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Md. Shahrear Mahmood

Assistant Professor Mr. Molla Azizur Rahman

HSS – 3207

21 April 2011

Motivation and Motivation Cycle In Psychology

Arguably, motivation can be termed as one of the most interesting topics in the study

of Psychology as motivation plays a major role in the development of the psyche of an

individual and as it is his driving force. Motivation leads a person toward achieving his or her

goal. Motivation is a kind of drive; it is an enthusiasm and determination combined with a

kind of stimulation that enables an individual to persevere to reach greater heights.

Depending upon the individual, motivation or drive can take its origin from both internal and

external source. Motivation cycle one the other hand, is the longing for something that is

followed by the action to get the desired thing and that leads to the achievement of another

thing. When one desire is fulfilled it leads to another and thus the desire moves in a circular

pattern and this motion of motivation is called the motivation cycle.  The rest of this paper

will try to illuminate the certain aspects on motivation and its different theories and

motivation cycle and how these concepts are interrelated.

“The term motivation as popularly used, refers to the cause or why of behavior. Used

in this sense motivation would cover all of psychology, since psychology is the study of

human behavior. But we know that many aspects of behavior can be explained as the result of

maturation and learning. Psychologists then usually narrow the concept of motivation to

those factors that energize behavior and give it direction.” (Hilgard, Atkinson and Atkinson

302) . Motivation is the inward urge or desire that stimulates an individual to do something to

satisfy that specific desire.  As motivation is an inward or innate process and derives from the

internal desires of an individual he or she cannot be motivated by others, but they can
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manipulate the external or environmental variables that can raise or reduce

motivation. Motivation has been categorized into two types; they are intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that can be derived from the delight of the

task alone and does not require any external pressure. This kind of motivation exists purely

within the individual. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation takes its origin from the

external factors, such as good grades, pay rise, promotion, and punishment and so

on. Competition plays a vital role in this kind of motivation as it persuades individuals to

perform better and try to beat each other to achieve the reward.

There are several motivation theories proposed by renowned psychologists. These

theories can be used as tools for better understanding about motivation and the numerous

factors that are surrounding it. A chart showing different motivational theories in a

hierarchical order is appended below.

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Figure 1 Motivational Theories

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Incentive theory suggests that individuals are motivated by the prospect of getting a

tangible or intangible reward after finishing an action. “This this is done by associating

positive meaning to the behavior.” (Motivation). It has been proven by studies that an

individual’s performance level enhances if he is granted his reward immediately after

finishing his job and the performance level drops when duration lengthens. Also if this

process is alowed to be continued for a long time, then this action will transfromed into a

habit.

The drive-reduction theory, also known as the Psychoanalytic theory of motivation

based on the diverse ideas given by Sigmund Freud. This theory proposes that, human beings

have certain biological drives like hunger and others that gains strength in the passing of time

and if these drives are not satisfied. And when the drive has been satisfied it will lose its

strength. There is another theory known as the Cognitive dissonance theory. It was suggested

by Leon Festinger. Although this theory is not fully concerned with motivational theory but it

suggests that, “people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by

changing their attitudes, beliefs, or actions.” (Motivation)

Among all the motivational theories proposed by psychologist over the decades none

has gained so much popularity as the Need hierarchy theory. This theory was proposed by

Abraham Maslow, a leader in the development of humanistic psychology in his in his 1943

paper A Theory of Human Motivation. The gist Maslow’s theory is that, human beings have

desires that infulences their behavoir but only the unsatisfaied desires can influence human

actions. Maslow categorized the various human desires and arranged them in a hierarchial

order of importance. An individual will only advance in this hierarchy of needs when the

lower level of desires have been satisfied and the more that person will advance in that

hierarchy “the more individuality, humanness and psychological health a person will show.”

(Motivation). Abram Maslow’s need satisfaction model is given below.

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Figure 2 Abram Maslow’s need satisfaction model

(Hilgard, Atkinson and Atkinson 334)

Frederick Herzberg another renowned psychologist proposed another theory known as

the two-factor theory. Herzberg’s theory suggests that, there are certain factors in the

workplace that results in job satisfaction. However, if those factors are absent they do not

lead an individual towards dissatisfaction but no satisfaction. Herzberg distinguished between

motivators and hygiene factors. According to Herzberg the motivators such as challenging

work, recognition, responsibility and the hygiene factors such as job security, salary and so

on do not necessarily creates motivation but if these factors are absent they can certainly

create demotivation.

Clayton Alderfer expanded Abraham Maslow’s theory of hierarchy of needs and

proposed another theory that is known as the ERG theory. This theory says that there are

three types of core need — existence, relatedness, and growth. The existence needs group is
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concerned with the basic material existence requirements, the relatedness group is concerned

with the desire we have for maintaining important interpersonal relationships and the growth

group is concerned with the intrinsic desire for personal development.

The Self-determination theory was proposed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. This

motivational theory is focused on the importance of intrinsic motivation in driving human

behavior. This theory hypothesizes a natural inclination towards growth and development.

The self-determination theory requires active encouragements from the external factors that

is, the environments and believes that autonomy, competence feedback, and relatedness are

the primary factors that encourage motivation and development.

The broad theories are the latest development in the field of motivational theory. The

latest broad theory is known as the Temporal Motivation Theory and it is developed by Piers

Steel and Cornelius Konig. This theory combines the primary aspects of all other major

motivational theories such as Incentive, Drive, Need, Self-Efficacy and Goal Setting theory

into a single formulation.

The goal-setting theory falls under the category of cognitive motivational theories.

This goal-setting theory is based on the view that, individuals have sometimes a drive to

reach a clearly defined goal or aim. Often this goal or aim is a reward in itself. The efficiency

of a goal is affected by three features. They are: proximity, difficulty and specificity.

“Motivation is the fundamental driving thrust that generates behavior.” (Harlow,

McGaugh and Thompson 250) It is motivation that keeps us moving, doing what we do. But

the interesting fact is that, this motivation is not static. It is constanly moving in a circualr

motiopn which brings to our second segment of discussion that is, the motivation cycle.

The concept of motivation cycle is based on the notion that, when an individual

accpplishes a task or satisfies a drive he or she doesn’t stop. Often the accomplished goal
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leads to other drives. A person never gets contented. One goal leads to other drives or

motives. A diagram of motivation cycle is appended below.

Figure 3 Motivation Cycle

From the above diagram we can see that a motivation cycle is completed in four steps.

They are: need, drive, incentive and reward. If we follow this cycle then the process of

motivation cycle becomes fairly clear.

Need is the physical or psychological deficiency in the body. It is lacking of what we

want. When the stimuli remains constant we do not feel need. The tendency to restore a

balanced condition in the body is known as Homeostasis. This phenomenon is characterized

by physiological functioning. The stimulated condition motivates an individual to mimic

behavior to remedy the need. For example, a person who is thirsty needs something to drink

and similarly, a person may desire for success in his business.

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Drive is a motivational state created by the need. For example a hungry person may

seek food to satisfy the drive for hunger which is his need. Drives are basically action based

motion or component which functions to satisfy the desire of the motivated behavior. Drive is

the internal state of tension which continues to build up until it is satisfied.

Incentive is the third component within the motivation cycle. Incentive is the

appropriate object or situation of simply the goal toward which the motivated individual is

directed. Incentive has the power to satisfy the drive. For example, if a person is hungry then

food will be incentive for him. Incentive can be anything. Food, drink, wealth, promotion,

recognition and so on. Incentive can be both positive and negative, for example a loaf of

bread can be a positive incentive for a hungry person but a piece of chocolate will be negative

incentive for him.

  The last component of the motivation cycle is the reward. When an individual

achieves his or her incentive and derives satisfaction from it then he enjoys the reward.

Reward brings a stable state within the mind and the body of the individual. If a person is

completely satisfied then homeostasis sate is attained for that particular need.

So we see that, motivation is never static. It is dynamic and always in motion.

Motivation is the driving force of the living beings in the world. The role of motivation

cycles can be observed best in business and learning centers. Students and employees are

constantly being motivated by their teachers and employers to do better. The above given

motivation cycle can be further discussed in the following manner.

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Here, the first stage of the motivation cycle is need. Need is the state or condition

which indicates the lack of something vital or desired which an individual will strive to

obtain. This need can be various types of intrinsic or extrinsic drives like hunger, thirst and so

on. When an individual feels this drive or need, it motivates him or her to find a means to

satisfy that drive. This brings us to the second step that is the buildup of tension. In this stage,

the drives gain its strength, and it strongly steers the person toward some kind of focused

activities, which enables the person to satisfy the drive.  When the drive is satisfied the

tension is reduced and the person feels relived, or he enjoys some sort of reward. And this

very satisfaction leads him towards another need, and the cycle continues. 

If we want to explain the above process through an example, then the concept of

motivation cycle will become even clearer. Suppose a student is asked by his teacher to

prepare a research paper that must be submitted within a certain period of time. The

command of the teacher towards the student creates the need, and this drive creates an
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extrinsic motivation in the student. Thus the first step of the cycle end the second begins. In

the second step, a tension builds up in the mind of the student, and this tension can be the

desire of the student to prove his competence or the fear of getting a poor mark.  So in the

third stage the student engages himself in focused activities such researching on the topic and

getting his paper ready. In the fourth step when the student submits his paper and gets the

evaluation from his teacher, he feels satisfied that he has successfully  completed the assigned

the task and this satisfaction creates in him, a new drive and that is to do better next time and

thus the cycle of motivation continues to move.

So in conclusion we can say that human beings have an unlimited wants and desires.

As soon they fulfill one of their desires it leads them toward another desire. And thus the

cycle continues to move on and on. It is this motivation and its continuous movement in

circular motion that enables us to pursue evermore challenging projects. So we can say it is

the motivation and motivation cycle that prevents the human civilization from coming to an

abrupt halt. 
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