Motivation
Theories

Theories of motivation are frameworks or sets of principles that aim to explain motivational phenomena. They seek to understand how motivation arises and what causes and effects it has as well as the goals that commonly motivate people. This way, they provide explanations of why an individual engages in one behavior rather than another, how much effort they invest, and how long they continue to strive toward a given goal.

Important debates in the academic literature concern to what extent motivation is innate or based on genetically determined instincts rather than learned through previous experience. A closely related issue is whether motivational processes are mechanistic and run automatically or have a more complex nature involving cognitive processes and active decision-making. Another discussion revolves around the topic of whether the primary sources of motivation are internal needs rather than external goals.

A common distinction among theories of motivation is between content theories and process theories. Content theories attempt to identify and describe the internal factors that motivate people, such as different types of needs, drives, and desires. They examine which goals motivate people. Influential content theories are Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Frederick Herzberg 's two-factor theory, and David McClelland 's learned needs theory. Process theories discuss the cognitive, emotional, and decision-making processes that underlie human motivation. They examine how people select goals and the means to achieve them. Major process theories are expectancy theory, equity theory, goal-setting theory, self-determination theory, and reinforcement theory. Another way to classify theories of motivation focuses on the role of inborn physiological processes in contrast to cognitive processes and distinguishes between biological, psychological, and biopsychosocial theories.
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