UNIT 9 MOTIVATION*

Structure
9.1 Objectives
9.2 Introduction
9.3 Defining Motivation
9.4 Types of Motivation
9.5 Theories of Motivation
9.6 Enhancing Individual Potential through Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
9.7 Self-regulation
9.8 Self enhancement
9.9 Let Us Sum Up
9.10 Key Words
9.11 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
9.12 Unit End Questions
9.13 References
9.14 Suggested Readings

9.1 OBJECTIVES
After reading the Unit, you will be able to :
define motivation;
describe the types of motivation;
discuss the theories of motivation;
discuss the ways of enhancing individual potential through intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation; and
elucidate the concepts of self-regulation and self enhancement.

9.2 INTRODUCTION
Mahima was taking part in 100 meters marathon in her college. But as she started
running there was a cramp in her left leg. But despite of the pain and discomfort,
she managed to finish the race and secure the first prize. What do you think might
have made Mahima continue in the race and perform to her best?
Sania’s brother was getting married the next day and despite of being preoccupied
with the marriage preparations, she ensured that the report that she had to submit
to her Manager was prepared and submitted as per the time given to her, What do
you think prompted Sania to prepare the report and submit it in time?
* Prof. Suhas Shetgovekar, Faculty of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New
Delhi 171
Motivation and In the above examples, the main question that arises is why did the individuals (Mahima
Creativity and Sania) behave the way they did. What was the driving force behind their behaviour?
In our day-to-day life, you might have come across such behaviours, where you may
have wondered why certain individuals behaved the way they did. From getting something
to eat to helping a person injured in an accident, to completing work in time, one of the
significant factors that can play a role is motivation. As certain behaviours may be
displayed due to the factor of motivation, it is also possible that an individual may not
behave in certain ways because of lack of motivation. For example, a student may not
do well in his/ her examination because he/ she never felt motivated enough, intrinsically
or extrinsically (these terms will be discussed in detail later in this Unit) or an individual
may not perform to his/ her best at work place due to lack of motivation.
Thus motivation answers the ‘why’ of human behaviour. It is a key factor that determines
human behaviour and thus it is important that as students of psychology, you understand
this term in a better way. In the present Unit we will define motivation and describe the
types of motivation. Further, we will discuss the various theories of motivation explaining
the nature of motivation. You will also learn about the concepts of self regulation and
self enhancement, and different ways of enhancing individual potential through intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation.

9.3 DEFINING MOTIVATION

Motivation has been mainly termed as a factor that drives or pushes one in a certain
direction or to behave in a certain way. Motivation can be termed as a driving force or
it can also be stated as a process that starts and drives various activities, whether
physical or psychological (Gerrig and Zimbardo, 2006). The term motivation has been
derived from a Latin word ‘movere’, which means ‘to move’. It can thus be described
in terms of drive, force, desires, needs and wishes that may lead to individuals behaving
in a certain manner. A desire to get praise from the teacher may motivate a student to
perform well in a class activity. A wish to gain more knowledge about a certain subject
may motivate an individual to take up an educational programme in that subject. A
hunger drive may prompt an individual to buy biscuits or snacks. A desire to spend time
with his/ her parents, may encourage a person to travel long distance. Thus any human
behaviour can be said to be as a result of some kind of motivation.
The term motivation has been defined in various ways as you can see below:
Feldman (2015, p. 287) defined motivation as “the factors that direct and energize
the behaviour of humans and other organisms”.
Feist and Rosenberg (2015, p. 397) define motivation as “the urge to move towards
one’s goals, to accomplish tasks”.
Chamorro- Premuzic (2015, p. 272) defined motivation as “an internal state, dynamic
rather than static in nature, that propels action, directs behaviour and is oriented
toward satisfying both instincts and cultural needs and goals”.
Quick, Nelson and Khandelwal (2013, p. 172) defined motivation as “the process of
arousing and sustaining goal directed behaviour”.
Nolen-Hoeksema et al (2009, p. 419) describe motivation as “a condition that
energizes behaviour and givesit direction”.
Morgan et al (1993, p. 268) define motivation as “the driving and pulling forces
172 which result in persistent behaviour directed toward particular goals”.
Petri (1996) defines motivation as “the process by which activities are started, directed Motivation
and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met”.
Analyzing the above definitions,we can say that motivation is an internal force that
drives people into some action or behaviour. It is a process having a goal-directed
orientation. It is dynamic in nature which energizes the person to pursue a goal.
In the context of motivation the three main terms that need to be discussed are needs,
drives and incentives that contribute to motivation.
Needs: These are related to the biological states of cellular or bodily deficiencies that
lead to drives. For example, individuals need water, food and of course oxygen to
survive (Feist & Rosenberg, 2015).These are the biological needs, the needs related to
the body. We also have cognitive needs and social needs. Cognitive needs include such
needs as need for achievement and curiosity. Social needs arise from social situation/
context and include need to conform, cooperate and compete.
Drives: Feist & Rosenberg (2015, p. 397) define drives as “the perceived states of
tension that occur when our bodies are deficient in some need, creating an urge to
relieve the tension”. As we discussed under need, a need leads to or compels drive.
Thus when an individual is hungry he/ she will seek food. Thus the need leads to drive
and makes the individual to behave in such a way that the deficiency created is dealt
with.
Incentives: This is external or is from the environment (as opposed to drive that are
internal) and plays a role in motivating behaviours. It could be an object or an event. A
trophy won in a game can be termed as an incentive to do well in that game.
After knowing the meaning of motivation, now let us see the types of motivation. Human
behaviour is caused by various motives some of which may be basic such as food, and
some may be influenced by social factors. Further, some may arise from within the
individual, the internal psychological factors. Let us discuss these various types of motives
in the section below.

9.4 TYPES OF MOTIVATION

Motivation can be broadly of two types, which are discussed as follows:
1) Primary and Secondary Motivation: Primary motivation can also be termed
as basic motivation and mainly includes the needs related to hunger, thirst, sleep,
sex, avoidance of pain and so on. These mainly influence an individual’s behaviour
at a basic level and these needs are also related to the basic need for preservation
of self. Secondary motivation can be termed as learned motivation and these
may differ from individual to individual. They are also related to the priorities and
values of the individual. You will learn more about this under drive reduction theory
in section 9.5.
2) Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation: This is yet another way in which motivation
can be categorized. Extrinsic motivation can be defined as “motivation that
comes from outside the person and usually involves rewards and praises” (Feist &
Rosenberg, 2015, p. 415). The examples of extrinsic motivation are reward, praise,
money, feedback and so on. Thus it consists of something outside the individual.
Such motivators provide satisfaction/ pleasure that the activities/ tasks may not
provide. Thus these motivators get the individual to do something that they may
not do otherwise.
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Motivation and Extrinsic motivation has a number of advantages as it is not only linked with the increase
Creativity in behaviour but also with increase in performance. However, it also has limitation in the
sense that, if, for instance, the reward is removed, then the behaviour may also decrease.
And at the same time if the reward remains the same and is not increased, the motivation
will also decrease. Further, extrinsic motivation may be effective with simpler tasks as
opposed to tasks that require creative and lateral thinking. Moreover, it may also affect
the intrinsic motivation of the person in carrying out the task. For example, if a child
enjoys keeping his/ her room organized and tidy, but if parents start providing reward
for the same, the child will keep the room tidy not because of the intrinsic motivation,
that is the enjoyment, but will do so because of the reward given by the parents. To
take yet another example, if an employee adequately uses safety devices because he/
she is intrinsically motivated to do so and if his/ her supervisor provides him/ her with
extrinsic motivators for use of the safety devices, the employee will start using the safety
devices due to the extrinsic motivation and not due to the intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation can be defined as “motivation that comes from within a person
and includes the elements of challenge, enjoyment, mastery and autonomy” (Feist &
Rosenberg, 2015, p. 416). For example, there could be an activity that an individual
enjoys doing. There are four components of intrinsic motivation (Feist and Rosenberg,
2015) as given below.
Challenge: It relates to the extent to which an individual enjoys the excitement
that accompanies a new challenge.
Enjoyment: It relates to the pleasure that an individual may obtain from carrying
out the task.
Mastery:It relates to the sense of pride and accomplishment that an individual
may experience when he/ she carries out a difficult task.
Autonomy and self determination:It relates to the autonomy that an individual
enjoys while carrying out the task, that is, the freedom with which the individual
can determine what is to be done and how is it to be done.
Intrinsic motivation plays an important role in enhancing the productivity as well as
creativity in the individuals.
Self Assessment Questions I
1) Define motivation.
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2) What is intrinsic motivation?
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 Motivation
9.5 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Let us now discuss the various theories of motivation which help to explain how does
motivation function and operate to influence our behaviour and actions.
1) Drive Reduction Theory: The drive theory focuses on needs and drives which
we have discussed earlier. It is also called as the push theory of motivation as “the
behaviour is pushed towards goals by driving force within the person or animal”
(Morgan et al , 1996, p. 269).
Drive reduction theorystates that “lack of some basic biological need produces a
drive to push an organism to satisfy that need” (Feldman, 2015 p. 288). You
learned about drive earlier in this Unit which can be explained as a tension or
arousal that channelizes behaviour to fulfill a need. Drives can be of two types,
primary and secondary. The examples of primary drives are thirst, hunger, sleep
and sex that are mainly related to the physiological needs of an individual. Secondary
drives are acquired drives arising from previous experience and learning, e.g.,
need for achievement in one’s field of work. Thus, this secondary drive will then
channelize the work related behaviour of the person.
An important concept in the Drive theory is homeostasis, which can be explained
as “the process by which all organisms work to maintain physiological equilibrium
or balance around an optimal set point” (Feist & Rosenberg, 2015, p. 398). It can
also be explained as the tendency of the body to maintain an internal state that is
balanced or steady (Feldman, 2015). Thus whenever there is any deviation from
the ideal state or the set point, then the adjustments will be made by the body to
reestablish the balanced state or achieve the set point, thus restoring the balance.
For example, when you are thirsty, there is lack of homeostasis and your primary
drive is thirst. So, you want to restore the balance and take the action to go and
drink water.
Drive reduction theory adequately explains how behaviours are channelised by
primary drives; however, it does not adequately explain all human motivations,
e.g., arousal-seeking behaviour. It may not help in explaining behaviour of an
adolescent who enjoys a roller coaster ride or rides his/ her bike in full speed.
Thus such behaviour that is thrilling and behaviour related to curiosity cannot be
explained with the help of this theory.
2) The Optimal Arousal Theory:You could see above that the drive reduction
theory cannot be applied to explain behaviours related to curiosity or thrill-seeking
behaviours. In such cases the optimal arousal theory can help us to explain this
need for stimulation. The theory states that when the arousal level is optimal, people
perform better and function well. This theory is based on the work carried out by
Yerkes and Dodson in 1908, referred to as the Yerkes- Dodson law (Feist &
Rosenberg, 2015). It explains the relationship between arousal level and task
performance (see Fig. 9aF) in the following way: “we function best when we are
moderately aroused or energized and both low and high arousal/ energy levels
lead to poor performance” (Feist & Rosenberg, 2015, p. 399).

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Motivation and
Creativity
High

Low

Low Arousal High

Figure 9aF : The Yerkes- Dodson Law

As you see in the above Figure, when the arousal is low or high, the performance
is also low; however, performance is high when there is an optimal level of arousal.
Thus it can be said that individuals are motivated when certain situation is not very
high or low in stimulation.
There are two things that we need to take note of in the context of the Yerkes-
Dodson law.
a) individual differences in the arousal level
b) difficulty level of the task
First, when we talk of an optimal arousal level leading to better functioning/
performance, it needs to be noted that this optimal level may vary from person to
person. Thus there is no fixed optimal arousal, but it is individual-specific.
The second thing is that the task difficulty level moderates the relationship between
arousal and task performance. As the Yerkes-Dodson law states, in case of simpler
tasks, a relatively higher arousal level is required for better performance; and with
difficult tasks, a relatively lower arousal is needed for better performance.
3) Incentive Theories: These can also be described as ‘pull’ theories (Morgan et
al, 1996). These theories state that the motivation is as a result of desire to achieve
external rewards or incentives. For example, a chocolate could serve as an incentive
for a child to do his/ her homework in time, even though he/ she may not actually
be hungry .Thus incentive theories explain behaviour in terms of external stimuli
having rewarding value.
Thus it can be said that both, the drive reduction model and the incentive theories
are relevant and can be considered together to explain what motivates certain
behaviours. For example, when hungry, an individual will seek food (drive reduction
model), however, he/ she will seek food that seems to be more appetizing or
appealing.
However, incentive theories cannot explain all human motivation such as when an
individual engages in some behaviour even when there is no incentive.

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4) Cognitive Approaches to Motivation: This approach states that “motivation is Motivation
a result of people’s thoughts, beliefs, expectations and goals’ (Feldman, 2015 p.
289). Thus, a student will be motivated to study for examination based on his/ her
expectation whether studying will lead to obtaining good marks in examination.
This theory also helps differentiate between the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
that were discussed in detail under types of motivation. Individuals are more likely
to work on a certain task or towards achieving a certain goal when they are
intrinsically motivated as opposed to extrinsically motivated. And it may so happen
that attempts to increase extrinsic motivation may lead to decrease in intrinsic
motivation (Feldman, 2015).
5) Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Fig. 9bF) presents
the needs in a hierarchical order in the form of a pyramid. It proposes basic needs
at the lower end moving up to the higher needs. The basic needs are to be fulfilled
before the higher order needs are met.

Self
Actualisation

Esteem needs

Love & Belongingness

Needs

Safety and Security Needs

Physiological Needs

Figure 9bF: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954)

As we see in the above Figure, the basic needs are the physiological needs (related to
the primary drive), namely need for food, water, sleep and sex. This is also called the
‘deficiency needs’ or D-needs. Physiological needs are followed by the safety needs
that are related to the need for an environment that keeps us safe and secure. These
two needs can be termed as lower order needs and once these are fulfilled, then the
individual will move on to the other higher order needs, also called the ‘growth needs’.
The physiological and safety needs are followed by the need for love and belongingness,
that is related to the give and take of love and affection. Next comes the esteem needs,
that are related to the need for development of a sense of self worth. The highest need
is that of self actualization, that is related to the need for realization of one’s full potential
(Feist & Rosenberg, 2015) or can also be termed as a state of self fulfillment (Feldman,
2015). Maslow, later on, has added a new level of needs higher than self actualization,
i.e., transcendence needs, which refers to finding spiritual meaning in life (Maslow,
1996).

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Motivation and Maslow’s theory has been criticized on two grounds: (i) these needs are not universal
Creativity as suggested by Maslow. Cultural variations in the importance of needs may influence
this and; (ii)These needs may not occur in the same hierarchical order. We have many
instances where great scientists or reformers or artists have engaged in the higher needs
of self actualization even if their lower needs of hunger has not been met.
6) Alderfer’s ERG theory: The Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) theory
by Alderfer is similar to the theory proposed by Maslow; however, the theory
highlights only three levels in place of five levels. At the lowest level of the hierarchy
is the existence needs and as the name suggests these are basic needs related to
the physiological needs and the safety needs. The next is the relatedness needs
that are related to social relationships. The last level is that of growth needs and
these are related to the need to achieve one’s potential, develop competence and
so on. The growth needs are similar to the self-actualization needs proposed by
Maslow.
7) Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory: This theory mainly focuses on two main factors
that is hygiene factor and motivational factor. It states that satisfaction and
dissatisfaction arise from these two factors. Herzberg says that satisfaction and
dissatisfaction are not two ends in the same continuum, but they are two separate
factors. Thus the opposite of satisfaction is ‘no satisfaction’ (not ‘dissatisfaction’)
and the opposite of dissatisfaction is ‘no dissatisfaction’ (not ‘satisfaction’).
This theory mainly finds its application in work set up in the context of job performance
and job satisfaction. The hygiene factors are the basic factors such as good working
condition, cooperative colleagues, optimum workload etc. that need to be present in
the work set up so that there is less dissatisfaction. However, going beyond the hygiene
factors or no dissatisfaction, there need to be motivators so that the person derives
satisfaction from his/her job. In other words, hygiene factors ensure that the person is
not dissatisfied. And the motivational factors ensure that the person is satisfied in his
job.
The hygiene factors and motivational factors are given in the Table 9aT below.

Table 9aT: Hygiene and Motivational factors

Hygiene factors Motivational factors

– Adequate working conditions – High salary and bonuses

– Proper workload – Achievement/ promotion
– Good salary – Recognition
– Good relationship with – Responsibility
supervisor, peers and – Advancement and growth
subordinates
– Security

The hygiene factors determine the level of dissatisfaction and if these needs are taken
care of then the dissatisfaction will be low in the individual. However, this will not
contribute to satisfaction in the individual and the motivational factors are required to
ensure that the individual experiences satisfaction. However, there may not be always
such a scenario. In the absence of hygiene factors, e.g., poor job conditions of a soldier,
still he is motivated to serve for the country. Also, good hygiene factors may not motivate
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the person to do well. In other words, it is crucial to ensure both good working conditions Motivation
as well as motivating factors to ensure good job performance and satisfaction in the
job.
8) McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory: This theory was developed by David
McClelland and it highlights the three psychological needs: achievement, affiliation
and power.
Need for Achievement (nAch) refers to the need to achieve or excel. It is
characterized by a strong need to master skills and achieve success. They
want to take up challenges, compete, overcome obstacles and difficulties.
Need for Affiliation (nAff) refers to the need to relate with others. They
want to form close and intimate relationship with others. Such people are
very social and liked by others. They can function very well in a team and
collaborative set up.
Need for Power (nPow) relates to the need to have an influence, impact
and control others. People having high need for power want status and positions
to be called as influential in material terms, e.g., they may wear expensive
clothes or jewellery etc.
The above theories thus explain the nature of motivation and help us further understand
the concept of motivation.
Self Assessment Questions II
1) Explain the drive reduction theory of motivation.
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2) List the needs as explained by Maslow.
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9.6 ENHANCING INDIVIDUAL POTENTIAL

THROUGH INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC
MOTIVATION
Under types of motivation we discussed about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. But it
is also important to understand how to enhance an individual’s potential or how to
motivate the individual to do his/ her best with the help of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
This has relevance not only in our day-to-day life but also for students in schools and
employees at workplace etc. Various techniques can be used to motivate individuals
intrinsically and extrinsically.
Let us first focus on intrinsic motivation. In order to intrinsically motivate the individual,
we will need to focus on its components that we discussed earlier, that is, challenge,
enjoyment, mastery and autonomy and self determination. The techniques employed to
intrinsically motivate individuals will necessarily depend on these basic components.
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Motivation and Some of the ways in which individuals can be intrinsically motivated are discussed as
Creativity follows:
Ways to increase the intrinsic motivation:
1) Creating challenges: In order to intrinsically motivate individuals, they need to
be challenged or need to be involved in challenging activities or are given goals
that are challenging. Also while creating these challenges, it can be ensured that the
activity or the goal assigned has some personal meaning to the individual. Further,
these goals or activities need to be challenging enough to display an uncertainty,
where achieving the goal or completing the activity is possible but not absolutely
certain. Feedback based on performance may also play an important role here, as
feedback will help the individual understand his/ her standing in the face of the
challenge. In school set up or at work place, the students and employees can be
given challenging tasks in order to elicit their intrinsic motivation.
2) Providing autonomy: Autonomy was discussed as one of the components of
intrinsic motivation. Individuals need to be provided with autonomy while assigning
activities, tasks or goals, so that they are intrinsically motivated to do their best.
We all want to feel in control of our own self and our surrounding. In a work set
up, when individuals are provided with certain goals, they also need to be given
certain autonomy or control over themselves as well as their surrounding in order
to intrinsically motivate them to enhance their potential and motivate them to
complete the activity. Such an autonomy can be created when the individuals
perceive a relationship (cause and effect) between the efforts put in by them and
the desired results. Further, the effect or the result also needs to be worth the
effort. Also the individuals are better intrinsically motivated when they feel that the
activity that they are carrying out is not because they are forced to do it but because
they want to.
3) Eliciting curiosity: Curiosity occurs when something in one’s surrounding catches
one’s attention and the individual wants to know more about it. Curiosity can be of
two types, sensory curiosity and cognitive curiosity. Sensory curiosity is elicited
when an individual finds something in his/ her surrounding that catches his/ her
attention. It could be a sound, or an object and so on. Cognitive curiosity is elicited
when an individual feels a need to learn more or gather more knowledge about the
activity, object or event. A colourful model or exhibit in a classroom can elicit such
curiosity amongst the students and can motivate them intrinsically to learn more
about it.
4) Cooperation: When an individual is given an opportunity to cooperate with other
individual/s there is a possibility that his/ her intrinsic motivation will increase.
Cooperation with others leads to feelings of satisfaction in the individual that
enhances intrinsic motivation.
5) Competition: Similar to cooperation, even competition with other individual/s
can lead to increase in intrinsic motivation. Competition provides an opportunity
to the individual to compare one’s own performance with other individuals and
that can in turn lead to increase in intrinsic competition.
6) Working towards a greater good or higher purpose: When an individual feels
that he/ she is working for a greater good or higher purpose, then this will also
serve as an intrinsic motivator and will enhance the individuals potential to perform.
With regard to extrinsic motivation, the reinforcements need to be linked to the
activity or performance. Extrinsic motivators can help generate interest in an activity
180 and also help individuals that lack basic skills for carrying out certain activity.
 Some of the ways in which individuals can be extrinsically motivated are discussed Motivation
as follows:
Ways to increase the extrinsic motivation:
1) Recognition: Recognition is one of the important factors that can lead to increase
in extrinsic motivation in an individual. For example, an employee can be motivated
to perform better when he/ she is extrinsically motivated with the help of recognition.
Recognition may also lead to increase in satisfaction that the individual will derive
by carrying out his/her work related activities. Though one needs to ensure that
the recognition is genuine as well as sincere for it to be effective.
2) Rewards and incentives: This is another factor that can lead to increase in
motivation. Rewards and incentives can be financial reward or non-financial reward.
An example of financial rewards would be an amount that is given to the employee
for following safety norms in an industry. Whereas, a non-financial reward could
be praise or even attention.
3) Punishment: Similar to rewards, punishment can also lead to an individual being
motivated. Fear of being penalized may lead to following of safety behaviour by
the individual. A student will prepare his/ her homework in time in order to avoid
any punishment from his/ her teacher.
4) External pressure: Pressure from significant others in one’s lives like parents,
superiors and so on can also serve as an extrinsic motivator.
In this context, over-justification effect can also be discussed, where extrinsic motivation
leads to interference with intrinsic motivation, that is, intrinsic motivation may decrease
due to excessive extrinsic motivation. This takes place because as individuals analyze
what motivates them, they assign more significance to external reinforcements rather
than their intrinsic motivation or it can also be because the activity that was otherwise
performed by them with interest, now feels like an obligation to achieve external
reinforcement.
Self Assessment Questions III
1) List the ways in which individuals can be intrinsically and extrinsically motivated.
Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation

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Motivation and
Creativity 9.7 SELF-REGULATION
Self regulation in simple terms can be described as control that one has over oneself.
Self regulation was explained by Bandura, 1991 (as cited in Ackerman, 2018) as “a
continuous and active process that involves monitoring one’s own behaviour, its influences
and consequences, evaluating one’s behaviour in comparison with one’s own values
and standards as well as situational norms and then reacting to one’s own behaviour in
terms of how one thinks and feels”. It can also be described as “capacity to control
one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour” (Barrett, 2017, page 141).
Self regulation can be emotional or behavioural. Emotional self regulation denotes
regulation of one’s emotions, whereas behavioural self regulation denotes behaviour
that will benefit the individual in long term and is consistent with one’s values (Stonsny,
2011 as cited in Ackerman, 2018).
Self regulation is an important aspect in human beings that enables them to sustain in the
complex environment that they live in. It not only helps individuals to be flexible and
adjust to varied situations and their demands but it also helps them deal with the selfish
impulses with the help of their social conscience (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).
Self regulation develops during childhood and it is an important skill for children to
develop emotional maturity as well as to maintain social relationship. As such self
regulation can be described as the factor coming in between feeling and action, where
an individual takes time to think about the situation that he/ she is facing and then
accordingly takes an action. For instance, an individual may face a situation where she
may feel uncomfortable, but she may regulate her actions to deal effectively with the
situation and the uncomfortable feeling. Thus self regulation can act as one of the ways
to increase one’s motivation and enhance one’s potential.
Lack of adequate self regulation has been linked to various problems like alcoholism,
dependence on drugs, obesity, decreased academic achievement, financial problems,
criminal behaviour, eating disorders, lack of control over anger, poor physical health
and so on (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008; Barrett, 2017). Individuals who are able to
adequately self regulate often do well on the job, have effective relationships and often
do well in varied dimensions of their lives (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).
As stated by Baumeister & Bushman (2008), the following are the components of
effective self regulation:
Standards: Standards “denote ideas or concept (including ideals, norms,
expectations, moral principles, laws) about how the things could be” (Baumeister
& Bushman, 2008, page 127). Any individual grows in the context of these
standards and thus one knows what is a good behaviour and what is a bad behaviour
and so on. Thus standards play an important role in shaping ones behaviour.
Individuals will often compare themselves to these standards and modify their
behaviours based on these standards.
Monitoring: This can be termed as evaluation of the behaviour or keeping an eye
on the behaviour that one wants to control or regulate. Self awareness also plays
an important role over here as one needs to be aware about one’s own self and
one’s behaviour in order to regulate it. In this context the control theory of self
regulation can also be discussed which states that self regulation involves four
phases, namely, test phase, operate phase, test phase and exit phase (Shetgovekar,
2018). In test phase the individual will compare his/ her own self with either public
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 or private standard. In operate phase, if the individual feels that his/ her behaviour Motivation
is not consistent with the standard, the behaviour is modified to meet the standards,
in test phase. During the second test phase, there is a retest, i.e.,the individual
again compares his/ her behaviour with the standard and lastly in the exit phase,
there is an exit from the loop or vicious circle as the individual feels that his/ her
behaviour is consistent with the standard.
Strength: Strength also can be explained in terms of willpower. Willpower has
been termed as an important factor in effective self regulation. Though there can
also be depletion of willpower as it is used, individuals can be trained to strengthen
their willpower which in turn can lead to effective self regulation.
Self regulation can be developed and some of the techniques for self regulation are
discussed as follows:
1) Cultivating self awareness and self monitoring: Cultivating self awareness
can also help in developing self regulation as the individuals become more and
more aware about their strengths and weaknesses. Along with self awareness, self
monitoring also helps in developing self regulation, as has been discussed earlier.
2) Cognitive reappraisal: This mainly involves modification of thinking pattern.
Thus the thinking is modified in such a way that the person experiences positive
emotions. For example, if a student obtains less marks in an examination, rather
than thinking that she is not good enough, she can think in terms of putting in more
efforts next time. Thus cognitive reappraisal mainly focuses on reframing our
negative thoughts and have a positive outlook towards the situation.
3) Mindfulness: Mindfulness can be described as an ability to be self aware as well
as being present about where one is, what he/ she is doing and not being overly
reactive or get engulfed by what is happening around oneself (Mindful Staff, 2014).
The breathing exercises in mindfulness help in managing emotions and negative
feelings and thus helps in self regulation.
4) Positive attitude: Developing a positive attitude towards situations, events, people
and objects can also help us in developing better self regulation.
5) Stress management: Effective management of stress can also help in self
regulation. When an individual is able to manage stress, she will feel in better
control of her self, thoughts and feelings. Thus various stress management techniques
including relaxation techniques, exercises, cognitive behaviour techniques etc. can
be effectively used to manage stress.
6) Time management: Besides stress management, time management techniques
may also help in self regulation, Techniques like setting priorities, having a planner,
having clear goals and so on can help manage time effectively.
Self Assessment Questions IV
1) What is self regulation?
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Motivation and
Creativity 2) Name the three components of effective self regulation.
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9.8 SELF ENHANCEMENT

Self enhancement can be described as “the tendency to describe and present oneself
using positive or socially valued attributes, such as kind, understanding, intelligent and
industrious” (Larsen, Buss & Deuskar, 2014, P. 499). In the context of motivation,
one can discuss about the self enhancement motive, that can be defined as “the desire
to learn favourable or flattering things about the self” (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008,
page 87). This motive may lead individuals to turn a blind eye towards criticisms and
exaggerate their positive attributes. Self enhancement can also be described as an activity
that is cognitive as well as interpersonal in nature with a goal to achieving enhanced
image about one’s self.
There are several related terms such as self improvement, self assessment, self verification
and self protection. Let us differentiate self enhancement from these.
Self improvement can be explained as a motive to make oneself better, whereas self
enhancement can be explained as a motive that is focused on perception that one is
better, which may or may not be compatible with reality. Self assessment can be
described as a motive that focuses on securing a precise perspective about oneself that
can be positive or negative, whereas self enhancement mainly focuses on having a
positive perspective about oneself. Yet another term that can be compared with self
enhancement is self verification, that is verifying notions that an individual held about
himself/ herself previously that can be positive or negative. However, in self enhancemnt
the positive notions are confirmed, whereas negative ones are not. It is important for
the individual to have a positive feeling about one self and thus an individual may involve
in numerous strategies related to evaluation and enhancement of one’s self. Self
enhancement thus can be related with self protection motive where individuals involve
in creating a positive self image in order to protect one’s self.
Thus an individual will modify his/ her behaviour based on whether it is appreciated or
not by people around, especially the significant people in his/ her life. In this context the
theory of Social Comparison Processes can be discussed.This theory was proposed
by Festinger in 1954 and it states thatbehaviours are evaluated by an individual initially
by using objective standards, however when such objective standards are not available
then subjective standards are used by him/ her (Barrett 2017). Thus social comparison
helps provide feedback with regard to one’s beliefs and opinions and accordingly an
individual can modify his/ her behaviour in order to be appreciated and liked by significant
others in life.
Most often social comparisons are carried out with persons who are similar to our
selves like family members or friends; however, such comparisons are avoided if they
lead to negative self evaluations. This is also supported by the Self Evaluation
Maintenance model (SEM) that states generally social comparisons are carried out
when there is a likelihood of it leading to positive self evaluations. The main assumption
of this model is that individuals are motivated towards maintaining and enhancing positive
evaluations about themselves and this is done by them through reflection and social
184 comparison. To give an example, a football player may compare his football playing
skills with the sibling who is also a football player. However, if the sibling is a better Motivation
football player than him, then he will not involve in any social comparison with the
sibling. In such a case in place of social comparison, the individual will involve in reflection,
that is the sibling’s success is reflected on the individual as he associates with the sibling
leading to him experiencing enhanced self esteem.
To discuss further about social comparison, individuals engage in social comparison in
order to preserve positive image about themselves and this comparison is necessarily
based on whether there will be enhancement of self worth or not. Thus social comparison
can be categorized into upward social comparison and downward social comparison.
In upward social comparison, the individual will compare his own self with an individual
who is better than him and in downward social comparison such a comparison is carried
out with an individual who is weaker than the individual. Thus in case of upward social
comparison a student will compare his performance to that of a student who has secured
more marks in an examination. Whereas in case of downward social comparison a
person having a two wheeler will compare oneself with a person having no vehicle.
Social comparison is also carried by an individual with her own former selves (Barrett,
2017). Thus the person may see how far she has come. For example, a person may
compare herself with how she was struggling to get a job a few years ago with the
present self who is successful at her workplace. Further, individuals may also involve in
counterfactual thinking, that is thinking about what possibly could have taken place.
As the name suggests, it is ‘counter to the fact’, thinking of alternatives that might have
happened instead of what actually has happened. For example, a person receiving a
consolation prize in a competition will think that he could have received no prize at all.
Such persons will be satisfied to receive at least some prize. But on the other hand a
person wining second prize in a competition may also involve in counterfactual thinking
and may think that he could have won the first prize and thus he will be unsatisfied and
disappointed.
There are various techniques that people use to enhance their selves, these are discussed
as follows:
1) Biased Hypothesis testing: The questions that are asked to individuals about
themselves are framed in such a way that they enhance positive self perceptions.
For example, a student will frame a question as “ Will I get good per centage in
examination?” instead of “Will I do badly in examination?”
2) The breadth of categorization: Categorizations are differently used by people
to describe their success and failures. For example, an employee securing high
rating on performance appraisal will term his achievement as a reflection of his/ her
hard work and sincerity. Whereas another employee securing a lower rating may
term it as due to his/ her falling slightly short of achieving his/ her target.
3) Self serving bias: In self serving bias, an individual will attribute his/ her success
to internal factors, whereas, failure is attributed to external factors.
4) Self handicapping: This is yet another technique used to enhance self. In this,
one’s own performance is deliberately impaired so as to provide an explanation
for failure.
5) False consensus effect and false uniqueness: In this the individual believes
that his opinion and actions are in sync with those of others. On the other hand,
there is also false uniqueness in which individuals hold on to inaccurate beliefs with
regard to how their actions and opinions are different (and thus unique) from
others. 185
Motivation and 2) The needs as explained by Maslow are:
Creativity
- Physiological needs
- Safety needs
- Love and belongingness needs
- Esteem needs
- Self actualisation
Self Assessment Questions III
1) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can be increased in the following ways.

Intrinsic Motivation Extrinsic Motivation

- Creating challenges - Recognition

- Providing autonomy - Rewards and incentives
- Eliciting curiosity - Punishment
- Cooperation - External pressure
- Competition
- Working towards a greater good
or higher purpose

Self Assessment Questions IV

1) Self regulation can be described as control that one has over oneself. Self regulation
can also be explained as a continuous and active process that involves monitoring
one’s own behaviour, its influences and consequences, evaluating one’s behaviour
in comparison with one’s own values and standards as well as situational norms
and then reacting to one’s own behaviour in terms of how one thinks and feels.
2) The three components of effective self regulation are standards, monitoring and
strength.
Self Assessment Questions V
1) Self enhancement can be described as the tendency to describe and present oneself
using positive or socially valued attributes, such as kind, understanding, intelligent
and industrious
2) In upward social comparison, the individual will compare his/ her own self with an
individual who is better than him/her and in downward social comparison such a
comparison is carried out with an individual is weaker than the individual.

9.12 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) Define motivation. Discuss the types of motivation.
2) Differentiate between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
3) Describe any two theories of motivation.
4) Discuss various ways of enhancing individual potential through intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation.
5) Elucidate the concepts of self regulation and self enhancement.
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 Motivation
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9.14 SUGGESTED READINGS

Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas. (2015). Personality and individual differences.
Chichester: Wiley
Ciccarelli, S. K & White, J. N. (2015). Psychology. New York: Pearson Education
Limited.
Jain. Sashi. (2009). Introduction to psychology. Jalandhar: Kalyani Publishers.
Myers, D. G. (2010). Exploring psychology. New York: Worth Publishers.

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