Motivation

Motivation Conceptualized

Motivation is a hypothetical construct, meaning that it is an abstraction, not an overt entity that can be seen with the eyes. Although it is not observable in and of itself, motivation does have direct links to observable behavior. That is, motivation cannot be observed, but its effects may be observed. Specifically, one infers motivation from observing the movement of individuals. Such movement often appears to be systematic, rather than random, and the force that impels and guides this systematic movement is presumed to be motivation. For example, if one sees a father walking toward his daughter with a large smile on his face and his arms open wide, one may infer that the father is motivated to hug his daughter. Thus, motivation is conceptualized as a causal agent; it explains behavior; it does not simply describe behavior.

Motivation focuses primarily on two central questions—the why and the how of behavior. These questions map onto the energization and direction aspects of motivation, respectively. “Why” represents the underlying reason(s) that an individual is energized or impelled to engage in a certain type of behavior. This “why” question focuses on what the pioneering psychologist William James called the “springs of action”—the fundamental impetus for behavior that gets the individual oriented toward a certain type of movement. This description of energization does not assume that the individual is passive until instigated to action; on the contrary, people are viewed as perpetually active, with instigation functionally representing a shift from one form of orienting to another.

“How” represents the guiding or channeling of energization in a precise way. This “how” question focuses on the specific aims on which persons focus to direct their behavior. Both energization and direction, why and how, need to be considered to fully explain motivated behavior. Accordingly, one may argue that motivational accounts of behavior must be hierarchical, in that they must articulate the different levels of motivation that operate in tandem to produce behavior.

The most basic distinction that can be made about motivation is whether it represents approach motivation or avoidance motivation. As 19th-century philosopher Arthur Shopenhauer observed, people are not simply motivated, they are motivated toward something or away from something. This approach-avoidance distinction is applicable to all types of motivation and to all types of organisms (e.g., from humans to the single-cell amoeba). Furthermore, the approach-avoidance distinction is applicable to both the energization and direction aspects of motivation. Approach motivation is the energization of behavior by, or the direction of behavior toward, positive stimuli (objects, events, possibilities), whereas avoidance motivation is the energization of behavior by, or the direction of behavior away from, negative stimuli (objects, events, possibilities).

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