Motive and motivation from the point of view of psychology. What is motive

In the most general and broad sense, a motive is a matter, a reason, a circumstance among other alternatives that induces someone to do something or causes a particular action.

This allows us to maintain a constant interest in activities that, if completed, can satisfy a need or fulfill a dream.

From the moment we become aware of our potential and the reality around us, we feel the need to understand the nature of emotions, their connection with thought and how these two dimensions interact and condition our actions and us. They motivate you to achieve personal success.

Motives and motivation from the point of view of psychology

Motive and motivation are two terms related to each other, but they do not have the same meaning. They complement each other. Thus, understanding the difference between the two concepts is important for understanding human action in general, as well as how and why a person decides to do something specific in particular.

Motive in psychology is the reason, and motivation is the force, the engine that makes us perform our actions, and is the product of our thoughts and emotions, it is the desire for well-being. We can classify motivation according to social and biological criteria according to Hull's classification.

Social reasons are based on relationships with subjects of society, associated with the general growth of the subject's personality.

There are three types:

achievement is that personal desire to do something difficult, overcoming obstacles;
power - consists of achieving status, which allows you to influence other people or be a guide to others;
affiliation - the need to communicate with other members of the group, whether for reasons of interest, religion, etc.

Primary (biological) motives with innate characteristics are necessary to ensure the survival of an organism or species, among which the main ones are: hunger, thirst, sleep and sex. They are common to all species. There is also the maternal impulse, reasons for temperature, excretion, oxygen, activity and pain avoidance.

Secondary motives (social) motives , acquired through learning throughout a person's life, are important in increasing the likelihood of social and personal growth of the said person in the society to which he belongs.

Primary motives are those that are associated with essential needs for the survival of the individual.

There are many interpretations of motivation. Here are some theories :

Balance : homeostatic (according to Hull), when the body experiences some kind of deficiency, some biological or mental need appears, impulses act to restore the lost balance.
Needs : Motivation is activated in response to a person's needs.
Cognitive (according to Tolman): Motivation drives behavior to fulfill the expectations and goals that each subject has set as a result of previous learning.
Behavioral : Motivation is driven by the pursuit of pleasure and escape from pain caused by beliefs.
Psychoanalytic : our behavior is motivated by unconscious impulses, sexual and aggressive instincts.
Humanistic ) are satisfied, people develop higher needs and desires (top).

Maslow's pyramid is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his work A Theory of Human Motivation. He articulates a hierarchy of human needs and argues that as the most basic needs are satisfied (at the bottom), people develop higher needs and desires (at the top). According to Maslow's Dispondriam Pyramid:

basic physiological factors that maintain homeostasis (breathing, eating, sleep, pain avoidance, etc.);
safety and security, physical safety and health, resources and protection of your property and assets;
communication, friendship, social integration and social recognition;
respect, high evaluation (need for self-esteem, confidence, achievement, independence and freedom) and low evaluation (respect for other people, need for attention, appreciation, recognition, reputation, etc.).
a disorder is an inhibitor of some behavior aimed at achieving a goal; in all situations in our life, when this happens, an unsatisfied need appears.

The stronger the goal motive, the greater the disappointment when the goal is not achieved.

When faced with an unpleasant situation, we manage to admit our mistakes , we can begin a process through which we will try not to repeat the same mistakes of the past again.

Types of Human Motivation

Such types of motivation as “carrot” and “stick” are widely known. This is nothing more than an idea of negative and positive motives. These principles have long been used in economics, politics, management, education and other areas, including everyday life.

It is interesting that these types of motivations can characterize not only an individual, but also a certain society. It is known, for example, that since ancient times the Russian consciousness has been more characterized by “stick” motivation than “carrot” motivation. This is even reflected in the proverbs: “Until thunder strikes, a man will not cross himself.” A similar character of the Russian person was noted by researchers of culture and even religion. Thus, one church historian said that Russian Orthodox people have long believed not so much in God as in the devil, and in Russian religious (and for the most part folk-religious) culture, thousands of ways and advice have arisen on how to avoid meeting with evil spirits; at the same time, original Orthodoxy condemns such a practice, because if a person believes in “an all-powerful God,” then he should not be afraid of evil spirits.

“Gingerbread” is largely a Western system of motifs. Thus, in European countries there are a number of incentives for citizens who strictly comply with the law, and a relatively mild system of punishments for those who violate the laws. In our country, the opposite is true: practically nothing is provided for law-abiding citizens, but the system of punishments is extensive, confusing, cruel and clumsy.

However, in modern Western society the role of the “stick” in certain areas is also growing. There, cruel treatment of children and violation of discipline in enterprises are severely condemned. The existing problems, say, in public health care in themselves are a “stick” for Europeans, encouraging them to work hard to pay for private medical services.

Which of these motives are most effective? Each country and each people has its own answer to this question. History shows that European society was favorably influenced by the widespread increase in the “carrot”, that is, the development of positive motives; but opposite trends led to revolutions, strikes, spontaneous and organized mass protests. This has been evident in European history for centuries.

In modern Singapore, the “whip” played a key role in the prosperity of society. There are a great many restrictions and prohibitions in this city-state, and in order to maintain impeccable order, punishments such as caning are widely used. There are no “carrots” for citizens here. And it seems strange to many of us how such methods have led Singapore to an economic and social miracle, high standards of living, social cohesion (and this in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country with a high population density) and the absence of mass discontent.

The countries of Eastern Europe, the USA, and China stand out in that their societies maintain a certain balance of incentives. For Eastern Europe, this was especially noticeable during the years of the Soviet bloc: citizens loyal to the state regime, who worked conscientiously and cared about their high “moral character” (from the point of view of the authorities), were guaranteed a fairly high standard of living, a certain degree of civil liberties, provision of consumer goods. And next to this is the brutal persecution of dissidents, dissidents, “parasites,” and the condemnation of an immoral way of life, elevated to ideology. Something similar could be seen in these countries both before and after the “Soviet era.” Only people who were characterized by a struggle between opposing systems of motives could build such a society. To compare this with the Western European system, just look at the prisons in these countries: Norwegian or Dutch ones are more reminiscent of resort hotels, and Polish or Romanian ones are more like a concentration camp.

This makes some sense. In the cultures of different countries, the image of a prison is given the role of a kind of “scarecrow”, with the help of which some people try to motivate others, thereby controlling their behavior. In Russia, the USA, China and the countries of Eastern Europe, a prison is not a correctional institution, but an “institution for the execution of punishments,” and its task is to oppress and destroy the individual, to destroy the criminal morally and often physically. And only the desire not to “slide” to the point of ending up behind bars gives the average person in these countries the impetus to perform socially useful actions (work, provide for their family, respect others, do not steal, do not kill, etc.). The first opportunity to avoid a prison sentence motivates a typical resident of these countries to commit a crime.

The behavior of Europeans is subject to different principles. Apparently, a prison term does not frighten them: after all, the existing restrictions in the prisons there do not humiliate the prisoner as an individual, the prison staff show him a certain respect. But at the same time, the discipline of Europeans, their politeness, and desire to work hard (but not overwork) is amazing. If you leave a wallet with money on a bench in some German city, then, most likely, a week later you will find it there completely untouched (currently the situation is much different due to the abundance of migrants in Germany and other European countries who have completely different psyche). The reason is that the average European is determined to achieve success and maintain his good reputation, and any “wrong” action can ruin this reputation. You won’t go to jail, but your friends will turn away from you, your girlfriend will stop loving you, your parents will kick you out of the house, you won’t be hired by a good organization...

If you delve into history, you can see what motivated people in different countries, creating similar inventions, performing the same actions. A good example is the creation of a printing press. Johannes Gutenberg was definitely positively motivated: with the help of his printing house, he wanted to improve his financial condition, gain fame and influence, become a pioneer of something new, and give people new opportunities for development. He was the creator, chief worker and owner of his enterprise. In fact, he succeeded in his plans: not only merchants and artisans, but also royalty and the church became his clients.

The Russian pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov was motivated by slightly different considerations. For him, his work was rather ritual; he wanted to “serve God.” The visible analogues of “god” for him were rulers, church hierarchs, and boyars. In the first Moscow printing house, opened by the Tsar and Metropolitan for personal needs, Fedorov was a powerless worker, and he did not want to have any personal benefits from this enterprise. For a long time, the pioneer printer was driven by circumstances that did not allow him to fully implement his plans: ordinary priests and book copyists were angry with him, the printing house was quickly burned and forced him to flee the country to Lithuania, and then to Ukraine. Outside Russia, the pioneer printer's business went much better, but again at the expense of strong rulers. The Russian pioneer printer never acquired his own personal printing house. Apparently, the Christian god and government officials were for Fedorov a kind of “whip” that should be feared and served.

“The Man in the Case” is another character, now literary, who was clearly motivated solely by the “whip”. His favorite saying was the expression “no matter what happens,” which he repeated whenever he saw something unusual. Those around him were surprised where this petty official, a quiet and inconspicuous man, suddenly awakened with remarkable energy, with which he began to scribble complaints left and right. All-encompassing fear prompted him to act, while those around him were motivated in their actions by positive considerations.

Functions of motives

The concept of motive is due to the cause or circumstance that drives or causes an action . There are three main functions of the motif:

In addition, all motives have selective functions and their own properties.

A person chooses a motive according to his needs.

Not all motives and incentives are equally strong. They change depending on time and environment. Human nature always wants to release stress, so learning experiences are always beneficial.

Types of motives

Motives are usually divided into drives and drives. Drives are primarily biological, such as thirst, hunger, sleep and the need to reproduce - all of which motivate us to seek out and engage in certain activities. Drives are thought to originate within the individual and may not require external stimuli to encourage behavior. On the other hand, motives are mainly determined by social and psychological mechanisms such as work, family and relationships. These include factors such as praise, approval, etc.

Motive as a stable personality trait.

Motive as a state - in this approach it is noted that the state of the organism or states determined by experiences act as the main motivational formation.

Motive as a formulation - within this approach, motive is considered as the formation of a goal.

Motive as satisfaction - here we should distinguish between satisfaction and satisfaction. Because satisfaction cannot act as a motivator of activity.

Motivation is a mental process that transforms external motivation into internal.

External and internal motives

Motives are mainly divided into two categories: extrinsic and intrinsic. Researchers have identified two types of motive that are impressively effective:

External

Performing an action to achieve or prevent a particular outcome

Chances are, many of the things you do every day have an external motive.

According to research, an extrinsic motive is a construct that is present whenever an activity is performed to achieve some discrete outcome.

For example, playing sports to lose weight, learning to speak Italian to impress your friends, or getting to work on time so your boss doesn't yell at you.

Extrinsic motivation is doing something for the “external” reward you get from it. In your career, this could include financial gain, benefits, and even the ability to avoid punishment.

When you find your inspiration waning, refocusing on external rewards is a quick way to get back on track with a goal or activity, whether it's performing well at work or sticking to an exercise regimen. If you find yourself grumbling every day while commuting to do a job you're not excited about, try focusing on external rewards—whether it's a paycheck that pays for rent, groceries, or even free Christmas gifts for your kids. is a great way to get motivated.

Interior

This is an internal desire for success or determination. Experts define internal motive as performing an activity for internal satisfaction, and not for any individual consequences. When a person is intrinsically motivated, he or she is driven to perform for fun or challenge rather than because of external products, pressure, or reward.

Your job may not provide obvious sources of intrinsic motivation, but perhaps you go for a run because you enjoy “pulling the plug” and running along paths in the park, or helping your neighbor carry groceries up the stairs because you really want to. like.

Intrinsic motivation is doing something because you enjoy it. You feel an internal reward for this from yourself. At work, this could be working on purpose, spending quality time with your teammates, or achieving goals you've set for yourself.

Let's say, for example, you're a financial advisor and you get genuine satisfaction from being able to help people manage their money in ways that improve their lives. Or you're a marketing manager who likes to brainstorm new projects with colleagues.

Positive and negative motives

Human beings naturally seek pleasure and avoid pain. We are reward-seeking organisms, and everything we do contains a reward, conscious or unconscious, perceived or real:

Positive motive (rewards).

This is a type of motive that you use when you perform an action for the reason of obtaining a reward, which is usually in the future. This future can be immediate or distant. The expectation of reward is what drives you.

Negative motive (avoidance of pain).

A negative motive is punishment. This occurs when actions are taken to avoid pain or failure.

Another important thing to consider about negative motive is that if you do not have a solution at hand, then negative motive can cause helplessness and depression.

There is a difference between a negative and a positive motive:

A negative motive is rooted in fear, while a positive motive is rooted in service.
The difference between a negative and a positive motive is the difference between survival and life.
If you have a positive motive, your actions are more likely to have a positive outcome. On the other hand, if you are negative, your action will lead to an unwanted negative result.
A negative motive can be self-harm, while a positive motive is self-confidence.
When you are running away from something, then you have a negative motive, and a positive motive will run towards something.

Conflict in the system of motives

It would be very easy to live if the system of motives had a strictly defined hierarchy and obeyed certain rules that you could consciously regulate.

But taking into account the fact that drives, attitudes, and some needs are formed and influence you unconsciously, it is difficult to establish conscious control over the motivational sphere. Moreover, at every moment of time the leading impulses that motivate you to activity change.

You were just getting ready to go to work, when you suddenly remembered that you haven’t talked to your friend yet, you forgot to ask how she went to the restaurant yesterday. And so, instead of giving in to the steady, stable, conscious urge to work, you chat and gossip, and then regret the wasted time.

To avoid such conflicts, it is recommended to clearly plan your day, taking into account the motives, needs, goals, interests that are of utmost relevance at the moment. At the same time, it is important to reduce the influence of attitudes and unconscious drives - to do this, live consciously.

Motivation to achieve success

Motivation and success go hand in hand to propel the ship of important projects in our lives to their culmination.

If personal motivation can be created, a person will develop special qualities that will distinguish him from others and keep him focused on success.

In essence, he becomes a man:

Responsible and productive to complete the necessary tasks on the path to success.
Persistent, focused and with the strength to not give up easily due to adversity.
Dedicated and efficient , always striving to achieve goals in the best possible way in the shortest possible time.
Organized and calm, with her ideas, decisions and everything that is part of her goals.
Optimistic and positive in order to have a clear approach to the goal even in the most critical moments.

In general, when we are motivated to succeed, we become a more optimal person to achieve our goals and create what we have always dreamed of.

How do we get motivated to succeed? The first thing to know is that we feel motivated all the time in our lives.

Whether you want to sleep, or eat, or think, or swim, or write, or cry, or talk... It all comes from your motivation.

The important thing is that this motivation is not always aimed at success, or in other words, we will not always feel motivated to make efforts in pursuit of our dreams.

Motivation as such is already part of you. What is needed is to point him in the right direction. And how to do it? There are a few things to keep in mind:

The activities you are going to do or the goals you are trying to achieve should be aimed at achieving your lifelong dreams. If what you're doing is something you don't really want to do or doesn't contribute to your happiness but rather promotes conformity, then it's very difficult for you to feel motivated to do it and be successful at it.

In your mind, you must have a clear idea of the goal that you are going to achieve leading to success. Experience the thrill of success every day you are on your way to it, as if you had already achieved it. This usually gives a great incentive to continue working.

Remember the difference between progress and results. Your mind should always be focused on the progress you are going to achieve and not on the goal you want to achieve. The difference between them is critical. If you think about goals, progress is worthless because no matter how much progress you make, if you haven't achieved the end result, your mind thinks you haven't accomplished anything.

Your motivation should be towards things that are positive for you, that is, achieving your goals or objectives, it should be positive, such as receiving an award or recognition, or simply getting what you want. It could be a motivation based on negative things, such as that you must act because otherwise you will be punished, or you will be out of work, or you will simply suffer or feel some pain (internal or external) by not complying. Negative reinforcement is never beneficial because it stops being motivation and becomes obligation.
Don't limit yourself to just creating motivation, look for inspiration. You can rely on other people for support on your path to success, or you can simply seek some support from other people's experiences through the Internet, books, etc.

8.8. Personality orientation

According to most psychologists, personality orientation is a complex motivational formation.

The concept of “personal orientation” was introduced into scientific use by S. L. Rubinstein as a characteristic of a person’s basic interests, needs, inclinations, and aspirations.

Almost all psychologists understand personality orientation as a set or system of any motivational formations or phenomena.

For B.I. Dodonov, this is a system of needs;
for K.K. Platonov - a set of drives, desires, interests, inclinations, ideals, worldview, beliefs; for L.I. Bozhovich and R.S. Nemov - a system or set of motives, etc. However, understanding the orientation of a person as a set or system of motivational formations is only one side of its essence. The other side is that this system determines the direction of
human behavior and activity, orients it, determines tendencies of behavior and actions and, ultimately, determines the appearance of a person in social terms (V.S. Merlin).
The latter is due to the fact that the orientation of the individual is a steadily dominant system
of motives, or motivational formations (L. I. Bozhovich), i.e., it reflects a dominant that becomes a vector of behavior (A. A. Ukhtomsky).

This can be illustrated by the following example.

…

A school graduate involved in sports decided to enter a pedagogical university to become a physical education teacher. A combination of motivational factors led him to this decision: interest in physical education, interest in working with children and the prestige of the teaching profession. In addition, this decision could have been facilitated by the desire to have a higher education diploma. Thus, in relation to this school graduate, we can say that he has a physical education-pedagogical personality orientation.

The orientation of the individual, as V.S. Merlin notes, can manifest itself in relation to: other people, society, and oneself. M. S. Neimark (1968), for example, highlighted the personal, collectivist and business orientations of the individual.

D. I. Feldshtein (1995) and I. D. Egorycheva (1994) distinguish the following types of personal orientation: humanistic, egoistic, depressive and suicidal. Humanistic orientation

characterized by a positive attitude of the individual towards himself and towards society.
Within this type, the authors distinguish two subtypes: with altruistic accentuation, in which the central motive of behavior is the interests of other people or a social community, and with individualistic accentuation, in which the most important thing for a person is himself, the people around him are not ignored, but their value , compared to our own, somewhat lower. The egoistic orientation
is characterized by a positive attitude towards oneself and a negative one towards society.
Within this type, two subtypes are also distinguished: a) with individualistic accentuation - the value for a person of his own personality is as high as with a humanistic orientation with individualistic accentuation, but at the same time the value of others is even lower (negative attitude towards others), although about absolute there is no rejection and ignoring of their speech; b) with egocentric accentuation - the value of one’s own personality for a person is not very high, he concentrates only on himself; society has almost no value for him, his attitude towards society is sharply negative. The depressive orientation
of a personality is characterized by the fact that for a person he himself does not represent any value, and his attitude towards society can be described as tolerant.
Suicidal tendencies
are observed in cases where neither society nor the individual represents any value for himself.

This identification of types of orientation shows that it can be determined not by a complex of some factors, but only by one of them, for example, a personal or collectivist attitude, etc. In the same way, the orientation of an individual can be determined by one overly developed interest: in football , ballet, etc., which is why football fans, balletomanes, music lovers, collectors, and professional gamblers appear. Thus, the structure of personality orientation can be simple and complex, but the main thing in it is the stable dominance of some need, interest,

as a result of which a person “persistently seeks means to arouse in himself the experiences he needs as often and as strongly as possible” (B. I. Dodonov).

In this regard, reducing the orientation of a person simply to needs, interests, worldview, beliefs or ideals, as is done in some psychology textbooks, is unlawful. Only the stable dominance of need or interest, acting as long-term motivational attitudes,

can form the core line of life.
In this regard, I would like to emphasize that the inherent properties of an operational motivational attitude that determine the readiness and specific ways of behavior and actions of a person in a given situation are not enough to consider it one of the types of personality orientation. Directs actions and activities, and any goal. The attitude must become steadily dominant, and these are most often social
attitudes associated with interpersonal and personal-social relationships, attitudes towards work, etc.

From the above, it follows that the orientation of the individual in the motivational process attracts and directs the activity of a person, that is, to some extent facilitates the decision-making about actions in a given situation.

At the same time, the orientation of personality as a psychological phenomenon remains largely uncertain, as P. M. Yakobson once drew attention to. For example, he says that the direction of a person can be temporary, and refers to falling in love, which for some time subordinates the routine of life and determines the dominant motive of behavior. The same can be said about a person’s other hobbies, which, as we know, change throughout life.

P. M. Yakobson also raises the question of whether an individual can have several directions at once. A person, for example, is focused on the field of technology, he writes, but is not indifferent to women, loves children, and at the same time is very receptive to all social events. Therefore, he concludes, we should talk about different types of orientation, sometimes overlapping each other, sometimes located in different planes.

The fact that a person can have different and simultaneously coexisting orientations can be seen in the example of the motivational properties of a person.

A. N. Leontiev writes that the main key question of the formation of personality turns into the question of how motives (drives) turn into something stable that characterizes a given personality. S. L. Rubinstein also said that fixed motives become personality traits. If by motives we understand needs, as is the case with S. L. Rubinstein, then he is right. A strongly expressed need, becoming stable and dominant over all others, can really characterize a person (gluttony - glutton; curiosity - inquisitive, meticulous; voluptuousness - voluptuous, etc.). However, most often the personality traits become entrenched and preferred ways of forming motives

behavior and activity (motivation styles, see section 6.7). These methods of forming motives, as already mentioned, are divided into external and internal. The former are characterized by a person’s compliance to external influences, the latter by resistance to these influences and the formation of a motive based on their own motives.

On motivational personality properties associated with externality

, relate:

a) resignation, meekness, submission-obedience, unconditional submission to other people’s demands, orders (the owner of such properties is said to be meek, resigned, submissive, obedient);

b) compliance, complaisance, pliability to persuasion;

c) reactivity - the ease of occurrence of an urge to do something under the influence of external influences (they say about such people that they are “groovy”, gambling).

On the motivational properties of personality associated with internality,

relate:

a) initiative - the desire to make decisions independently, without outside help or prompting;

b) stubbornness - intransigence to external influences, the desire to achieve one’s own goal despite reasonable arguments and necessity.

We can also highlight the motivational properties of the individual associated with the peculiarities of decision-making and the work of the “internal filter”:

1) dogmaticity

- reliance on a position that the subject considers to be an immutable truth, unchangeable under all circumstances (this is called a dogmatist, doctrinaire);

2) capriciousness, willfulness, tyranny

– a person’s decision-making without taking into account circumstances, eccentric actions (“I want it this way, I think so”; such a person is called a tyrant);

3) selfishness

– a tendency to prefer one’s own personal interests as opposed to the interests of other people and society; neglect of the latter when making decisions (a person with such inclinations is called an egoist);

4) indecisiveness

– the presence of hesitation, unfounded deliberation when making a decision (choosing a means and method of satisfying a need);

5) frivolity

– superficiality in decision-making, planning actions without taking into account the consequences;

6) recklessness

– decision-making not restrained by reasoning (hence – reckless actions as a personality trait);

7) irresponsibility

– frivolity, ignoring the sense of duty, obligation, unpleasant consequences for other people, society when making decisions;

adventurism

- planning of actions, actions counting on random success (prone to adventurism - adventurer);

9) businessmanship

– manifestation of narrow practicality when making a decision, in which the social side of the matter is lost sight of (the owner of this property is a businessman, a hustler);

10) impulsiveness

– manifestation of activity under the influence of random impulses, without considering possible consequences; haste in deciding to act;

11) selfishness

– taking into account, first of all, personal gain when forming an intention;

12) self-confidence

– greater self-confidence in one’s capabilities (a self-confident person neglects the warnings and advice of others when making decisions);

13) self-confidence

(arrogant person) – the same as self-confidence (self-confident);

14) self-will

– making decisions on one’s own whim (a self-willed person neglects laws, community norms, etc.);

15) waywardness

– manifestation of stubbornness, capriciousness (a wayward person does as he pleases);

16) prudence

– taking into account possible consequences when making a decision (a prudent person carefully plans his actions and actions; his program is thorough and scrupulous);

17) foresight

(far-sighted person) - the same as foresight (prudent person);

18) prudence

– thoughtfulness in actions, careful weighing of all the pros and cons (a prudent person is the opposite of an adventurer);

19) thoroughness

(a thorough person) - the same as prudence (a prudent person);

20) independence

– tendency to make decisions without outside influences and help;

21) riskiness

– a tendency to make plans, decisions that could lead to failure, danger (a risky person makes decisions blindly, recklessly, recklessly, at random, at random, recklessly, at random).

Personality properties can be determined by the strength of motives (desires, drives), their stability; a person can be characterized in these cases by fanaticism, obsession, avidity, passion, and wickedness. Such people are called fanatics, obsessed, inveterate, passionate, greedy for something. They also talk about dreamers, visionaries (prone to daydreaming, fantasies), seekers (passionate about quests, searching for something new).

Thus, there is a two-way connection between motivation and personality traits: personality traits influence the characteristics of motivation (A. S. Pushkin’s epigraph to “Eugene Onegin” perfectly illustrates this: “Imbued with vanity,

Moreover, he possessed a special
pride,
which
prompts
him to admit with equal indifference both his good and bad deeds” [my italics.
– E.I.}),
and the characteristics of motivation, having become entrenched, become personality traits.

In this regard, as P. M. Yakobson notes, it makes sense to raise the question to what extent a personality is revealed in its motivational sphere. A. N. Leontyev, for example, wrote that the basic structure of personality is a relatively stable configuration of the main, internally hierarchized, motivational lines. P. M. Yakobson, however, rightly notes that not everything that characterizes a personality affects its motivational sphere (the opposite can be said: not all features of the motivation process turn into personality properties). And G. Allport (1938) says the same thing, that it would be inaccurate to say that all motives are traits; some of the traits are motivational (guiding)

meaning, while others have a more instrumental meaning.

Of course, the former include such personality traits as the level of aspirations, the desire to achieve success or avoid failure, the motive of affiliation or the motive of rejection (the tendency to communicate with other people, to cooperate with them, or, conversely, the fear of not being accepted, rejected) , aggressiveness (the tendency to resolve conflicts by using aggressive actions) (see section 12.2).

The desire to achieve success

according to F. Hoppe (F. Norre, 1930) or the “motive of achievement” according to D. McClelland is an individual’s persistently manifested need to achieve success in various types of activities. This disposition (motivational property) was first identified in the classification of G. Murray, who understood it as a stable need to achieve results at work, as the desire to “do something quickly and well, to achieve a level in some matter.” This need is generalized and manifests itself in any situation, regardless of its specific content.

D. McClelland began studying the “motive of achievement” in the 40s of the 20th century and with his colleagues created the first standardized version of the method for measuring it - the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). At the same time, two types of “achievement motive” were identified: the desire to succeed and the desire to avoid failure. Subsequently, W. Meyer, H. Heckhausen and L. Kemmler (WU Meyer, H. Heckhausen, L. Kemmler, 1965) created a version of the TAT for both “motives of achievement”. The motive for striving for success is understood as a tendency to experience pleasure and pride when achieving a result. The motive for avoiding failure is the tendency to respond to failure with shame and humiliation.

Different authors have different views on the relationship between the desire for success and the avoidance of failure. Some believe (for example, D. Atkinson) that these are mutually exclusive poles on the “motive to achieve” scale, and if a person is focused on success, then he does not experience fear of failure (and vice versa, if he is focused on avoiding failure, then he has a weakly expressed desire for success). Others argue that a clearly expressed desire for success may well be combined with an equally strong fear of failure, especially if it is associated with any serious consequences for the subject. Indeed, there is evidence that there may be a positive correlation between the intensity of the desire for success and the avoidance of failure. Therefore, most likely we are talking about the predominance

this or that subject has a desire for success or avoidance of failure in the presence of both. Moreover, this predominance can be both at a high and at a low level of expression of both aspirations.

Subjects motivated to succeed prefer tasks of average or slightly above average difficulty. They are confident in the successful outcome of their plans, they are characterized by a search for information to judge their successes, decisiveness in uncertain situations, a tendency to take reasonable risks, a willingness to take responsibility, great persistence in pursuing a goal, an adequate average level of aspirations, which increases after success and reduced after failure. Very easy tasks do not bring them a sense of satisfaction and real success, and if they choose too difficult ones, the likelihood of failure is high; so they choose neither one nor the other. When choosing tasks of average difficulty, success and failure become equally probable and the outcome becomes maximally dependent on a person’s own efforts. In a situation of competition and testing of abilities, they are not lost.

Subjects with a tendency to avoid failure seek information about the possibility of failure when achieving a result. They take on very easy tasks (where they are guaranteed 100% success) and very difficult ones (where failure is not perceived as a personal failure). Birney and colleagues (R. Birney, H. Burdick, R. Teevan, 1969) identify three types of fear of failure and their corresponding defensive strategies:

1) fear of devaluing oneself in one’s own opinion,

2) fear of devaluing oneself in the eyes of others and

3) fear of consequences that do not affect the “I.”

According to D. McClelland, the formation of the “motive of achievement” largely depends on the upbringing of the child in the family, starting from early childhood (compliance with the regime, the child’s orientation toward mastery behavior and independence).

R. W. White (1959) coined the term “performance motivation” for those who strive for excellence.

He believes that a person is active because he feels the need for the effect of his actions. When attempts lead to the satisfaction of this need, a feeling of competence arises, accompanied by an experience of joy and pleasure. Obviously, this type of motivation is close in meaning to achievement motivation.

Some people, and especially women, have a motive to avoid success,

because they are afraid of negative consequences, primarily social rejection for their career successes. This motive arises in men and women in situations where their professional choice does not correspond to the traditional gender role ideas of society (for example, the profession of a nanny or kindergarten teacher - for men, the role of an entrepreneur or minister of defense - for women).

There is also an “effort avoidance motive”,

which represents the desire to get out of the situation of achieving the shortest route and with the least cost. This motivational property is formed exclusively with the participation of family and environment. It is formed on the basis of the child's experience of frustration combined with a weak desire for success and a strong avoidance of failure. Moreover, the “motive to avoid effort” differs significantly from the “motive to avoid failure.” An individual with a “motive to avoid failure” is interested in the success of an activity, and having achieved it, increases activity. An individual with an “effort avoidance motive” is interested not in the result, but in getting out of the situation, and when the task is successfully solved, he sharply reduces activity.

Parents who do not provide support to their children, who constantly limit their initiative, thereby create the preconditions for the formation of a “motive for avoiding effort” in their children.

The role of school education in the formation of the “motive to avoid effort” is indicative. Teachers who resort to social comparison when assessing students' work contribute to the development of this motivational personality trait.

Personality traits such as persistence

and
perseverance.
Motivational properties of a person influence not only the decision-making process, i.e., motivation, determining its individual characteristics, but also the process of behavior itself. Thus, the dominance of a person’s need for affiliation

results in a communication style characterized by confidence, ease, openness and social boldness. If the motive of rejection predominates, then the person exhibits uncertainty, awkwardness, and constraint. The affiliation motive correlates with a person’s desire for approval from others and for self-affirmation. As a result, he shows great activity and initiative in communicating with others (in correspondence, in telephone conversations, at meetings, etc.), prefers a communication partner who has feelings of affection, friendship, and fidelity. At the same time, the person himself, treating people well, enjoys the sympathy and respect of others, their relationships are built on the basis of mutual trust.

Fear of rejection, on the contrary, creates difficulties in communication. Such people cause distrust in themselves, they are lonely, and their communication skills are poorly developed.

It should be noted that the motivational feature of a person is not just the desire to be among people, but the relationship between this desire and the fear of being rejected. The predominance of one or the other (accentuation) becomes a motivational feature of the individual, determining the permanent characteristics of her behavior, i.e., the propensity for this or that method of behavior, its planning. Inclination, as mentioned above, is one of the motivators or, as they say in Western psychology, a personal disposition.

Emphasis on a person’s desire for power over other people (“power motive”)

leads to such a personality trait as lust for power. For the first time, the need for power began to be studied by neo-Freudians (A. Adler [A. Adler, 1922]). The desire for superiority, social power, compensates for the natural shortcomings of people experiencing an inferiority complex. The desire for power is expressed in the tendency to control the social environment, in the ability to reward and punish people, to force them to perform certain actions against their wishes, to control their actions (it is no coincidence that J. Veroff [1957] defined the motivation of power as the desire and ability to obtain satisfaction from control over other people, from the ability to judge, establish laws, norms and rules of behavior, etc.). If control or power over people is lost, this causes strong emotional experiences in the power-hungry. At the same time, he himself does not want to obey other people and actively strives for independence.

The manifestation of the “motive of power” as a personal disposition also lies in the tendency to attract the attention of others, to stand out, to attract supporters who are relatively easily influenced by the power-hungry and recognize him as their leader. Power seekers strive to occupy leadership positions, but they do not feel well in group activities when they are forced to follow the same rules of behavior for everyone, much less obey others.

Altruism can also be considered as a motivational personality trait.

and its opposite is
egoism.
In the psychoanalytic concept of S. Freud, altruism is considered as a neurotic need of the subject to weaken the feeling of guilt or as compensation for primitive egoism that has been repressed.
The starting point for the formation of a person as an altruist is his desire to help others. However, such aspirations become altruistic when this help is provided disinterestedly, and sometimes to the detriment of oneself. As a result of consolidation, an altruistic attitude is formed in a person,
which becomes a moral principle for him.

Altruism is considered in Western psychology as a motive for helping. This motive (need nurturence,

caring according to G. Murray [N. Murray, 1938]), manifests itself in sympathy, in meeting the needs of the helpless, in the desire to patronize, console, protect, care, soothe and heal those who need it. Altruism manifests itself according to one’s own conviction, without any pressure from outside and is based on the moral norms of society, such as a sense of duty and social responsibility. Among believers, altruism is based on the religious postulate “love your neighbor.” An important role in the manifestation of altruism is played by a person’s ability to empathize.

Egoism means preference, when choosing a course of behavior, of one’s own interests and needs over the interests of society, the needs of other people, and is the most open manifestation of individualism. Incorrect educational influences from parents contribute to the emergence of selfishness, forming inflated self-esteem and egocentrism in the child. The latter means a person’s inability, focusing on his own interests, desires, needs, drives, to understand the aspirations and experiences of other people. At the same time, egocentrism and selfishness are not the same thing. An egoist may not be an egocentric; he may have a good idea of other people's goals, but deliberately neglect them.

Egocentrism is most pronounced in childhood and is overcome in most cases by 12–14 years. In old age it increases again. Egocentrism often manifests itself in certain mental illnesses (schizophrenia, psychopathy, hysteria).

The problem of the struggle of motives

In the field of volitional activity in psychology there is the concept of “struggle of motives.”

In the process of determining the most significant stimulus for volitional action, a struggle of motives occurs - this is a collision of several desires or urges to action at once. The outcome of this struggle is understanding the goal and making a decision.

Typically, one of the following situations occurs:

Approach - avoidance	A situation where a person gets caught when faced with a goal that has an ambivalent motivational meaning. For example: is it worth accepting the help you need now from an unpleasant person?
Getting closer - getting closer	The situation is characterized by the presence of two positive goals. A choice between two goods.
Avoidance - avoidance	The situation is characterized by the presence of two negative goals. A choice of two evils.
Double approach - avoidance	A situation in which the subject is faced with a choice between ambivalent, i.e. both positive and negative goals.

Basic human motives

If we consider the main motives of a person as an individual and a species as a whole, then the main (primary) motives will be those related to existence, i.e. biological (physiological), innate: hunger, thirst, sleep and sex . They cannot be changed by willpower. Some of them are cyclical - food, sleep.

Many of the basic motives are ignored due to everyday life, but they are the basis of many economic activities and if they cannot be satisfied, they endanger life expectancy: movement, clean air, adequate ambient temperature, etc.

Therefore, they are important and necessary processes to ensure the survival of humans and the species. Other primary motives are escaping danger or seeking shelter to protect oneself.

What is the subordination of motives?

The subordination of motives is one of the most important new formations in the development and formation of personality. This period begins in preschool age. The subordination of motives occurs at the moment when different motives lose their equality and are built into their own individual system (motivational scheme). New and dominant motives emerge, from which a hierarchy is built.

At this age, social motives are a priority: competition, achieving success, self-affirmation, moral motives, etc. There is a desire to be like an adult and evaluate your behavior.

But in order to prevent unfavorably developing personality foundations, educational measures of a perestroika nature are necessary. It is important to understand that this does not mean that the child will constantly resort to the same motives. This doesn’t happen even with adults, because... Any person has many motives in his behavior.

The most difficult choice is between public and private. The subordination of motives occurs on the basis of their struggle, but what can you do: all life is a struggle.

“Motive is of the utmost importance. Circumstances or motives dominate a person only to the extent that he himself allows them to do so.”
Georg W. F. Hegel

ppp

Natalia Shakhova

Literature.

Bozhovich “Selected Works”, Nemov “Psychology” 2 volume, Ilyin “Motivation and Motives”, Vygotsky

There are the following methods of psychological influence, including on a child.

Direct impact. It includes suggestion, persuasion, imitation.

Indirect impact. Regulation of the level of need satisfaction, inclusion in a certain organized activity.

A three-year-old child manipulates objects. He has sensory intelligence. Older children - role play, imitate adults. Preschoolers - role-playing game, playing by the rules

Lidia Ilyinichna Bazhvich, in her work on psychological patterns of personality formation in ontogenesis, notes that a personality is a person who has reached a fairly high level of mental development. The mental development of a child can be understood within the framework of his socialization, the assimilation of the products of accumulated experience.

In her work, Lidiya Ilyinichna Bazhovich criticizes the position of Alexei Nikolaevich Leontyev, while denying the description of the development of needs in terms of subjective state, desire, passion and affects, which is accepted in psychology. She also criticizes his interpretation of motives because he does not sufficiently substantiate the concept of meaning and meaning. In her opinion, Leontyev revealed one of the conditions conducive to the birth of new motives, but does not reveal the reasons and process of formation of motives.

Regulatory document diagnostic and correction program.

Lapitsky gave two leaves.

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