Motivational theories

Motivation is the process that account for an individual drive to achieve a goal. Motivation is important because a company wants to know that if, an employee is given a huge task, that the employee will stick with the company long enough to achieve the goals of the company. In business psychology there are eight different motivational theories and personally my favorite is Maslow’s theory.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a common subject in introductory psychology classes when discussing motivation. What is explains, is how we as humans have basic needs that need to be satisfied before we can begin to achieve the next level.

The first level we must achieve is physiological. This includes things like food, shelter, sex, thirst and other physical needs.
The second level is safety. This includes security, and protection from physical and emotional harm.
The third level is Social. The needs of being affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship.
The fourth level is Esteem. This includes Internal which is self respect, Autonomy, and achievement, and external which are status, recognition and attention.
The fifth and last is Self awareness. The drive to become what one is capable of.

This theory is the most common looked at by managers, because of the logic and the easiness to understand. There are however other theories that compete with Maslows, such as the ERG theory which breaks down human needs into three groups: Relatedness, development and existence. This theory unlike Maslows, does not give us a hierarchy of what we need to achieve.

Robbins, Stephen, and Judge Timothy. Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007.