Free Essays on Motivation

Motivation Ever since the beginning of time, all people have been motivated. Motivated to succeed, motivated to conquer, and motivated to be the best. But what is this thing we call motivation? Motivation is the energizing and directing of behavior, the force behind our yearning for food, our longing for sexual intimacy, and our desire to achieve. There are different theories concerning our motivated behavior. Instincts were one of the theories under Darwin’s influence, early theories viewed behavior as controlled by many biological forces, such as specific instincts. This approach fell into disfavor when it became clear that people where naming, and not explaining various behaviors by calling them instincts. The underlining idea-that genes predispose species-typical behaviors is still influential in evolutionary psychology. Drives and Incentives is another theory created by psychologists. Psychologists say that drives and incentives are psychological needs create aroused psychological circumstances that drive us to reduce or satisfy those needs. The aim of drive reduction is internal stability, or homeostasis. Thus, drive reduction motivates survival such as eating and drinking. Not only are we pushed by our internal drives, but also we are pulled by our external incentives. Depending on our personal and cultural experience, some stimuli will arouse our desires. Optimum Arousal is one of the latest theories developed by psychologists. This theory provides us with the understanding that rather then reducing a physiological need or tension state, some motivated behaviors increase arousal. Curiosity-driven behaviors, for example, suggest that two little as well as to much stimulation can motivate people to seek an optimum level of arousal. Another example would be that well-fed animals will leave their shelter to explore, seemingly in the absents of any need-based drive. For taking such risks, animal may, however, gain informat... Free Essays on Motivation Free Essays on Motivation Student Motivation to Learn Infants and young children appear to be propelled by curiosity, driven by an intense need to explore, interact with, and make sense of their environment. As one author puts it, "Rarely does one hear parents complain that their pre-schooler is 'unmotivated' " (James Raffini 1993). Unfortunately, as children grow, their passion for learning frequently seems to shrink. Learning often becomes associated with drudgery instead of delight. A large number of studentsmore than one in fourleave school before graduating. Many more are physically present in the classroom but largely mentally absent; they fail to invest themselves fully in the experience of learning. Awareness of how students' attitudes and beliefs about learning develop and what facilitates learning for its own sake can assist educators in reducing student apathy. What Is Student Motivation? Student motivation naturally has to do with students' desire to participate in the learning process. But it also concerns the reasons or goals that underlie their involvement or noninvolvement in academic activities. Although students may be equally motivated to perform a task, the sources of their motivation may differ. A student who is INTRINSICALLY motivated undertakes an activity "for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes" (Mark Lepper 1988). An EXTRINSICALLY motivated student performs "IN ORDER TO obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself," such as grades, stickers, or teacher approval (Lepper). The term MOTIVATION TO LEARN has a slightly different meaning. It is defined by one author as "the meaningfulness, value, and benefits of academic tasks to the learnerregardless of whether or not they are intrinsically interesting" (Hermine Marshall 1987). Another notes that motivation to learn is characterized by long-term, quality involvement in le... Free Essays on Motivation What Motivates People to Change? Most people change because they want to change an aspect of their personality, appearance, or lifestyle. They are unhappy about how they feel, look, or how their lives are. I’ve asked myself plenty of times what I can do to change certain bad habits of mine, and how I can improve myself as a person. Most people change because they are in pain either emotional or physical. They feel uncomfortable with how they are living and how they feel about themselves. Therefore it results in people self motivating themselves to change what makes them uncomfortable. The emotional and physical pain gives us the courage to take actions to change, although it may be difficult. As people we deal with situations differently than others. It varies from person to person on how we experience our pain and deal with it. For example, a young woman who wants to lose a little weight, to look like the super model type slim and attractive to feel good about themselves. They go through an extent of emotio nal pain trying to lose that weight and keep it off. Compared too another women who feels comfortable with her weight, and has no pressure to change, therefore pain is not apart of changing herself. On the other hand pain has many benefits, it definitely helps us in developing healthy habits. It provides incentive for people to change their bad habits. For example someone recognizing they have a problem with drugs or alcohol. They take steps to stop drinking or using drugs. They get sick of all the problems that alcohol or drugs have caused in their lives. They realize they have an addiction and want to get help. So they go to a therapist, rehabilitation institutes, or programs to help them out like the AA, to help them rebuilt their life and self-esteem. Another way people can change is by biological growth and entering to the next phase of their lives. People change if they are acted upon forces in which causes th... Free Essays on Motivation Motivation Ever since the beginning of time, all people have been motivated. Motivated to succeed, motivated to conquer, and motivated to be the best. But what is this thing we call motivation? Motivation is the energizing and directing of behavior, the force behind our yearning for food, our longing for sexual intimacy, and our desire to achieve. There are different theories concerning our motivated behavior. Instincts were one of the theories under Darwin’s influence, early theories viewed behavior as controlled by many biological forces, such as specific instincts. This approach fell into disfavor when it became clear that people where naming, and not explaining various behaviors by calling them instincts. The underlining idea-that genes predispose species-typical behaviors is still influential in evolutionary psychology. Drives and Incentives is another theory created by psychologists. Psychologists say that drives and incentives are psychological needs create aroused psychological circumstances that drive us to reduce or satisfy those needs. The aim of drive reduction is internal stability, or homeostasis. Thus, drive reduction motivates survival such as eating and drinking. Not only are we pushed by our internal drives, but also we are pulled by our external incentives. Depending on our personal and cultural experience, some stimuli will arouse our desires. Optimum Arousal is one of the latest theories developed by psychologists. This theory provides us with the understanding that rather then reducing a physiological need or tension state, some motivated behaviors increase arousal. Curiosity-driven behaviors, for example, suggest that two little as well as to much stimulation can motivate people to seek an optimum level of arousal. Another example would be that well-fed animals will leave their shelter to explore, seemingly in the absents of any need-based drive. For taking such risks, animal may, however, gain informat... Free Essays on Motivation The main question facing managers in an organization is motivation, how does it work, when to apply and to whom they should apply on. In today’s organization, motivation plays an important role in determining whether a company will succeed or not. What is motivation? Motivation is the set of attitudes and values that predispose a person to act in a specific goal directed manner. It is an invisible inner state that energizes the human goal-directed behavior, which can be divided into two components which is the direction of a behavior9 working to reach a goal) and the strength of the behavior (how hard or strong the individual will work. Within an organization the desired goals are often clearly defined. In motivation a manager normally seeks to change or maintain certain environmental factors so as to influence the inner drives which may change or sustain the behaviors of his subordinates. The key challenge facing managers in terms of motivation is how to encourage workers to contribute inputs to their jobs and to the organization. Managers want workers to be motivated to contribute inputs ( efforts, specific job behaviors, skills, knowledge, time and experience ) because inputs influence job performance and ultimately, organizational performance. Workers are concerned with obtaining outcomes from the organizations-extrinsic outcomes( pay and job security ) and intrinsic outcomes ( a feeling of accomplishment from doing a good job or the pleasure of doing interesting work. In an organization, different employees have different needs, therefore managers must be able to establish their needs and be able to apply different motivational tolls to satisfy different needs. At the core of motivation is human needs satisfaction. The inner drives within an individual are believed to be activated to give rise to appropriate behavior, where such behavior could lead to the fulfillment of the needs. Maslow, in his hierarchy of needs theory... Free Essays on Motivation Motivation What is motivation? Motivation is difficult to explain and even harder to â€Å"turn on† in people. Webster defines motivation as â€Å"an act or process of motivating; the condition of being motivated; a force, stimulus, or influence: incentive or drive† (â€Å"Motivation†). It is most often the job of the manager to use motivation to drive its employees to accomplish acts which they normally would not have done. The study of motivation helps managers understand what prompts people to initiate action, what influences their choice of action, and why they persist in their action over time (Daft and Marcic 444). Over the years many theorist have studied the human condition of motivation, and learned various techniques to help managers figure out what makes employees seek to attain higher knowledge, wealth, prosperity, and happiness in their work. One most noted theorist is Abraham Maslow; he carried out his investigations into human behavior and developed the hierarchy of needs theory. Maslow suggested that there are five sets of goals which may be called basic needs. These five are physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization- that exists in a hierarchical order and can be compared to climbing a ladder. Once a lower level need has been fulfilled, the person seeks to fulfill the next higher level. This progression leads to self actualization as being the highest level (Daft and Marcic 447-49). Another best known contributor to the behavior of individuals at work was Douglas McGregor. McGregor had an extensive background in management and consultation; he was also a trained psychologist (Daft and Marcic 37). In 1960, he published a book called, â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise.† In his book he examined two models which he called Theory X and Theory Y. The Theory X management assumes most people prefer to be directed, are not interested in assuming responsibility, and want safety above ev... Free Essays on Motivation Motivation Personal Motivation- The Individual’s View Understanding what motivates people is at the core of relating to people at all levels. According to Webster’s dictionary, (Webster, 1976) to motivate is to provide with, or affect as, an inner drive, impulse, or incentive that causes one to act. A motivation can be a cause, purpose, or idea according the Thesaurus. (Webster 1997). Motivation causes behavior, incites action. Personal motivational drives may include pride, desire for greatness, competitive spirit, serving others, doing the right thing, overcoming all odds. (Katzenbach, 1995, p.91) When studying motivation, the classic motivational theories of McGregor, Herzberg, and Maslow must not be forgotten, as illustrated in Figures 1,2, and 3. McGregor characterized people into two groups, labeled X and Y. Herzberg identified a two-factor theory regarding the motivation of employees. The motivation factors, when present, tend to create satisfaction or motivation in the min ds of employees. The hygiene factors, when absent or perceived as inadequate, can create dissatisfied employees; yet, when present, do not add to satisfaction or serve to motivate. Maslow suggested people are motivated by a set of internal needs. They range from the lowest-order needs of Physiological to the highest-order need of Self-actualization. Individuals are motivated at their level of need, and once a lower-order need is satisfied, the next higher-order need becomes the individual’s motivational drive. Author Kenneth Van Sickle believes that the motivational theories represented by McGregor (Theory X, Theory Y) and Herzberg (Hygiene Seeker, Motivation Seeker) reflects two distinct personality types. These two personalities can be defined relative to Maslow’s Hierarchy, and he labels these personalities Low-order Need Person and High-order Need Person. The Low-order Need Person, or LONP, operates at the lower three levels of Maslow’s Hiera...

Six Shades of True

Six Shades of True Six Shades of True Six Shades of True By Maeve Maddox Our word true is one of the oldest in the language. It may derive from a Proto-Indo-European word for tree. A well-rooted tree is strong, steadfast and firm. By the time the word entered Old English as triewe, it had acquired the meaning â€Å"faithful† or â€Å"trustworthy.† New connotations continued to attach to true. The sense â€Å"consistent with fact† dates from about 1200. The meaning â€Å"real, genuine, not counterfeit† is from late 14th century. About 1550 it took on the sense of â€Å"agreeing with a certain standard,† and by late 1500s it could mean â€Å"accurately fitted or shaped.† In modern usage, true has at least six shades of meaning. Here are some examples from the web, together with a few synonyms that might convey the intended meaning more precisely. 1. Is it true what they say about the Moto G? Meaning: correct, accurate, right, verifiable, well-documented, factual 2. This is why, with true musicianship in mind, I rarely touch the piano in my classroom. Meaning: genuine, authentic, real, actual 3. An Australian forklift driver who some historians argued was the true heir to the British throne has died in the small New South Wales town he called home. Meaning: rightful, legitimate, legal, lawful, authorized 4. A true friendhas your very best interests at heart. Meaning: loyal, faithful, constant, devoted, staunch trustworthy, reliable, dependable 5. The costume historian views the history of clothing as a true reflection of culture Meaning: accurate, true to life, faithful, factual, realistic 6. True repentance is always characterized by at least three things Meaning: sincere, genuine, real, unfeigned, heartfelt Then again, true might be exactly the word you want. Here are some idioms that contain the word true: true as steel: loyal and dependable true colors: personality traits often concealed by one’s day-to-day behavior true love: love that does not alter when it alteration finds ring true: to sound likely (like the intended tone of a bell that has been cast properly) tried and true: worthy of trust because of previous dependability true up: straighten something true to form: according to pattern or previous behavior true-blue: totally dependable at all times Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Computer Terms You Should Know"Replacement for" and "replacement of"The "Pied" in The Pied Piper