Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation

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This blog was much harder than I thought it would be! Please feel free to comment!

references

Ormond, J.(2008). Human Learning. (5th ed). Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River: New Jersey.
Maslow's Heirarchy of needs. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm on April 21, 2010.
Maslow's Heirarcy of Needs. Retrieved from http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm on April 21, 2010.
Drive Theory. Retrieved from http://www.psychotherapy.ro/resources/tag/drive-theory/ on April 21, 2010.
Intrinsic Motivation. Retrieved from http://www.psychologyandsociety.com/motivation.html on April 21, 2010.

Theories

As I mentioned before, Freud's drive theory incorporates motivation. Another such theory is Maslow's heirarchy of needs theory. Kendra Cherry stated, "The lowest levels of the pyramid are made up of the most basic needs, while the more complex needs are located at the top of the pyramid.(Cherry,2009). The needs laid out in Maslow's theory involve the intrinsic drive that humans have. At the top of the pyramid is the need for "self-actualization", or the need to become our full potential. Then comes the esteem need in which people strive to feel good about themselves. Further down the pyramid is love and belonging. As humans we have a need to belong to a group and be loved by other humans. Safety needs comes next, almost to the bottom of the pyramid. Years ago, humans had to seek safety from animals,etc. Now humans seek safety from cars, locked doors at home, etc. And at the bottom of the pyramid are the physiological needs. This is the base of the pyramid because it is the broadest and most important human intrinsic need. This need must be met in order for a human to move up the pyramid. These needs include food, water, and shelter. When we think back to the tragedy in New Orleans, we can think about those people who were lacking food, water and shelter. They certainly had no concern at that point for self esteem, love and belonging, or reaching thier full potential. They had to meet the needs at the bottom of the pyramid before they could move up.

Links

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

http://education.calumet.purdue.edu/vockell-EdpsyBook/Edpsy5edpsy_intrinsic.htm

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm

http://www.psychotherapy.ro/resources/tag/drive-theory/

http://www.psychologyandsociety.com/motivation.html

'advantages and disadvantages

The main disadvantage to the motivation concept is survival. Without it our species would have died out a long time ago. Fast food restaurants and grocery stores did not exist before. It was much harder to seek out food and shelter to survive. Humans were motivated. A disadvantage to intrinsic motivation is the competitive drive that some have. These are not the times that we have to hunt for food or clothing, yet some people are much more self centered because of these intrinsic motivators. An advantage to extrinsic motivation is that people will work hard to get a desired outcome. For example, I do not enjoy going to staff meetings, however, I do enjoy the extra pay I get when I attend. That extrinsic motivator turns out good for me. Ormond discusses the disadvantage to extrinsic motivation, "Extrinsically motivated students may exert only the minimal behavioral and cognitive effort they need to execute a task sucessfully, and they may stop an activity as soon as reinforcement ceases."(Ormond, 2008. p.455). In other words, the motivation may stop when the short term goal is reached.

Uses and Application

One theory by Freud, called drive reduction. In this theory the humans goal is to keep themselves in an internal state of "homeostasis". In other words, if someone feels that something is not right, they will seek out ways to make it better. If you are hungry, you will seek out food. This intrinsic motivation causes people to seek out their needs and have them met. This is one of the most important uses of motivation-survival. When you are cold, you will seek out warmth. It is intrinsic, we cannot ignore this type of motivation. An extrinsic factor in this case would be seeking out approval. A person's drive may be more dependent on approval from others. This drives them to seek out certain types of clothes, food, music, etc. This is an important drive, although not as important as the first. This drive gives us the feelings of belonging to a group. This is important to our human nature and is a big part of our culture.

motivation

Motivation is defined by Ormrod as,"an internal state that arouses us to action, pushes us in particular directions, keeps us engaged in certain activities." In other words, it is the little voice inside your head that pushes you to do things that you would normally not do.Wiithout motivation, there would not be nurses, doctors, lawyers, or any other degree required fields in place. Without motivation all things would stay the same and maybe even get worse than they currently are. It drives us to greatness and prevents us from fail. There are two major types of motivation, extrinsic and intrinsic. Simply put, one is an external motivator and the other is that little voice inside your head as a motivator. For example, a nursing school student is there mostly because of intrinsic motivation, however, extrinsic motivation(test grades) keeps him or her going through school.

Motivation