Which of the following is part of the definition of motivation?

Lastly, opportunities for social prestige, political influence and patronage may also be part of business leaders' motivations.

Taking criminal motivations as" given" seems a rather glib way of dealing with them.

The advantages of the postclassical approach apply wherever the motivations towards particular criminal actions are vastly more prevalent than the actions.

Only on this level of global disciplinary concerns can we understand the deep-level motivations for this inter-disciplinary link.

Our response should be to investigate the contemporary motivations to such claims and the social, political and legal institutions that seek to wield ethnic identity.

The fact that motivations for mixing are diverse helps explain why mixed languages are not uniform.

His dissociation became much more effective because he could maintain his private/public dissociation by taking people's personal motivations and beliefs into account.

Achieving an understanding of mortgagees' motivations is complicated by our discovery that mortgages were not all the same.

Women also manifest committed motivations, in accepting social norms that devalue their contribution to domestic resources.

We consider only four possible motivations because this suffices to develop our argument.

There were three primary motivations for this extension.

Belief in the caring generosity of physicians falsifies what we know about them by emphasizing their virtues and underplaying their other commitments and motivations.

There is, of course, another important difference between captors and healthcare providers - in addition to the difference in their respective motivations.

However, asylum evaluations are complex and motivations are multifold and multifaceted.

They advertised widely the occurrence of crime and actively moulded its definition, suggesting motivations and dynamics for criminal behaviour.

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

3 Definitions and dimensions of motivation

Before we can look at theories of motivation we need to clarify exactly what is meant by the term ‘motivation’. Defining terms is an important starting point whenever we look at a topic area.

A classic textbook definition of motivation is given by Mullins (2002), who says that motivation is a ‘driving force’ through which people strive to achieve their goals and fulfil a need or uphold a value. The important words here are ‘needs’, ‘values’ and ‘goals’ and these are the building blocks of motivation that lead to actions:

  • Needs are basic requirements for survival and may be physical or psychological; for example, hunger, thirst, love or friendship.
  • Values are the things that we consider to be most important; for example, family, health or wealth.
  • Goals are the outcomes that we are working towards.

This is an interesting definition: describing motivation as a ‘driving force’ suggests a lot of energy being created within us to move us into action. You have probably experienced this whenever there has been something you really wanted, such as winning a race, winning a match, passing an exam or working hard for something you really wanted to buy. Our needs, values and goals are completely individual: two people may have the same goal they want to fulfil, but different needs or values. For example, in a race a person may want to win to feel good about themselves (need for self-esteem) or because they see winning as being in line with their values (the value is that success is important). In conclusion, we can say that motivation is specific to an individual, the result of their needs and values, which create their particular goals and are then translated into action.

Activity 2 Reading

Timing: Allow about 45 minutes

Now read the text entitled, ‘Thinking about motivation in the workplace [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] ’ by Simon Rea. As you read, note down the definition the authors give for motivation and compare it with the definition from Mullins introduced above. Draw a table, like Table 1 below, to help you summarise the three approaches that can be taken to understand motivation. The first row of Table 1 has been completed as an example. Once you have finished the chapter, consider which approach you feel explains motivation best.

Table 1 The three approaches to motivation

Name of approachBrief explanationApplicationCriticisms
Trait-centred view Theory says that motivation is due to a person's individual characteristics, e.g. their personality Personality will predict whether or not they will be motivated Ignores the influence that the situation may have on the individual
Situation-centred view
Interactional view

Comment

Table 2 Summary of the three approaches to motivation

Name of approachBrief explanationApplicationCriticisms
Trait-centred view Theory says that motivation is due to a person's individual characteristics, e.g. their personality Personality will predict whether or not they will be motivated Ignores the influence that the situation may have on the individual
Situation-centred view Theory says that motivation is determined by the situation The environment needs to be constructed to ensure that all participants are motivated Some participants will remain motivated despite a negative environment
Interactional view Theory says that to understand motivation fully you need to consider both the personality and the situation and how they interact Different personalities will respond in different ways depending on the demands of the environment. For example, different sports competitors will respond differently to competing alone or as part of a team Some personalities will remain unaffected by changing environments

While the Interactional view is often the most popular approach to motivation by sport and fitness professionals – because it considers both personality and situation – it is important to have a solid understanding of both the trait-centred and situation-centred views, as these help our appreciation of the different ways in which individuals are motivated.

Which of the following defines motivation?

Which of the following defines motivation? It is the set of forces that initiates, directs, and makes people persist in their efforts to accomplish a goal.

What is the definition of motivation quizlet?

Motivation. A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

What are the 3 concepts of motivation?

The three key elements in our definition are effort, organizational goals, and needs. The effort element is a measure of intensity. When someone is motivated, he or she tries hard.

Which of the following is a basic element of motivation quizlet?

The three key elements in motivation are intensity, direction, and persistence: Intensity: It describes how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus on when we talk about motivation.