Motives of activity, their types and characteristics. The concept of motivation in psychology. Motives, their types. Motivation of human behavior Activity its motives

Motivation: a source of strength for action

04.08.2015

Snezhana Ivanova

Motivation (motivatio) - a system of incentives that encourage a person to perform actions.

Happiness is not in always doing what you want, but in always wanting what you do (Leo Tolstoy).

Motivation (motivatio) - a system of incentives that encourage a person to perform actions. It is a dynamic process of a physiological nature, controlled by the psyche of the individual and manifested at the emotional and behavioral levels. For the first time the concept of "motivation" was used in the work of A. Schopenhauer.

Concepts of motivation

Despite the fact that the study of motivation is one of the topical issues of research by psychologists, sociologists, teachers, to date there has not been a single definition of this phenomenon. There are many rather contradictory hypotheses that try to scientifically explain the phenomenon of motivation, to answer the questions:

why and because of what a person acts;
what needs the activity of the individual is aimed at satisfying;
why and how a person chooses a certain strategy of action;
what results the individual expects to get, their subjective significance for the person;
why some people who are more motivated than others manage to succeed in those areas in which those endowed with similar abilities and having the same opportunities fail.

One group of psychologists defends the theory of the predominant role of intrinsic motivation - innate, acquired mechanisms that control human behavior. Other scientists believe that the leading cause of motivation is significant external factors affecting the personality from the environment. The attention of the third group is directed to the study of fundamental motives and attempts to systematize them into congenital and acquired factors. The fourth direction of research is the study of the question of the essence of motivation: as the main reason for orienting a person's behavioral reactions in order to achieve a specific goal, or as a source of energy for activities controlled by other factors, such as habit.

Most scientists define the concept of motivation as a system based on the unity of internal factors and external incentives that determine human behavior:

action vector;
composure, purposefulness, consistency, actions;
activity and assertiveness;
sustainability of the chosen goals.

Need, motive, purpose

The term motive is one of the key concepts of psychology, understood by scientists in different ways within the framework of various theories. Motive (moveo) is a conditionally ideal object, not necessarily of a material nature, towards the achievement of which the activity of the individual is oriented. The motive is perceived by the individual as peculiar, specific experiences that can be characterized as positive feelings from the anticipation of achieving the object of needs, or negative emotions that arose against the background of dissatisfaction, or incomplete satisfaction from the present situation. To isolate and realize a specific motive, a person needs to carry out internal purposeful work.

The simplest definition of motive is presented by A. N. Leontiev and S. L. Rubinshtein in the theory of activity. According to the conclusion of leading scientists: the mentally outlined, “objectified” need of the subject acts as a motive. The motive is essentially a different phenomenon from the concepts of need and goal. A need is an unconscious desire of a person to get rid of the existing discomfort ( read about). The goal is the desired result of conscious purposeful actions ( read about). For example: hunger is a natural need, the desire to eat is a motive, and a delicious schnitzel is a goal.

Types of motivation

In modern psychology, various methods of classifying motivation are used.

extrinsic and intrusive

Extraordinary motivation(external) - a group of motives due to the action of external factors on the object: circumstances, conditions, incentives that are not related to the content of a particular activity.

Intense motivation(internal) has internal causes associated with the life position of the individual: needs, desires, aspirations, inclinations, interests, attitudes. With internal motivation, a person acts and acts "voluntarily", not guided by external circumstances.

The subject of discussion about the expediency of such a division of motivations is consecrated in the work of H. Hekhausen, although from the point of view of modern psychology, such debates are groundless and unpromising. A person, being an active member of society, cannot be completely independent of the influence of the surrounding society in choosing decisions and actions.

positive and negative

Distinguish between positive and negative motivation. The first type is based on incentives and expectations of a positive nature, the second - negative. Examples of positive motivation are constructions: “if I perform some action, I will receive some kind of reward”, “if I do not take these actions, then I will be rewarded”. Examples of negative motivation would be statements; "if I do this, I will not be punished", "if I do not act in this way, I will not be punished." In other words, the main difference is the expectation of positive reinforcement in the first cases, and negative reinforcement in the second.

Steady and unstable

The foundations of sustainable motivation are the needs and needs of the individual, to satisfy which the individual performs conscious actions without needing additional reinforcements. For example: to satisfy hunger, to warm up after hypothermia. With unstable motivation, a person needs constant support, incentives from outside. For example: to lose interfering kilograms, to get rid of smoking.

Psychologists also distinguish between two subspecies of sustainable and unstable motivation, conventionally referred to as "from carrot to stick", the differences between which are illustrated by an example: I strive to lose weight and achieve attractive forms.

Additional classification

There is a division of motivations into subspecies: individual, group, cognitive.

Individual motivation combines needs, incentives and goals aimed at ensuring the vital activity of the human body and maintaining homeostasis. Examples are: hunger, thirst, the desire to avoid pain, to provide an optimum temperature.

To phenomena group motivation include: parental care for children, choosing the type of activity to gain social recognition, maintaining the state system.

Examples cognitive motivation perform: research activities, the acquisition of knowledge by the child through the game process.

Motives: the driving force behind people's behavior

Psychologists, sociologists, philosophers have been trying for centuries to define and classify motives - incentives that potentiate certain activities of the individual. Scientists distinguish the following types of motivation.

Motive 1. Self-affirmation

Self-affirmation is a person's need to be recognized and valued by society. Motivation is based on ambition, self-esteem, pride. Guided by the desire to assert himself, the individual tries to prove to society that he is a worthwhile person. A person seeks to occupy a certain position in society, to obtain social status, to achieve respect, recognition, reverence. This type is essentially similar to the prestige motivation – the desire to achieve and subsequently maintain a formally high status in society. The motive of self-affirmation is a significant factor in the motivation of a person's vigorous activity, which encourages personal development and intensive work on oneself.

Motive 2. Identification

Identification - the desire of a person to be like an idol, which can act as a real authoritative person (for example: father, teacher, famous scientist) or a fictional character (for example: the hero of a book, film). Identification motive is a strong incentive for development, improvement, application of strong-willed efforts for the formation of certain character traits. The motivation to be like an idol is often present in the juvenile period, under the influence of which a teenager acquires a high energy potential. The presence of an ideal “model” with which a young person would like to identify himself gives him a special “borrowed” power, gives inspiration, forms a sense of purpose and responsibility, develops. The presence of an identification motive is an important component for the effective socialization of a teenager.

Motive 3. Power

Power motivation is the need of an individual to have a meaningful influence on other people. At certain points in the development of both the individual and society as a whole, the motive is one of the essential driving factors of human activity. The desire to play a leading role in the team, the desire to occupy leadership positions motivates the individual to take consistent action. In order to fulfill the need to lead and manage people, to establish and regulate their sphere of activity, a person is ready to make great strong-willed efforts and overcome significant obstacles. The motivation of power occupies an important position in the hierarchy of incentives for activity. The desire to dominate in society is a different phenomenon from the motive of self-affirmation. With this motivation, a person acts for the sake of gaining influence over others, and not in order to obtain confirmation of his own importance.

Motive 4. Procedural and substantive

Procedural-content motivation encourages a person to take active actions not due to the influence of external stimuli, but due to the personal interest of the individual in the very content of the activity. It is an internal motivation that has a strong effect on the activity of the individual. The essence of the phenomenon: a person is interested in and enjoys the process itself, he likes to be physically active, to use intellectual capabilities. For example, a girl is engaged in dancing, because she really likes the process itself: the manifestation of her creative potential, physical abilities and intellectual abilities. She enjoys the very process of dancing, and not external motives, such as: the expectation of popularity, the achievement of material well-being.

Motive 5. Self-development

Motivation for self-development is based on a person's desire to develop existing natural abilities, improve existing positive qualities. According to the eminent psychologist Abraham Maslow, this motivation encourages a person to exert maximum volitional efforts for the full development and realization of abilities, guided by the need to feel competence in a certain area. Self-development gives a person a sense of his own significance, requires self-exposing - the ability to be himself and implies the presence of the courage of "being".

Motivation for self-development requires courage, courage, determination to overcome the fear of the risk of losing the conditional stability achieved in the past, to abandon comfortable peace. It is human nature to hold on to and exalt past achievements, and such reverence for personal history is the main obstacle to self-development. This motivation prompts the individual to make an unequivocal decision, making a choice between the desire to move forward and the desire to remain safe. According to Maslow, self-development is possible only when steps forward bring a person more satisfaction than past achievements that have become commonplace. Although during self-development there is often an internal conflict of motives, moving forward does not require violence against oneself.

Motive 6. Achievement

Achievement motivation implies the desire of a person to achieve the best results in the activities performed, to master the heights of skill in an attractive field. The high efficiency of such motivation is based on the individual's conscious choice of difficult tasks, the desire to solve complex problems. This motive is a driving factor for achieving success in any sphere of life, because victory depends not only on a natural gift, developed abilities, acquired skills and acquired knowledge. The success of any undertaking is based on a high level of achievement motivation, which determines the purposefulness, perseverance, perseverance, determination of a person to achieve the goal.

Motive 7. Prosocial

Prosocial - socially significant motivation, based on the existing sense of a person's duty to society, personal responsibility to a social group. If a person is guided by pro-social motivation, the person is identified with a certain unit of society. Under the influence of socially significant motives, a person not only identifies himself with a particular group, but also has common interests and goals, takes an active part in solving common problems, overcoming problems.

A person driven by prosocial motivation has a special inner core, he has a certain set of qualities:

normative behavior: responsibility, conscientiousness, balance, constancy, conscientiousness;
loyalty to the standards adopted in the group;
acceptance, recognition and protection of the values of the team;
a sincere desire to achieve the goal set by the unit of society.

Motive 8. Affiliation

The motivation for affiliation (joining) is based on the desire of the individual to establish new contacts and maintain relationships with significant people for him. The essence of motive: the high value of communication as a process that captures, attracts and brings pleasure to a person. Unlike making contacts purely for selfish purposes, affiliative motivation is a means of satisfying spiritual needs, for example: a desire for love or sympathy from a friend.

Factors that determine the level of motivation

Regardless of the type of stimulus that drives a person's activity - the motive he has, the level of motivation is not always the same and constant in a person. Much depends on the type of activity performed, the circumstances and expectations of the person. For example, in the professional environment of psychologists, some specialists choose to study the most difficult tasks, while others limit themselves to “modest” problems in science, planning to achieve significant achievements in their chosen field. The factors that determine the level of motivation are the following criteria:

the significance for the individual of the prospective fact of achieving success;
faith and hope for outstanding achievement;
subjective assessment by a person of the existing probability of obtaining high results;
subjective understanding by the personality of standards, standards of success.

Ways of motivation

To date, various methods of motivation have been successfully used, which can be conditionally divided into three large groups:

Social - staff motivation;
Motivation for learning;

Here is a brief description of the individual categories.

Staff motivation

Social motivation is a specially developed complex system of measures, including moral, professional and material stimulation of the employee's activity. Staff motivation is aimed at increasing the activity of the worker and achieving maximum efficiency of his work. The measures used to encourage the activity of personnel depend on various factors:

incentive system provided for at the enterprise;
the management system of the organization as a whole, and personnel management in particular;
features of the institution: field of activity, number of staff, experience and chosen management style of the management.

Ways to motivate staff are conditionally divided into subgroups:

economic methods (material motivation);
organizational and administrative measures based on power (the need to obey the regulations, observe subordination, follow the letter of the law with the possible use of coercion);
socio-psychological factors (impact on the consciousness of workers, activating their aesthetic beliefs, religious values, social interests).

Student motivation

Motivation of schoolchildren and students is an important link for successful learning. Correctly formed motives, a clearly realized goal of the activity give the educational process meaning and allow you to get the required knowledge and skills, achieve the necessary results. The spontaneous emergence of motivation to study is a rather rare phenomenon in childhood and adolescence. That is why psychologists and teachers have developed many techniques for the formation of motivation, which makes it possible to fruitfully engage in educational activities. Among the most common methods:

creating situations that attract attention, interest students in the subject (entertaining experiments, non-standard analogies, instructive examples from life, unusual facts);
emotional experience of the submitted material due to its uniqueness and scale;
comparative analysis of scientific facts and their everyday interpretation;
imitation of a scientific dispute, creation of a situation of cognitive debate;
positive assessment of success through the joyful experience of achievements;
giving facts elements of novelty;
actualization of educational material, its approximation to the level of achievements;
use of positive and negative motivation;
social motives (the desire to gain authority, the desire to be a useful member of the group).

self-motivation

Self-motivation - individual methods of motivation based on the inner convictions of the individual: desires and aspirations, purposefulness and consistency, determination and stability. An example of successful self-motivation is the situation when, with intense external interference, a person continues to act to achieve the goal. There are various ways to motivate yourself, including:

affirmations - specially selected positive statements that affect the individual at a subconscious level;
- a process that implies an independent influence of the individual on the mental sphere, aimed at the formation of a new model of behavior;
biographies of prominent people - an effective method based on the study of the life of successful personalities;
development of the volitional sphere - the performance of activities "through I do not want";
visualization is an effective technique based on mental representation, experience of the results achieved.

Behavioral motives. The term "motive" in trans. from lat. means motivation, but not every impulse is a motive; behavior can be motivated by feelings, attitudes. Some impulses are recognized, others are not. Motive is a conscious drive to achieve a goal. If the concept of motivation includes all types of motives of human behavior (including little conscious and subconscious), then the motive is a consciously formed, conceptually formulated urge.

Human activity is usually driven by several motives - a hierarchy of motives. At the same time, certain motives acquire leading significance. They give personal meaning to activity, its objects and conditions. meaning.

Various motives can strengthen or weaken each other, conflict with the objective possibilities of their implementation, with the social regulation of behavior. In such cases, the socialized personality either suppresses the motive, or finds new, socially acceptable goals of activity. A socially unadapted person neglects the need for such a motivational restructuring.

Motives should be distinguished from motivation - justifying statements about the committed action. They may not coincide with the actual motives, mask them.

As the personality develops, the motives of its behavior are enriched, hierarchized - the main life motives are singled out, a person's behavior is subject to the hierarchy of his value orientation.

So, the motivating and goal-forming block in the system of human behavior consists of a complex set of interrelated personal and situational factors - the orientation of the individual, his needs, the modification of which are attitudes, interests, desires, aspirations, passions and inclinations. With his motives and motivational states, a person is integrated into the context of reality. It is not the objects of reality that are primary, but the needs and motives of a person.

Human behavior and activity can be conditioned by several motives, that is, they can be polymotivated, aimed at the simultaneous satisfaction of several needs. The formation of a motive is connected both with an actualized need and with situational possibilities and limitations. In some cases, the situation imposes a choice of motive. The image of the object of actualized need, the most accessible in a given situation, can also have the properties of a motive.

Motive is a sense-forming component of human behavior. It determines the personal meaning of both all human activity and its individual actions in the structure of this activity. The motive also acts as an evaluative factor in relation to circumstances that hinder or contribute to the achievement of the goal. The qualitative feature of all human activity depends on the motive. The more fully and deeply a person realizes the motives of his behavior, the greater the power of a person over this behavior. However, motives can be realized with varying degrees of depth and development. They can be replaced by motivation - an artificial rationalization of the desired action without sufficient awareness of the person's real motives.

Motives can be different: interest in the content and process of activity, duty to society, self-affirmation, etc. So, the following motives can encourage a scientist to scientific activity: self-realization, cognitive interest, self-affirmation, material incentives (monetary reward), social motives (responsibility, desire to benefit society).

If a person strives to perform a certain activity, we can say that he has motivation.

Motives are relatively stable manifestations, attributes of a person. For example, arguing that a cognitive motive is inherent in a certain person, we mean that in many situations he manifests cognitive motivation.

The motive cannot be explained by itself. It can be understood in the system of those factors - images, relationships, actions of the individual, which make up the general structure of mental life. Its role is to give impulse and direction to the behavior towards the goal.

Motivating factors can be divided into two relatively independent classes:

§ needs and instincts as sources of activity;

§ motives as reasons that determine the direction of behavior or activity.

Need is a necessary condition for any activity, but the need itself is not yet able to set a clear direction for activities.

Thus, the need induces to activity, and the motive - to directed activity. It can be said that a motive is an incentive to activity associated with the satisfaction of the needs of the subject.

Some motives are basic, leading, others are secondary, secondary, they do not have independent significance and are always subordinate to the leaders.

achievement motive- the desire to achieve high results and excellence in activities; it manifests itself in the choice of difficult tasks and the desire to complete them. Success in any activity depends not only on abilities, skills, knowledge, but also on achievement motivation. A person with a high level of achievement motivation, striving to get significant results, works hard to achieve his goals.

Achievement motivation (and behavior that is aimed at high results) even for the same person is not always the same and depends on the situation and the subject of activity. Someone chooses difficult problems in mathematics, while someone, on the contrary, limiting himself to modest goals in the exact sciences, chooses difficult topics in literature, striving to achieve high results in this particular area. What determines the level of motivation in each specific activity?

Scientists identify four factors:

1. the importance of achieving success;

2. hope for success;

3. subjectively assessed probability of success;

4. subjective standards of achievement.

Activity motives can be very different:

§ organic - aimed at meeting the natural needs of the body and are associated with the growth, self-preservation and development of the body;

§ functional - are satisfied with the help of various cultural forms of activity, for example, playing sports;

§ material - encourage a person to activities aimed at creating household items, various things and tools;

§ social - give rise to various activities aimed at taking a certain place in society, gaining recognition and respect;

§ spiritual - underlie those activities that are associated with self-improvement of a person.

Organic and functional motives together constitute the motivation for the behavior and activities of the individual in certain circumstances and can not only influence, but change each other.

Motives not only encourage a person to act, but also give his actions and actions a personal, subjective meaning. In practice, it is important to take into account that people, performing actions that are identical in form and objective results, are often guided by different, sometimes opposite motives, attach different personal meanings to their behavior and actions. In accordance with this, the assessment of actions should be different: both moral and legal.

Motivation and personality.

Personality motives - this is the need (or system of needs) of the individual in the function of motivation. Internal mental urges to activity, behavior are due to the actualization of certain needs of the individual.

Types of personality motives

To consciously justified motives should include values, beliefs, intentions.

Value

Value is a concept used in philosophy to indicate the personal, socio-cultural significance of certain objects and phenomena. Personal values form a system of its value orientations, elements of the internal structure of the personality, which are especially significant for it. These value orientations form the basis of the consciousness and activity of the individual. Value is a personally colored attitude to the world, arising on the basis of not only knowledge and information, but also one's own life experience. Values give meaning to human life. Faith, will, doubt, ideal are of lasting importance in the world of human value orientations. Values are part of the culture, received from parents, family, religion, organizations, schools and the environment. Cultural values are widely held beliefs that define what is desirable and what is right. Values can be:

§ self-oriented, which concern the individual, reflect his goals and general approach to life;

§ oriented by others, which reflect the desires of society regarding the relationship between the individual and groups;

§ environmentally oriented, which embody society's ideas about the desired relationship of the individual with his economic and natural environment.

Beliefs

Beliefs - these are the motives of practical and theoretical activity, justified by theoretical knowledge and the whole worldview of a person. For example, a person becomes a teacher not only because he is interested in passing on knowledge to children, not only because he loves working with children, but also because he knows very well how much in the creation of society depends on the education of consciousness. This means that he chose his profession not only out of interest and inclination to it, but also because of his convictions. Deeply grounded beliefs persist throughout a person's life. Beliefs are the most generalized motives. However, if generalization and stability are characteristic features of personality traits, then beliefs can no longer be called motives in the accepted sense of the word. The more generalized the motive becomes, the closer it is to a personality trait.

Intention

Intention- a consciously made decision to achieve a certain goal with a clear idea of the means and methods of action. This is where motivation and planning come together. Intention organizes human behavior.

The considered types of motives cover only the main manifestations of the motivational sphere. In reality, there are as many different motives as there are possible human-environment relationships.

Theories of motivation

From the point of view of the classification of H. Scholz, it seems appropriate to divide theories of motivation - depending on the subject of analysis - into three main areas:

· Theories based on a specific picture of the worker - these theories come from a certain image of the worker, his needs and motives. These include Douglas McGregor's XY Theory, William Ouchi's Z Theory.

· Process theories - go beyond the individual and study the impact on motivation of various environmental factors. Theories of this type include the theory of labor motivation by D. Atkinson, the theory of justice by S. Adams, the theory of motivation by V. Vroom, the theory of Porter-Lawler, the theory of 12 factors by Ritchie and Martin.

In his work Motivation and Personality (1954), Maslow suggested that all human needs are innate or instinctive and that they are organized in a hierarchical system of priority or dominance. This work was continued by other scientists.

Hierarchy of human needs diagram by Abraham Maslow.
Steps (bottom to top):
1. Physiological
2. Security
3. Love/Belonging to something
4. Respect
5. Cognition
6. Aesthetic
7. Self-actualization
Moreover, the last three levels: “cognition”, “aesthetic” and “self-actualization” are generally called “Need for self-expression” (Need for personal growth)

The concept and types of communication.

Communication - a complex process of interaction between people, which consists in the exchange of information, as well as in the perception and understanding of each other by partners. The subjects of communication are living beings, people.

In principle, communication is characteristic of any living beings, but only at the human level the process of communication becomes conscious associated with verbal and non-verbal acts. The person who transmits information is called the communicator, and the person who receives it is called the recipient.

There are several aspects to communication: content, purpose and means. The content of communication is information that is transmitted from one living being to another in interindividual contacts.

Purpose of communication- answers the question "For the sake of what does a creature enter into an act of communication?".

For a person, these goals can be very, very diverse and represent a means of satisfying social, cultural, creative, cognitive, aesthetic and many other needs.

Means of communication- ways of encoding, transmitting, processing and decoding information that is transmitted in the process of communication from one being to another.

Encoding information is a way of transmitting it. Information between people can be transmitted using the senses, speech and other sign systems, writing, technical means of recording and storing information.

Communication process(communications). Firstly , it consists directly of the very act of communication, communication, in which the communicants themselves participate, communicating. And in the normal case, there should be at least two of them. Secondly, communicants must perform the action itself, which we call communication, i.e. do something (speak, gesticulate, allow "read" from their faces a certain expression, indicating, for example, the emotions experienced in connection with what is being reported). Thirdly, it is necessary, then, to determine the communication channel in each specific communicative act.

Communication structure I. The structure of communication can be approached in different ways, in this case, the structure will be characterized by highlighting three interrelated parties in communication: communicative, interactive and perceptual.

Communicativeside communication consists in the mutual exchange of information between a partner between partners in communication, transmission and reception of knowledge, ideas, opinions, feelings. There are two types of information - incentive and ascertaining.

Interactiveside communication consists in the exchange of actions, that is, the organization of interpersonal interaction, which makes it possible for them to realize some communicants to realize some common activity for them.

Perceptual the side of communication is the process of education, knowledge and understanding of each other by people with the subsequent establishment on this basis of certain interpersonal relationships and means the process of education of "social objects".

In communication, they distinguish: content, purpose, means, functions, forms, sides, types, barriers.

Material- the exchange of products and objects of activity, which in turn serve as a means of meeting the actual needs of the subjects. - cognitive -knowledge Exchange.

active- exchange of actions, operations, skills, skills. Conditioning- exchange of mental or physiological states. Motivational - exchange of motives, goals, interests, motives, needs.

Purpose of communication- this is what a person has this type of activity for. According to the goals, communication is divided into biological and social .

biological- this is communication necessary for the maintenance, preservation and development of the body.

Social communication is for the purpose expanding and strengthening interpersonal contacts, establishing and developing interpersonal relationships, personal growth of the individual. There are as many private types of communication as there are biological and social needs. Let's name the main ones:

Businesscommunication is usually included as a private moment in any joint productive activity of people and serves as a means of improving the quality of this activity.

personalcommunication, on the contrary, is concentrated mainly around psychological problems of an internal nature, those interests and needs that deeply and intimately affect the personality of a person.

instrumental- communication, which is not an end in itself, is not stimulated by an independent need, but pursues some other goal, in addition to obtaining satisfaction from the very act of communication.

Target- this is communication, which in itself serves as a means of satisfying a specific need, in this case, the need for communication.

Four main functions of communication: instrumental function characterizes communication as a social mechanism for managing and transmitting information necessary to perform an action; integrative function reveals communication as a means of bringing people together; self-expression function defines communication as a form of mutual understanding of the psychological context; translational function acts as a function of transferring specific methods of activity, assessments, etc.

specific property interpersonal communication - its two-tier organization . In the process of communication, the exchange of information between its participants is carried out as verbal , and non-verbal level.

on verbal, level, human speech is used as a means of transmitting information. To the non-verbal communications include the perceived appearance and expressive movements of a person - gestures, facial expressions, postures, gait

The emerging needs force a person to actively look for ways to satisfy them, become internal incentives for activity, or motives. Motive (from lat. movero - set in motion, push) - this is what moves a living being, for which it spends its vital energy. Being an indispensable "fuse" of any actions and their "combustible material", the motive has always acted at the level of worldly wisdom in various ideas about feelings (pleasure or displeasure, etc.) - motives, inclinations, aspirations, desires, passions, willpower, and so on. Further. Motives can be different: interest in the content and process of activity, duty to society, self-affirmation, etc. So, the following motives can encourage a scientist to scientific activity: self-realization, cognitive interest, self-affirmation, material incentives (monetary reward), social motives (responsibility, desire to benefit society). If a person strives to perform a certain activity, we can say that he has motivation. For example, if a student is diligent in his studies, he has a motivation to study; an athlete who strives to achieve high results has a high level of achievement motivation; the desire of the leader to subordinate everyone indicates the presence of a high level of motivation for power.

The motive cannot be explained by itself. It can be understood in the system of those factors - images, relationships, actions of the individual, which constitute the general structure of mental life. Its role is to give impulse and direction to the behavior towards the goal.

Motivating factors can be divided into two relatively independent classes:

Needs and instincts as sources of activity;

motives as reasons that determine the direction of behavior or activity.

The need is a necessary condition for any activity, but the need itself is not yet able to set a clear direction for the activity. For example, the presence of an aesthetic need in a person creates a corresponding selectivity, but this does not yet indicate what exactly a person will do to satisfy this need. Perhaps he will listen to music, or perhaps he will try to compose a poem or paint a picture.

What is the difference between need and motive? When analyzing the question of why an individual enters a state of activity at all, manifestations of needs are considered as sources of activity. If the question is being studied, what is the activity aimed at, for the sake of which these actions, actions are chosen, then, first of all, the manifestations of motives are studied (as motivating factors that determine the direction of activity or behavior). Thus, the need induces to activity, and the motive - to directed activity. It can be said that a motive is an incentive to activity associated with the satisfaction of the needs of the subject. The study of the motives of educational activity among schoolchildren revealed a system of various motives. Some motives are basic, leading, others are secondary, secondary, they do not have independent significance and are always subordinate to the leaders. For one student, the leading motive for learning may be the desire to gain authority in the class, for another - the desire to get a higher education, for the third - an interest in knowledge itself.

How do new needs arise and develop? As a rule, each need is objectified (and concretized) on one or more objects that are able to satisfy this need, for example, an aesthetic need can be determined by music, and in the process of its development it can also be determined by poetry, i.e. already more items can satisfy her. Consequently, the need develops in the direction of increasing the number of objects that are able to satisfy it; the change and development of needs occurs through the change and development of objects that correspond to them and in which they are objectified and concretized.

To motivate a person means to affect his important interests, to create conditions for him to realize himself in the process of life. To do this, a person must at least: be familiar with success (success is the realization of a goal); to be able to see oneself in the results of one's work, to realize oneself in work, to feel one's significance.

But the meaning of human activity lies not only in obtaining a result. The activity itself can be attractive. A person may like the process of performing an activity, for example, the manifestation of physical and intellectual activity. Like physical activity, mental activity in itself brings a person pleasure and is a specific need. When the subject is motivated by the process of activity itself, and not by its result, this indicates the presence of a procedural component of motivation. The procedural component plays a very important role in the learning process.

The desire to overcome difficulties in learning activities, to test one's strengths and abilities can become a personally significant motive for learning. At the same time, a productive motivational attitude plays an organizing role in the determination of activity, especially if its procedural component (i.e., the process of activity) causes negative emotions. In this case, goals, intentions that mobilize a person's energy come to the fore. Setting goals, intermediate tasks is a significant motivational factor that should be used. To understand the essence of the motivational sphere (its composition, structure, which has a multidimensional and multilevel character, dynamics), it is necessary first of all to consider the connections and relationships of a person with other people, given that this sphere is also formed under the influence of the life of society - its norms, rules, ideology , politicians and others. One of the most important factors determining the motivational sphere of a personality is a person's belonging to any group. For example, teenagers who are interested in sports are different from their peers who are fond of music. Since any person is included in a number of groups and in the process of his development the number of such groups grows, naturally, his motivational sphere also changes. Therefore, the emergence of motives should be considered not as a process arising from the inner sphere of the individual, but as a phenomenon associated with the development of his relations with other people. In other words, the change in motives is determined not by the laws of spontaneous development of the individual, but by the development of his relations and ties with people, with society as a whole.

Personality motives

The motives of the individual is the need (or system of needs) of the individual in the function of motivation. Internal mental urges to activity, behavior are due to the actualization of certain needs of the individual. Activity motives can be very different:

Organic - aimed at meeting the natural needs of the body and are associated with the growth, self-preservation and development of the body;

functional - are satisfied with the help of various cultural forms of activity, for example, playing sports;

material - encourage a person to activities aimed at creating household items, various things and tools;

social - give rise to various activities aimed at taking a certain place in society, gaining recognition and respect;

Spiritual - underlie those activities that are associated with self-improvement of a person.

Organic and functional motives together constitute the motivation for the behavior and activities of the individual in certain circumstances and can not only influence, but change each other.

Human needs manifest themselves in specific forms. People may perceive their needs in different ways. Depending on this, motives are divided into emotional ones - desires, desires, inclinations, etc. and rational - aspirations, interests, ideals, beliefs.

There are two groups of interconnected motives of life, behavior and activity of the individual:

generalized, the content of which expresses the subject of needs and, accordingly, the direction of the aspirations of the individual. The strength of this motive is due to the importance for a person of the object of his needs;

instrumental - the motives for choosing ways, means, ways to achieve or realize the goal, due not only to the need state of the individual, but also to its readiness, the availability of opportunities to successfully act to achieve the goals set in these conditions.

There are other approaches to the classification of motives. For example, according to the degree of social significance, motives of a broad social plan (ideological, ethnic, professional, religious, etc.), group plan and individual-personal nature are distinguished. There are also motives for achieving the goal, avoiding failures, motives for approval, affiliation (cooperation, partnership, love). Motives not only encourage a person to act, but also give his actions and actions a personal, subjective meaning. In practice, it is important to take into account that people, performing actions that are identical in form and objective results, are often guided by different, sometimes opposite motives, attach different personal meanings to their behavior and actions. In accordance with this, the assessment of actions should be different: both moral and legal.

Types of personality motives

Consciously justified motives include values, beliefs, intentions.

Value

Value is a concept used in philosophy to indicate the personal, socio-cultural significance of certain objects and phenomena. Personal values form a system of its value orientations, elements of the internal structure of the personality, which are especially significant for it. These value orientations form the basis of the consciousness and activity of the individual. Value is a personally colored attitude to the world that arises on the basis of not only knowledge and information, but also one's own life experience. Values give meaning to human life. Faith, will, doubt, ideal are of lasting importance in the world of human value orientations. Values are part of a culture that comes from parents, families, religions, organizations, schools, and the environment. Cultural values are widely held beliefs that define what is desirable and what is right. Values can be:

self-oriented, which concern the individual, reflect his goals and general approach to life;

oriented by others, which reflect the desires of society regarding the relationship between the individual and groups;

· environmentally oriented, which embody society's ideas about the desired relationship of the individual with his economic and natural environment.

Beliefs

Beliefs are the motives of practical and theoretical activity, justified by theoretical knowledge and the whole worldview of a person. For example, a person becomes a teacher not only because he is interested in passing on knowledge to children, not only because he loves working with children, but also because he knows very well how much in the creation of society depends on the education of consciousness. This means that he chose his profession not only out of interest and inclination to it, but also because of his convictions. Deeply grounded beliefs persist throughout a person's life. Beliefs are the most generalized motives. However, if generalization and stability are characteristic features of personality traits, then beliefs can no longer be called motives in the accepted sense of the word. The more generalized the motive becomes, the closer it is to a personality property.

Intention

Intention is a consciously made decision to achieve a certain goal with a clear idea of the means and methods of action. This is where motivation and planning come together. Intention organizes human behavior.

The considered types of motives cover only the main manifestations of the motivational sphere. In reality, there are as many different motives as there are possible human-environment relationships.

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The motives of a personality in psychology are a certain inner strength of a person that prompts him to act, which is important for achieving the goal that the individual has set for himself. In the scientific light, the definition of personality motives is very diverse. Some researchers believe that these are ideas, as well as a representation of the personality, others call the motives of a person’s thoughts and attitudes, which he adheres to, guided by them in life. Often, many people know the feeling when you want to move mountains and satisfy your need. This feeling and experience gives the individual strength, as well as self-confidence, which encourages a person to form and grow a personality. Strictly speaking, this experience is the motive of the personality.

Personal motive is a very important attribute in the life of an individual. It is the motives that determine what heights a person reaches. In career growth, the aspirations of employees acquire special properties, so the authorities often try to create external motives. External motives include an increase in wages or bonuses, sometimes it's just praise, etc. These things motivate a person to show interest and put in more effort in order to receive an external reward and, as a result, perform better.

But it is worth noting that internal motives are much stronger than external ones. If an individual, so to speak, is on fire from within with a certain goal and certainly wants to achieve it, then he can overcome all obstacles, since he does it for himself.

Personal behavior motives

The topic of human behavior has been of interest to psychology since ancient times. Answers to the question "why?" people do so, and then behave differently, searched for the greatest minds of our world. Today, it can be considered that human behavior is influenced by many different phenomena. This may be a certain situation, personal qualities of a person, external pressure on a person, or the motives of the person himself.

What are the motives of a person's behavior? Considering the concept of personal motives, we can say that different motives not only influence the behavior of a person in every possible way, but also in certain situations, motives can determine a person’s behavior. The point is that the motive is a fusion of the inner experiences of the individual, which often becomes an attribute of the personality and is formulated into a personal quality. For example, motives to become better, to help people and change this world for the benefit of humanity, can become characteristic of the person who experiences them, and form into a separate feature - altruism.

Motives of personality activity

Depending on what goal a person sees in front of him, he will act in an appropriate way in order to achieve what he wants and get pleasure. If a person is hungry, then he will act in such a way as to find food and a snack, satisfying this need. Such behavior will be determined by the need for food, and the search for food will be the motive of the personality's activity.
Depending on the needs or goals of a person, the motives of activity can be very diverse. For example, if needs relate to basic phenomena that ensure the life and development of a person, then the motives of activity that make such needs satisfy will be called organic. To be more specific, these needs include the already mentioned feeling of hunger, the need to breathe, the need to hide from the heat on a summer day, or the need to run away from danger for the purpose of self-preservation. All these needs are basic, and a person seeks to satisfy them first of all in order to allow his body to naturally exist and develop.

The motives of the activity of the individual are also distinguished by functional ones. They concern the needs that ensure the growth of a person in the cultural sphere. It can be an active holiday on the lake, or playing sports, going to church or theater. All these needs create motives for activity, which in turn drive a person to satisfy these needs, which ensures the functional growth of the individual.

The motives of a person's activity are material. The materialism of these motives implies the creation of material things to meet the needs of a person, which relate to comfort or everyday necessities.

It's no secret that the need to be respected in society is very important for a person. To have one's place among other people, to occupy an appropriate status, as well as the opportunity to show one's social interests - all these are needs that are the cause of the emergence of social motives for human activity. In this case, the individual will act in such a way as to take place among the people who make up his society. For example, activities of this kind can be expressed in participation in various social groups, belonging to volunteers, in the motivation to take part in various actions, organizations, etc.

Spiritual motives may belong to the motives of a person's activity. They appear where a person has a need for self-development, as well as self-improvement. To satisfy such needs, a person may read books, pray to God, practice yoga, or act in some other way to gain spiritual nourishment.

Needs and motives of the individual

In psychology, there are various views on the definition of the needs of the individual, in fact, as well as on the definition of motives. But all views are united by the idea that a need is a state of a person, which is caused by a particular need. These can be material or spiritual objects. This state causes internal stress in the individual. In order to relieve tension, or in other words, to satisfy a specific need, a person begins to act accordingly, guided by the motives that this need generates.

Human needs can be very different. As already mentioned, needs can relate to the organic, functional, material, social or spiritual environment of a person. In addition, scientists identify individual and group needs, as well as daily and annual needs, intellectual and psychological.

In the same situation, a person may have several needs of different kinds at the same time. Accordingly, the internal tension will be very high in this case, and a person must choose which needs to satisfy in the first place. In this context, it is important to note that there is a hierarchy of needs.
The most important are physiological or organic needs. If a person is hungry, it will be difficult for him to concentrate on work, or when it comes to self-preservation, for example, if a person has something hurt, he will only think about how to get rid of this pain, and until it disappears, the person will not be able to meet other social needs.

Abraham Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs, which in turn determines the hierarchy of motives of the individual. In his opinion, motifs can be placed on five conditional shelves that form Maslow's pyramid. At the lowest level are the physiological needs of a person. Going up the levels, the needs for attachment, respect, aesthetic and self-realization needs are considered. It is important to note that in this hierarchy of motives, A. Maslow believes that it is impossible to rise to a higher level if the needs of the lower level are not satisfied.

Social motives of the individual

As already mentioned, the social motives of the individual are generated from the needs of socialization in society. Abraham Maslow classifies attachment as a social motive. These motives represent the desire to be useful to someone, to have the approval of other people. In addition, social motives are due to the need for respect, as well as self-respect, which is no less important.

Each person exists in society and is connected with people. Relationships between people are never simple, so there are various conflicts, hostility and other unpleasant phenomena. But, one way or another, a person is born in society, but sometimes the society itself generates a person. For this reason, it is very natural that a person tries to find his place in society, and to assert his identity among the people he knows.

In this area, a person can act in various ways, guided by social motives. For example, in order to please other people, so as not to violate the ideas of society, a person can show conformity, that is, act like the majority.

Human nature is very complex and mysterious. Relationships between two people are also very unpredictable. People are driven by social motives in order not to be alone. Each person is looking for another person who is able to understand him, support him, and most importantly love him the way he really is. This desire makes people seek compromises in disagreements, change their behavior, change for the better. These are the most important social motives of a person.

It is also worth noting the subordination of power. Even if people complain about the power in the country and do not consider it constructive, they recognize its legitimacy and are convinced that power is necessary for society. Hence comes the submission to authorities, which is also the social motive of the individual.

The system of personality motives

Based on the fact that a person constantly has certain needs, we can say that a person is constantly driven by some motives. In psychological science, it is believed that throughout life, stable motives are formed in people. As already mentioned, they can generate human behavior, be relatively independent of the situation, or even form personality traits. It is these stable motives of a person that determine his activity, in the aggregate, represent the orientation of the personality.

The orientation of the individual is determined by parental upbringing and society. In his life, a person learns the world in which he lives and forms his thoughts about the things and people that surround him. These thoughts become attitudes of the individual, which have a very strong influence on the direction of the personality. Attitudes that become personality traits form different forms of personality orientation; they are based on a system of motives.

Among the forms of personality orientation, there are: inclinations, ideal, desires, interest, aspirations, inclinations, worldview and conviction, as the highest of the forms.

Attraction is an unconscious need for something. This need is not necessary for the individual and may soon disappear. This is the simplest form of personality orientation.
But if attraction is realized by a person, it can develop into desire.

Desire is characterized by a person's need for something specific, for example, in some object. Often, desire has a motivating effect, forcing a person to act, showing willpower, clearly defining for himself the desire and ways to achieve goals. In this case, desire turns into desire.

An important form of personality orientation is interest. Interest itself determines the desire of a person, and also gives meaning to his activities and the goals themselves.

If a person shows interest in a certain area, connects willpower, and also directs his efforts and actions to this area, then such a phenomenon will be considered as aspiration.

Throughout life, people build their ideals. Everyone has an opinion about how a person should be, and, of course, people judge other people, guided by their own ideals. The orientation of the individual consists of constant actions with the desire to achieve his ideal. This form of direction gives rise to a world view.

All of the above forms of personality orientation may not be associated with each other. But the worldview is determined by integrity. It's like a plan of the whole world in a person's head. Worldview allows you to combine thoughts into one picture and build your own, individual idea of the world and people. This enables a person to see his place in the world, as well as to predict his future activities, make plans and achieve goals.

The system of personality motives that determine the activity of a person, taking into account his principles, interests, views of the world, is called persuasion. When a person has a conscious need, he will act depending on his beliefs, which are based on motives that drive a person and contribute to achieving success.

Speaker of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"