Motivation Flashcards
What is motivation?
= a set of energetic forces that originate within and outside an employee that initiates work-related effort and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence
Why is understanding motivation important?
- motivation is an integral part of performance mgmt. and other mgmt. subfields such as leadership, teams, decision making, change etc.
- research shows that having a motivating job is generally rated more important than having a well-paid job
- > by knowing what motivates employees, jobs can be designed to stimulate motivation
Name the components of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Bottom-up:
- physiological needs: air, water, food, shelter etc.
- safety and security: health, employment etc.
- love and belonging: family, friendship, intimacy
- self-esteem: status, recognition etc.
- self-actualization: desire to become the most one can be
Name (three) early content theories on motivation and explain what they are about
- Alderfer’s ERG theory
- McClelland’s need theory
- Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory
Merke: People have basic needs that motivate behavior.
Explain Alderfer’s ERG theory
- is an extension of Maslow’s theory
- suggests that there are three groups of core needs:
- existence (E)
- relatedness (R), and
- growth (G)
- suggests that individuals can be motivated by multiple levels of need at the same time, and that the level which is most important to them can change over time
Explain McClelland’s need theory and how these needs develop
- states that every person has one of three main driving motivators: the needs for
- achievement
- affiliation (Zugehörigkeit)
- power
- > these motivators are not inherent; we develop them through our culture and life experiences
Explain Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory
- also known as the dual-factor theory
- study of variables that are perceived to be desirable to achieve goals and the undesirable conditions to avoid
- suggests that hygiene factors determine dissatisfaction, while motivation factors determine satisfaction
Explain intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation
- intrinsic motivation involves performing a task because it’s personally rewarding to you
- extrinsic motivation involves completing a task or exhibiting a behavior because of outside causes such as avoiding punishment or receiving a reward
e. g. a bonus etc.
Merke: Intrinsic motivation is crucial for performance, but extrinsic incentives enhance the positive effect of intrinsic motivation (on performance).
Name a few negative effects of monetary rewards
- worse performance for cognitive complex tasks
- strategic behaviours (e.g. short-term gains, minimalistic)
- less pro-social behaviour (selfishness)
- decreased intrinsic motivation (cognitive evaluation theory)
Name (four) contemporary process theories on motivation and their common question
- Vroom’s expectancy theory
- Social exchange theory
- Locke’s goal-setting theory
- Self-determination theory
common question: they do not ask what motivates people but HOW people are motivated
Explain Vroom’s expectancy theory
- Vroom’s expectancy theory assumes that behavior results from conscious choices among alternatives whose purpose it is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain
Expectancy: effort -> performance
- belief that one’s effort will result in attainment of desired performance goals
Instrumentality: performance -> outcome
- belief that a person will receive a reward if the performance expectation is met
Valance: outcome -> reward
= the value an individual places on the rewards of an outcome, which is based on their needs, goals, values and sources of motivation
→ Conclusion: intuitively appealing and widespread support for basic premises; models seems more strongly related to attitudes (e.g. satisfaction) than to the actual behaviour (e.g. performance)
Explain the Social exchange theory
- theory that studies the social behavior in the interaction of two parties (mutual dependence and obligations) that implement a cost-benefit analysis to determine risks and benefits
Norm of Reciprocity:
- states that a benefit should be returned and the one who gives the benefit should not be harmed
- social exchanges have motivational potential because of shared resources:
- economic (e.g. money, goods) and
- socioemotional (e.g. being valued, treated fairly)
- > can be backward (obtained resources) vs. forward (future resources)
- social exchange relationships are important for (de)motivation
- match of expectations between parties is important (e.g. economics vs. socioemotional)
- > if the costs of the relationship are higher than the rewards, then the relationship may be terminated or abandoned
Explain Locke’s goal-setting theory
- goal-setting as motivational technique and essential to enhance performance
- states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task performance -> goal difficulty + goal specificity play an important role
→ Conclusion:
- major support for theory and its assumptions
- many other motivation theories use these basic principles
- relatively easy theory to implement and test
Explain the Self-determination theory
= interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors
- self-determination theory suggests that people are motivated to grow and change by three innate and universal psychological needs; it suggests that people are able to become self-determined when their needs for:
- competence
- connection, and
- autonomy
are fulfilled
-> these three basic human needs fosters volition (Willsenkraft), motivation, and engagement that results in enhanced performance, persistence, and creativity
→ Conclusion: the #1 motivation theory in recent years with vast support for its assumptions across many studies; some questions remain about process from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation
Explain the job characteristics model (by Hackman and Oldham 1980)
How are higher meaningfulness, responsibility and knowledge are achieved?
- is based on the idea that the task itself is key to employee motivation -> a boring and monotonous job stifles motivation to perform well, whereas a challenging job enhances motivation
- achieving higher meaningfulness of work through:
- skill variety
- task identity
- task significance
- achieving higher responsibility for outcomes of work:
- autonomy
- decision authority
- achieving knowledge of the actual results of work activities: giving feedback
