Motivation

In motivation, there are four main content theories which emphases what motivates individuals. These are:

Ø  Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Ø  Alderfer’s modified the hierarchy model

Ø  Herzberg two factor theory

Ø  McClelland’s achievement motivation theory

Out of the four, the one that is most relevant to me is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory identifies essential needs of an individual such as food, safety and achievement. This model had 5 main levels of needs which were published as a form of a pyramid, as shown below, starting from the lowest level to the highest.

The hierarchy includes the following:

Ø  Physiological needs: The physiological need is the lowest level of the hierarchy of needs and this includes the basic needs of every requirements of human survival. This includes homoeostasis such as hunger, thirst and oxygen. This also includes sexual desire and maternal behaviour. 

Ø  Safety needs: The safety of needs of the hierarchy model includes the safety and security of an individual for example, personal security, financial security and health and safety.

Ø  Social needs: Maslow considered the social needs to be less basic than physiological and safety needs. The social needs often relate to emotional based relationships such as affection, friendship and giving and receiving love.

Ø  Esteem needs: Esteem needs becomes increasingly important after the first three needs have been satisfied. This reflects on self respect, self esteem, recognition and status. Self respect is when an individual gains confidence and independence where as self esteem, Maslow quoted “There are two versions of esteem, higher and lower”. Mullins, L.J (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Edition. Italy [S.N], higher esteem includes self respect, needs for strength and independence where as lower esteem comes under recognition and status.

Ø  Self-actualization: This is the highest level of the hierarchy of needs model. Self actualization includes the development and realisation of an individual’s potential. Maslow also quoted “what humans can be, they must be” or “becoming everything that one is capable of becoming”. Mullins, L.J (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Edition. Italy [S.N].

This content theory relates to me as I believe in order to receive a reward or achieve something, you need to be motivated and in order to do that, you need guidance and help to achieve that. I believe I have achieved Maslow’s physiological needs as I got the basic needs to get on with life such as shelter provided by my parents as I live with them and food which they provide too.

The second stage of the hierarchy of needs is safety needs. I believe I have reached this stage as am safe at home and have no worries about being in danger as my parents provide full security with room locks and etc. Even in university, I have no fear of safety as there are plenty of security cameras that are provided, security staff and also have my friends who are always around me and taking care of me. When travelling to university and back, I always feel safe as my friends always pick me up and drop me home so I don’t have to worry.

The third stage of the hierarchy of needs, social needs, also relates back to me as I have loving friends and family. They have plenty of affection to me and show that they care and always be there for me as I would too. I believe I have travelled up the bottom 3 stages of the hierarchy of needs and just about reaching to the forth level, self esteem. I don’t think I’m fully confident in myself when it comes to university. I still think I need time to get use to the course and achieve good grades for my assignment. Also, I am quiet independent as I do my own thing such as study alone however, I am very dependent on my parents when it comes to money as I do not work so they provide me with money for food and other use such as clothes, therefore I haven’t fully reached the fourth stage of the hierarchy pyramid. I believe in order to reach the top of the hierarchy pyramid; I will have to get to my 3^rd year of my course to realise my potential and whether I can reach to the top of the hierarchy of needs.

 

My motivation for starting my degree was to get a good, well paid job at the end of it. Also, I have always wanted to open up my own hair and beauty salon and I realised getting into Business Management will help me understand how to run my own business. My other main motivation was to make something of myself. I want to be able to look back and say that I have gone far in life ad was able to achieve something good and got a good future for my potential family. I also want to make my parent proud as I’m the oldest child, I want them to be able to say my daughter as gone far in life and be able to say that by being really proud. Their happiness is really important to me and this is a huge motivation for me. Choosing Business Management as a degree was my choice as I have studied this subject since year 10 for my GCSE’s and for my A levels. I have gained quite a bit of knowledge in this subject and I have become really interested in this subject. After I complete this degree, I would like to have a decent job where there is good pay so I can save up for my own house, car and family. After achieving that, I would like to get married and have enough money to be able to provide for my family. In order to achieve this ambition, I would have to study hard and concentrate for the next 3 years and at the end of it I want to leave university with a high degree. The next 3 years I will definitely be motivated to concentrate and do really well. My personal motivation relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as I already have achieved 3 of the stages and to get to the top I have to think about my ambition and push myself to achieve it.

In conclusion, my main motivation in life is my family and being able to provide to them. In order to do this I need to be able to get a good job and to do this I need to complete my degree. Being motivated will help me in life and help me achieve higher.

 

Reference:

·         Mullins, L.J (2002) Management and Organisational Behaviour. 6^th Edition. Italy [S.N].

·         Maslow, A. H. “A theory of human motivation”, Psychological Review, 50, July 1943, pp. 370-96 and Maslow, A. H. Motivation and Personality,  Third edition, Harper and Row (1987)