MAE - Motivation Theories Lesson

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Motivation Theories

Today some of us jumped out of bed and immediately made it up neatly. Some of us browsed several social media sites for hours. Some of us finished up homework at the last minute or skipped the homework altogether. Some of us snacked on fresh fruit instead of packaged junk food. What motivated these behaviors?

Motivation is a fascinating culmination of forces: what you want and what you need. Sometimes your biology motivates you to act, but sometimes your brain overrides basic biology. For example, you might be naturally terrified to jump from an airplane, but you might do it anyway for the thrill of it.

Psychologists have created several theories to describe and explain motivation.

Complete the Motivation Theories activity below to learn more:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow, a major leader in the humanistic school of psychology, is best known for his hierarchy of needs. Maslow describes an organism's motivation to perform behavior based on a five-stage model of needs. According to Maslow the organism cannot move up the hierarchy until the lower needs are met.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Physiological: breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion. Safety: security of body, employment, resources, morality, the family, health, property. Love/belonging: friendship, family, sexual intimacy. Esteem: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others. Self-actualization: morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts.

Maslow's hierarchy describes the basic needs that all humans have and puts them into categories. Physiological needs are followed by needs related to safety, which are followed by needs related to belonging. Self-actualization (at the top of the pyramid) refers to the need to develop one's full potential or to "be all you can be". The number of "self-actualized" individuals in the world is believed to be very small. Maslow himself had a hard time defining self-actualization and is criticized for lacking empirical support.

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