Motivation
Defined as the internal and/or external forces that produce the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior, motivation is often considered the foundation of achievement. It activates, reinforces and maintains behavior towards the attainment of intended objectives.
More recently, Reeve (2018) defined motivation as, “Those internal processes that energize, direct, and sustain behavior,” putting emphasis on the individual as the causal agent. Although motivation emanates from within, it can be influenced positively or negatively by external forces (e.g., rewards, consequences, incentives); motivational climate (i.e., learning, practice, and work environment), and by teaching, coaching, and management behaviors.
Understanding motivation can be extremely practical and deeply worthwhile. Harvard Professor Dr. Jack Demick (2019) suggests:
It can be quite useful to know where motivation comes from and why, why it sometimes changes and why it other times does not, under what conditions motivation increases or decreases, what aspects of motivation can and cannot be changed, and whether some types of motivation are more beneficial than other types.
Knowledge of motivation can be applied to scenarios such as trying to engage students, coach athletes, motivate employees, encourage patients, support clients, or motivate ourselves.
Valued outcomes may include: greater effort, engagement, and persistence; increased intrinsic and internalized forms of motivation; deeper conceptual learning; adaptive changes to the self-concept; robust demonstrations of autonomous motivation; higher work satisfaction, decreased job burnout, and less employee turnover; finding purpose and meaning in life, and increased psychological well-being.