Motivation is an internal force that triggers a response or behavior. Some learners learn the same subject matter or task more efficiently than others, some find it more beneficial and interesting than others: and some enjoy it more than others. At any given time, learners are inclined to direct their energies toward achieving goals due to differences in motivation. Motivation is an important element of the learning process. Knowledge of the factors that facilitate motivation to learn and achieve is critical for a teacher to be truly effective or for a student to achieve. Motives also help in making predictions about behavior. A person will work harder in school, in sports, in business, in music, and in many other situations if he has a very strong need for achievement. Therefore, objectives are general states that enable us to make predictions about behavior in many different situations.
Motivation is the force that provides energy to behavior and directs it towards a goal. Generally the concept of motivation applies when a person is active to satisfy a need or desire. The individual will engage in or be attracted to activities that are believed to have the potential to satisfy this need or desire. Because activities that appear to satisfy unmet needs will seem attractive and interesting, a teacher observing unmotivated students may actually be observing someone whose needs are not being met by life in the classroom. . When classroom activities allow the satisfaction of the student’s needs, even this unmotivated student will actively engage in the learning experience.
The Motivational Cycle
Psychologists now use the concept of need to describe the motivational properties of behavior. A need is a lack or lack of a need. A state of need leads to drive.
Drive is a state of tension or excitement arising from a need. It gives energy to random activity. When one of the random activities leads to a goal, it reduces the drive, and the organism ceases to be active. The organism returns to a balanced state from stress.
Kinds of Motivation
Basically, there are two types of motives: biological and psychosocial. Biological motives are also known as physiological motives because they are mostly directed by the physiological mechanisms of the body. On the other hand, psychosocial motives are mainly learned from individual interactions with various environmental factors.
However, both types of objectives are interdependent on each other. That is, biological factors may trigger a motive in one type of situation while not in another; Psychosocial factors may trigger motive.
- Biological approach: The biological or physiological approach to explaining motivation is the earliest attempt to understand the causes of behavior. Some of the basic biological needs explained by this approach are hunger, thirst and sex, which are essential for the sustenance of the individual.
- Psychosocial objectives: Social objectives are mostly learned or acquired. Social groups like family, neighbourhood, friends and relatives contribute a lot in achieving social objectives. These are complex forms of motives which arise mainly from the interaction of the individual with his social environment.
Under this category we can list all those needs which are related to the socio-cultural environment of a person. These are acquired through social learning. However such needs are not linked to the survival of the organism or species. Yet being deprived of these can lead to a psychological condition, which can seriously affect its survival and well-being. For clarity these requirements can be classified in the following manner.
(i) The need for freedom or gaining independence
(ii) The need for security
(iii) The need for love and affection
(iv) The need to achieve
(v) The need for recognition or social approval
(vi) The need for company
(vii) The need for self-assertion
(viii) The need for self-expression or self-actualization
