Motivation Review of Related Theories
person to do something continually toward the goal to achieve. “Motivation is broadly concerned with the temporary determinants of choice direction, persistence, and
vigor of goal-directed behavior Beck 24. Motivation appears when people want to fulfill their needs, for example,
having friends. Stanton 17 states that a character has ‘reason for behaving or motivation’. This motivation is divided into two types, specific motivation and basic
motivation. Specific motivation is the immediate reason, perhaps unconscious, for any particular speech or act. Basic motivation is an aspect of his general character.
To sum up, motivation is divided into two types, specific motivation and basic motivation. Specific motivation is only spontaneous motivation and basic motivation
is a deeper motivation which is a mixture of some specific motivations. Specific motivation appears to support basic motivation, which has a deeper influence on the
person to act. To act one needs to have motivation either specific or basic one. Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs is a good model for understanding human motivation which drives him to act. Maslow as quoted in Wikipedia proposes a hierarchy of human needs
based on five basic aspects of life. Those five aspects are psychological needs, security needs, social needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs Wikipedia.
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival. Only when the
lower order needs of physical and emotional are satisfied we move to the higher order needs of influence and personal development.
The lowest level of hierarchy of human needs is called physiological needs. It includes the most basic needs that are vital to survive, including the need for water,
air, food, and sleep. Maslow believes that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these
physiological needs are met. After physiological needs are fulfilled, the motivation will rise to the next level
called security needs. These include needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs.
Security needs include a desire for security of body, steady employment, health, safe neighborhoods, and security of family.
The next level after security needs concerns social needs. These include needs for belonging, love, and affection from family, friend or people around us. Maslow
considers these needs to be less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments and families help fulfill these
needs for companionship and acceptance. After the first three needs are satisfied, esteem needs become increasingly
important. These include the need of confidence, achievement, respect of others and respect by others, and self-esteem. Then, the next needs are self-actualization needs.
Self-actualization needs are the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If people respect us, we have greater power. Self-actualizing people are concerned
with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested in fulfilling their potential.
From the previous explanation it can be summed up that the lower the needs in the hierarchy, the more fundamental they are and the more a person will tend to
discard the higher needs in order to pay attention to the lower needs.