Motivational Drives

McClelland identified three key motivating drives that work for everyone. He named these key drives as: * The Need for Achievement
* The Need for Affiliation
* The Need for Power
He also identified how these needs each vary in strength between different people. Everyone, says McClelland, is motivated by all of these, but to motivate individuals, the manager needs to consider what the primary drivers in each case are. Achievement

How to recognise the Achievement Motive in a person
* They like working by themselves and making their own decisions * They like realistic challenges and getting things done
* They do not work well under close supervision
How to deal with them and arouse their Motivation
* Be factual, to the point and straightforward, minimise discussions * Use a business-like approach, no unproductive encounters or ‘passing the time of day’ * Offer ideas and suggestions and avoid telling them precisely what to do * Let them play a significant role in making the decision as this will commit them to it Affiliation

How to recognise the Affiliation Motive in a person
* They seek the company of others and seek to make friends * They are eager to interact and need to be liked as a person * They are warm and can appear non-assertive
* They may talk at length about family, friends and outside interests and engage in social ritual How to deal with them and arouse their motivation
* They respond to warm human qualities, a smile and interest in family, social activities * Be prepared to spend time developing a warm relationship with them as they will do things for people they like * They are motivated by friendship and relationships and do things for people they relate to on a personal basis Power

How to recognise the power motive in a person
* They tend to be firm, direct and competitive, and they try to be persuasive in their dealings * Thy like to impress and may express their status needs by displaying objects, such as trophies, medals and works of art * Like to act as a representative and spokesman for other people and to give advice How to deal with them and arouse their motivation

* Treat them as important people and recognise and refer to their status objects * They are impressed by manner of dress, the size of the office, club membership, salary, type of car and status achievements of the people they associate with * Ask their advice and opinion on matters, and listen to their point of view. * They pay particular attention to the manner of presentation of reports of discussions, they like things to ‘look good’ as well as be good. « Managing performance

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Motivation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Motivation, a noun, is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way” and “a desire or willingness to do something; enthusiasm.”[1] It can be considered a driving force; a psychological drive that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired goal. Motivation elicits, controls, and sustains certain goal-directed behaviors. For example, hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat. Motivation has been shown to have roots in physiological, behavioral, cognitive, and social areas. Motivation is conceptually related to, but distinct from, emotion and may be rooted in a basic impulse to optimize well-being, minimize physical pain and maximize pleasure. It can also originate from specific physical needs such as eating, sleeping/resting, and sexual reproduction. ————————————————-

[edit]Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Motivation can be divided into two types: intrinsic (internal) motivation and extrinsic (external) motivation. Intrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure. Intrinsic motivation is based on taking pleasure in an activity rather than working towards an external reward. Intrinsic motivation has been studied since the early 1970s. Students who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to engage in the task willingly as well as work to improve their skills, which will increase their capabilities.[2] Students are likely to be intrinsically motivated if they: * attribute their educational results to factors under their own control, also known as autonomy, * believe they have the skill that will allow them to be effective agents in reaching desired goals (i.e. the results are not determined by luck), * are interested in mastering a topic, rather than just rote-learning to achieve good grades. Extrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation refers to the performance of an activity in order to attain an outcome, which then contradicts intrinsic motivation. It is widely believed that motivation performs two functions. The first is often referred to as the energetic activation component of the motivation construct. The second is directed at a specific behaviour and makes reference to the orientation directional component.[clarification needed] Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are rewards like money and grades, and threat of punishment. Competition is in general extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not simply to enjoy the intrinsic rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives. The concept of motivation can be instilled in children at a very young age, by promoting and evoking interest in a certain book or novel. The idea is to have a discussion pertaining the book with young individuals, as well as to reward them. Comparison of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Social psychological research has indicated that extrinsic rewards can lead to overjustification and a subsequent reduction in intrinsic motivation. In one study demonstrating this effect, children who expected to be (and were) rewarded with a ribbon and a gold star for drawing pictures spent less time playing with the drawing materials in subsequent observations than children who were assigned to an unexpected reward condition.[3] While the provision of extrinsic rewards might reduce the desirability of an activity, the use of extrinsic constraints, such as the threat of punishment, against performing an activity has actually been found to increase one’s intrinsic interest in that activity. In one study, when children were given mild threats against playing with an attractive toy, it was found that the threat actually served to increase the child’s interest in the toy, which was previously undesirable to the child in the absence of threat.[4] For those children who received no extrinsic reward, self-determination theory proposes that extrinsic motivation can be internalised by the individual if the task fits with their values and beliefs and therefore helps to fulfill their basic psychological needs. [edit]Push and Pull

This model is usually used when discussing motivation within tourism context, so the most attention in gastronomic tourism research should be dedicated to this theory. Pull factors illustrate the choices of destinations by tourists, whereas push factors determine the desire to go on holiday. Moreover, push motives are connected with internal forces, for example the need for relaxation or escapism, and pull factors, in turn, induce a traveller to visit a certain location by external forces such as landscape, cultural image or the climate of a destination. Dann also highlights the fact that push factors can be stimulated by external and situational aspects of motivation in shape of pull factors. Then again pull factors are issues that can arise from a location itself and therefore ‘push’ an individual to choose to experience it. Since, a huge number of theories have been developed over the years in many studies there is no single theory that illustrates all motivational aspects of travelling. Many researchers highlighted that because motives may occur at the same time it should not be assumed that only one motive drives an individual to perform an action as it was presumed in previous studies. On the other hand, since people are not able to satisfy all their needs at once they usually seek to satisfy some or a few of them. [edit]Self-control

The self-control of motivation is increasingly understood as a subset of emotional intelligence; a person may be highly intelligent according to a more conservative definition (as measured by many intelligence tests), yet unmotivated to dedicate this intelligence to certain tasks. Vroom’s “expectancy theory” provides an account of when people will decide whether to exert self-control to pursue a particular goal. A drive or desire can be described as a deficiency or need that activates behavior that is aimed at a goal or an incentive. These are thought to originate within the individual and may not require external stimuli to encourage the behavior. Basic drives could be sparked by deficiencies such as hunger, which motivates a person to seek food; whereas more subtle drives might be the desire for praise and approval, which motivates a person to behave in a manner pleasing to others. By contrast, the role of extrinsic rewards and stimuli can be seen in the example of training animals by giving them treats when they perform a trick correctly. The treat motivates the animals to perform the trick consistently, even later when the treat is removed from the process. ————————————————-

[edit]Motivational theories
[edit]Incentive theory
A reward, tangible or intangible, is presented after the occurrence of an action (i.e. behavior) with the intent to cause the behavior to occur again. This is done by associating positive meaning to the behavior. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the effect is greater, and decreases as delay lengthens. Repetitive action-reward combination can cause the action to become habit. Motivation comes from two sources: oneself, and other people. These two sources are called intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, respectively. Reinforcers and reinforcement principles of behavior differ from the hypothetical construct of reward. A reinforcer is any stimulus change following a response that increases the future frequency or magnitude of that response, therefore the cognitive approach is certainly the way forward as in 1973 Maslow described it as being the golden pineapple. Positive reinforcement is demonstrated by an increase in the future frequency or magnitude of a response due to in the past being followed contingently by a reinforcing stimulus.

Negative reinforcement involves stimulus change consisting of the removal of an aversive stimulus following a response. Positive reinforcement involves a stimulus change consisting of the presentation or magnification of an appetitive stimulus following a response. From this perspective, motivation is mediated by environmental events, and the concept of distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic forces is irrelevant. Applying proper motivational techniques can be much harder than it seems. Steven Kerr notes that when creating a reward system, it can be easy to reward A, while hoping for B, and in the process, reap harmful effects that can jeopardize your goals. Incentive theory in psychology treats motivation and behavior of the individual as they are influenced by beliefs, such as engaging in activities that are expected to be profitable. Incentive theory is promoted by behavioral psychologists, such as B.F. Skinner and literalized by behaviorists, especially by Skinner in his philosophy of Radical behaviorism, to mean that a person’s actions always havesocial ramifications: and if actions are positively received people are more likely to act in this manner, or if negatively received people are less likely to act in this manner. Incentive theory distinguishes itself from other motivation theories, such as drive theory, in the direction of the motivation. In incentive theory, stimuli “attract”, to use the term above, a person towards them, as opposed to the body seeking to reestablish homeostasispushing it towards the stimulus. In terms of behaviorism, incentive theory involves positive reinforcement: the stimulus has been conditioned to make the person happier.

For instance, a person knows that eating food, drinking water, or gaining social capital will make them happier. As opposed to in drive theory, which involves negative reinforcement: a stimulus has been associated with the removal of the punishment—the lack of homeostasis in the body. For example, a person has come to know that if they eat when hungry, it will eliminate that negative feeling of hunger, or if they drink when thirsty, it will eliminate that negative feeling of thirst. [edit]Escape-seeking dichotomy model

Escapism and seeking are major factors influencing decision making. Escapism is a need to breakaway from a daily life routine, turning on the television and watching an adventure film, whereas seeking is described as the desire
to learn, turning on the television to watch a documentary. Both motivations have some interpersonal and personal facets for example individuals would like to escape from family problems (personal) or from problems with work colleagues (interpersonal). This model can also be easily adapted with regard to different studies. [edit]Drive-reduction theory

There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept that we have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the strength of the drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon satisfying a drive the drive’s strength is reduced. The theory is based on diverse ideas from the theories of Freud to the ideas of feedback control systems, such as a thermostat. Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when preparing food, the drive model appears to be compatible with sensations of rising hunger as the food is prepared, and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in subjective hunger. There are several problems, however, that leave the validity of drive reduction open for debate. The first problem is that it does not explain how secondary reinforcers reduce drive.

For example, money satisfies no biological or psychological needs, but a pay check appears to reduce drive through second-order conditioning. Secondly, a drive, such as hunger, is viewed as having a “desire” to eat, making the drive a homuncular being—a feature criticized as simply moving the fundamental problem behind this “small man” and his desires. In addition, it is clear that drive reduction theory cannot be a complete theory of behavior, or a hungry human could not prepare a meal without eating the food before he finished cooking it. The ability of drive theory to cope with all kinds of behavior, from not satisfying a drive (by adding on other traits such as restraint), or adding additional drives for “tasty” food, which combine with drives for “food” in order to explain cooking render it hard to test. [edit]Cognitive dissonance theory

Suggested by Leon Festinger, cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual experiences some degree of discomfort resulting from an inconsistency between two cognitions: their views on the world around them, and their own personal feelings and actions. For example, a consumer may seek to reassure himself regarding a purchase, feeling, in retrospect, that another decision may have been preferable. His feeling that another purchase would have been preferable is inconsistent with his action of purchasing the item. The difference between his feelings and beliefs causes dissonance, so he seeks to reassure himself. While not a theory of motivation, per se, the theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. The cognitive miser perspective makes people want to justify things in a simple way in order to reduce the effort they put into cognition. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, or actions, rather than facing the inconsistencies, because dissonance is a mental strain. Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. [edit]Need theories

Motivation, as defined by Pritchard and Ashwood, is the process used to allocate energy to maximize the satisfaction of needs.[5] [edit]Need hierarchy theory The content theory includes the hierarchy of needs from Abraham Maslow and the two-factor theory from Herzberg. Maslow’s theory is one of the most widely discussed theories of motivation. The American motivation psychologist Abraham H. Maslow developed the Hierarchy of needs consistent of five hierarchic classes. It shows the complexity of human requirements. According to him, people are motivated by unsatisfied needs. The lower level needs such as Physiological and Safety needs will have to be satisfied before higher level needs are to be addressed. We can relate Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory with employee motivation. For example, if a manager is trying to motivate his employees by satisfying their needs; according to Maslow, he should try to satisfy the lower level needs before he tries to satisfy the upper level needs or the employees will not be motivated. Also he has to remember that not everyone will be satisfied by the same needs.

A good manager will try to figure out which levels of needs are active for a certain individual or employee. The basic requirements build the first step in his pyramid. If there is any deficit on this level, the whole behavior of a human will be oriented to satisfy this deficit. Subsequently we do have the second level, which awake a need for security. Basically it is oriented on a future need for security. After securing those two levels, the motives shift in the social sphere, which form the third stage. Psychological requirements consist in the fourth level, while the top of the hierarchy comprise the self- realization So theory can be summarized as follows: * Human beings have wants and desires which influence their behavior. Only unsatisfied needs influence behavior, satisfied needs do not. * Since needs are many, they are arranged in order of importance, from the basic to the complex. * The person advances to the next level of needs only after the lower level need is at least minimally satisfied. * The further the progress up the hierarchy, the more individuality, humanness and psychological health a person will show. The needs, listed from basic (lowest-earliest) to most complex (highest-latest) are as follows: * Physiology (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc.)

* Safety/Security/Shelter/Health
* Belongingness/Love/Friendship
* Self-esteem/Recognition/Achievement
* Self actualization
[edit]Herzberg’s two-factor theory
Frederick Herzberg’s two-factor theory, a.k.a. intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, concludes that certain factors in the workplace result in job satisfaction, but if absent, they don’t lead to dissatisfaction but no satisfaction.The factors that motivate people can change over their lifetime, but “respect for me as a person” is one of the top motivating factors at any stage of life. He distinguished between:

* Motivators; (e.g. challenging work, recognition, responsibility) which give positive satisfaction, and * Hygiene factors; (e.g. status, job security, salary and fringe benefits) that do not motivate if present, but, if absent, result in demotivation. The name Hygiene factors is used because, like hygiene, the presence will not make you healthier, but absence can cause health deterioration. The theory is sometimes called the “Motivator-Hygiene Theory” and/or “The Dual Structure Theory.” Herzberg’s theory has found application in such occupational fields as information systems and in studies of user satisfaction (seeComputer user satisfaction).
[edit]Alderfer’s ERG theory

Alderfer, expanding on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, created the ERG theory. This theory posits that there are three groups of core needs — existence, relatedness, and growth, hence the label: ERG theory. The existence group is concerned with providing our basic material existence requirements. They include the items that Maslow considered to be physiological and safety needs. The second group of needs are those of relatedness- the desire we have for maintaining important personal relationships. These social and status desires require interaction with others if they are to be satisfied, and they align with Maslow’s social need and the external component of Maslow’s esteem classification. Finally, Alderfer isolates growth needs as an intrinsic desire for personal development. These include the intrinsic component from Maslow’s esteem category and the characteristics included under self-actualization. [edit]Self-determination theory

Self-determination theory (SDT), developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, focuses on the importance of intrinsic motivation in driving human behavior. Like Maslow’s hierarchical theory and others that built on it, SDT posits a natural tendency toward growth and development. Unlike these other theories, however, SDT does not include any sort of “autopilot” for achievement, but instead requires active encouragement from the environment. The primary factors that encourage motivation and development are autonomy, competence feedback, and relatedness. [edit]Broad theories

The latest approach in developing a broad, integrative theory of motivation is Temporal Motivation Theory.[6] Introduced in a 2006Academy of Management Review article,[7] it synthesizes into a single formulation the primary aspects of several other major motivational theories, including Incentive Theory, Drive Theory, Need Theory, Self-Efficacy and Goal Setting. It simplifies the field of motivation and allows findings from one theory to be translated into terms of another. Another journal article that helped developTemporal Motivation Theory, “The Nature of Procrastination,[8] ” received American Psychological Association’s George A. Miller award for outstanding contribution to general science. Achievement Motivation is an integrative perspective based on the premise that performance motivation results from the way broad components of personality are directed towards performance. As a result, it includes a range of dimensions that are relevant to success at work but which are not conventionally regarded as being part of performance motivation. Especially it integrates formerly separated approaches as Need for Achievement with, for example, social motives like dominance. The Achievement Motivation Inventory is based on this theory and assesses three factors (in 17 separated scales) relevant to vocational and professional success. [edit]Cognitive theories

[edit]Goal-setting theory
Goal-setting theory is based on the notion that individuals sometimes have a drive to reach a clearly defined end state. Often, this end state is a reward in itself. A goal’s efficiency is affected by three features: proximity, difficulty and specificity. Good goal setting incorporates the SMART criteria, in which goals are: specific, measurable, accurate, realistic, and timely. An ideal goal should present a situation where the time between the initiation of behavior and the end state is close. This explains why some children are more motivated to learn how to ride a bike than to master algebra. A goal should be moderate, not too hard or too easy to complete. In both cases, most people are not optimally motivated, as many want a challenge (which assumes some kind of insecurity of success). At the same time people want to feel that there is a substantial probability that they will succeed. Specificity concerns the description of the goal in their class. The goal should be objectively defined and intelligible for the individual. A classic example of a poorly specified goal is to get the highest possible grade. Most children have no idea how much effort they need to reach that goal. [edit]Models of behavior change.

Social-cognitive models of behavior change include the constructs of motivation and volition. Motivation is seen as a process that leads to the forming of behavioral intentions. Volition is seen as a process that leads from intention to actual behavior. In other words, motivation and volition refer to goal setting and goal pursuit, respectively. Both processes require self-regulatory efforts. Several self-regulatory constructs are needed to operate in orchestration to attain goals. An example of such a motivational and volitional construct is perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is supposed to facilitate the forming of behavioral intentions, the development of action plans, and the initiation of action. It can support the translation of intentions into action. [edit]Conscious Motivation

This is a kind of motivation that people are aware of. [9]
[edit]Unconscious motivation Some psychologists believe that a significant portion of human behavior is energized and directed by unconscious motives. According to Maslow, “Psychoanalysis has often demonstrated that the relationship between a conscious desire and the ultimate unconscious aim that underlies it need not be at all direct.” [edit]Thematic Appreception Test

As psychologists David McClelland and John Atkinson argue that motivation should be unconscious, the Thematic Appreception Test measures motivation by presenting people with some drawings and let people tell stories the drawings they see.[10] [edit]Intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic desires theory

Starting from studies involving more than 6,000 people, Professor Steven Reiss has proposed a theory that found 16 basic desires that guide nearly all human behavior.[11][12] The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personalities are: * Acceptance, the need for approval

* Curiosity, the need to learn
* Eating, the need for food
* Family, the need to raise children
* Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one’s clan/ethnic group * Idealism, the need for social justice
* Independence, the need for individuality
* Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments * Physical activity, the need for exercise
* Power, the need for influence of will
* Romance, the need for sex and for beauty
* Saving, the need to collect
* Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships) * Social status, the need for social standing/importance
* Tranquility, the need to be safe
* Vengeance, the need to strike back and to compete
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[edit]Approach vs. Avoidance
An approach motivation is motivation to experience a positive outcome. In contrast, avoidance motivation is a motivation not to experience a negative outcome.[13]Research suggests that, all else being equal, avoidance motivations tend to be more powerful than approach motivations. Because people expect losses to have more powerful emotional consequences than equal-size gains, they will take more risks to avoid a loss than to achieve a gain.[14]

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[edit]Controlling motivation
The control of motivation is only understood to a limited extent. There are many different approaches of motivation training, but many of these are considered pseudoscientific by critics. To understand how to control motivation it is first necessary to understand why many people lack motivation.

[edit]Employee motivation
See also: Work motivation
Workers in any organization need something to keep them working. Most of the time, the salary of the employee is enough to keep him or her working for an organization. An employee must be motivated to work for a company or organization. If no motivation is present in an employee, then that employee’s quality of work or all work in general will deteriorate. People differ on a personality dimension called locus of control. This variable refers to individual’s beliefs about the location of the factors that control their behaviour. At one end of the continuum are high internals who believe that opportunity to control their own behaviour rests within themselves. At the other end of the continuum there are high externals who believe that external forces determine their behaviour.

Not surprisingly, compared with internals, externals see the world as an unpredictable, chancy place in which luck, fate, or powerful people carol their destinies. [15] When motivating an audience, you can use general motivational strategies or specific motivational appeals. General motivational strategies include soft sell versus hard sell and personality type. Soft sell strategies have logical appeals, emotional appeals, advice and praise. Hard sell strategies have barter, outnumbering, pressure and rank. Also, you can consider basing your strategy on your audience personality. Specific motivational appeals focus on provable facts, feelings, right and wrong, audience rewards and audience threats.[16] [edit]Job Characteristics Model

See also: Work motivation and Job satisfaction
The Job Characteristics Model (JCM), as designed by Hackman and Oldham [17] attempts to use job design to improve employee motivation. They have identified that any job can be described in terms of five key job characteristics; 1. Skill Variety – the degree to which a job requires different skills and talents to complete a number of different activities 2. Task Identity – this dimension refers to the completion of a whole and identifiable piece of work versus a partial task as part of a larger piece of work 3. Task Significance – is the impact of the task upon the lives or work of others 4. Autonomy – is the degree of independence or freedom allowed to complete a job 5. Task Feedback – individually obtaining direct and clear feedback about the effectiveness of the individual carrying out the work activities The JCM links these core job dimensions listed above to critical psychological states which results in desired personal and work outcomes. This forms the basis of this ’employee growth-need strength.” The core dimensions listed above can be combined into a single predictive index, called the Motivating Potential Score. [edit]Motivating Potential Score

See also: Work motivation and Job satisfaction
The motivating potential score (MPS) can be calculated, using the core dimensions discussed above, as follows;

Jobs that are high in motivating potential must be high on at least one of the three factors that lead to experienced meaningfulness, and also must be high on both Autonomy and Feedback.[18] If a job has a high MPS, the job characteristics model predicts that motivation, performance and job satisfaction will be positively affected and the likelihood of negative outcomes, such as absenteeism and turnover, will be reduced.[18] [edit]Drugs

Some authors, especially in the transhumanist movement, have suggested the use of “smart drugs”, also known as nootropics, as “motivation-enhancers”. These drugs work in various ways to affect neurotransmitters in the brain. It is generally widely accepted that these drugs enhance cognitive functions, but not without potential side effects.[19] The effects of many of these drugs on the brain are emphatically not well understood, and their legal status often makes open experimentation difficult.[citation needed] ————————————————-

[edit]Applications
[edit]Education
Motivation is of particular interest to educational psychologists because of the crucial role it plays in student learning. However, the specific kind of motivation that is studied in the specialized setting of education differs qualitatively from the more general forms of motivation studied by psychologists in other fields. Motivation in education can have several effects on how students learn and how they behave towards subject matter.[20] It can: 1. Direct behavior toward particular goals

2. Lead to increased effort and energy
3. Increase initiation of, and persistence in, activities 4. Enhance cognitive processing
5. Determine what consequences are reinforcing
6. Lead to improved performance.
Because students are not always internally motivated, they sometimes need situated motivation, which is found in environmental conditions that the teacher creates. If teachers decided to extrinsically reward productive student behaviors, they may find it difficult to extricate themselves from that path. Consequently student dependency on extrinsic rewards represents one of the greatest detractors from their use in the classroom.[21] The majority of new student orientation leaders at colleges and universities recognize that distinctive needs of students should be considered in regard to orientation information provided at the beginning of the higher education experience. Research done by Whyte in 1986 raised the awareness of counselors and educators in this regard. In 2007, the National Orientation Directors Association reprintedCassandra B. Whyte’s research report allowing readers to ascertain improvements made in addressing specific needs of students over a quarter of a century later to help with academic success.[22] Generally, motivation is conceptualized as either intrinsic or extrinsic.

Classically, these categories are regarded as distinct.[23] Today, these concepts are less likely to be used as distinct categories, but instead as two ideal types that define a continuum:[24] * Intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it either brings them pleasure, they think it is important, or they feel that what they are learning is significant. It has been shown that intrinsic motivation for education drops from grades 3-9 though the exact cause cannot be ascertained.[25] Also, in younger students it has been shown that contextualizing material that would otherwise be presented in an abstract manner increases the intrinsic motivation of these students.[26] * Extrinsic motivation comes into play when a student is compelled to do something or act a certain way because of factors external to him or her (like money or good grades). Cassandra B. Whyte researched and reported about the importance of locus of control and academic achievement.

Students tending toward a more internal locus of control are more academically successful, thus encouraging curriculum and activity development with consideration of motivation theories.[27][28] Academic motivation orientation may also be tied with one’s ability to detect and process errors. Fisher, Nanayakkara, and Marshall conducted neuroscience research on children’s motivation orientation, neurological indicators of error monitoring (the process of detecting an error), and academic achievement. Their research suggests that students with high intrinsic motivation attribute performance to personal control and that their error-monitoring system is more strongly engaged by performance errors.

They also found that motivation orientation and academic achievement were related to the strength in which their error-monitoring system was engaged.[29] Motivation has been found to be an important element in the concept of Andragogy (what motivates the adult learner), and in treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, as in Pivotal Response Therapy. Doyle and Moeyn have noted that traditional methods tended to use anxiety as negative motivation (e.g. use of bad grades by teachers) as a method of getting students to work. However, they have found that progressive approaches with focus on positive motivation over punishment has produced greater effectiveness with learning, since anxiety interferes with performance of complex tasks.[30] [edit]Indigenous Education, Learning, and Motivation

For many indigenous students (such as Native American children), motivation may be derived from social organization; an important factor educators should account for in addition to variations in Sociolinguistics and Cognition.[31] While poor academic performance among Native American students is often attributed to low levels of motivation, Top-down classroom organization is often found to be ineffective for children of many cultures, who depend on a sense of community purpose and competence to effectively engage in material. [32] Horizontally-structured, community-based learning strategies often provide a more structurally supportive environment for motivating indigenous children, who tend to be driven by “social/affective emphasis, harmony, holistic perspectives, expressive creativity, and nonverbal communication.”[33] This drive is also traceable to a cultural tradition of community-wide expectations of participation in the activities and goals of the greater group, rather than individualized aspirations of success or triumph. [34] Structure for social learning in indigenous communities also often allows siblings to co-parent younger children in their acquisition of behaviors and traditions,[35] which fosters the dynamic of community-motivated engagement from a young age.

Furthermore, it is commonplace for children to assist and demonstrate for their younger counterparts without being prompted by authority figures.[36]Observation techniques are demonstrated in such examples as weaving in Chiapas, Mexico, where it is commonplace for children to learn by “a more skilled other” within the community.[37] The assumption of responsibility amongst children is also apparent within Mayan weaving apprenticeships; often, when the “more skilled other” is tasked with multiple obligations, an older child will step in and guide the learner.[38] Sibling guidance is supported from early youth, where learning through play encourages horizontally-structured environments through alternative educational models such as “Intent Community Participation.”[39] Research also suggests that that formal Westernized schooling can actually reshape the traditionally collaborative nature of social life in indigenous communities [40] This research is supported cross-culturally, with variations in motivation and learning often reported higher between indigenous groups and their national Westernized counterparts than between indigenous groups across international continental divides. [41] [edit]Sudbury Model schools’ approach