Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is motivation?
Motivation is the process accounting for an individual’s intensity, direction and persistence towards achieving an objective. This differs per person and context.
What is meant by intensity in motivation?
How hard a person tries
what is meant by direction in motivation?
What goals of the organization or individual effort is aimed at
What is meant by persistence in motivation?
How long someone maintains an effort
Name the traditional motivation theories
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
- Theory X and Theory Y
- Two-factor theory
- McClelland’s theory of needs
Name the hierarchy in Maslow’s pyramid of needs
- Physiological (hunger, thirst, sleep etc.)
- Safety (both subjective and objective)
- Social (friends, sense of belonging)
- Esteem (confidence, self-esteem)
- Self-actualization
Order of last three depends on characteristics of culture
What are lower-order needs?
These are needs that are satisfied externally, like physiological, safety
What are higher-order needs?
Needs that are satisfied internally, like social, esteem and self-actualization
What is self-actualization?
This is a drive to reach full potential
What is theory X?
This theory assumes that employees dislike their job and must be coerced to perform.
This is the opposite of Theory Y
What is theory Y?
This theory assumes that people like their work and can exercise self-direction
Thi is the opposite of theory X
What is the two-factor theory?
Theory stating that intrinsic factors relate to job satisfaction and extrinsic factors relate to dissatisfaction. This is also called motivation-hygiene theory.
What are hygiene factors in the Two-factors theory?
Hygiene factors are factors that placate workers when they are insufficiently present in a job. If sufficiently present, people will not be dissatisfied.
Name four points of criticism on the two-factor theory
- Limited procedure through methodoloy
- Questionable reliability of methodology through subjective ratings
- No utilization of overall satisfaction measures
- Assumption of relationship between satisfaction and productivity that was not supported by used methodology
What is McClelland’s theory of needs?
This is a theory stating that achievement, affiliation and power are three important needs explaining motivation
Shortly describe the three needs in McClelland’s motivation theory
- Need for achievement: drive to excel and achieve compared to standards
- Need for power: need to be able to direct behaviour of others
- Need for affiliation: desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships
Name the different contemporary motivation theories
- self-determination theory
- Goal-setting theory
- Self-efficacy theory
- Reinforcement theory
- Expectancy theory
- Equity theory
What is self-determination theory?
This is a theory that believes that motivation is concerned with beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and harmful effects of extrensic motivation. Anything within our control gives more pleasure
What is cognitive evaluation theory?
This is a subfield in self-determination theory believing that allocation extrinci rewards to previoulsy intrinsically rewarding things decreases overall motivation levels if rewards seems controlling
What is self-concordance?
Degree to which a person’s motivations for pursuing goals are in line with their interests and core values. Managers should provide intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to increase motivation, and thus performance.
What is job engagement?
Degree to which an employee has invested physical, cognitive, emotional energies into job performance. High level increases performance.
What is goal-setting theory?
Theory believing that setting specific goals can lead to higher performance if regular constructive feedback is provided. Higher goal, higher motivation to a certain degree.
Why are people more motivated by high goals?
- Difficult goals aim our attention on specific task
- They energize us because we need to put in more effort to attain them
- Difficult goals make people persevere to achieve them
- Makes us think of ways to task more effectively, stimulating innovation
What factors influence goals-performance relationships?
- Feedback: helps indentify areas of improvement
- Goal commitment
- Task characteristics: simple, well-learned, independend and on high end of achievement goals
- National culture: differences in importance of achieving goals.
What is promotion focus?
Self-regulation strategy that strives for goals through advancement and acheivements (like studying for exams)
What is a prevention focus?
This is a self-regulation strategy that strives for goals by fulfilling duties and obligations
(like preventing to watch netflix so you can study)
What is management by objectives (MBO)?
A programme that sets specific goals in coordination with managers for an explicit time period with feedback on goal progress. Goals are set for each organizational level and division.
What are the elements of a good MBO programme?
- Goal specificity
- Decision-making participation
- Time period
- Performance feedback
What is the difference between MBO and goal-setting theory?
MBO supports participation, whereas goal-setting believes that assigning goals is just as effective
What is self-efficacy theory?
This is a social cognitive theory stating that an individual’s belief that he is capable of performing the task is what drives motivation. People with a high efficacy react to negative feedback with increased effort. This complements goal-setting theory.
Name four ways to increase self-efficacy
- Enactive mastery: gaining experience
2 Vicaious modelling: someone else doing it makes you more confident you can do too - Verbal persuasion: more confident because someone else convinces you that you have necessary skills to succeed.
- Arousal: leads to higher drive to complete task
What is the pygmalion effect?
Self-fulfilling prophecy in which believing something is true can make it true
What is the galatea effect?
A direct communication to employees that you have high performance expectations of them.
What is reinforcement theory?
This theory believes that behaviour is a function of it’s consequenes and is caused by it’s environment. Internal factors that are known to influence motivation and behaviour are ignored.
What is equity theory?
This theory states that individuals compare their own job inputs and outcomes with those of others through an outcome-input ratio and then try to eliminate inequities
What are the six predicted reaction to the notice of inequities according to equity theory?
- Change input (less effort)
- Change outcomes (more units of less quality if paid per unit)
- Distort self-perception (convince themselves they are better than you are)
- Distort perceptions of others (convince yourself of negative job aspects of others)
- Choose different referent
- Leave the field (quit)
What is organizational justice?
This is a theory based on the six choices in equity theory. It studies the overall perception of what is fair in the workplace, consisting of distributive, informational, procedural and interpersonal justice
What is distributive justice?
Perceived fairness of amount and allocation of rewards among individuals. Influences task performance
What is procedural justice?
Examing how rewards are allocated, which metrics are used. This influences task performance
What is informational justice?
This is concerned with how employees are treated in terms of how informed they are about important decisions or matters. Influences citizenship behaviour
What is interpersonal justice?
This is the extent to which employees are treated respectfully and with dignity. Influences citizenship behaviour.
What is expectancy theory?
Theory stating that strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will provide an outcome to the individual. Focuses on three relationships
Which relationships does expectancy theory focus on?
- Effort-performance relationship
- Performance-reward relationship
- Rewards-personal goals relationship
What is the effort-performance relationship?
Probability perceived by empoyees that a given amount of effort will lead to performance
What is the performance-reward relationship?
How much the individual beleives his performance will influence compensation
What is the rewards-personal goals relationship?
How much the rewards satisfy an individual’s goals and the attractiveness of those potential rewards to individual.
