Motivation : Motivation Theories : Motivation Skills : Motivate Student/Employees

ERG Theory

2008-01-30T12:20:00.000+08:00

Clayton Alderfer extended and simplified Maslow's Hierarchy into a shorter set of three needs: Existence, Relatedness and Growth (hence 'ERG'). Unlike Maslow, he did not see these as being a hierarchy, but being more of a continuum.

Existence
At the lowest level is the need to stay alive and safe, now and in the foreseeable future. When we have satisfied existence needs, we feel safe and physically comfortable. This includes Maslow's Physiological and Safety needs.

Relatedness
At the next level, once we are safe and secure, we consider our social needs. We are now interested in relationships with other people and what they think of us. When we are related, we feel a sense of identity and position within our immediate society. This encompasses Maslow's Love/belonging and Esteem needs.

Growth
At the highest level, we seek to grow, be creative for ourselves and for our environment. When we are successfully growing, we feel a sense of wholeness, achievement and fulfilment. This covers Maslow's Self-actualization and Transcendence.

Anger Management - Self Help

2007-05-12T11:38:00.000+08:00

Anger Management that works with you to
- Explain what anger really is and how it stirs your emotional response.
- Explore and understand the anger triggers that are uniquely yours.
- Explode common anger myths and remove the fog that surrounds them.
- Explore hidden costs of anger, many of which you will not have realised.
- Shows you how to calm yourself before it becomes another problem.

Learn more...

Drive Theory

2007-05-05T10:05:00.000+08:00

There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept that we have certain biological needs, such as hunger. As time passes the strength of the drive increases as it is not satisfied. Then as we satisfy that drive by fulfilling its desire, such as eating, the drive's strength is reduced.

There are several problems, however, that leave the validity of the Drive Reduction Theory open for debate. The first problem is that it does not explain how Secondary Reinforcers reduce drive. For example, money does not satisfy any biological or psychological need but reduces drive on a regular basis through a pay check (see: second-order conditioning). Secondly, if the drive reduction theory held true we would not be able to explain how a hungry human being can prepare a meal without eating the food before they finished cooking it.

Extracted from wikipedia.com

Attribution Theory

2007-01-13T14:16:00.000+08:00

There is a theory about how people explain things. It is called Attribution Theory. The theory is really quite simple despite its rather strange sounding name. (When you see the term, "attribution," you should think of the term, "explanation," as a synonym.) The theory works like this.
When we offer explanations about why things happened, we can give one of two types. One, we can make an external attribution. Two, we can make internal attribution. An external attribution (get ready for this) assigns causality to an outside agent or force. Or as kids would say, "The devil made me do it." An external attribution claims that some outside thing motivated the event. By contrast, an internal attribution assigns causality to factors within the person. Or as the sinner would say, "I'm guilty, grant me forgiveness." An internal attribution claims that the person was directly responsible for the event.

Here are some common examples. You are taking a class and you get test results back. You take a peek and see, ahhhhh, a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize what a lousy teacher you've got and how badly written the textbook is and how unfair the test was and . . . you make a lot of external attributions. What caused the 65%? Events outside of you. External things.

Now, on the next test you take a peek and see, ahhhh, a 95%. Well, what can I say? When you're hot, you're hot. If you've got it, flaunt it. Some people are born great. Where's the causality? Inside of you, right? You assign causality to factors within the person and make internal attributions.

Okay, this is real simple. When the world asks us, "Why?" we provide either an internal attribution or an external attribution. Pretty obvious, but what has this got to do influence?

Consider this chain of events.

The world asks me, "Why?"

I provide an attribution.

My future behavior depends on the type of attribution.

Now, if we can control the attributions people make, then we can influence their future behavior, right? ...

Read on

Stress Test

2006-12-14T17:50:00.000+08:00

Take the Stress Test: Are You Stressed?
1. Do you feel tired all the time or have trouble sleeping?

2. Do you have a hard time relaxing or feel unable to relax?

3. Do you forget things all the time?

4. Are you frequently angry and tired at the end of the day?

5. Do you always feel under pressure?

6. Do you argue all the time, even about minor things?

7. Can you never find time for yourself?

8. Do you no longer want to socialize with others?

9. Do you lack patience and feel others are always wrong?

10. Do people often tell you that you seem tense or upset?

Everyone has bad days and feels some of the above, but if you have answered 'yes' to two or more of these questions and/or feel this way regularly, chances are that you are stressed! Moreover, you may not be handling the stress in your life as well as you could be.

Signs of Short-term Stress

2006-12-06T09:07:00.000+08:00

Often occurring in quick 'bursts' in reaction to something in your environment, short-term stress can affect your body in many ways. Some examples include:

Making your heartbeat and breath faster
Making you sweat more
Leaving you with cold hands, feet, or skin
Making you feel sick to your stomach or giving you 'butterflies'
Tightening your muscles or making you feel tense
Leaving your mouth dry
Making you have to go to the bathroom frequently
Increasing muscle spasms, headaches, fatigue, and shortness of breath

While this burst of energy may help you in physical situations where your body needs to react quickly, it can have bad effects on your mind and performance if there is no outlet or reason for your stress. These effects may include:

Interfering with your judgment and causing you to make bad decisions
Making you see difficult situations as threatening
Reducing your enjoyment and making you feel bad
Making it difficult for you to concentrate or to deal with distraction
Leaving you anxious, frustrated or mad
Making you feel rejected, unable to laugh, afraid of free time, unable to work, and not willing to discuss your problems with others

Extracted from www.mtstcil.org

Asking for Pay Rise?

2006-12-01T14:35:00.000+08:00

Just for laugh..

Letter to a boss asking for an increase in salary !

Dear Bo$$
In thi$ life, we all need $ome thing mo$t de$perately. I think you $hould be under$tanding of the need$ of u$ worker$ who have given $o much $upport including $weat and $ervice to your company.

I am $ure you will gue$$ what I mean and re$pond $oon.
Your$ $incerely,

The next day, you received this letter of reply :

Oh my dear:
I kNOw you have been working very hard. NOwadays, NOthing much has changed. You must have NOticed that our company is NOt doing NOticeably well as yet.
NOw the newspaper are saying the world`s leading eco NOmists are NOt sure if the United States may go into aNOther recession. After the NOvember presidential elections things may turn bad.

I have NOthing more to add NOw. You kNOw what I mean.

Yours truly,

Stress As Motivating Tool

2006-11-28T16:47:00.000+08:00

Stress works in a strange way to motivate, like reverse psycology. When under stress and difficult situations, a person feels pressured. This may trigger feelings of under-achieving, which results in a reverse mindset, to strive to achieve. This is almost sub-concious.

The net amount motivation under stress may motivate a person to work harder in order to "compensate" for his feelings. Using alcohol and smoking are not good factors which can help improve stress-related issues which employees may obtain in the workplace. Of course, the effectiveness of using this tool varies on different individual.

Ten Tactics to Motivate Employees

2006-11-19T22:18:00.000+08:00

1. Put Heart and Soul into Your Team

2. Unleash the Power of Human Potential

3. They do it for themselves

4. Make it fun

5. Affirm link between motivation & performance

6. Offer incentives and morale boosters

7. Be Clear about Rewards & Recognition

8. Inspire creative and innovative thinking

9. Make employees feel like partners

10. Build trust for a better tomorrow

Source: Bruce, A. (2003). How to motivate every employee. United States: McGraw-Hill.

Equity Theory

2006-11-18T13:05:00.000+08:00

J Stacy Adams's Equity Theory

Equity Theory in business seeks to describe a relationship between employees motivation and their perception of being treated fairly. The theory suggests that employees seek to ascribe values to their inputs and outputs.

- How much people are willing to contribute depends on how fair they think they are being treated.

- Comparison of input-output ratio

- Rewards should be distributed on the basis of performance

How to Motivate Theory X and Y People

2006-11-17T16:10:00.000+08:00

How do you motivate Theory X and Y People?

Theory X
• Manager tries to motivate through fear
• Employees must be rewarded, coerced, intimidated and punished
• Constant supervision
• Maintain tight control over employees
• Make decisions and provide directions for employees

Theory Y
• To provide opportunities for self-development of employees
• Maximize intellectual potential of employees
• Accept creative and innovative ideas provided by employees to solve organizational problems.

In Reality...
Punishment produces negative rather than positive results increased the discontentment amongst employees

Cash is NOT the top most motivating factor.
Top 2 factors
1) approval, praise, and recognition
2) trust, respect and high expectations

On the other hand, Persuasion and Power of Influence is more powerful than coercion.

You may want to read: Principle of Influence

Relationship of Motivation and Emotion

2006-11-16T19:06:00.000+08:00

Emotion (an indefinite subjective sensation experienced as a state of arousal) is different from motivation in that there is not necessarily a goal orientation affiliated with it. Emotions occur as a result of an interaction between perception of environmental stimuli, neural/hormonal responses to these perceptions (often labeled feelings), and subjective cognitive labeling of these feelings (Kleinginna and Kleinginna, 1981b).

Evidence suggests there is a small core of core emotions (perhaps 6 or 8) that are uniquely associated with a specific facial expression (Izard, 1990). This implies that there are a small number of unique biological responses that are genetically hard-wired to specific facial expressions. A further implication is that the process works in reverse: if you want to change your feelings (i.e., your physiological functioning), you can do so by changing your facial expression. That is, if you are motivated to change how you feel and your feeling is associated with a specific facial expression, you can change that feeling by purposively changing your facial expression. Since most of us would rather feel happy than otherwise, the most appropriate facial expression would be a smile.

Read On

Signs of a Troubled Employee/Student

2006-11-15T08:51:00.000+08:00

You may be interested to take note of those who are under your charge. They often need a listening ear or need having someone to talk to and perhaps needed counselling. So watchout for these troubled souls. You can make the different in their lives!

Signs of a troubled employee/student include:

· Sudden change of behavior
· Preoccupation
· Irritability
· Increased accidents
· Increased fatigue
· Excessive drinking
· Reduced production
· Difficulty in absorbing training
· Substance abuse

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

2006-11-11T19:56:00.000+08:00

Howard Gardner is a Professor of Cognition and Education at Harvard University and Co-Director of Harvard’s Project Zero. He is widely known for his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, introduced in his book Frames of Mind (1983). In his book, Gardner proposed a novel notion: the psychological construct 'intelligence' should be formally measured in more ways than simply through the widely accepted IQ tests used in most school systems.

Gardner suggests eight basic intelligences:
- linguistic-verbal
- logical-mathematical
- visual-spatial
- bodily-kinesthetic
- musical-rhythmic
- interpersonal
- intrapersonal
- naturalist

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

2006-11-09T10:50:00.000+08:00

Intrinsic Motivation
It is notice that a person who is intrinsically motivated undertakes an activity out of his own accord; it may be for self, enjoyment or for the feeling of accomplishment.

Extrinsic Motivation
An Extrinsically motivated person undertakes an activity in order to gain some reward or avoid punishment. However, there is a paradox of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is far stronger a motivator than extrinsic motivation, yet external motivation can easily act to displace intrinsic motivation

Read also: An Article Review

Consistency Theory - Commiment & Consistency

2006-11-08T11:11:00.000+08:00

The discomfort of cognitive dissonance occurs when things fall out of alignment, which leads us to try to achieve a maximum practical level of consistency in our world. When our inner systems (beliefs, attitudes, values, etc.) all support one another and when these are also supported by external evidence, then we have a comfortable state of affairs.

When there is conflict between behaviors that are consistent with inner systems and behaviors that are consistent with social norms, the potential threat of social exclusion often sways us towards the latter, even though it may cause significant inner dissonance.

Ways we achieve consistency between conflicting items include:
Denial or ignoring : 'I didn't see it happen.'
Rationalization and excuses : 'It was going to fall anyway.'
Separation of items :'I don't use my car enough to make a difference .'
Transcendence : 'Nobody is perfect.'
Changing item : 'I'll be more careful next time.'
Persuasion : 'I'm good, really, aren't I?'
Example
If you make a promise, you will feel bad if you do not keep it.

Defending
You will always be inconsistent in some areas. When changing to fit in with the inconsistencies that someone else is pointing out, think about the other, potentially more serious, inconsistencies that you will be opening up.

Read also : Principle of Influence - Commitment & Consistency

Theory X and Theory Y

2006-11-06T17:20:00.000+08:00

Douglas McGregor developed a philosophical view of humankind with his Theory X and Theory Y in 1960. These are two opposing perceptions about how people view human behavior at work and organizational life.

Theory X - With Theory X assumptions, management's role is to coerce and control employees.
- People have an inherent dislike for work and will avoid it whenever possible.
- People must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened with punishment in order to get them to achieve the organizational objectives.
- People prefer to be directed, do not want responsibility, and have little or no ambition.
- People seek security above all else.

Theory Y - With Theory Y assumptions, management's role is to develop the potential in employees and help them to release that potential towards common goals.
- Work is as natural as play and rest.
- People will exercise self-direction if they are committed to the objectives (they are NOT lazy).
- Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievement.
- People learn to accept and seek responsibility.
- Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are widely distributed among the population. People are capable of using these abilities to solve an organizational problem.
- People have potential.

Extracted from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/xy.html

Vroom's Expectancy Model

2006-11-04T11:34:00.000+08:00

Vroom's Expectancy Model suggests that people choose among alternative behaviors because they anticipate that particular behaviors will lead to one or more desired outcomes and that other behaviors will lead to undesirable outcomes.

Expectancy is the belief that effort will lead to first-order outcomes, any work-related behavior that is the direct result of the effort an employee expends on a job.

Equity is the perception of fairness involved in rewards given. A fair or equitable situation is one in which people with similar inputs experience similar outcomes. Employees will compare their rewards with the rewards received by others for their efforts. If employees perceive that an inequity exists, they are likely to withhold some of their contributions, either consciously or unconsciously, to bring a situation into better balance.

Reinforcement involves four types of consequence.

1. Positive reinforcement creates a pleasant consequence by using rewards to increase the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.

2. Negative reinforcement occurs when a person engages in behavior to avoid unpleasant consequences or to escape from existing unpleasant consequences.

3. Punishment is an attempt to discourage a target behavior by the application of negative outcomes whenever it is possible.

4. Extinction is the absence of any reinforcement, either positive or negative, following the occurrence of a target behavior.

McClelland's Theory of Needs

2006-11-03T18:01:00.000+08:00

McClelland's Theory of Needs divides motivation into needs for power, affiliation, and achievement.

Achievement motivated people thrive on pursuing and attaining goals. They like to be able to control the situations in which they are involved. They take moderate risks. They like to get immediate feedback on how they have done. They tend to be preoccupied with a task-orientation towards the job to be done.

Power motivated people see almost every situation as an opportunity to seize control or dominate others. They love to influence others. They like to change situations whether or not it is needed. They are willing to assert themselves when a decision needs to be made.

Affiliation motivated people are usually friendly and like to socialize with others. This may distract them from their performance requirements. They will usually respond to an appeal for cooperation.

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory

2006-11-02T18:09:00.000+08:00

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory describes needs in terms of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Frederick Herzberg examined motivation in the light of job content and contest. (See Work an the Nature of Man, Crowell Publications, 1966.) Motivating employees is a two-step process. First provide hygienes and then motivators. One continuum ranges from no satisfaction to satisfaction. The other continuum ranges from dissatisfaction to no dissatisfaction.

Satisfaction comes from motivators that are intrinsic or job content, such as achievement, recognition, advancement, responsibility, the work itself, and growth possibilities. Herzberg uses the term motivators for job satisfiers since they involve job content and the satisfaction that results from them. Motivators are considered job turn-ons. They are necessary for substantial improvements in work performance and move the employee beyond satisfaction to superior performance. Motivators correspond to Maslow's higher-level needs of esteem and self-actualization.

Dissatisfaction occurs when the following hygiene factors, extrinsic or job context, are not present on the job: pay, status, job security, working conditions, company policy, peer relations, and supervision. Herzberg uses the term hygiene for these factors because they are preventive in nature. They will not produce motivation, but they can prevent motivation from occurring. Hygiene factors can be considered job stay-ons because they encourage an employee to stay on a job. Once these factors are provided, they do not necessarily promote motivation; but their absence can create employee dissatisfaction. Hygiene factors correspond to Maslow's physiological, safety, and social needs in that they are extrinsic, or peripheral, to the job. They are present in the work environment of job context.

Motivation comes from the employee's feelings of accomplishment or job content rather than from the environmental factors or job context. Motivators encourage an employee to strive to do his or her best. Job enrichment can be used to meet higher-level needs. To enrich a job, a supervisor can introduce new or more difficult tasks, assign individuals specialized tasks that enable them to become experts, or grant additional authority to employees.

Motivation Theory - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

2006-11-01T19:12:00.000+08:00

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs identifies five levels of needs, which are best seen as a hierarchy with the most basic need emerging first and the most sophisticated need last. People move up the hierarchy one level at a time. Gratified needs lose their strength and the next level of needs is activated. As basic or lower-level needs are satisfied, higher-level needs become operative. A satisfied need is not a motivator. The most powerful employee need is the one that has not been satisfied. Abraham Maslow first presented the five-tier hierarchy in 1942 to a psychoanalytic society and published it in 1954 in Motivation and Personality (New York: Harper and Row).

Level I - Physiological needs are the most basic human needs. They include food, water, and comfort. The organization helps to satisfy employees' physiological needs by a paycheck.

Level II - Safety needs are the desires for security and stability, to feel safe from harm. The organization helps to satisfy employees' safety needs by benefits.

Level III - Social needs are the desires for affiliation. They include friendship and belonging. The organization helps to satisfy employees' social needs through sports teams, parties, and celebrations. The supervisor can help fulfill social needs by showing direct care and concern for employees.

Level IV- Esteem needs are the desires for self-respect and respect or recognition from others. The organization helps to satisfy employees' esteem needs by matching the skills and abilities of the employee to the job. The supervisor can help fulfill esteem needs by showing workers that their work is appreciated.

Level V - Self-actualization needs are the desires for self-fulfillment and the realization of the individual's full potential. The supervisor can help fulfill self-actualization needs by assigning tasks that challenge employees' minds while drawing on their aptitude and training.

Using Technology to Motivate Students to Learn

2006-10-31T22:10:00.000+08:00

Using Technology to Motivate Students to Learn

Does technology improves motivate students to learn social studies by improving
the students’ self-efficacy and self-worth?

Well probably yes... Visit here http://xiaolianbi.blogspot.com/ and you will find that there are many interaction going on between the teacher and the students.

In this case, the teacher uses a blog to encourage participation and cleverly using mandarin as the medium of communication to improve student's language. By looking at the number of responses from the student, it is not difficult to see that learning had taken place.

Motivation - Behavioural Change

2006-10-28T01:26:00.000+08:00

An interesting article that i came across...

Changing Behaviour

If only so and so would just change then everything would be so much easier.

You wish.

But this is still one of the biggest 'if only's' we come across when working with people.

Being able to change another's viewpoint, or your own for that matter, can be no small thing.

However changing someones behaviour is another thing altogether.

If you want to change the other persons' behaviour, a good beginning might be to start seeing things from their perspective.

Once you discover how they see the picture you can explain your case using their terms of reference.

We've worked out that to the most effective way to change someone else's behaviour is to modify your own.

It's not rocket science but it is difficult.

The reason it can be difficult is because many of us aren't comfortable with the suggestion that we might have to change in order to move things forward.

Generally speaking we like ourselves the way we are and it might feel like we're somehow giving away more than we'll potentially get back in return.

We tend to think in terms of the problem being with them and therefore the initiative or investment should also come from them.

But here's the thing...

We're not asking for mammoth, wholesale and irretrievable change from which you will never recover and be unrecognisable to your parents, friends and pets.

On the Contrary. Our motto is:

"Make the smallest change you can, to make the biggest impact".

Think of it more like jujitsu, where you tend to use a minimum of energy to allow the other person to throw himself or herself to the ground.

We'll be asking you to work with characteristics you already possess but may not yet be aware of, in order to effect change around you.

If you'd like to discover how you could do that, give us a call and we'll be only too glad to help.

And just think how much easier if you really can get so and so to change the way they behave.

Extracted from http://www.impactfactory.com/

Educators uses Weblogs to motivate our student

2006-10-26T20:18:00.000+08:00

Motivating Student using Weblogs is a new trend and a powerful tools in reaching out to students....

Weblogs or "blogs" are public journals that are easy to set up and use. They encourage self-expression and reflection and can be integrated into the language arts and social studies curriculum. Learn creative ways to channel your student's motivation towards active reading and better writing.Certainly a very good way to explore.. educators out there=)