Motive and motivation. Types of motives (meaning-forming motives and incentive motives, conscious and unconscious motives).

Classification

Firstly, the motive gives a real impetus to activity, that is, it sets it in motion, turns it on, and supplies it with energy. But “motivate” does not necessarily mean “cause”, or actually lead to the presence of activity. A person has more motives and aspirations than expressed implementations of activity, so it is useful to separate two levels of the general function of motivation:

• The presence of a potential selective drive that does not necessarily lead to formalized activity, but has psychological expression;
• implemented stimulation, which is usually the name of the specific activity selected and initiated.

The second function of a motive is to give direction to the activity generated. It is not enough to start an activity and constantly “feed” it. It is necessary to lead it and implement it. This is a function of managing active processes to bring them to the planned result. The activity is aimed at its object, which, according to A.N. Leontyev, is the motive.

The third function of the motive is resin formation, thanks to which the concept of motive reaches the subjective, personal level. Subjective meaning arises in activity, in the relationship between motive and goal. Meaning is the answer to the question: why, why does a person need an object of his needs and activities? In a developed personality this question can be decisive.

Thus, the meaning-forming function of the motive becomes psychologically central. They say that man is a meaning-oriented creature. If there is no compelling personal meaning, the motive simply will not work as a motivator. There will be no activity as such, although the unrealized motive will remain.

In modern psychology there is no exhaustive and generally accepted classification of needs and motives.

1. motives are distinguished depending on the nature of the needs to which they correspond, for example, there are higher and lower motives, material and spiritual. The above gradations are quite arbitrary. For example, clothing as a motif is equally associated with the material and the spiritual. There is a special class of functional needs and motives. Their essence lies in the fact that the source of activity is a person’s need to function. Motives can be divided into types in accordance with one of the existing classifications of needs, in particular, in accordance with A. Maslow’s “pyramid”. The variety of such schemes seems inexhaustible.
2. Motives are distinguished by the form of reflection of the object of need; a motive can be, for example, a direct sensory image, an image of memory, or imagination. Various psychological formations act as motives: a moral concept or idea, an ideal, a value orientation. This allows motivational psychology to explore the complex realities of human existence itself without, for example, simplifying it into purely material stimulus-response constructs.
3. Every real human activity is multi-motivated, i.e. is subordinated not to one, but to several motives, their entire hierarchical system. This leads to a kind of splitting, a division of functions between several motives. For example, broad motives perform a meaning-forming function, and narrow motives are the motives themselves. For example, a person spends a long time performing a subjectively unnecessary and uninteresting task. Then prosaic motives appear as narrow and short-term incentives: the threat of punishment, the opportunity for reward, or the simple need to act.
4. And lastly, motives are divided depending on the degree of involvement in their consciousness. Therefore, motives can be conscious and unconscious, “understandable” and really effective. Suppose a high school student knows that he needs to study for the future, for deeper knowledge. But it is unlikely that such a motive is actually active for him.

True motivation to learn comes from duty, imitation of peers or parents. But for a school graduate who previously only understood, the motive can be transformed into a motive to actually act. This changes both educational activity, and the subjective attitude towards it, and the motivational state of a person. A similar redistribution of functions can occur between conscious and unconscious motives.

Motivation for activity

As the pace of life in the world accelerates, people increasingly strive to achieve successful self-realization.
Since there are more and more people who are willing and actively express their position in life, a significant part of the activity of a modern person is aimed at leadership. In order to be a successful competitive person, you need to be able to correctly set goals for yourself and achieve them, but this is often hampered by fatigue from the pace of life or ordinary laziness - both options are an indicator of low motivation for activity. Thus, motivation for activity is a very pressing problem today, and scientists from both the field of psychology and related sciences are studying motivation for activity.

In Russian psychology there are various approaches to the study of personality. orientation as its leading characteristic . Most often in the scientific literature, orientation is understood as a set of stable motives that orient the activity of an individual.

It should be noted that the orientation of the individual is always socially conditioned and formed in the process of education. Moreover, the basis of all forms of personality orientation are the motives of activity .

Forms of personality orientation : attraction, desire, aspiration, interest, inclination, ideal, worldview, belief.

Let us briefly characterize each of the identified forms of orientation in the order of their hierarchy. First of all, you should focus on attraction. It is generally accepted that attraction is a mental state that expresses an unconscious or insufficiently conscious need.

Desire is a conscious need and attraction to something very specific. It should be noted that desire, being sufficiently conscious, has a motivating force.

The next form of focus is aspiration . Aspiration arises when a volitional component is included in the structure of desire. An impulse that expresses the need for conditions of existence that are currently absent, but can be created as a result of specially organized activity of the individual.

Interest is a specific form of manifestation of a cognitive need that ensures that the individual is focused on understanding the goals of the activity and thereby contributes to the individual’s orientation in the surrounding reality.

Interest in the dynamics of its development can turn into an inclination. This happens when the volitional component is included in interest. Propensity characterizes an individual’s orientation towards a certain activity.

An ideal is the objective goal of an individual’s inclination, concretized in an image or representation, i.e. what he strives for, what he focuses on.

Worldview is a system of views on the objective world, on man’s place in it, on man’s relationship to the reality around him and to himself.

Conviction is the highest form of orientation - it is a system of motives of an individual that encourages her to act in accordance with her views, principles, and worldview. Beliefs are based on conscious needs that encourage a person to act and form his motivation for activity.

Motive is the motivation for activity related to satisfying the subject’s needs. Motive is also often understood as the reason underlying the choice of actions and actions, the set of external and internal conditions that cause the activity of the subject.

Types of motives:

1. Self-affirmation motive . This motive is closely intertwined with the individual’s self-esteem, his pride and ambition. A person tries to prove to society that he is worth something, wants to be valued and respected, and strives for a certain status in society.

2. Identification motive . This motive is based on the desire to be like an idol, a hero, a certain authoritative person. The motive encourages development and work on oneself. The identification motive is especially common among youth and children who try to be like other people in certain activities.

3. The power motive is based on the subject’s desire to gain power and the opportunity to influence the people around him. The need for power has at all times been one of the main forces driving human actions. This motive is quite strong. It allows an individual to overcome significant difficulties and make great efforts to achieve the goal.

4. Procedural-substantive motives represent an incentive to human activity through the content and process of activity. A person loves to perform this particular activity, he shows initiative and his physical or intellectual activity. Procedural-content motives are when a person likes the content and process of the work performed.

5. The motive of self-development is one of the main motives that forces a person to work on himself and develop. Moving forward and self-development are often quite closely related to intrapersonal conflicts, but are not violence against oneself.

6. Achievement motive – the desire to achieve excellent results and high skill in one’s activities. This desire usually manifests itself in the fact that the individual selects quite difficult tasks and tries to complete them. A person who is endowed with a high level of achievement motivation persistently works on himself to achieve his goal.

7. Prosocial motives are motives associated with one’s own awareness of the social significance of an activity and responsibility to society. When such motives operate, identification of the group with the individual occurs.

8. The affiliation motive is the desire to maintain relationships with other people, to communicate and contact with them. The meaning of affiliation lies in the intrinsic value of communication.

9. A negative motive is an impulse that is caused by the awareness of possible troubles, punishments, and inconveniences that occur in case of failure to perform an activity.

The term "motivation" is a broader concept than the term "motive". The word “motivation” is used in modern psychology in a dual sense:

as denoting a system of factors that determine behavior (this includes, in particular, needs, motives, goals, intentions, aspirations and much more),

as a characteristic of a process that stimulates and maintains behavioral activity at a certain level.

Most often in the scientific literature, motivation is considered as a set of psychological reasons that explain human behavior, its beginning, direction and activity.

Motivation is an important component of the regulation of any human activity. At different periods of a person’s life, different types of activities become significant. For a teenager, educational activity is necessary as the basis for subsequent successful functioning in society; accordingly, it is necessary to develop learning motivation.

The question of motivation for activity arises every time it is necessary to explain the reasons for a person’s actions. Moreover, any form of behavior can be explained by both internal (psychological properties of the subject) and external (conditions and circumstances of its activity) reasons. In the first case, they talk about motives, needs, goals, intentions, desires, interests, etc., and in the second, they talk about incentives emanating from the current situation. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are interconnected.

In turn, a motive, in contrast to motivation, is something that belongs to the subject of behavior himself and prompts him from the inside to perform certain actions. Motives can be conscious or unconscious. The main role in shaping a person’s orientation belongs to conscious motives.

It should be noted that the motives themselves are formed from human needs. Need is the state of a person’s need for certain conditions of life and activity or material objects. Needs always act only as sources of motivating power of motives.

It is known that in order for an activity to be carried out, sufficient motivation is necessary. However, if the motivation is too strong, the level of activity and tension increases, as a result of which certain disorders occur in activity (and behavior), i.e. work efficiency deteriorates. In this case, a high level of motivation causes undesirable emotional reactions (tension, anxiety, stress, etc.), which leads to deterioration in performance.

It has been experimentally established that there is a certain optimum (optimal level) of motivation at which the activity is performed best (for a given person, in a specific situation). A subsequent increase in motivation will lead not to improvement, but to deterioration in performance. Thus, a very high level of motivation is not always the best. There is a certain limit beyond which a further increase in motivation leads to worse results.

This relationship is called the Yerkes-Dodson law. These scientists established back in 1908 that in order to teach animals to go through a maze, the most favorable is the average intensity of motivation (it was set by the intensity of the electric shocks).

Achievement motivation - achievement-oriented behavior presupposes that every person has motives to achieve success and avoid failure. In other words, all people have the ability to be interested in achieving success and anxious about failure. However, every individual has a dominant tendency to be guided by either the achievement motive or the failure avoidance motive. In principle, the achievement motive is associated with productive performance of activities, and the failure avoidance motive is associated with anxiety and defensive behavior.

The predominance of one or another motivational tendency is always accompanied by the choice of goal difficulty. People motivated to succeed prefer goals that are moderate in difficulty or slightly exaggerated, which are only slightly greater than the result already achieved. They prefer to take calculated risks. Those motivated to fail tend to make extreme choices, some of them unrealistically borrowing, while others unrealistically inflate the goals they set for themselves.

After completing a series of tasks and receiving information about successes and failures in solving them, those who are motivated to achieve overestimate their failures, and those motivated to fail, on the contrary, overestimate their successes.

Successful performance of productive activities requires not only developed abilities, but also such important motivational characteristics as interest in the task being performed and faith in one’s ability to achieve a certain result. Simply possessing knowledge does not automatically ensure its use in various life situations. People with the same level of intellectual ability can differ significantly in how capable they perceive themselves to be in the face of the challenges they face, and this is reflected in their performance.

Achievement motivation is the desire to improve results, the desire not to stop there, perseverance in achieving your goals, the desire to achieve your goal despite difficulties.

Achievement activities can include intellectual, sports, work activities, as well as activities aimed at raising a child, helping others, or acquiring any social skills.

What distinguishes achievement motivation from avoidance motivation? According to various authors, the main distinctive features are the following categories of achievement motivation:

1) Independent goal setting by the subject;

2) The desire to achieve an independently set goal;

3) Lack of desire to please anyone in terms of goals, means and results of activities;

4) Preference for average or slightly above average complexity of tasks.

These four categories are basic in conducting any achievement motivation training and especially in diagnosing the level of achievement motivation.

Factors that determine the presence of strong achievement motivation:

1. The desire to achieve high results (success).

2. The desire to do everything as best as possible.

3. Selection of difficult tasks and the desire to complete them.

4. The desire to improve your skills.

The dependence of success on abilities and motivation to achieve

Success in activity, as is known, depends not only on a person’s abilities, but also on the desire to achieve a goal, on purposeful and persistent work to achieve success (i.e., on motivation to achieve). Based on this, we can propose the following formula for success:

U = C x M x St

Where

U - success;

C - ability;

M - achievement motivation;

St - situation (external factors, favorable circumstances, etc.).

Achievement motivation can be described by the following formula:

System model of the achievement motivation process

Analysis of modern theories of motivation for productive activity made it possible to formulate a holistic (generalizing) model of the process of motivation of activity, consisting of four main blocks, interconnected in a certain way.

The value-target block is a system of motives, goals and values ​​that trigger behavioral, cognitive and emotional processes of motivation for achievement-oriented activities. It can be characterized by:

(1) target regulations, and, in particular, the goals that the subject sets for himself, as well as the expression and specific content of the internal and external regulation of the activity in question;

(2) the goals that the subject sets for himself, and

(3) value dispositions and interests of the subject.

Goals are a critical component of motivated behavior. The result of the activity depends on how clear, precise, difficult and attractive the goals are.

The value-target block has priority for determining whether the subject has motivation. It triggers all other components of motivation.

The cognitive block is a subsystem that includes, first of all, ideas about the controllability of the process and the result of activity, described through the following components:

1) ideas about personal responsibility for successes and failures (cf. belief in the controllability of the result),

2) belief in one’s ability to cope with a certain activity and

3) expectations of success or failure.

The emotional block of motivation for achievement activity can be characterized through (1) the presence of the experience of pleasure from efforts aimed at achieving results, and

(2) features of emotional reactions that the subject demonstrates when encountering difficulties and failures.

The behavioral block of achievement motivation represents a system of behavioral components of motivation and can be characterized through the following psychological components:

1) persistence, manifested in the time devoted to solving a problem (both in the sense of continuity of work on the task and in the sense of the duration of the pursuit of achieving the goal), persistence in the process of solving it, as well as bringing it to the end (obtaining a certain result) despite possible interference, for example, interruptions in work;

2) intensity of effort (level of energy and enthusiasm);

3) coping strategies (active, adaptive or helpless, avoidant);

4) selection of tasks of the optimal level of difficulty.

Perseverance is one of the most important indicators of motivation. An individual with high achievement motivation demonstrates persistence despite the difficulties that arise in the process of achieving a goal.

From this description of the structure of achievement motivation and its components, it follows that achievement motivation is a complex cognitive-emotional-behavioral formation and therefore it does not seem surprising that the understanding of this phenomenon is still not complete and consistent.

9 ways to increase motivation:

Focus on the end result

Everything you work on has a purpose. Even if the process itself is boring or unpleasant, the end result is worth it. So, having order in your head and a clear plan will increase your motivation and make your work easier.

Take a break

Sometimes, your motivation wanes because you work too hard and too hard. Take a break. Even a few minutes away from your computer can help you relax. It's also a great way to restore a sense of perspective if you're overwhelmed with tasks.

Go for a walk

One of the best ways to relax is to go for a walk. Even a five minute walk helps. You will get your body moving and warm up your blood. Then, you can return to your work feeling full of energy again.

Make a list of tasks

Sometimes, your motivation may plummet because you have too many tasks and you don't know where to start. Take everything out of your head and put it on paper. It will only take a few minutes and will make everything seem much more manageable.

Switch between two tasks

Do you have several big tasks that you need to complete? Find an alternative: work on one for ten to fifteen minutes, then on another, and so on. This helps keep you moving (if you only have ten minutes, you'll be able to focus better) and you won't get bored doing the same thing.

Race against time

Trying to cope with a tedious task? Set yourself a goal to work faster. Set a timer and try to beat it.

Write down everything you have already achieved

Maybe you feel like you're not making much progress towards your goal. If yes, then take a piece of paper and write down everything you have already done. Write down those real, big achievements that will remind you how much you have already overcome.

Seek support

It’s hard for one to deal with negative thoughts and loss of motivation. Seek support from friends, relatives, colleagues and like-minded people. Spend more time with them, share your victories and future ideas.

Have a big dream.

What, if not a dream, will motivate you to do what you do. But just having a dream won't be enough. Your dream should inspire you. It has to be real, but at the same time be big. It should push your potential beyond your comfort zone.

Exercise “Saboteur”

Exercise “Inner saboteur”

This exercise is an adaptation of a well-known Gestalt therapy technique.

► Goal

The saboteur—the negative side of your personality—appears when you don't expect it. He can dissuade you from a new business or ruin something already started. The ability to recognize and understand your saboteur (critic) is important in working on yourself. He says: “Why try, why get down to business? It’s all in vain”, “If you are not able to become the best, leave this business.” Therefore, obviously, one should avoid the negative influence of the internal saboteur.

Counterattack your saboteur

But you can counter him with your strong arguments and not give him the opportunity to dominate your aspirations.

Exercise

Convince your saboteur. Give counterarguments that would overcome its negative effect.

Exercise “Come up with a motto”

Exercise “Come up with a motto”

► Goal

Every person has certain principles that he strives to adhere to and which guide his behavior. Each individual acts according to his own internal attitudes and beliefs, and is guided by certain slogans.

For example, a purposeful and persistent subject, in his activities, can be guided by the principle: “No matter what, be sure to bring the matter to the end.” A self-confident person can be encouraged by the motto: “I can achieve this, nothing will stop me!” Or perhaps you will be inspired by the following slogan: “Whoever thinks and works is sure to win!”

You are capable of independently purposefully forming certain principles and beliefs in yourself that will help you achieve your goals. By choosing a motto, gradually getting used to it and acting in accordance with its content, you can easily assimilate it. By developing positive thinking in accordance with new internal attitudes and principles, you can change your motivational system.

Tasks

Imagine that you are a person with high achievement motivation (strive to achieve significant success).

Come up with a motto (slogan) using the presented options for their focus. The motto should appeal to you, inspire you to overcome difficulties and problems, and set you up for persistent work.

1st option: to develop perseverance and the ability to overcome difficulties and obstacles

2nd option: to form a purposeful, i.e. systematic work to achieve the goal

3rd option: to develop self-confidence

4th option: to develop the desire to improve, improve your skills.

3. Write your motto on the sign. Choose the appropriate color and symbol pattern. Use markers and stickers. Place the sign in your planner so you can see it at all times.

Basic criteria for the concept of motive in human activity

1 Motives are formed in the process of individual development as relatively stable evaluative dispositions.

2 People differ in the individual expression (character and strength) of certain motives. Different people may have different hierarchy of motives.

3 A person’s behavior at a given moment in time is motivated not by any or all of his motives, but by the highest (i.e., strongest) motive in the hierarchy, the one that comes closest to the prospect of achieving the corresponding goal state in given conditions or the achievement of which is under question. This motive is activated and becomes effective. (Other motives, subordinate to it or in conflict with it, can be activated simultaneously).

4 The motive remains active, i.e. participates in the motivation of behavior until either the target state of the corresponding “individual-environment” relationship is achieved, or the individual approaches it as much as the conditions of the situation allow, or the target state ceases to move dangerously away, or the changed conditions of the situation make another motive more relevant, as a result of which the latter is activated and becomes dominant. The action, like the motive, is often interrupted before the desired state is achieved or breaks up into parts scattered over time; in the latter case it usually resumes after some time.

5 Motivation explains the direction of action to achieve a goal.

6 Motivation, of course, is not a single process that uniformly permeates behavioral actions from beginning to end. Rather, it consists of heterogeneous processes that perform a self-regulatory function at various stages of behavioral action, especially before and after its execution. activity is motivated, that is, aimed at achieving the goal of the motive, but it should not be confused with motivation.

Activity consists of individual functional components of perception, thinking, learning, knowledge reproduction, speech or motor skills, and they have their own reserve of capabilities (abilities, skills, knowledge) accumulated over a lifetime, which the psychology of motivation cannot cope with, taking them for granted.

Motivation determines how and in what direction various functional abilities are used. Motivation also explains the choice between different possible actions, between different perceptions and possible thought contents; moreover, it explains the intensity and persistence in carrying out the chosen action and achieving its results.

The motive of human activity is, of course, connected with purpose. But the motive can be separated from the goal and will move:

1) by the activity itself, for example, a person does something out of love for art.

2) to one of the results of the activity, i.e. the by-product becomes the goal of the activity.

Characteristics of the motive

When analyzing a particular motive, you need to pay attention to its characteristics, of which there are only two:

1. Dynamics - determined by the energy of the motive:
2. How charged and strong ? How much weight do you want to lose? So, are you ready to go to the gym on the edge of town in the heat and bitter cold every day or limit yourself to one trip a week? Do you enjoy flying to class or are you literally dragging yourself by the collar?
3. How stable ?
   There are people who have decided to lead a sports lifestyle and follow it relentlessly. Well, there are those who start losing weight every Monday. On Tuesday, this thought no longer seems so attractive, well, and after the first strength training, the belief appears that “I’m nothing anyway. They will love this one too.”

These characteristics are closely related to each other: if the motive is weakly charged, then it will be unstable. And vice versa.

Here lies the root of the problem, labeled “why am I not doing what I intended?” There is not enough motivation .

You may really want to outdo your rival - the need remains, but the method you have chosen - losing weight through sports - is not suitable for you. Therefore, it is worth finding another one - more pleasant, and, therefore, charged.

Varieties of motives

The classification of motives is very broad: they are divided into groups, correlating them with their various properties and characteristics - according to their focus and content, levels and types.

For a general acquaintance with this phenomenon, it is enough to know their types :

1. The conscious motive manifests itself in the form of attitudes, stereotypes, beliefs (I help those in need because I consider mercy (what is it?) a valuable quality and therefore develop it in myself).
2. Unconscious ones are drives, the meaning of which a person does not understand (I do something, but I don’t understand why. For example, I drink water, but I don’t realize that I’m thirsty).
3. Social – associated with communication in society (what is this?), self-realization.
4. Cognitive – gaining knowledge, development.
5. Incentive - encourage a person to act (if you want to eat, but do not do anything to satisfy your hunger, you will die in 10 days).
6. Sense-forming – give meaning to activities.
7. External - someone pushes a person to do some activity (“Study, son, good, you’ll become president”).
8. Internal – true motivations – what the individual himself wants (“I don’t want to be president, I’ll become a hipster”).
9. Real – conscious and adequate situations.
10. Imaginary - far-fetched, not related to reality (the desire of an adult to lose weight when weighing 40 kg).