Motivation is that which drives an individual to certain behavior. Motivation influences the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of human behavior[1]. Motivation arises from an interplay between an individual's biological (innate) and culture-dependent (learned) traits and that individual's environment[2]. For example, hunger may cause an individual to eat (an innate need) or parental taught ambition may cause a student to prepare for an exam. Motivation is an important concept in several disciplines, such as psychology, pedagogy, education science and criminology.
Because motivation has to do with everything that drives a person to act, it is a complex topic on which many different theories and perspectives have been formulated. Even the definition of motivation can vary widely[2]. Many of the theories on motivation deal with the various factors that influence motivation. These can be needs, self-formulated goals, one's own opinion about the difficulty of the goal and one's skills, as well as rewards or punishments. The different perspectives place weight on different factors.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
A commonly used distinction of different types of sources of motivation is that between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The theoretical demarcation between these two concepts is not always clear[3]. According to self-determination theory, extrinsic motivation arises from an external source, such as the prospect of a reward or punishment for a certain action. In intrinsic motivation, the motivation comes from the person himself. This person acts not to obtain an external reward or escape punishment, but because of the intrinsic value of the activity in the moment itself or for achieving a goal in the future[2]. Described metaphorically, intrinsic motivation is about the game, and extrinsic motivation is about the marbles.
A commonly used distinction of different types of sources of motivation is that between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The theoretical demarcation between these two concepts is not always clear[3]. According to self-determination theory, extrinsic motivation arises from an external source, such as the prospect of a reward or punishment for a certain action. In intrinsic motivation, the motivation comes from the person himself. This person acts not to obtain an external reward or escape punishment, but because of the intrinsic value of the activity in the moment itself or for achieving a goal in the future[2]. Described metaphorically, intrinsic motivation is about the game, and extrinsic motivation is about the marbles.
In addition to a difference in their original source, there are also differences between the action of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. People who act intrinsically in a situation, according to self-determination theory, are more creative, have higher commitment, higher feelings of self-competence and pride, and more pleasure in their task performance, among other things. Extrinsic motivation can crowd out intrinsic motivation. A person who initially performed an activity because of its inherent value to herself will start to focus on the reward and thus become not doubly motivated (by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation), but possibly actually less motivated in the longer term, because intrinsic motivation may be more enduring. Scholars differ on how much of this happens and whether it happens at all[2].
Alfie Kohn is a representative of those scientists who see extrinsic motivation as killing intrinsic motivation. He gives numerous examples showing that this is indeed the case[4][5].
Treatment BeterKlinic
BeterKliniek is the clinic for Integrative Medicine that bridges regular and non-regular medicine.
An van Veen (physician) and Michael van Gils (therapist) look for the cause of a condition or disease. That is where the treatment starts otherwise, as people often say, it is 'carrying water to the sea'. We call this cause medicine. Sometimes it is also desirable to treat the symptoms (at the same time). We call this symptom medicine.
Chronic disorders often have their cause in epi- genetics. You can schedule a free informative telephone consultation (phone number 040-7117337 until 1 p.m.) at BeterKliniek to discuss your symptoms so that we can provide you with further advice.
