motivation

Introduction
The study of motivation
- Physiological, psychological, and philosophical approaches
- Debates in motivational study
  - The nomothetic versus ideographic approach
  - Innate versus acquired processes
  - Internal needs versus external goals
  - Mechanistic versus cognitive processes
Historical overview
- Philosophers’ contributions
- Physiologists’ contributions
- Behaviourism
Biological approaches to motivation
- Genetic contributions
- Motivation as arousal
  - The James-Lange theory
  - The Cannon-Bard theory
  - The Schachter-Singer model
  - The inverted-U function
  - Sleep processes and stress reactions
- Biological monitoring systems
  - Hunger
  - Thirst
  - Sexual motivation
Behavioristic approaches to motivation
- Drive
- Learned motives
  - Classical conditioning
  - Instrumental learning
  - Observational learning
- Incentive motivation
Cognitive motivation
- Expectancy-value theory
- Attribution theory
- Cognitive dissonance
- Self-perception theory
- Self-actualization
Applications in society
Summary

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Marble bust of Aristotle with a beard and draped robe, showing detailed facial features and wavy hair, set against a dark background.

A close-up black-and-white image of an actress with wide, frightened eyes.

Diagram that presents Maslow's hierachy of needs in the shape of a triangle split into five levels. The bottom level is labeled physiological needs; the next level up is safety needs, and the level above that is love needs. The next level is esteem needs. At the top of the triangle is need for self-actualization.

At a Glance

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motivation summary

motivation: Media

behavior

Videos

A close-up black-and-white image of an actress with wide, frightened eyes.

Why Do Some People Love Feeling Fear?

Haunted houses. Horror films. Hayrides. What attracts us to fear?

Video: © American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Images

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud, 1921.

Mary Evans/Sigmund Freud Copyrights (courtesy of W.E. Freud)

Marble bust of Aristotle with a beard and draped robe, showing detailed facial features and wavy hair, set against a dark background.

Greek philosopher Aristotle

Aristotle, detail of a Roman copy (2nd century bce)...

© A. Dagli Orti—De Agostini/Getty Images

René Descartes

René Descartes

Philosopher and mathematician René Descartes.

National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland

John Locke

John Locke

The philosopher John Locke, oil on canvas by Herman Verelst, 1689; in the National...

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/REX/Shutterstock.com

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov

National Library of Medicine Digital Collections, National Institutes of Health (101426180)

Galvani, Luigi

Galvani, Luigi

Luigi Galvani in an illustration from Le Journal de la Jeunesse, Paris,...

© Photos.com/Thinkstock

Diagram that presents Maslow's hierachy of needs in the shape of a triangle split into five levels. The bottom level is labeled physiological needs; the next level up is safety needs, and the level above that is love needs. The next level is esteem needs. At the top of the triangle is need for self-actualization.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

In his 1943 article “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Abraham Maslow presented a hierarchy...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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