Motive in psychology. What is it, definition, examples

Depending on the motives of the individual, a person performs certain actions. Behavior and activity are subject to a system of motives, which in turn are subject to the goals of the person himself. If a person does not have goals, then motives can be subordinated to emotions, fears, and complexes that arise in a short period of time. In other words, a person does not act just like that. Everything happens for a reason.

Many readers of the online magazine psytheater.com have encountered situations where they could not understand the motives of other people. At the same time, other people do not always understand the motives of a particular person. Quite often, a similar situation unfolds when a person who wants to understand does not want to accept the true reasons for actions. For example, a woman may not understand why a man broke up with her, while he himself argues for his behavior by the fading of feelings. The woman tries to find the hidden meaning of his words, to find the true reason, although the fading of feelings is enough for separation.

Motives lie in all human actions. Another question: does a person understand the motives of his behavior? Often people themselves do not understand why they acted in one way or another. However, nothing just happens. Behavior is the effect, and motive is the cause. If a person does not see any motive, this does not mean that it does not exist.

What are personal motives?

Personal motives have many definitions. The main one is internal strength, which motivates a person to take specific actions in order to achieve a certain result. But what is the motive itself?

1. Some see it as an idea that a person implements.
2. Others present it in the form of certain beliefs that guide a person when performing actions.
3. Still others mean by it a certain surge of energy that occurs when there is a specific goal.

Motivation pushes a person to take action. If there is a motive, then a person has the energy that he needs to perform actions and achieve certain results. Quite often it is necessary to motivate employees at a company. Thus, managers create external motivational benefits that should interest their employees so much that they begin to take the actions the managers need. These external motives can be:

• Reward in cash equivalent.
• Promotion on the career ladder.
• Salary increase. Etc.

A motive is like a carrot in the face of a donkey, which must go in the direction that the one holding this carrot needs.

However, there is such a thing as internal motivation. And compared to the outside, the inside is much stronger. In other words, a person must “light up” internally so that he has enough energy to be able to “move mountains.” And external motivators have less impact.

Types of motivation

There are several different classifications of types of motivation. The most common classification in the literature is that the following types of motivation are distinguished:

• Intrinsic (internally organized, dispositional) motivation is motivation determined by internal reasons: the psychological properties of the subject, his needs, attitudes, interests, drives, etc.
• Extrinsic (externally organized, situational) - motivation caused by reasons external to the subject: living conditions, circumstances of the current situation.

In its “pure” form, motivation is rarely purely intense or extrinsic. As a rule, human behavior is determined by a combination of external and internal reasons, closely intertwined.

According to another classification, a distinction is made between positive and negative motivation of human behavior: an important feature of human motivation is its bimodal, positive-negative structure. These two modalities of impulses (in the form of striving for something and avoidance, in the form of satisfaction and suffering, in the form of two forms of influence on the personality - reward and punishment) are manifested in drives and directly realized needs - on the one hand, and in necessity - on the one hand. another.

The motivation of an activity determines its effectiveness: the most effective activity is one that is conditioned by internal and positive motivation.

Motives of personality behavior

People have always been interested in the question “Why?” Why does another person perform this and not another action? How can you influence him? Is it possible to change another person's behavior? If at first a person is brought up, which is why certain motives, beliefs, views are laid in him, then he himself can control his behavior or obey internal messages, which will be his personal motives.

Until now, people ask the question “Why?”, the answer to which is that a person’s motives depend on the situation, external pressure, internal desires and goals, even the personal qualities of a person’s character.

Motives of behavior are not static. There are motives that lie deep in the subconscious. Usually a person does not pay attention to them. However, there are motives that a person can control. For example, goal setting is a motive that encourages a person to act towards achieving what he wants. However, it is also the person who sets the goal; in other words, he motivates himself.

The underlying motives of a person’s behavior can be called basic needs, which were considered by Abraham Maslow and presented in the form of a table:

1. First of all, a person will take care of his life and physiology. He needs food, water, air, sex, physical health, etc.
2. If the previous need is fully satisfied, then the person can take care of his own safety, which includes starting a family, improving the home, getting a job, health prevention, etc.
3. Already at the third stage, after satisfying previous needs, a person engages in interpersonal relationships, since he is a social being who wants to love, make friends, communicate, receive emotions and give them himself.
4. With the normalization of previous levels of needs, a person begins to develop a certain attitude towards himself: self-respect, recognition, approval, etc.
5. Already at the last level of needs lie moral development, creativity, achievement of one’s own “I”, etc., that is, spiritual development. However, it is comprehended only when a person is satisfied with the previous 4 levels of his life.

Needs are the needs that a person needs in a specific period of time. Some needs are temporary, that is, they are satisfied quickly enough, others are periodic, that is, the need for them arises from time to time, and others are permanent, when a person must constantly satisfy them.

Needs can concern any object. They are also divided into individual and group. Usually a person has a desire to satisfy several needs at once. That is, he does not satisfy one need after another, but they arise in a complex, which is why the individual is often torn between the need to satisfy one or another need.

Based on Maslow's pyramid, it is clear that a person first of all needs physiological needs. And only after they are satisfied can he move on to achieving more spiritual needs.

Motives for activity

A person performs actions that help him achieve his needs and goals. Motivation arises from these needs and desires. And the stronger the need or goal, the stronger the motivation, which gives energy and strength.

Conventionally, the motives of activity are divided into:

1. Physiological - when a person satisfies the needs of his body, for example, satisfies hunger.
2. Functional – when a person develops, rests, and is saturated with new emotions.
3. Material – when a person earns money in order to have certain material benefits.
4. Social – a person’s need for approval and respect from others.
5. Spiritual - when a person develops himself, gains new knowledge to enrich the inner world.

Why do situations repeat themselves in your life? Why do you meet new people, and they turn out to be just as worthless and vile as your previous acquaintances? Why do you repeatedly encounter the same problems? Do you think this is rock, fate, your destiny? You are wrong. In fact, all these events are created by you yourself.

The person himself is the one who decides in which direction to go. Have you noticed that not all people live like you? Other people live differently, face completely different problems, achieve different successes. There are successes in your life too: you begin to notice this when you compare yourself with others. In addition to the fact that you are imperfect in some ways compared to other people, you are also ideal in some ways compared to them. Please note that when discussing other people's problems, you often look at them as nonsense and petty situations that are very easy to solve. For you, other people's problems are easily solved because you have already learned how to solve them. But your problems are difficult for you, but for other people they are easily solved.

Understand the reasons for your actions. The path you take in life is yours to choose. Why are you creating the same problems? Why do you constantly pay attention to the same people? There is no need to be upset that this is happening in your life. Better understand the motives that cause you to provoke such situations in your life.

There is a regulator inside you that determines which direction you will go. What is he up to? What programs are included in it? You make this or that choice with the best intentions for yourself. You create problems with the best intentions for yourself. Sounds paradoxical, doesn't it? But the whole point is that you may have fear inside, a desire to protect yourself, or a feeling of disappointment, which is why you are now creating certain situations. But these situations sometimes reach a critical point, that is, problems.

Understand the reasons for your actions. There is a regulator inside you that is aimed at realizing your desires and protecting you from the outside world. Understand the reasons why you create certain situations, choose certain people, behave in one way or another. Your regulator works for your own benefit. But you can change his settings so that he doesn't make choices that bring problems into your life.

It's that simple. Try to change your life just by being aware of the reasons for your choice, and not judging and suffering because of the chosen path.

Social motives of the individual

A person is a social being who is born among people and lives his whole life surrounded by people. A person has a natural need to have relationships with other people, which allows him to feel needed, useful, receive approval and respect, and also respect himself. Social motives, unfortunately, are not so easy to satisfy. People really make contact with each other, but disagreements and conflicts often arise that interfere with obtaining the necessary sensations and emotions.

A person, in order to satisfy his social motives, is ready to compromise, obey, be conformist, live like everyone else, and be part of society. This allows him to be part of the larger society in which a person lives.

The political structure of society should also be noted. Despite the fact that people may be dissatisfied with the actions of politicians, they still recognize that society needs a single body that will regulate relationships between individual citizens.

How to correctly determine motive and motivation?

Personal psychophysiological stimuli regulate the behavior of an individual and serve as the basis of a person’s mental sphere. Motivation is the driving force that organizes motivating factors and combines them into a coherent system.

A well-built hierarchy makes it easier to achieve goals and increases efficiency. To correctly determine your own motives, dividing them into dominant and secondary ones, deep introspection is required. In psychology, this is considered a fundamental factor in the formation of a harmonious personality.

System of human motives

Man is always driven by motives. Moreover, each person has many motives, which creates a certain system. Its development is first carried out by parents, and then by society, forming in the head of each individual certain beliefs and attitudes that will indicate the direction in which he will go.

Also, the direction of a person’s motives and movement through life is influenced by:

• Attractions are a human need that he may not be aware of. However, he feels the need to satisfy her (and perhaps she will disappear after that).
• An ideal is a certain picture of how it should be (what a person should be, how he should live and what he should do in a specific situation). This influences the fact that a person constantly wants to correspond to this ideal picture.
• Desires are drives that a person is aware of and become conscious goals to achieve. The individual himself begins to want them and strive to obtain them.
• Interest is increased attention to certain objects of the surrounding world, which influences the formation of desires.
• Aspirations – interest + willpower + conscious performance of actions to obtain a certain benefit.
• Addiction.
• Worldview and beliefs. This implies a holistic view of the world, as a person sees it, which determines in which direction he will go. Beliefs are certain views that are inviolable and true in a person’s head.

The concept of motivation in psychology

In modern science, the concept of motivation is considered in two main aspects:

1. Motivation as a mental property is the entire set of factors that determine, organize and direct human behavior (a system of needs, motives, goals, intentions, ideals, beliefs, etc.).
2. Motivation as a process is a process of stimulation and determination, inducing human behavior and maintaining behavioral activity at a certain level at any given moment in time.