concerns both smaller objectives within a part of the game as well as finishing the game as a whole. Understanding different types of player motivation helps game designers make their games immersive and appealing to a wide audience.
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