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2.4 Your Motivational Forces
So we’ve now looked at behaviour styles and intelligence preferences, so the final thing to consider is your motivation. Like behaviour and intelligences, what motivates you is unique to you and is a combination of your natural motivations and your current lot-in-life. We’ll enlist the findings of 2 more psychologists here – David McClelland and Abraham Maslow.
McClelland proposed 3 different natural motivators that are determined by your personality:
Achievement motivated - Achievement motivated people love the thrill of reaching challenging goals. They need a sense of accomplishment and need feedback on their progress towards their goals. ‘Peacocks’ are typically motivated by achievement, and so can ‘Owls’.
Authority motivated - Authority motivated people love being in control, influential leading and personal status/ prestige. They need to feed their egos on their progress towards their goals. ‘Eagles’ are typically motivated by authority.
Affiliation motivated - Affiliation motivated people love interaction with other people and need to be liked/ popular. They achieve their goals in a team environment. ‘Doves’ are typically motivated by affiliation, and so can ‘Peacocks’.
…or a combination of these
Of these motivators, the ‘achievement’ motivated person is probably the most balanced and most likely to get results from goal setting – the authority motivated person often puts ego first and the affiliation motivated person often puts personal popularity or other people’s needs first – in both cases, they can lose sight of the big picture. What motivates you – achievement, authority or affiliation? Does this match your behaviour profile?
The other aspect of personal motivation is ‘situational’ motivation. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) developed the Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model back in the 1940’s – yes it’s old, but still valid in today’s society.
Maslow’s model was based on 5 needs:
Biological and Physiological needs – basic survival needs of food, water, shelter, warmth, sleep, health and air.
Safety needs – security, order, law, limits, stability, protection from elements, etc. Social needs – love, family, affection, relationships, friends, work group, etc.
Esteem needs – achievement, independence, status, prestige, responsibility, etc.
Self-Actualization needs – personal growth, self-fulfillment, realising personal potential, seeking knowledge and meaning, etc.
Figure 1 - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model
How to apply your motivational needs to your goal setting
I’ll give you an example. The motivation to have a roof over your head is driven by the most basic biological/ survival need. The motivation to get a house in a better part of town with a lower crime rate is driven by the need to feel safe, the BBQ for entertaining and extra bedrooms for a family is a social need and the motivation to have a bigger and better house is driven by self-esteem needs. Of course, your self-actualisation motivations then tell you that having a bigger and better house doesn’t fundamentally change who you are!
It is interesting that the smallest part of the triangle – represented by self-actualisation needs – is not the least important, it’s just the last level of motivation that is traditionally achieved and the first to disappear if your life takes a turn.
Maslow’s hierarchy implies that the lower-end needs must to be mostly satisfied before the higher needs influence your motivation. In other words, if you are struggling to put food on the table, you probably won’t really be interested in learning a new language or musical instrument for self-fulfilment. Of course it’s not as simple as that.
Like all of the other models we’ve looked at, you will have a dominant Maslow level but still have motivational needs at the other levels. For example, if you are in Level 4 or 5, you still need to eat (biological need) and will still be seeking friendship (social need) and things like house insurance (a safety need). In other words, all levels of Maslow’s motivational needs have to be maintained for the right life balance.
Maslow’s model does however help you target areas for your goal setting, by identifying potential ‘road-blocks’ in the lower levels that are preventing you from achieving higher level needs. The process of goal setting is typically motivated by Level 4/5 needs, although you may also be utilising the process to address some aspects of the lower needs, such as quitting smoking (which is essentially a health need driven by biological motivators).
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Activity 2.3…
Think about you and your life as it is at the moment. I’m sure you’ll relate to the 5 motivational needs developed by Maslow and obviously will have a need to maintain the ‘lower’ level needs, even if you are mostly at Level 4 or 5.
Ignoring the need to maintain these lower levels, which level do you think you are mostly focused on?
-------------------------------------------
Chapter 2 Review:
Go back to the Chapter Outcomes at the start of this chapter. Have you achieved all of these outcomes?
This chapter has looked at several personal indicators that influence what we do, how we think, how we relate to other people and how we succeed. There are many other personality profile tests that can be found on the internet (some are FREE) and other readings on psychology. It is important to note that none of these indicators are intended to pigeon-hole you into any particular category of person or tell you how you should behave or feel, but they are intended to help you understand yourself, which is one of the most important things to understand if you are truly going to be successful in life. I encourage you to explore as many of these personality profile tests as you can find to help you on this journey of self-discovery and awareness.
You will have added to your key messages list from the activities in this chapter. Keep this list somewhere prominent and read the messages regularly to reinforce them in your mind.
Are there any specific needs you have in any of the other levels? What concerns/ deficiencies do you think you have in these levels?
McClelland proposed 3 different natural motivators that are determined by your personality:
Achievement motivated - Achievement motivated people love the thrill of reaching challenging goals. They need a sense of accomplishment and need feedback on their progress towards their goals. ‘Peacocks’ are typically motivated by achievement, and so can ‘Owls’.
Authority motivated - Authority motivated people love being in control, influential leading and personal status/ prestige. They need to feed their egos on their progress towards their goals. ‘Eagles’ are typically motivated by authority.
Affiliation motivated - Affiliation motivated people love interaction with other people and need to be liked/ popular. They achieve their goals in a team environment. ‘Doves’ are typically motivated by affiliation, and so can ‘Peacocks’.
…or a combination of these
Of these motivators, the ‘achievement’ motivated person is probably the most balanced and most likely to get results from goal setting – the authority motivated person often puts ego first and the affiliation motivated person often puts personal popularity or other people’s needs first – in both cases, they can lose sight of the big picture. What motivates you – achievement, authority or affiliation? Does this match your behaviour profile?
The other aspect of personal motivation is ‘situational’ motivation. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) developed the Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model back in the 1940’s – yes it’s old, but still valid in today’s society.
Maslow’s model was based on 5 needs:
Biological and Physiological needs – basic survival needs of food, water, shelter, warmth, sleep, health and air.
Safety needs – security, order, law, limits, stability, protection from elements, etc. Social needs – love, family, affection, relationships, friends, work group, etc.
Esteem needs – achievement, independence, status, prestige, responsibility, etc.
Self-Actualization needs – personal growth, self-fulfillment, realising personal potential, seeking knowledge and meaning, etc.
Figure 1 - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Motivational Model
How to apply your motivational needs to your goal setting
I’ll give you an example. The motivation to have a roof over your head is driven by the most basic biological/ survival need. The motivation to get a house in a better part of town with a lower crime rate is driven by the need to feel safe, the BBQ for entertaining and extra bedrooms for a family is a social need and the motivation to have a bigger and better house is driven by self-esteem needs. Of course, your self-actualisation motivations then tell you that having a bigger and better house doesn’t fundamentally change who you are!
It is interesting that the smallest part of the triangle – represented by self-actualisation needs – is not the least important, it’s just the last level of motivation that is traditionally achieved and the first to disappear if your life takes a turn.
Maslow’s hierarchy implies that the lower-end needs must to be mostly satisfied before the higher needs influence your motivation. In other words, if you are struggling to put food on the table, you probably won’t really be interested in learning a new language or musical instrument for self-fulfilment. Of course it’s not as simple as that.
Like all of the other models we’ve looked at, you will have a dominant Maslow level but still have motivational needs at the other levels. For example, if you are in Level 4 or 5, you still need to eat (biological need) and will still be seeking friendship (social need) and things like house insurance (a safety need). In other words, all levels of Maslow’s motivational needs have to be maintained for the right life balance.
Maslow’s model does however help you target areas for your goal setting, by identifying potential ‘road-blocks’ in the lower levels that are preventing you from achieving higher level needs. The process of goal setting is typically motivated by Level 4/5 needs, although you may also be utilising the process to address some aspects of the lower needs, such as quitting smoking (which is essentially a health need driven by biological motivators).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Activity 2.3…
Think about you and your life as it is at the moment. I’m sure you’ll relate to the 5 motivational needs developed by Maslow and obviously will have a need to maintain the ‘lower’ level needs, even if you are mostly at Level 4 or 5.
Ignoring the need to maintain these lower levels, which level do you think you are mostly focused on?
-------------------------------------------
Chapter 2 Review:
Go back to the Chapter Outcomes at the start of this chapter. Have you achieved all of these outcomes?
This chapter has looked at several personal indicators that influence what we do, how we think, how we relate to other people and how we succeed. There are many other personality profile tests that can be found on the internet (some are FREE) and other readings on psychology. It is important to note that none of these indicators are intended to pigeon-hole you into any particular category of person or tell you how you should behave or feel, but they are intended to help you understand yourself, which is one of the most important things to understand if you are truly going to be successful in life. I encourage you to explore as many of these personality profile tests as you can find to help you on this journey of self-discovery and awareness.
You will have added to your key messages list from the activities in this chapter. Keep this list somewhere prominent and read the messages regularly to reinforce them in your mind.
Are there any specific needs you have in any of the other levels? What concerns/ deficiencies do you think you have in these levels?
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