Motivation Why do people do what they do ?

How are people driven to do various things?

INTRODUCTION Psychologists have tried to find answers to this interesting question. Different people do many things which other people do not do. Why? answer to this question is useful to people who have to get things done by other people. Managers, school principals, teachers and many others face with the task of getting their subordinates to do good work at their places, in their schools or classes or offices.

A salesman would want to create an interest in his customer to buy his merchandise while a politician wants to make the people vote for him. Making other people to do things is an art called motivation. A factory manager may want to motivate his workers to do a good job of work while a teacher will want her children to do their learning better. Similarly, the principal of a school will want the teachers in his staff to d good work so that his school would produce good results at the examinations. All the people mentioned above have authority to get things done by his staff by using it but, by experience, they know authority or compulsion alone would not make people work hard. This holds good for the students in a classroom too.

Motivating Factors The psychologists conclude that individuals are driven to do various things in order to fulfill their needs. These need can be grouped as given below. They motivate people to do what they do

1 Physiological needs 2 Security needs 3 Affiliation needs 4 Esteem needs. 5. Self – fulfillment needs. 6 The need for transcendence

Maslow’s Triangle (with eight stages). Maslow argued that the five sets of human needs can be arranged in priority order. When the first set of needs are satisfied only they go for next set of desires and so on. He arranged them in a triangle from starting with the basic needs at the bottom. Thi triangle is called Maslow’s Triangle. Given below is a modified from of Maslow’s Triangle (with eight stages).

The need for transcendence (to find meaning of existence) Self actualization (The realization of one’s potential) Aesthetic needs (symmetry, order beauty) Cognitive needs (to be, to understand, to learn) Esteem needs (to achieve, be competent, gain a approval) Belonging and love needs (to affiliate, to give and receive attention) Safety needs ( to feel secure and safe, to seek pleasure and avoid pain) Physiological needs (hunger, thirst, maintenance of internal state of the body)