Motivational theories

Question 1

define HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY (Early theories of motivation, Abraham Maslow)

Answer 1

A hierarchy of needs that humans are motivated to meet:
1. Self-actualization: desire to become the most that one can be
2. Esteem: respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, freedom
3. Love and belonging: friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection
4. Safety needs: personal security, employment, resources, health, property
5. Physiological needs: air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction
6. Intrinsic values

Question 2

define TWO-FACTOR THEORY (Early theories of motivation, Frederick Herzberg)

Answer 2

Certain factors cause job satisfaction:
- Motivate people to stay and grow
Certain factors cause job dissatisfaction:
- satisfy basic needs

Both sets of characteristics should be recognised and we should not assume that an increase in satisfaction leads to decrease in dissatisfaction

Question 3

define MCCLELLAND’S THEORY OF NEEDS (Early theories of motivation, David McClelland)

Answer 3

Presents three needs that an individual could possible have. One trait is usually more dominant, but the others are present in an induvial as well.
- Need for achievement: excel or achieve to a set of standards
- Need for power: make others behave in a way they would otherwise not
- Need for affiliation: establish friendly and close interpersonal relationships.

Question 4

define THEORY X and THEORY Y (Early theories of motivation, Douglas McGregor)

Answer 4

Managers have assumptions about their employees:
- Theory X: people are lazy, people inherently dislike work and responsibility, people need to be coerced, monitored and controlled
- Theory Y: People like to work, people seek responsibility, people don’t need to be coerced monitored and controlled.

Question 5

define SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY (Contemporary theories of motivation, Edward Deci and Richard Ryan)

Answer 5

Doing work that matches with our interests and values makes us more satisfied with our job, we fit in the organization and perform better.
All of us have three equally important innate psychological needs for:
- Autonomy: the task I have to do at work are in line with what I really want to do
- Competence: I feel competent at my job
- Relatedness: at work, I feel part of a group

Question 6

define GOAL-SETTING THEORY (Contemporary theories of motivation, Edwin Locke & Gary Latham)

Answer 6

4 well supported propositions:
- Challenging gaols: and still realistic, lead to higher performance than simple goals
- Specific goals: lead to higher performance than vague goals
- Participation in goal setting: improves performance by increasing commitment to goals
- Knowledge of results: feedback is important and motivational

Goals performance relationship:
- Goal commitment: induvial is committed to the goal and determined to achieve it
- Task characteristics: simple and independent task are better than complex and interdependent; disturbances may limit progress
- National culture: achievable and moderate goals are more motivating than difficult ones

Question 7

define SELF-EFFICACY THEORY (contemporary theories of motivation, Albert Bandura)

Answer 7

An individual’s belief of being capable of performing a task. Ways of increasing self-efficacy:
- Enactive mastery: give employee experiences with the task
- Vicarious modelling: let them watch someone else do it
- Verbal persuasion: reassure them they have ,what it takes’ to do the task
- Arousal: energise them

Question 8

define EXPACTANCY THEORY (contemporary theories of motivation, Victor Vroom)

Answer 8

One’s behaviour results from a conscious decision-making process based on expectations, or subjective probabilities, that the individual has about the results of different behaviours leading to performance and to rewards.
Motivation = valence x instrumentality x expectancy
- Valence: do I care what grade I will get for the assignment?
- Instrumentality: will a good grade help me achieve my preferred career?
- Expectancy: will long hours studying in the library get me a high grade?

Question 9

define EQUITY THEORY (contemporary theories of motivation, Stacey Adams)

Answer 9

Perception of unfairness leads to tension, which motivates the individual to resolve that unfairness. We usually see a small over-reward as ‘good luck’, and do nothing, but a modest under-reward is not easily accepted.