Chapter 8: Motivation

Defining motivation
A force that serves three functions:
It energizes, or causes people to act;
It directs behavior toward the attainment of specific goals
It sustains the effort expended in reaching those goals

Need theories of motivation

a) Basic need theories
i. Need hierarchy theory (Maslow)
Physiological needs: the basic survival needs of food, water, air, sleep,
and sex
Safety needs: the needs for physical safety (need for shelter) and needs
related to psychological security
Social needs: the need to be accepted by others and needs for love,
affection, and friendship
Esteem needs: the needs to be recognized for accomplishments and to
be admired and respected by peers
Self-actualization needs: the needs to reach ones highest potential and
to attain a sense of fulfillment; the highest level of needs

ii. ERG theory (Alderfer)

Existence needs, which are similar to Maslows basic physiological
and safety needs
Relatedness needs, which stem from social interaction and are
analogous to the social needs in Maslows hierarchy
Growth needs, which are the highest-order needs, dealing with needs to
develop fully and realize ones potential.

b) McClellands achievement motivation theory

i. Divided into three aspects:
Need for achievement
The compelling drives to succeed and to get the job done.
Individuals with a very high need for achievement are those who
love the challenge of work.
They are motivated by a desire to get ahead in the job, to solve
problems, and to be outstanding work performers.
Need for achievement is also associated with being task oriented,
preferring situations offering moderate levels of risk or difficulty,
and desiring feedback about goal attainment.
Need for power
The need to direct and control the activities of others and to be
influential.
Individuals with a high need for power are status oriented and are
more motivated by the chance to gain influence and prestige than
to solve particular problems personally or reach performance goals.
McClelland talks about two sides to the need for power:
 a. One is personal power that is used toward personal ends
b. The other is institutional power, or power that is oriented
toward organizational objectives
Need for affiliation
The desire to be liked and accepted by others.
Individuals motivated by affiliation needs strive for friendship.
They are greatly concerned with interpersonal relationships on the
job and prefer working with others on a task.
They are motivated by cooperative rather than competitive work
situations.
ii. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
A projective test
Respondents project their inner motivational needs into the content of
the story they create.
Criticism of McClellands theory concerns the use of the TAT:
a. For its scoring can sometimes be unreliable, with different scorers
possibly interpreting the stories differently
b. There is a tendency for participants who write longer stories to
be given higher scores on achievement motivation.

Behavior-based theories of motivation

a) Reinforcement theory
i. Principles of operant conditioning:
Positive reinforcers
Events that are in and of themselves desirable to the people.
Receiving praise, money, or a pat on the back are all common
positive reinforcers.

Negative reinforcers
Events that lead to the avoidance of an existing negative state or
condition.
Being allowed to escape the noise and confusion of a busy work
area by taking a short break in a quiet employee lounge or working
hard at a task to avoid the wrath of a watchful supervisor are
negative reinforcement situations.

Punishment
Term used to describe any unpleasant consequence that directly
follows the performance of a behavior.
The effect of punishment is to weaken the tendency to perform the
behavior again

ii. Bad consequences of punishment:

First, the chronic use of punishment can create feelings of hostility and
resentment in workers and reduce morale and job satisfaction.
Second, punished workers may try to retaliate and get back at
punitive supervisors
 Third, punishment tends only to suppress behavior; once the threat of
punishment is taken away, the worker may continue to use the
undesirable behavior.
Fourth, continual use of punishment leads to inefficient supervisors
ones who must spend too much of their time constantly on watch to
catch workers committing undesirable behaviors and administer the
punishment.
Finally, there is some evidence that women supervisors who use
punishment are evaluated more harshly than their male counterparts,
and the womens use of discipline is perceived to be less effective

iii. Schedules of reinforcement:

Fixed-interval schedule
Reinforcement occurs after the passage of a specified amount of
time.
Employees who are paid an hourly or daily wage or a weekly or
monthly salary are being reinforced on this schedule, which has
two important characteristics.
First, the reinforcement is not contingent on the performance of the
desired behavior.
Reinforcement follows regardless of whether the rate of performing
job-related behavior is high or low.
Second, the fixed-interval schedule is predictable.

Variable-interval schedule
A somewhat rare means of work compensation.
Determined by the passage of time, but the interval varies.
For example, a worker for a small business might be paid on the
average of once a month, but the exact time depends on when the
owner does the payroll.
Bonuses that are given on the bosses whims are also on a variable-
interval schedule.

Fixed-ratio schedule
Depends on the performance of a set number of specified
behaviors.
Examples include workers who are paid for the number of
components assembled, baskets of fruit picked, or reports written.
This type of fixed-ratio payment is commonly referred to as
piecework.
The strength of such a schedule is that reinforcement is contingent
on execution of the desired behavior.
Individuals on ratio schedules have high rates of responding in
comparison to persons on interval schedules, who are merely
putting in time.

Variable-ratio schedule
 Involves reinforcement that is contingent on the performance of
behaviors, but the number of responses required for a particular
reinforcement varies.
An example of a variable-ratio schedule is a salesperson on
commission, who is required to give a number of sales
presentations (the work behavior) to make a sale and receive a
commission (the reinforcement).
Variable-ratio schedules usually lead to very high levels of
motivation because the reinforcement is contingent on performance
and because of the surprise element: You never know when the
next reinforcement is coming.
Gambling is reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule, which is why
it is such an addicting behavior.

b) Extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation

c) Goal-setting theory

Job design theories of motivation

a) Herzbergs two factor theory
b) Job characteristic model

Cognitive theories of motivation

a) Equity theory of motivation
b) Expectancy theory of motivation (VIE)

Relationship between motivation and performance

a) System and technology variables
b) Individuals difference variables
c) Group dynamics variables
d) Organizational variables