It is the process that drives a person to act in a certain way or at least originates a propensity towards specific behavior. That impulse to act can come from the environment or it can be generated by the individual's internal mental processes.
Satisfaction
The second refers to the taste that is experienced when a desire is fulfilled. In other words, motivation implies drive towards a result, while satisfaction implies already experienced results.
There are two ways of approaching a motivational process: by initial deficiency, or from future satisfaction. From these two approaches, a series of theories emerge that can be grouped into two large blocks:
- Content theories: It groups those theories that consider everything that can motivate people. Process theories: It groups those theories that consider the way in which the person becomes motivated.
Abraham Maslow's Theory of Human Needs (1)
Physiological needs
They are basic physiological needs to maintain homeostasis; Among these, the most obvious are: Need to breathe, drink water, and eat., Need to maintain a balance of body temperature.
Need to sleep, rest, eliminate waste., Need to avoid pain, Safety and protection needs.
These arise when the physiological needs remain compensated.
They are the needs to feel safe and protected; even develop certain limits of order. Among them are: Physical and health security, Employment, income and resource security, Moral, family and private property security.
Membership and affection needs
They are related to the affective development of the individual, they are the needs of association, participation and acceptance. They are satisfied by the functions of services and benefits that include sports, cultural and recreational activities. Human beings by nature feel the need to relate, to be part of a community, to group together in families, with friends or in social organizations. Among these are: friendship, companionship, affection, and love.
Esteem needs
- High esteem concerns the need for self-respect, and includes feelings such as confidence, competence, mastery, achievement, independence, and freedom. Low esteem concerns respect for other people: the need for care, appreciation, recognition, reputation, status, dignity, fame, glory, and even dominance.
The decline in these needs is reflected in low self-esteem and the inferiority complex.
Self-realization or self-update
Growth motivation, need to be and self-realization. They are the highest needs, they are at the top of the hierarchy, and through their satisfaction, a meaning to life is found through the potential development of an activity.
Theory XY Theory Y (DOUGLAS McGregor) (2)
It is Theory X, according to which workers are lazy by nature, work basically for money, lack ambition, do not identify with the organization, are resistant to change and lack skills for complex work. In contrast to the above, there is another set of assumptions with a more optimistic and humanistic content.
It is Theory Y, according to which workers can enjoy their work as much as play or rest, seek higher-order gratifications at work, are ambitious and are willing to assume new responsibilities, identify with the organization, are susceptible to change and usually have more skills than those demonstrated in daily work.
Herzberg's Bifactorial Theory (3)
Herzberg bases his theory on the external environment and on the work of the individual
Hygienic Factors: they are those whose presence allows the person not to feel unsatisfied, but does not imply that they generated the necessary motivation to achieve the objectives. Examples: work condition, supervision, received, or salary.
Motivational Factors: it is the energy that gives the necessary impulse to lead people to deposit their forces in order to achieve results. Examples: degree of responsibility, recognition, the possibility of progress.
Mcclelland's 3 Needs Theory (4)
He classified the needs into three categories:
- Need for Achievement: Drive to excel, to strive to succeed. This classification groups those people who put success in their actions before prizes, look for situations in which they can assume responsibilities and dislike the achievement of merits by chance. Power Needs: Need for others to conduct a behavior that without their indication they would not have observed. People who own it enjoy investiture of "boss", try to influence others and are more concerned with achieving influence than with their own performance. Need for Membership: Desire to establish interpersonal relationships. Those who have it prefer situations of cooperation to those of competition, the former standing out for a high degree of collaboration.
ERC Theory (Clayton Alderfer) (5)
Consider that human beings have three basic types of needs:
- Needs of Existence (E), which require the provision of material requirements for the subsistence of the individual and the species. Needs of Relationship ®, to maintain satisfactory interactions with others, feel part of a group and give and receive affection. Growth ©, inner longing for personal development and to have a high self-concept.
Stacy Adams' Theory of Equity (6)
It tries to explain the effect that the comparison that individuals make between their situation and that of other people or groups that are taken as references has on motivation. Within an organization, each individual provides certain Contributions in their work: knowledge, experience, time, effort, dedication, enthusiasm, and perceives a set of Results: salary, other socioeconomic benefits, prestige, esteem, affection. Individuals tend to compare their own results and contributions with the results and contributions of other people or reference groups.
Goal Setting Theory (Edwin Locke) (7)
The motivating role of specific goals in the behavior of the individual stands out. A goal is anything an individual strives to achieve. All other conditions being equal (ability, knowledge of the task, attractiveness of rewards, availability of resources), a worker with clear goals will perform better than others who do not have them or whose goals are fuzzy.
