Chapter: Psychology of motivation

Main points :
 Many people try to achieve their goals and inspite of failures they try and struggle again and
again ,the behavior that tend them to do this is motivation so we can say motivation is
something that compels individuals to behave in a particular manner to attain their
goals .motivation is because of needs,drives,and motives.
 The needs are divided into two categories: biological needs, such as food and water, and
other needs for survival such as rest,action, sleep cycle,and sexual desires needs for survival
and development and socio-psychological needs, like freedom, security ,love need for
achieving something,need for belonging and recognition.
 These needs create internal urges called drives, which push us to fulfill them.drives may be
biological such as hunger ,thirst and sex drive etc and it may be socio-pschological such as
fear ,anxiety,struggle for achievement etc. Additionally, external factors called incentives can
also motivate us to act.an incentive add more force to drive. So a need give rise to the drive
and drive then compels individual to act so this is motive .
 So we can say motive is the force that allow to achieve something.The chapter then
discusses specific motives that drive our behavior, such as the food motive for food , thirst
motive for water and the affiliation motive for social connections,sex motive to fulfil sexual
desires,maternal motive that allow mother to take care of offspring, aggression motive to
harm someone in angerand achievement motive to achieve desirable goals.
 Various theories of motivation are explored, including McDougall’s instinct theory, which
suggests that behavior is driven by innate instincts, and Hull’s drive reduction theory, which
proposes that behavior is motivated by the need to reduce physiological drives like hunger or
thirst. Freud’s psychoanalytical theory emphasizes unconscious desires according to him
incentives are the main cause of all the activities, while Adler’s social urges theory highlights
the importance of social dynamics in motivating behavior. Goal-Oriented Theory of
Cognitivism, highlighting how our thoughts and goals drive our actions. Maslow’s Self-
Actualization Theory, which talks about fulfilling our potential, is also explained.
 The chapter then critically assesses these theories, discussing their strengths and weaknesses.
Finally, it explores how motives can be measured, using methods like asking directly,
observing behavior, or conducting experiments