The term “achievement motive” was introduced in 1938 by the American psychologist G. A. Murray, who included it in the list of achievement needs. In exploring the motivation to achieve success, Murray described this need as the desire to prevail over difficulties of any nature, be they people, ideas or objects. Overcome any obstacles as quickly and independently as possible, compete and win, successfully use your abilities and thus increase self-esteem.
Today we say that motivation to achieve success is one of the types of motivation for human activity, which is expressed in the desire for success, achieving important goals, and obtaining new results.
There is another type of motivation for activity: avoidance motivation. Avoiding failures, a person consciously chooses either goals that are too easy or too difficult to achieve, and sometimes he is even ready to change the final goal. Such motivation is associated with lack of self-confidence, fear of failure, high levels of anxiety, and low self-esteem.
As a rule, this approach is also reflected in a decrease in results when determining the level of intelligence through testing. Children who follow the avoidance motive are overly sensitive to the opinions of both adults and peers; they need support and approval. They do not know how to correctly assess their strengths, they constantly worry, and stress is fertile ground for the development of neuroses.
Speed and success in solving productive problems are indicators of a person's general intelligence. As practice proves, a successful result is directly related to the level of motivation to achieve success. As we have already said, the characteristic features of this motivation are intellectual perseverance, a low level of anxiety, the desire to choose among difficult tasks that require reflection, thought, and overcoming one’s “barrier”, a reasonable reaction not only to success, but also to defeat, healthy (high, but within reasonable limits) level of aspirations. It is optimal when the motivation structure corresponds to the level of intelligence development.
However, there are also two variants of inconsistency within the structure of motivation to achieve results:
- With a low level of intelligence, the predominance of motivation to achieve success or even the absence of a prevailing tendency.
- With a high intellectual level, the predominance of avoidance motivation or the complete absence of a prevailing tendency. Throughout life, a person develops his motivational system. Its foundations are laid before the child is three years old, and then develop in the process of resolving various kinds of conflicts, and in this formation the main role is played first by the mother, then by other important adults in the child’s life, then by peers, and so on. Upbringing and personal experience are the basis for the formation of a person’s motivational system. By paying attention to mistakes, we form avoidance motivation in children, and by focusing attention on successes and achievements, and being interested in their plans, we create motivation to achieve success.
How to achieve healthy motivation to achieve goals in a child
Preschool children, focused on avoiding failure, like their parents, need the attention and advice of a psychologist, and this work will be aimed at:
- Exercises, including breathing, to relieve stress and anxiety. This is due to the fact that anxiety is accompanied by muscle tension (face, neck, shoulders, etc.).
- Obtaining and introducing into the habit of new behavioral skills that help you calm down, collect your thoughts, cope with anxiety, worry and uncertainty in difficult or traumatic situations, and allow you to achieve success. In this vein, role-playing games are good with the participation of an adult who is able not only to play, but also to discuss the game situation and guide the child to how the gained gaming experience will be useful in a similar life situation.
- Identifying the specific abilities that the child has in order to develop them and use encouragement.
- Exercises to help build self-confidence and increase self-esteem and self-esteem.
- Matching the requirements of adults with the capabilities of the child.
The basis of healthy motivation to achieve a goal that is so necessary for a child is the emotional comfort of relationships in the family, favorable “weather in the house”; this is the “foundation” of the harmonious development of the child’s personality. Both achievement motivation and avoidance motivation are formed and developed primarily under the influence of family upbringing.
Summary
Loss aversion theory states that people react more strongly to a loss than to a gain. However, they do not understand that fear of loss is a phenomenon of desire to avoid failure.
People who are focused on future achievements are much more sensitive to gains than to losses.
You can more effectively influence almost everything you do by working with what matches your motivation, using your strengths in a way that benefits you, compensating for your weaknesses.
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What comes first - the level of intelligence or the type of motivation?
Probably, the level of intelligence is genetically primary, since it determines better performance, self-confidence in the process of accumulating positive experience, greater balance and emotional stability and, as a result, motivation to achieve rather than avoid. Children with a low level of intelligence are more likely to encounter failures and are haunted by difficulties, so the expectation of failure gradually leads to the formation of a fear of experiencing failure again.
If we consider this primacy of intelligence and the type of motivation in a specific situation, the picture is somewhat different: children with the motivation to achieve success are actively passionate about the solution, but those motivated by avoidance experience fear, lack of confidence in their abilities, worry - and are predictably doomed to failure. Thus, we can talk about a functional system consisting of two subsystems: motivational and ability.
Children with motivation to achieve a goal need less external control or do not need it at all, since they have their own “internal control” over behavior. And children who avoid failure need an external feedback regulator, external control. They also need emotional control.
McClelland's study of need
Achievement theory (or need for achievement) was primarily promoted by American psychologist David McClelland. He spent much of his life developing the idea that three key needs are acquired through learning or experience. They cannot be learned at some seminar, but you can still learn them if you practice for several months or a year. What are these three needs:
- Need for achievement. Selecting situations where success depends on performance
- The need to belong. Essentially, being close to someone. Such a person enjoys mutual friendship with others
- Need for strength. Those who have this need have a great need to control events and things or influence others
Distinctive characteristics of people with different motivations
A person with the motivation to achieve results is more persistent, patient, goal-oriented, and chooses tasks of average or slightly increased complexity. If the solution fails, he experiences even greater interest in the task and, as a rule, achieves good results.
A person with avoidance motivation, choosing, as we have already said, tasks that are too easy or too difficult, in case of failure loses interest in the solution, and, as a rule, achieves better results after success.
For a person with the motivation to achieve results, a significant goal pushed back in time is a good incentive. This distinguishes him from a person with an avoidance motive.
It is interesting that people with different motives perceive their successes and failures differently. A person with the motivation to achieve success, as a rule, believes that it’s all about his abilities and diligence if the result is achieved, and believes that it’s all due to a random coincidence of circumstances if he fails. This is not the case for those motivated to avoid failure: if they managed to achieve a result, they believe that it happened rather by chance, or simply by a lucky coincidence, or the task was too easy, that is, they look for the reason in external factors, and if they If they fail, they tend to critically analyze their abilities.
Being strongly expressed, such motivation can be destructive: it leads to low self-esteem, stress, depression, and psychological dependence. However, a moderately expressed avoidance motive leads to an objective analysis and correction of errors. But people with a strong motivation to achieve results are preoccupied only with themselves, and their self-confidence can repel other people.
Motivational message and influence on purchases
How to influence people's purchases using the right motivational message.
Conformity will make you really want. Motivational congruence at the moment we watch an ad has an impact on our intentions. By feeling a motivational fit from the advertisement, we feel more passionate about the product and simply must buy it.
5 out of 5 consumers preferred compliance. Matching advertising framing to the audience's sentiment or the motivation the product is intended to support improves brand perceptions. By making people feel that one brand is better than the others, we will make them choose it.
Reaching new audiences through relevance. Proposals for the “young and invulnerable” should emphasize gains, benefits and rewards.
Addressing different cultures through conformity. Advertising that creates a motivational fit for those raised in one place will not work in another.
Compliance drains wallets. People are willing to spend much more if they make a decision at the moment of motivational fit.
Why is each motivation important?
Motivation to achieve success allows you to better define your goals and communicate them to others. People with this type of motivation prepare for a future task in advance, in a planned and organized manner. Their system of actions simply cannot fail to achieve their goal. Motivation to achieve success means an active life position, which helps a person overcome difficulties and develop in this way. This position makes life more eventful and interesting. The motivation for achieving success is striving forward, but at the same time it is important not to miss anything from the experience of the past in order to benefit from failures, to comprehend, and to be careful. At the same time, we should not miss opportunities, and this is exactly what happens when we avoid difficulties. Using intelligence, it is important to analyze all possible scenarios and the likelihood of both success and failure - a reasonable balance of motivations is important.
People with avoidance motivation do not want to achieve a goal, but rather avoid punishment or disappointment due to mistakes or inaction. With this approach, instead of systematic preparation, a person, as a rule, “plays for time,” is inactive, and at the very end makes a breakthrough. Unfortunately, along this path there may be overvoltage, the influence of unforeseen factors, and the time cannot be calculated accurately enough, and all these are factors that fail to solve the problem. There is, however, a plus: such people usually have well-developed preliminary modeling, forecasting possible outcomes and scenarios - and this in some cases helps them avoid trouble. A person who is motivated to achieve results does not have such a degree of development of the skill of avoiding troubles.
Avoidance motivation helps to stabilize the experience, avoid troubles, not mindlessly take risks, and exercise caution and moderation. This position only enriches the overall motivational structure.
It is good when the motivational system has flexible motives that are used in accordance with a specific situation. For happiness, a person needs a “golden mean”, a harmonious interaction of both motivations included in the motivational system. When motivating ourselves to achieve the desired result, we must take care to be “fully armed.” Memory and attention, thinking and perception are necessary to achieve any goal, whatever we set for ourselves. You can develop them in a fun way, with the help of daily exercises on online brain simulators.
We wish you success in self-development!
Stimulation
Stimulation involves creating the most effective working conditions. Encouragement can be material or moral in nature. Natural incentives that encourage an employee to work are not enough for effective work. A special feature of employee incentives is their reliance on the standard level of labor. The employee is aware of the degree of responsibility, purpose, and penalties. The loss of material reward is expressed by partial payment of bonuses or complete deprivation.
Discipline is partly a method of coercion and restriction of personal freedom. The line between coercion and stimulation is conditional - an employee with developed responsibility is always disciplined. The employee performs assigned duties efficiently and conscientiously.
Incentive system as motivation for success
- Monetary incentives. Earning money is a common goal for workers.
- Social incentives include:
- Decent conditions. Organization of the workplace, absence of extraneous sounds, moderate lighting, effective distribution of labor and rest;
- The ability to replace monotonous activities with a creative process;
- Availability of free time. Rest promotes productive work;
- Good relationships within the team. The authority of the leader’s personality, the leader’s perception of the boss;
- Opportunity for career growth.
3. Psychological stimulation is focused on accepting the employee as a multifaceted personality. The perception of an employee as a mechanism that performs a set of actions gives rise to negative consequences - lack of desire to work, dismissal.
How to get rid of the fear of failure
This is a very important question that it is better to try to clarify for yourself as soon as possible. You need to know how to overcome this painful feeling and not stop believing in your own prospects. A person will have to work a lot on himself, change his attitude towards life. Without this step it is impossible to grow, to rise above the most disturbing situation. So, how to overcome the fear of failure, what actions need to be taken?
Setting goals
This is the first place to start. You need to imagine in which direction you want to move, what results you are going to achieve. It is best to write down your desires on paper. This will give the necessary impetus to implement them in reality. Setting goals helps you organize your life correctly and set priorities in a timely manner.
Gaining practice
Having thought about how to remove any fear of action, you should definitely make the right decision. In any case, constant practice will be required here. The more effort you put in, the better results you can achieve.
It is extremely important not to give in to the difficulties that arise, but to try to solve them in all available ways. Only constant actions can change our lives for the better
Making Positive Decisions
You need to act in such a way that the result is truly pleasing. Make your decision with a smile on your face. Don't be afraid to change your life so much that it will bring surprises. It is in this case that internal transformation can occur, without which no personal growth can take place. Our soul needs to change, to gain a different perspective on the usual understanding of things.
Thus, the fear of failure actually greatly interferes with life. A person cannot enjoy everyday events while being captive of his illusory ideas. This requires fruitful work with a specialist. If you need help and don’t know how to get rid of negative thoughts, then contact the Irakli Pozharisky Center for Psychology and Rehabilitation for advice.
Underestimated my capabilities
This is a filter of beliefs that we have acquired in the process of life and do not question. “Don’t try it if you don’t know”, “You’re clumsy”, “It won’t work anyway”, “Mom (dad, grandma - guess what) knows better”, “Put it up, otherwise you’ll break it”, “I knew that You won’t succeed”, “Vasya has better grades, but you are a lazy idiot”, “No matter how much you fight, it still won’t work out”.
Such beliefs for the most part are formed in childhood, when it is still difficult to contrast one’s own experience with what is imparted as truth from the outside. Sometimes you can see the following situation: a child hangs upside down on the horizontal bar and shouts to his mother to see how great he is doing, and his mother shouts to him: “Get off immediately, otherwise you will fall!” He has already succeeded, he has already been able to, but this experience is crossed out, and shame, guilt and a ban on experimentation are written in its place.
An external view of oneself - awkward, narrow-minded, stupid - replaces one’s own opinion, becomes a dusty glass through which a person looks at himself and his desires. We arm ourselves with the strongest household chemicals and do some general cleaning!
You will need an opportunity to retire. Additional options - a family photo album, old children's notebooks (if they are preserved).
Instructions - Your past and present are plastic. You decide for yourself which events in them are really important and which are not. There are no more important or less important memories, but you decide which ones to rely on. Remember unique episodes from your life when you were persistent, determined and courageous (researched something, went hiking in the forest and helped a friend escape from bees, achieved recognition in the yard football team, saved a drowning comrade, protected a friend from troubles and much more). Every person is a hero if he takes the trouble to remember this. Remember the situations in which you managed to achieve what you wanted, in which your cherished desires were fulfilled, your dreams came true
Describe each such episode in one phrase - capacious, deep and important, which will become your compass and flag. For example, “I swam across a deep river, the river is no deeper now than it was then.”
Place reminders of this episode in your space - enlarge and print photographic evidence, hang a pendant to remember this event, put a note in your passport, draw a picture of this plot - use any means to make the memory vivid and lasting. Build a support network of reminders of success, and every time doubt tries to take over, lean into it so that it springs back and gives strength.
Reasons for fear of failure
Nothing arises out of nowhere, without visible reasons. So there are reasons for this phobia. If there is such a problem, you need to try to figure it out as soon as possible. Only a deep immersion in your own world will help you overcome feelings of hopelessness and melancholy.
Negative experience
When faced with severe disappointments, self-confidence certainly decreases. Negative experiences sometimes have such a strong impact that you no longer want to make any attempts to correct the unsatisfactory situation. Fear of failure fetters you from within and limits any endeavors. As a result, a person is afraid to act at all, even when it is absolutely necessary. Going through a large number of negative impressions certainly leaves an imprint on the individual’s perception of reality. A person becomes distrustful, irritable, overly suspicious, even gloomy. Sometimes it can be hard to believe that better changes can happen to you. People are designed in such a way that they always rely on previous experience, whatever it may be. If something in the past has made you doubt your own capabilities, it becomes very difficult to believe that joy and happiness awaits you ahead.
Miseducation
If from childhood our parents limited our freedom in every possible way, in the future it will be very difficult to believe in ourselves. Self-confidence is something that accumulates over the years. Improper upbringing can undermine adequate self-esteem and make an individual withdrawn. Mistrust and unsociability are also consequences of parental mistakes. The result is a fear of taking the wrong actions. Such a person doubts for a long time and, before taking specific actions, consults with everyone, thinks and analyzes a lot.
Overestimated the consequences of failure
Often we don’t even try to take risks and take on something new, important and complex, because a mistake seems fatal to us. If it doesn’t work out, something terrible will happen! What exactly? Have you ever looked beyond your fear? What if there really is nothing there?
You will need a piece of paper and a pencil
Instructions - At the top of the sheet, briefly describe the essence of the task that you are afraid of not being able to cope with. Place a downward arrow under it in the middle of the sheet. Ask yourself, “What will actually happen if it doesn’t work out?” Write the first answer that comes to mind under the arrow. Place a down arrow under it. Ask yourself: “Where will this lead?” Record your answer and draw an arrow under it. Ask yourself this question until you reach the ultimate answer, from which nothing can be deduced. If the piece of paper runs out and there are still answers, glue as many more sheets of paper as necessary to the bottom of it, so that all the answers are before your eyes and you do not need to turn over the sheets of paper to read the continuation. Set the resulting sequence aside for half an hour.
When you return, read your answers and think: are these consequences worth giving up trying? Do they resemble reality, or have you allowed fear to lead you to the dark side of existence? Do such mistakes lead to exactly these consequences, or is everything a little exaggerated? Do you have the opportunity to insure yourself against these consequences in advance? Is it possible that fears that have nothing to do with the task interfere with your decisions? These are your targets, it is they who worry you, and not at all the fear of making a mistake.
Overestimated the difficulty of the task
This “defect” in the perception of reality can be overcome intellectually. You need to learn to carefully analyze the situation, break it down into parts and analyze it. Building a work schedule means “dividing the elephant into parts.” Even the multi-page novel you may be hesitant to write is made up of chapters, and chapters are made up of pages.
You will need free time, specialized books.
Instructions - Study the methods and techniques that you notice around you, ask friends and acquaintances about how they cope with their tasks. Find the method that suits you. For what? To get yourself out of that paralyzed state into which the thought “I can’t cope” puts you. Before jumping over an obstacle, you always need to take a running start. If you stand close to her and look at how tall she is, nothing will happen. The only question is which technique and take-off tactics are right for you.
