All psychological theories of motivation consider the behavior of organizational members in a team and their reactions to incentives. The basis of the staff’s attitude to work is the impact on the employee’s personality, so it is important for any manager to know the basic principles of psychological motivation.

From the article you will learn:

The psychology of motivation is of great importance for business managers. By understanding the mechanisms of its operation, it is possible to create a successful system of personnel motivation in production, promoting effective work activity and achieving production goals. To do this, it is worth studying the basic psychological theories of work motivation.

Psychological theories of work motivation

Over the past half century, at least 10 theories have been developed in the psychology of motivation and are still being developed. As a rule, they are classified according to one or another criterion, depending on the subject of analysis and the studied factors influencing the employee. Thus, according to the classification of H. Scholz, psychological motivation theories activities are divided into three main areas:

• The first looks at a specific picture of the worker. A certain image of the employee, his needs and motives play a role here. An example of such theories is “XY” by D. McGregor and its complementary model “Z” by W. Ouchi.
• Content theories - here the subject of analysis is the structure of the needs and motives of the individual, as well as their manifestations in life and work. Such concepts include A. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Henry A. Murray’s theory of acquired and innate needs, K. Alderfer’s model of needs, two-factor model of F. Herzberg.
• Process theories, which study not only the individual, but also the influence of various environmental factors on his motivation. It also analyzes the distribution of employee efforts and the choice of a specific type of behavior to achieve set goals. Examples of theories of this type include D. Atkinson’s theory of work motivation, W. Vroom’s model of motivation, S. Adams’ theory of justice and Martin and Ritchie’s 12 factors.

Psychological theories of motivation by McGregor and Ouchi

According to the theory of D. McGregor, the approach to staff motivation the employer can choose based on the attitude of a particular employee to work. Within the framework of this theory, there are two types of workers: X and Y.

An employee of type X is lazy by nature, does not want to work and take responsibility, is lacking initiative and in every possible way avoids tension of nervous forces. Such an employee needs to be forced to work through punishment or reward.

An employee of type Y works willingly, as he has a natural desire for work, is often a creative person and strives for responsibility. Such an employee should not be forced, but encouraged to work.

Later, W. Ouchi supplemented McGregor’s work with theory Z, which allows for a mixed type of employee psychology. According to the characteristics displayed, such a person, depending on the current situation, behaves either like employee Y or like X, respectively, in each case a different method of motivation is chosen.

Psychological theories of motivation by Atkinson and Adams

The American D. Atkinson was one of the first to propose a general theory of motivation that explains the behavior of an employee in the pursuit of a specific goal. The moments of orientation, initiation and support of the employee’s behavioral activity are reflected here.

D. Atkinson's psychological theory of work motivation explains employee behavior as a result of the interaction of personality traits and a specific situation, its perception. Any employee strives for success, tries to avoid failure, and accordingly has two motives: the motive for achieving success and the motive for avoiding failure.

Atkinson's model determines that a person is more focused on success, so the majority of workers prefer to perform tasks of average complexity. However, there are employees who are capable of allowing failure for the sake of possibly achieving an attractive goal.

Atkinson based his work on expectancy theory. It is based on the assumption that an employee makes efforts to achieve an attractive goal only if he assesses the chances of satisfying his needs with a high probability.

In the theory of justice of S. Adams, the main idea is that in the process of work, an employee compares the assessment of his actions by the employer with how the similar work of his colleagues was assessed. The emotional result of this comparison (whether the employee is satisfied or not) influences the employee's further behavior.

Adams' model proves that inequality in assessments does not always contribute to improved performance or, on the contrary, demotivates employees to achieve greater results. The fact is that a person is satisfied with the state of equality, so he strives to maintain this state.

However, for the employer, equality is bad when the overall level of performance is low, since there is no incentive to change this level. Given an overall high level of performance, equality will be an important motivating factor. But if an employee perceives inequality, both under-reward and over-reward, then motivation to work gets lost.

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Basic psychological theories of work motivation

Several basic ones are considered as the main psychological theories of work motivation, one of which is the hierarchy of motives of Abraham X. Maslow. He developed a theory based on the order in which human needs are satisfied.

According to his idea, first of all, the physiological needs for food, rest are satisfied, then the needs for safety, belonging to society, love, respect and recognition. At the highest level are the desires for self-actualization and self-development as an individual.

The essence of this theory is that before moving on to satisfying higher needs, all lower components of the hierarchy must be satisfied. Once a need is satisfied, its motivating influence ceases.

The work of A. Maslow was further developed in the works of the theorist K. Alderfer. He identifies only three levels of needs, which essentially coincide with the five stages of Maslow’s hierarchy (see Table 1).

The main provisions of the theory of K. Alderfer:

1. Three needs are identified: to exist, to communicate with others and to develop.
2. It is permissible to delay the fulfillment of needs over time.
3. Movement through the hierarchy can take place not only from bottom to top, but also from top to bottom if the needs of the highest level are not satisfied.

Table 1. Classification of needs

Unlike Maslow, Alderfer believed that needs at different levels can simultaneously influence employee behavior. In this theory, a connection was established between the satisfaction of needs and their activation:

Less satisfied needs in existence are more pronounced.

The greater the satisfaction of the need for existence, the more actively social needs manifest themselves.

The less social needs are satisfied, the stronger their effect.

Poor satisfaction of growth needs increases social needs.

The less the needs of personal growth are satisfied, the more actively they express themselves.

The more fully social needs are satisfied, the more the growth needs are actualized.

In conclusion, it is worth emphasizing the importance of the concepts outlined for the development of an adequate motivation system in production. These theories allow us to draw a conclusion about what underlies employee motivation. The human need that results from the perception and evaluation of one’s work in the organization will differ in each case. The manager’s task is to promptly find out what active needs drive each employee and develop a set of motivating influences in order to increase the efficiency of staff.

The problem of human behavior motivation has attracted the attention of scientists since time immemorial. Numerous theories of motivation began to appear in the works of ancient philosophers, and currently there are already several dozen such theories. The point of view on the origin of human motivation in the process of development of mankind and science has changed repeatedly. However, most scientific approaches have always been located between two philosophical movements: rationalism and irrationalism. According to the rationalist position, and it was especially clear in the works of philosophers and theologians until the middle of the 19th century, man is a unique being of a special kind, which has nothing in common with animals. It was believed that only man is endowed with reason, thinking and consciousness, has will and freedom of choice in action, and the motivational source of human behavior was seen exclusively in the mind, consciousness and will of man.

Irrationalism As a doctrine, he mainly considered the behavior of animals. Proponents of this doctrine proceeded from the assertion that the behavior of animals, unlike humans, is not free, unreasonable, controlled by dark, unconscious forces that have their origins in organic needs. The history of the study of the problem of motivation is presented schematically in Fig. 1. The diagram depicted on it was proposed by the American scientist D. Atkinson and partially modified by R. S. Nemov.

The first actual psychological theories of motivation are considered to have arisen in the 17th-18th centuries. decision theory , explaining human behavior on a rationalistic basis, and the theory of the automaton , explaining the behavior of an animal on an irrational basis. The first was related to the use of mathematical knowledge in explaining human behavior. She considered the problems of human choice in economics. Subsequently, the main provisions of this theory were transferred to the understanding of human actions in general.

Emergence and development automaton theory was caused by the successes of mechanics in the 17th-18th centuries. One of the central points of this theory was the doctrine of reflex. Moreover, within the framework of this theory, the reflex was considered as a mechanical, or automatic, innate response of a living organism to external influences. The separate, independent existence of two motivational theories (one for humans, the other for animals) continued until the end of the 19th century.

Rice. 1.History of the study of the problem of motivation

In the second half of the 19th century. with the advent evolutionary theory Charles Darwin created the prerequisites for revising some views on the mechanisms of human behavior. The theory developed by Darwin made it possible to overcome the antagonisms that separated views on the nature of man and animals as two incompatible phenomena of reality in anatomical, physiological and psychological respects. Moreover, Darwin was one of the first to draw attention to the fact that humans and animals have many common needs and forms of behavior, in particular emotionally expressive expressions and instincts.

Under the influence of this theory, psychology began an intensive study of rational forms of behavior in animals (W. Köhler, E. Thorndike) and instincts in humans (Z. Freud, W. McDougall, I. P. Pavlov, etc.). During these studies, the understanding of needs changed. If earlier researchers, as a rule, tried to connect needs with the needs of the body and therefore used the concept of “need” most often to explain the behavior of animals, then in the process of transformation and development of scientific views this concept began to be used to explain human behavior. It should be noted that the use of the concept of “need” in relation to a person has led to the expansion of this concept. They began to identify not only biological, but also some social needs. However, the main feature of research into the motivation of human behavior at this stage was that, unlike the previous stage, at which the behavior of humans and animals was contrasted, they tried to minimize these fundamental differences between humans and animals. The same organic needs that were previously assigned only to animals began to be attributed to humans as motivational factors.

One of the first manifestations of such an extreme, essentially biologizing, point of view on human behavior was instinct theories 3. Freud and W. McDougall, proposed at the end of the 19th century. and gained the greatest popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. Trying to explain human social behavior by analogy with animal behavior, Freud and McDougall reduced all forms of human behavior to innate instincts. So, in Freud's theory there were three such instincts: the life instinct, the death instinct and the aggressive instinct. McDougall proposed a set of ten instincts: instinct of invention, instinct of construction, instinct of curiosity, instinct of flight, instinct of herd, instinct of pugnacity, reproductive (parental) instinct, instinct of disgust, instinct of self-humiliation, instinct of self-affirmation. In later works, McDougall added eight more instincts to those listed, mainly related to organic needs.

The developed theories of instincts still could not answer many questions and did not allow solving a number of very significant problems. For example, how can one prove the existence of these instincts in a person and to what extent can those forms of behavior that a person acquires during his lifetime under the influence of experience and social conditions be reduced to instincts or derived from them? And also how to separate in these forms of behavior what is actually instinctive and what is acquired as a result of learning?

The controversy surrounding the theory of instincts could not provide a scientifically based answer to any of the questions posed. As a result, all discussions ended with the fact that the very concept of “instinct” in relation to a person began to be used less and less.

New concepts have emerged to describe human behavior, such as need, reflex, attraction and others.

In the 20s XX century the theory of instincts was replaced by a concept within which all human behavior was explained the presence of biological needs. In accordance with this concept, it was generally accepted that humans and animals have common organic needs that have the same impact on behavior. Periodically arising organic needs cause a state of excitement and tension in the body, and satisfaction of the need leads to a decrease in tension. In this concept, there were no fundamental differences between the concepts of “instinct” and “need”, except that instincts are innate, but needs can! acquired and changed throughout life, especially in humans.

It should be noted that the use of the concepts “instinct” and “need” in this concept had one significant drawback: their use eliminated the need to take into account cognitive psychological characteristics associated with consciousness and the subjective states of the body in explaining human behavior. Therefore, these concepts were subsequently replaced by the concept of attraction, or drive . Moreover, drive was understood as the body’s desire for some final result, subjectively presented in the form of some goal, expectation or intention against the background of a corresponding emotional experience.

In addition to theories of human biological needs, instincts and drives at the beginning of the 20th century. Two new directions have emerged. Their emergence was largely due to the discoveries of I.P. Pavlov. This behavioral (behaviourist) theory of motivation and the theory of higher nervous activity. The behavioral concept of motivation was essentially a logical continuation of the ideas of the founder of behaviorism, D. Watson. The most famous representatives of this trend are E. Tolman K. Hull and B. Skinner. They all tried to explain behavior within the original stimulus-response framework of behaviorism.

Another theory is theory of higher nervous activity - was developed; I. P. Pavlov, and its development was continued by his students and followers, among whom were the following: N. A. Bernstein - author of the theory of psychophysiological regulation of movements; P.

K. Anokhin, who proposed a model of a functional system that describes and explains the dynamics of a behavioral act at the modern level; E. N. Sokolov, who discovered and studied the orienting reflex, which is of great importance for understanding the psychophysiological mechanisms of perception, attention and motivation, and also proposed a model of the conceptual reflex arc.

One of the theories that arose at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. and continuing to be developed now, is theory of organic needs of animals . It arose and developed under the influence of previous irrationalistic traditions in understanding animal behavior. Its modern representatives see their task as explaining the behavior of animals from the standpoint of physiology and biology.

Concepts and theories of motivation that relate only to humans began to appear in psychological science starting in the 30s. XX century The first of them was the theory of motivation proposed by K. Lewin. Following it, the works of representatives of humanistic psychology were published - G. Murray, A. Maslow, G. Allport, C. Rogers, etc. Let's consider some of them.

Has become quite widely known motivational concept of G. Murray . Along with the list of organic, or primary, needs identified by W. McDougall, identical to the basic instincts, Murray proposed a list of secondary (psychogenic) needs that arise on the basis of instinct-like drives as a result of upbringing and training. These are the needs for achieving success, affiliation, aggression, the need for independence, opposition, respect, humiliation, protection, dominance, attracting attention, avoiding harmful influences, avoiding failures, patronage, order, play. rejection, understanding, sexual relations, help, mutual understanding. Subsequently, in addition to these twenty needs, the author attributed six more to man : acquisition, deflection, cognition, creation, explanation, recognition and frugality.

Another, even more famous human behavior motivation concept, belongs to A. Maslow. Most often, when they talk about this concept, they mean the existence of a hierarchy of human needs and their classification proposed by Maslow. According to this concept, seven classes of needs consistently appear in a person from birth and accompany his maturation (Fig. 2): physiological (organic) needs, safety needs, needs for belonging and love, needs for respect (veneration), cognitive needs, aesthetic needs , needs for self-actualization. Moreover, according to the author, physiological needs lie at the base of this motivational pyramid, and higher needs, such as aesthetic and the need for self-actualization, form its top.

In the second half of the 20th century. theories of human needs were supplemented by a number of motivational concepts presented in the works of D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen, G. Kelly, Y. Rotter, etc. To a certain extent, they are close to each other and have a number of common provisions.

Firstly, most of these theories denied the fundamental possibility of creating a single universal theory of motivation that would equally successfully explain both the behavior of animals and humans.

Secondly, it was emphasized that the desire to relieve tension as the main motivational source of goal-directed behavior at the human level does not work, in any case, it is not the main motivational principle for him.

Thirdly, most of these theories stated that a person is not reactive, but is initially active. Therefore, the principle of stress reduction to explain human behavior is unacceptable, and the sources of his activity should be sought in himself, in his psychology.

Fourthly, these theories recognized, along with the role of the unconscious, the essential role of a person’s consciousness in the formation of his behavior. Moreover, according to most authors, conscious regulation for humans is the leading mechanism for the formation of behavior.

Fifthly, most of the theories of this group were characterized by the desire to introduce into scientific circulation specific concepts that reflect the characteristics of human motivation, for example, “social needs, motives” (D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen), “life goals "(K. Rogers, R. May), "cognitive factors" (Y. Rotter, G. Kelly, etc.).

Sixth, the authors of the theories of this group were unanimous in the opinion that methods for studying the causes of behavior in animals are unacceptable for studying human motivation. Therefore, they attempted to find special methods for studying motivation that are suitable only for humans.

Rice. 2. Structure of needs according to A. Maslow

In Russian psychology, attempts have also been made to solve the problems of human motivation. However, until the mid-1960s. psychological research has focused on cognitive processes. The main scientific development of domestic psychologists in the field of motivation problems is theory of activity origin of human motivational sphere , created by A. N. Leontyev.

According to the concept of A.N. Leontiev, the motivational sphere of a person, like his other psychological characteristics, has its sources in practical activities. In particular, between the structure of activity and the structure of a person’s motivational sphere there are relations of isomorphism, i.e., mutual correspondence, and at the basis of dynamic changes that occur with a person’s motivational sphere.

The article examines the theories of motivation that have been developed by scientists and examines each of them. There are a couple of approaches when studying motivational theories:

1. Substantive - explores the actual essence of theories that study human needs, and those, in turn, become the main motives of our studies. Proponents of this approach include Herzberg, Maslow, McClelland;
2. Procedural – based on procedural concepts. Certain behavior is considered, as well as the division of efforts of workers - workers. Its supporters include Porter-Lawler and Vroom.

Basic theories of motivation: in these works, experts try to figure out what exactly motivates society to act. The structure and essence of what people need, as well as the connection of this with the motivation to action, are described. Let's understand these teachings.

Maslow's gradation of needs

We feel different needs for something, which interact and influence each other, first at a lower level, then at a higher level. Needs are combined into groups, representing what an individual needs:

• sleep, food and rest - satisfy the basis of the creature’s life;
• stability and security;
• sociality – the need to communicate with others and loved ones;
• achieving certain goals and objectives;
• universal recognition of one's merits.

So, we have looked at all the steps of Maslow’s pyramid, placed in hierarchical order. Remember, without satisfying what we need, it will not be possible to move from a lower level to the implementation of high and sophisticated requests.

Alderfer's ERG Approach

Like Maslow, this psychologist combined needs, but into different groups: the need for sustenance (human existence), connection and self-improvement, or development (growth). Here, the satisfaction of interests is of a dual nature - first low, then high. But if it is not possible to fulfill some interest, satisfaction goes in the opposite direction - to a lower stage. This phenomenon is called frustration - that is, the opposite direction.

This so-called leadership theory can be usefully applied to the employees of a company. For example, when it is not possible to motivate an employee using high-level needs, they look for ways at a lower stage.

McClelland's acquired needs

The main idea of ​​the method is that one should not be distracted by lower-level interests that have already been satisfied, but should pay attention to high-level needs acquired through life experience. There are three such needs - the need for achievement, participation and power:

1. The desire to work much more efficiently than before. Such people take full responsibility and also rely only on themselves. They are very persistent, stubborn and strong-willed;
2. The need for participation presupposes the need to communicate with people, the willingness to always listen to them. Such a person will not care what they say about him in society. Therefore, the main success is a high social position and positive opinion;
3. The desire to rule is the willingness to take control of everything that happens around, all processes and phenomena. This is a “double-edged sword”: either constant and strict control over everything, or unwillingness to take responsibility and avoid any authority.

So, it is difficult to combine these needs into separate groups or indicate the direction of their satisfaction. However, knowledge of these will help in organizing the work of company employees. It is also important to consider how these motivational needs interact and influence each other. Remember that they are not mutually exclusive.

Herzberg's two-factor approach

The basic needs of life are divided into motivation and hygiene factors. With the help of motivations, we can satisfy higher needs that influence our behavioral aspects.

Vroom's Expectations Method

What people need at the moment is not the final condition for their motivation. They must be confident that the chosen behavior will lead to the result they want to achieve. Achieving the goal is possible only with the appropriate qualities and professional skills of the employee.

Porter-Lowler model

Porter and Lauler created a method that incorporates elements of expectancy theory and equity theory. The developed model consists of the following points:

• effort made;
• perception;
• results achieved;
• reward;
• feeling of satisfaction.

According to the theory, the results directly depend on our qualities, efforts, abilities, therefore, to determine the motivation of employees, it is enough to take them into account. High performance is achieved when work done is rewarded (material incentives). It follows that achieving good results becomes the reason for quality work. The cause, but not the effect.

Hedonic motivational method

His supporter Jung found that people want to achieve maximum joy and minimum discomfort. Enjoyment is a fundamental factor that determines the active desire to work, the direction and organization of actions. Emotions drive behavior. If they are positive, the action is repeated, otherwise not.

Proponents of this method argue that emotions appear to be pleasure to some level that can be determined. After satiety comes the complete opposite - displeasure. In this method, two necessary factors are distinguished: the level of stimulation and hedonic tone, subjective pleasure depends on the latter.

Psychoanalytic motivational method

Freud created and developed the psychodynamic approach to the study of human behavior. It is based on the recognition that there are psychological forces that shape our actions, but are not always conscious of them. Freud believed that instincts drive our behavior. Eros is life. Thanatos – destruction and death. Source, goal, object and stimulus are the main instinctive parameters. An individual is understood as a community of three parts:

1. “I” – knowledge of oneself and one’s “ego”;
2. “Id” (it) – accumulates instincts and impulses;
3. “Superego” (unconscious) – moral behavioral aspects.

Drive Theory

The author of the “drives” method is Karl Hull. All changes within a person lead to some kind of reaction, a change in activity. Thus, the personality tries to eliminate any changes. The components of such elimination are “drives” (i.e., “attractions”). This behavior is reinforced by repeated attempts, which strengthen the reaction, since the behavior confirmed by something is reliably fixed in the person’s mind.

In economically developed countries, employee activity is supported by remuneration. But you need to be careful with this: such a person may not do anything else if there is no new confirmation (encouragement).

Conditioned reflex method

It was developed by the great physiologist, academician Ivan Petrovich Pavlov, who argued that reflexes, both unconditioned and conditioned, can be considered the basis of motivation. The essence of this theory is how the body responds to them. These reflexes need extra attention.

Attitude is the main element of the personal motivation system. The basis of this attitude is the habit of thinking and behavior.

McGregor's "X" and "Y" methods

McGregor called theory “X” the expectation of anti-democratic failure from subordinates, and theory “Y” the assumptions about the employees of a liberal-minded boss. These theories address the different desires and motivations of people. The area of ​​motivation is very changeable and dependent on various circumstances: some motives become stable, subordinate other motives and are the foundation of the entire area.

Differences in behavior in similar situations and under similar circumstances are determined by the fact that each person has his own measure of perseverance and internal energy. Some people diversify their actions when reacting to a situation, while others behave monotonously. Sometimes actions are not able to fully satisfy the motive. In this case, a person completes one type of work and begins another. The motive can also change during the activity, for example, you wanted to draw with pencils, but then you got tired of this activity. Sometimes the type of work changes, but the motive remains the same, for example, a person who was initially carried away by watercolors later began to paint in oils.

It happens that motivation goes ahead of activity or lags behind it. Motives set alternatives for various actions that regulate and correct activities to get closer to the characteristic target characteristics of a specific motivation, and also support this direction. Only motivation becomes the reason for purposeful activity.

Motivation does not become a continuous and indivisible process. It consists of procedures of various kinds that regulate behavior before and after actions. First comes the analysis process: the consequences of possible work results are assessed. The purpose of actions is the embodiment of motive, but still they should not be confused with motivation. Actions add up erudition, abilities and skills. Motivation is determined by how different opportunities will be used. Motivations determine the selection of specific actions, approaches to perception and all kinds of ways of thinking, as well as tension and persistence in implementing a specific action and achieving its results.

So, we have looked at the main motivational theories in psychology. If you put them into practice, you will be able to properly organize your employees and achieve progressive results.

Numerous theories of motivation began to appear in the works of ancient philosophers. Currently, there are more than a dozen such theories. To understand them, it is important to know the background and history of their occurrence.

The first actual motivational psychological theories should be considered those that arose in the 17th - 18th centuries. decision theory, which explains human behavior, and automaton theory, which explains animal behavior.

The development of the automaton theory was combined with the idea of ​​a reflex as a mechanical, automatic, innate response of a living organism to external influences. The separate, independent existence of two motivational theories: one for humans, the other for animals, supported by theology and the division of philosophies into two opposing camps - materialism and idealism - continued until the end of the 19th century.

Second half of the 19th century. was marked by a number of outstanding discoveries in various sciences, including biology - the emergence of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin. She had a significant influence not only on natural history, but also on medicine, psychology and other humanities. C. Darwin took the first decisive step forward in the behavioral and motivational rapprochement of humans and animals, showing that they have many common forms of behavior, in particular emotionally expressive expressions, needs and instincts.

Instinct theories. Under the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, psychology began an intensive study of intelligent forms of behavior in animals (W. Koehler, E. Thorndike) and instincts in humans (Z. Freud, W. McDougall, I. P. Pavlov, etc.).

The same organic needs that were previously assigned only to animals, including instincts, began to be attributed to humans as motivational factors. At this stage of the development of psychological knowledge and motivational theory, they tried to minimize the fundamental differences between humans and animals.

One of the first manifestations of such an extreme biologizing point of view on human behavior was the theories of instincts of S. Freud and W. McDougall, proposed at the end of the 19th century and developed at the beginning of the 20th century.

Trying to understand human social behavior by analogy with the behavior of animals, Freud and McDougall attempted to reduce all forms of human behavior to innate instincts. In S. Freud's theory there were three such instincts: the life instinct, the death instinct and the aggressive instinct. W. McDougall proposed a set of ten instincts: the instinct of invention, the instinct of construction, the instinct of curiosity, the instinct of flight, the herd instinct, the instinct of pugnacity, the reproductive (parental) instinct, the instinct of disgust, the instinct of self-humiliation, the instinct of self-affirmation.

The debate that began around the theory of instincts at the beginning of the 20th century boiled down to the following questions:

1. How to prove the existence of these instincts in a person?
2. To what extent can those forms of behavior that are acquired by a person during his lifetime under the influence of experience and social conditions be reduced to them or derived from them?
3. How to divide between the behavior that is actually instinctive in these forms and that acquired as a result of learning during life?
4. How, using only instincts, can one explain the actions of a cultured, civilized person?

In the end, discussions around the theory of instincts ended with the fact that the very concept of “instinct” in relation to a person began to be used less and less often, replacing it with such concepts as need, reflex, attraction (drive) and others, which were included in the analysis of mental phenomena.

Theory of biological needs. In the 20s of this century, the theory of instincts was replaced by a concept that explains human behavior based on biological needs. This concept argued that humans and animals have common organic needs that have the same effect on their behavior. Periodically arising organic needs cause a state of excitement and tension in the body, and satisfaction of the need leads to the removal (reduction) of tension.

There were no fundamental differences between the concepts of instinct and need, except that instincts are innate, unchangeable, and needs can be acquired and change throughout life, especially in humans. Both concepts are instinct" And " need- had one significant drawback: their use did not imply the presence of psychological cognitive factors associated with consciousness, with the subjective states of the body, which are called mental.

Behavioral theory of motivation. At the beginning of the 20th century. A new direction has emerged in motivational psychology, stimulated by the discoveries of I.P. Pavlov. This is a behavioral (behaviourist) theory of motivation. The behavioral concept of motivation was developed by D. Watson, E. Tolman, K. Hull and B. Skinner. All of them tried to explain behavior within the framework of the original stimulus-reactive scheme.

Theory of higher nervous activity. The research begun by I.P. Pavlov was continued by other physiologists and psychologists. Among them we can name P.K. Anokhin, who proposed a model of a functional system that describes and explains the dynamics of a behavioral act; E. N. Sokolov, who discovered and studied the orientation reflex, which is of great importance for understanding the psychophysiological mechanisms of attention and motivation.

Since the 30s of the XX century. concepts of motivation appear that relate only to humans. These concepts were developed by representatives of humanistic psychology - A. Maslow, G. Allport, K. Rogers, etc.

Theories of psychogenic needs. The American motivation researcher G. Murray, along with a list of organic, or primary, needs, proposed a list of secondary (psychogenic) needs that arise as a result of upbringing and training. These are the needs for success, affiliation, aggression, the need for independence, opposition, respect, humiliation, protection, dominance, attracting attention, avoiding harmful influences, avoiding failure, patronage, sexual relations, help, mutual understanding, etc. (about two dozen needs in total ).

A different classification of human needs was proposed by A. Maslow. His concept is built on a hierarchical principle, the sequence of which indicates the order in which needs arise in the process of individual development. A. Maslow identified the following seven classes of needs:

1. Physiological (organic) needs.
2. Security needs.
3. Needs for belonging and love.
4. Needs of respect (honor).
5. Cognitive needs.
6. Aesthetic needs.
7. Self-actualization needs.

In the second half of the 20th century. theories of human needs were supplemented by the motivational concepts of D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen, G. Kelly, Y. Rotter. The following provisions are common to them:

1. Denial of the possibility of creating a unified theory of motivation that explains both animal and human behavior.
2. The conviction that stress reduction is not the main motivational principle for a person.
3. An affirmation, instead of reducing tension, of the principle of activity, according to which a person is initially active in his behavior, that the sources of his motivation are in himself, in his psychology.
4. Recognition of the essential role of human consciousness (along with unconscious factors) in determining his behavior.
5. The desire to introduce into scientific circulation specific concepts that reflect the characteristics of human motivation. Such concepts were, for example, social needs, motives (D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen), life goals (K. Rogers, R. May), cognitive factors (Y. Rotter, G. Kelly, etc.) .

The theory of the activity origin of the human motivational sphere. In domestic motivational psychology, one can name the theory of the activity origin of the human motivational sphere, created by A. N. Leontyev.

According to the concept of A. N. Leontyev, the motivational sphere of a person has its sources in practical activities. Between the structure of activity and the structure of a person’s motivational sphere there are relations of isomorphism, that is, mutual correspondence. Behavior in general, for example, corresponds to human needs; the system of activities from which it is composed - a variety of motives; the set of actions that form an activity is an ordered set of goals.

The basis of the dynamic changes that occur in the motivational sphere of a person is the development of a system of activities.

Cognitive theories of motivation. In the latest psychological concepts of motivation, the cognitive approach to motivation is predominant. In line with this approach, special importance is attached to phenomena associated with human consciousness and knowledge. The most commonly used concepts in these theories are the strength of motivation, expectation of success, probability of achieving a goal, value of activity, level of aspirations, etc.

Dependencies are established between these variables, expressed using symbolic notations and arithmetic operations.

The American scientist D. Atkinson was one of the first to propose a general theory of motivation that explains human behavior aimed at achieving a specific goal. This theory is an example of a symbolic representation of motivation.

The strength of a person’s desire to achieve a goal (M) according to Atkinson can be established using the following formula:

M = Pdu Vdts Zdts

where M is the strength of motivation (aspiration); Pdu - the strength of the motive for achieving success as a personal disposition; Vdc - subjectively assessed probability of achieving the goal; Zdc is the personal meaning of achieving this goal for a person.

If you somehow measure the listed variables and substitute their values ​​into the right side of the formula, you can calculate the strength of a person’s internal desire to achieve the corresponding goal.

So, by the middle of this century, at least ten theories had emerged in the psychology of motivation. Each of them has its own achievements and its own shortcomings. The main point is that all these theories individually are able to explain only some of the phenomena of motivation. Only the integration of all theories with a deep analysis and isolation of all the positive things they contain can give us a more or less complete picture of the determination of human behavior.

Numerous theories of motivation began to appear in the works of ancient philosophers. Currently, there are more than a dozen such theories. To understand them, it is important to know the background and history of their occurrence.
The first actual motivational psychological theories should be considered those that arose in the 17th-18th centuries. decision theory, which explains human behavior, and automaton theory, which explains animal behavior.
The development of the automaton theory was combined with the idea of ​​a reflex as a mechanical, automatic, innate response of a living organism to external influences. The separate, independent existence of two motivational theories: one for humans, the other for animals, supported by theology and the division of philosophies into two opposing camps - materialism and idealism - continued until the end of the 19th century.
Second half of the 19th century. was marked by a number of outstanding discoveries in various sciences, including biology - the emergence of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin. She had a significant influence not only on natural history,
but also on medicine, psychology and other humanities. C. Darwin took the first decisive step forward in the behavioral and motivational rapprochement of humans and animals, showing that they have many common forms of behavior, in particular emotionally expressive expressions, needs and instincts.
Theories of instincts. Under the influence of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, psychology began an intensive study of intelligent forms of behavior in animals (W. Koehler, E. Thorndike) and instincts in humans (Z. Freud, W. McDougall, I. P. Pavlov, etc.).
The same organic needs that were previously assigned only to animals, including instincts, began to be attributed to humans as motivational factors. At this stage of the development of psychological knowledge and motivational theory, they tried to minimize the fundamental differences between humans and animals.
One of the first manifestations of such an extreme biologizing point of view on human behavior were the theories of instincts of S. Freud and W. McDougall, proposed at the end of the 19th century and developed at the beginning of the 20th century.
Trying to understand human social behavior by analogy with the behavior of animals, Freud and McDougall attempted to reduce all forms of human behavior to innate instincts. In S. Freud's theory there were three such instincts: the life instinct, the death instinct and the aggressive instinct. W. McDougall proposed a set of ten instincts: the instinct of invention, the instinct of construction, the instinct of curiosity, the instinct of flight, the herd instinct, the instinct of pugnacity, the reproductive (parental) instinct, the instinct of disgust, the instinct of self-humiliation, the instinct of self-affirmation.
The debate that began around the theory of instincts at the beginning of the 20th century boiled down to the following questions:
How to prove the existence of these instincts in a person?
To what extent can those forms of behavior that are acquired by a person during his lifetime under the influence of experience and social conditions be reduced to them or derived from them?
How to divide between the behavior that is actually instinctive in these forms and that acquired as a result of learning during life?
How, using only instincts, can one explain the actions of a cultured, civilized person?
In the end, discussions around the theory of instincts ended with the fact that the very concept of “instinct” in relation to a person began to be used less and less often, replacing it with such concepts as need, reflex, attraction (drive) and others, which were included in the analysis of mental phenomena.
Theory of biological needs. In the 20s of the current century, the theory of instincts was replaced by a concept that explains human behavior based on biological needs. This concept argued that humans and animals have common organic needs that have the same effect on their behavior. Periodically arising organic needs cause a state of excitement and tension in the body, and satisfaction of the need leads to the removal (reduction) of tension.
There were no fundamental differences between the concepts of instinct and need, except that instincts are innate, unchangeable, and needs can be acquired and change throughout life, especially in humans. Both concepts - “instinct” and “need” - had one significant drawback: their use did not imply the presence of psychological cognitive factors associated with consciousness, with the subjective states of the body, which are called mental.
Behavioral theory of motivation. At the beginning of the 20th century. A new direction has emerged in motivational psychology, stimulated by the discoveries of I.P. Pavlov. This is a behavioral (behaviourist) theory of motivation. The behavioral concept of motivation was developed by D. Watson, E. Tolman, K. Hull and B. Skinner. All of them tried to explain behavior within the framework of the original stimulus-reactive scheme.
Theory of higher nervous activity. The research begun by I.P. Pavlov was continued by other physiologists and psychologists. Among them we can name P.K. Anokhin, who proposed a model of a functional system that describes and explains the dynamics of a behavioral act; E.N. Sokolov, who discovered and studied the orientation reflex, which is of great importance for understanding the psychophysiological mechanisms of attention and motivation.
Since the 30s of the XX century. concepts of motivation appear that relate only to humans. These concepts were developed by representatives of humanistic psychology - A. Maslow, G. Allport, K. Rogers, etc.
Theories of psychogenic needs. The American motivation researcher G. Murray, along with a list of organic, or primary, needs, proposed a list of secondary (psychogenic) needs that arise as a result of upbringing and training. These are the needs for success, affiliation, aggression, the need for independence, opposition, respect, humiliation, protection, dominance, attraction.
attention, avoidance of harmful influences, avoidance of failures, patronage, sexual relations, help, mutual understanding, etc. (about two dozen needs in total).
A different classification of human needs was proposed by A. Maslow. His concept is built on a hierarchical principle, the sequence of which indicates the order in which needs arise in the process of individual development. A. Maslow identified the following seven classes of needs:
Physiological (organic) needs.
Security needs.
Needs for belonging and love.
Needs of respect (honor).
Cognitive needs.
Aesthetic needs.
Self-actualization needs.
In the second half of the 20th century. theories of human needs were supplemented by the motivational concepts of D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen, G. Kelly, Y. Rotter. The following provisions are common to them:
Denial of the possibility of creating a unified theory of motivation that explains both animal and human behavior.
The conviction that stress reduction is not the main motivational principle for a person.
An affirmation, instead of reducing tension, of the principle of activity, according to which a person is initially active in his behavior, that the sources of his motivation are in himself, in his psychology.
Recognition of the essential role of human consciousness (along with unconscious factors) in determining his behavior.
The desire to introduce into scientific circulation specific concepts that reflect the characteristics of human motivation. Such concepts were, for example, social needs, motives (D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen), life goals (K. Rogers, R. May), cognitive factors (Y. Rotter, G. Kelly, etc.) .
The theory of the activity origin of the human motivational sphere. In domestic motivational psychology it can be called
the theory of the activity origin of the human motivational sphere, created by A.N. Leontiev.
According to the concept of A. N. Leontyev, the motivational sphere of a person has its sources in practical activities. Between the structure of activity and the structure of a person’s motivational sphere there are relations of isomorphism, that is, mutual correspondence. Behavior in general, for example, corresponds to human needs; system of activities, from
of which it is formed - a variety of motives; set of actions that form an activity - an ordered set of goals.
The basis of the dynamic changes that occur in the motivational sphere of a person is the development of a system of activities.
Cognitive theories of motivation. In the latest psychological concepts of motivation, the cognitive approach to motivation is predominant. In line with this approach, special importance is attached to phenomena associated with human consciousness and knowledge. The most commonly used concepts in these theories are the strength of motivation, expectation of success, probability of achieving a goal, value of activity, level of aspirations, etc.
Dependencies are established between these variables, expressed using symbolic notations and arithmetic operations.
The American scientist D. Atkinson was one of the first to propose a general theory of motivation that explains human behavior aimed at achieving a specific goal. This theory is an example of a symbolic representation of motivation.
The strength of a person’s desire to achieve a goal (M) according to Atkinson can be established using the following formula:
M = Pdu Vdts Zdts
where M is the strength of motivation (aspiration); Pdu - the strength of the motive for achieving success as a personal disposition; Vdc - subjectively assessed probability of achieving the goal; Zdc is the personal meaning of achieving this goal for a person.
If you somehow measure the listed variables and substitute their values ​​into the right side of the formula, you can calculate the strength of a person’s internal desire to achieve the corresponding goal.
So, by the middle of this century, at least ten theories had emerged in the psychology of motivation. Each of them has its own achievements and shortcomings. The main point is that all these theories individually are able to explain only some of the phenomena of motivation. Only the integration of all theories with a deep analysis and isolation of all the positive things they contain can give us a more or less complete picture of the determination of human behavior.