Any human activity is based on motivation. If you need to understand what motivates a person, study his motivation. In psychology, there are two definitions of motivation: motivation as a process and motivation as a result.
Motivation as a result
Motivation as a result is a combination of different kinds of needs and motives that a person is guided by in their activities.
Needs and motives in the structure of motivation are built into a hierarchical system. This means that at every moment of time there is a leading need (and a leading motive, as a rule, in the form of a goal), there are secondary ones, and there are insignificant ones. When the leading need is satisfied, it gives way to another need, which becomes the most urgent at the moment: the motivational hierarchy is rebuilt, and behavior changes.
The motivation system for each person is individual. Although there are basic needs, common to all people, and similar motives, their ratio differs from person to person. For some it is more important to have a tasty meal, while for others it is more important to have fun with friends.
Motivation as a process
Motivation as a process is a step-by-step process of the formation of a motive.
In order to form a motive for a certain activity or behavior, a person needs to go through the following stages of the motivation process:
- At the first stage, the need is actualized. This stage can occur without the participation of consciousness. A person feels the actualization of the need as a vague feeling of need ("want something") and anxiety ("something is missing").
- At the second stage, a person is looking for an object in the environment or internal environment, with the help of which he can satisfy an actualized need. For example, if you realize that you lack communication, then at this stage you are looking for a person with whom you would like to communicate.
- The third stage is the immediate satisfaction of the motive. The motive is formed, and the person takes the necessary actions to satisfy it. For example, he calls, writes to instant messengers, or goes to a meeting with a person with whom he wanted to communicate.
To motivate someone (or ourselves) for the activity we need, we must guide a person through all stages of the motivation process: actualize his need, show the subject of its satisfaction and the ways in which this can be done.
