Written report

LEARNING AND MOTIVATION / BY: Princess F. Garcia

What is Motivation?
Motivation, as the name suggests, is what ‘moves’ us. It is the reason we do anything at
all. For teachers, a lack of motivation has long been one of the most frustrating obstacles to
student learning. While the concept of motivation may intuitively seem fairly simple, a rich
research literature has developed as researchers have defined this concept in a number of ways.
Social scientists and psychologists have approached the problem of motivation from a variety of
different angles, and education researchers have adapted many of these ideas into the school
context. While there is a great deal of overlap between motivation theories, researchers differ in
their identification of the underlying belief systems leading to motivational variation. Some
theorists emphasise belief in oneself and one’s competency, others prioritise goal orientation, and
a third group argues that the difficulty of the task shapes individual motivation. This resource
will provide an introduction to various theories of motivation, explain the importance of
motivation for learning, and outline several practical strategies that teachers can use to support
and promote student motivation.

Theories of motivation
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic

A common distinction made in the literature is between extrinsic and intrinsic forms of
motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the act of doing an activity purely for the joy of doing it, and it
is frankly very rare in school and work contexts. Extrinsic motivation, or the use of external
rewards or punishments to encourage student work completion, is generally painted in education
as the enemy of good instruction. This is true to a certain extent because, as learning is
comparable to exploration, the use of rewards or punishments tends to outline a boundary around
how much a student should explore.

However, there are actually many different forms of extrinsic motivation, and not all are equally
likely to lead students down a path of apathy and dissociation from the joy of learning. For
example, one extrinsically motivated student may work hard in school because they fear failure
and the anger of their parents. Another may study hard because they see the value of the content
in helping them work toward their dream of becoming a doctor. Neither student in these
examples is intrinsically motivated – their goals lie outside the simple enjoyment of the activity.
However, the second student is likely to be more independent and self-guided in their learning
because they recognise the value of these extrinsic rewards. This form of motivation is much
more sustainable because it does not require constant threats or prizes from teachers or parents.
There is also some research to suggest that extrinsic motivation can lead to intrinsic motivation,
in the sense that students may embark on a task for reasons associated with extrinsic motivation
but become intrinsically motivated through the process of engaging with the task and learning to
value it.

Achievement Goal Theory

Achievement Goal Theory argues that all motivation can be linked to one’s orientation towards a
goal. According to this theory, there are two forms of goal: performance goals and mastery goals.
Performance goals are based on satisfying one’s ego by appearing smart in front of one’s peers
or on achieving a sense of superiority. Mastery goals are, as they sound, motivated by a desire to
fully master a skill or concept. Students with mastery goals will finish a project when they are
proud of it rather than when it meets the minimum requirements. Even after they turn in the
assignment to be assessed, they may continue to reflect on it and make refinements. Mastery
goals largely align with intrinsic motivation in the former theory.

Some researchers in education have broken the concept of Achievement Goal Theory down
further, borrowing the idea of approach and avoidant behavior from psychology. As the name
suggests, students with approach performance goals actively seek to outperform others while
those with avoidant performance goals actively work to avoid being seen as inferior. While less
studied, approach and avoidant orientations also apply to mastery goals as well.

Expectancy Value Theory

Goal orientation has a strong impact on persistence through a rigorous task, as described in
Expectancy Value Theory. According to this model, expectations and values influence
performance and task choice directly. There are two main components to this theory. First, a
student’s effort, the level of challenge they choose and ultimately their performance will follow
their expectation of success or failure. Second, the extent to which a student values learning a
skill or concept directly impacts their effort and mastery of that skill or concept. Expectations
and values themselves are influenced by beliefs about one’s competence (otherwise known as
self-efficacy) and by beliefs about the difficulty of the task. If the student remembers doing well
or feeling satisfied when completing a similar task in the past, they are more likely to push
themselves to work hard on the current task. However, if the student remembers that the activity
was too difficult to be completed and they became frustrated, or not difficult enough and they
became bored, they are unlikely to engage with it.

These beliefs, goals, and memories are also affected by a student’s beliefs of other people’s
attitudes towards and expectations for them, and by their own interpretations of their previous
achievement outcomes. Children’s perceptions and interpretations are influenced by a broad
array of social and cultural factors, and especially by parents and teachers.

Why is motivation important?

First and foremost, motivation is an orientation towards learning. Therefore, it impacts how
likely a student is either to give up or push forward, and how thoughtful their reflection on their
learning will be. The deeper the motivation for pursuing an activity, the more likely that the
student will not accept easy answers to complex questions. In short, intrinsic motivation fosters
strong and flexible critical thinking skills. On the other hand, amotivation and purely extrinsic
motivation lead to low interest and academic persistence.

Motivation fosters creativity and critical thinking

Students who are intrinsically motivated treat learning like play. As a result, they are more likely
to flip the learning on its head to see it from a new angle. Motivated students are not more
intelligent than unmotivated students, but their need to find out the answer to a question or to
master a concept pushes their thinking. Intrinsically motivated students will think about
questions far beyond the confines of the classroom, because the presence of the teacher or the
fear of a low grade are not the underlying drivers for their thinking. Therefore, motivated
students, by virtue of thinking longer and harder and enjoying the challenge of being confused,
will ask deeper, more thought-provoking questions. Motivated students are more able to adapt
learned content to new situations because they tend to reflect on underlying causes or
frameworks.

Motivation cultivates resilience and self-assurance

When a student is truly engrossed in a task, they have less cognitive and emotional energy to
focus on social image. Individuals who engage in intrinsically motivating activities report that
their self-consciousness and other stressors tends to fade for the period of the activity. Motivated
students are also more able to emotionally ‘bounce back’ from a low grade on a test or a harsh
criticism from a teacher or peer. Because intrinsically motivated students are not driven by fear
of failure or criticism, they are less likely to disengage in such circumstances. With that said,
every student does feel the demotivating effects of negative feedback, even if driven students
experience them to a lesser extent.
What Is Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs?
According to Maslow (1943, 1954), human needs were arranged in a hierarchy, with
physiological (survival) needs at the bottom, and the more creative and intellectually oriented
‘self-actualization’ needs at the top.
Maslow argued that survival needs must be satisfied before the individual can satisfy the higher
needs. The higher up the hierarchy, the more difficult it is to satisfy the needs associated with
that stage, because of the interpersonal and environmental barriers that inevitably frustrate us.
Higher needs become increasingly psychological and long-term rather than physiological and
short-term, as in the lower survival-related needs.
1. Physiological needs are biological requirements for human survival, e.g., air, food, drink,
shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, and sleep.
Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our
behavior. Once that level is fulfilled, the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.

The human body cannot function optimally if physiological needs are not satisfied. Maslow
considered physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become secondary until
these needs are met.
Once an individual’s physiological needs are satisfied, the need for security and safety becomes
salient.
2. Safety needs – people want to experience order, predictability, and control in their lives.
Safety needs can be fulfilled by the family and society (e.g., police, schools, business, and
medical care).
For example, emotional security, financial security (e.g., employment, social welfare), law and
order, freedom from fear, social stability, property, health, and wellbeing (e.g., safety against
accidents and injury).
After physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social
and involves feelings of belongingness.
3. Love and belongingness needs refers to a human emotional need for interpersonal
relationships, affiliating, connectedness, and being part of a group.
Examples of belongingness needs include friendship, intimacy, trust, acceptance, receiving and
giving affection, and love.
This need is especially strong in childhood and can override the need for safety, as witnessed in
children who cling to abusive parents.
4. Esteem needs are the fourth level in Maslow’s hierarchy and include self-worth,
accomplishment, and respect.
Maslow classified esteem needs into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement,
mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status,
prestige).

Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often
engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. These activities give the person a sense of
contribution or value.
Low self-esteem or an inferiority complex may result from imbalances during this level in the
hierarchy.

Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and
adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or dignity.
5. Self-actualization needs are the highest level in Maslow’s hierarchy, and refer to the
realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak
experiences.
This level of need refers to what a person’s full potential is and the realization of that potential.
Maslow (1943, 1987, p. 64) describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one
can, and “to become everything one is capable of becoming”.
Individuals may perceive or focus on this need very specifically. For example, one individual
may have a strong desire to become an ideal parent.
In another, the desire may be expressed athletically. For others, it may be expressed in paintings,
pictures, or inventions.
Although Maslow did not believe that many of us could achieve true self-actualization, he did
believe that all of us experience transitory moments (known as ‘peak experiences’) of self-
actualization.
Such moments, associated with personally significant events such as childbirth, sporting
achievement and examination success), are difficult to achieve and maintain consistently.
maslow 5
Maslow posited that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy:
“It is quite true that man lives by bread alone — when there is no bread. But what happens to
man’s desires when there is plenty of bread and when his belly is chronically filled?
At once other (and “higher”) needs emerge and these, rather than physiological hungers,
dominate the organism. And when these in turn are satisfied, again new (and still “higher”) needs
emerge and so on. This is what we mean by saying that the basic human needs are organized into
a hierarchy of relative prepotency” (Maslow, 1943, p. 375) .
Key Point: Keep in mind that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs doesn't follow a strict linear
progression. Individuals can feel various needs at the same time or shift between levels.
Maslow continued to refine his theory based on the concept of a hierarchy of needs over several
decades (Maslow, 1943, 1962, 1987).
Regarding the structure of his hierarchy, Maslow (1987) proposed that the order in the hierarchy
“is not nearly as rigid” (p. 68) as he may have implied in his earlier description.

Maslow noted that the order of needs might be flexible based on external circumstances or
individual differences. For example, he notes that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem
is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may
supersede even the most basic needs.
Maslow (1987) also pointed out that most behavior is multi-motivated and noted that “any
behavior tends to be determined by several or all of the basic needs simultaneously rather than by
only one of them” (p. 71).
Maslow (1954) proposed that human beings possess two sets of needs. This five-stage model can
be divided into deficiency needs and growth needs. The first four levels are often referred to as
deficiency needs ( D-needs ), and the top level is known as growth or being needs (B-needs ).
Deficiency needs
Deficiency needs are concerned with basic survival and include physiological needs (such as the
need for food, sex, and sleep) and safety needs (such as the need for security and freedom from
danger).
Behaviors associated with these needs are seen as ‘deficiency’ motivated, as they are a means to
an end.
Deficiency needs arise due to deprivation and are said to motivate people when they are unmet.
Also, the motivation to fulfill such needs will become stronger the longer they are denied. For
example, the longer a person goes without food, the more hungry they will become.
Maslow (1943) initially stated that individuals must satisfy lower-level deficit needs before
progressing to meet higher-level growth needs.
However, he later clarified that satisfaction of a need is not an “all-or-none” phenomenon,
admitting that his earlier statements may have given “the false impression that a need must be
satisfied 100 percent before the next need emerges” (1987, p. 69).
When a deficit need has been “more or less” satisfied, it will go away, and our activities become
habitually directed toward meeting the next set of needs we have yet to satisfy. These then
become our salient needs. However, growth needs continue to be felt and may even become
stronger once engaged.
Growth needs
Growth needs are more psychological and are associated with realizing an individual’s full
potential and needing to ‘self-actualize’. These needs are achieved more through intellectual and
creative behaviors.
Growth needs do not stem from a lack of something but rather from a desire to grow as a person.
Once these growth needs have been reasonably satisfied, one may be able to reach the highest
level, called self-actualization. Growth needs are achieved more through intellectual and creative
behaviors.
Every person is capable and has the desire to move up the hierarchy toward a level of self-
actualization. Unfortunately, progress is often disrupted by a failure to meet lower-level needs.
Life experiences, including divorce and the loss of a job, may cause an individual to fluctuate
between levels of the hierarchy.
Therefore, not everyone will move through the hierarchy in a uni-directional manner but may
move back and forth between the different types of needs.

References
Geller, L. (1982). The failure of self-actualization theory: A critique of Carl
Rogers and Abraham
Maslow. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 22, 56–73.

Hoffman, E. (1988). The right to be human: A biography of Abraham

Maslow. Los Angeles, CA: Jeremy P. Tarcher.

Anderman, E. M., & Patrick, H. (2012). Achievement goal theory,

conceptualization of ability/intelligence, and classroom climate. In Handbook
of research on student engagement (pp. 173-191). Springer: Boston, MA.

Deci, E. L., Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). Motivation
and education: The self-determination perspective. Educational psychologist,
26(3-4), 325-346.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic
definitions and new directions. Contemporary educational psychology, 25(1),
54-67.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the

facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.
American psychologist, 55(1), 68.