Three examples of motivated action:

(i) The Concept of Motivation: Motivation plays an important role in directing human behaviour. There are several

characteristics of motivation. First, it pushes us to reach the goals we have set for ourselves. In order to reach our goals we need to be aroused or feel active. Too little arousal will make us feel dull and relaxed, whereas, too much arousal may make us

withdraw from our goal. Hence we must be motivated to maintain a balanced or optimum level of arousal. Second, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because of the pleasing and pleasant properties of external stimuli, such as, money, good grades, food, which motivate the person to act in a purposeful/focussed manner. Third, motivation is the result of the person’s thoughts and expectations. It can be of two types: intrinsic motivation that comes from within the person, based on personal enjoyment of any task, and extrinsic motivation which is based on external rewards such as money, pay and grades. You will find that sometimes we work hard and produce high quality work when motivation is intrinsic rather than extrinsic. On the other hand, we are also influenced by external rewards. In life, both types of motivation are important. Finally, motivational needs are ordered such that basic needs such as hunger and thirst are satisfied first and then other higher-needs, such as need for achievement and power are fulfilled. Let us now learn about the hierarchy of needs.

(ii) The Hierarchy of motive: According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, there are several levels of needs that

each person must strive to meet before he or she can achieve the highest level of personal fulfilment. Thus, a person must be able to fulfil the primary (biological) needs at the lowest level, as indicated in Figure 1. Once these needs are met then

safety becomes important, followed by the need to belong and to love and be loved. The desire to belong to groups such as family, friends, and religious groups makes us feel loved and accepted by others. If we succeed in satisfying the mentioned

needs then we feel the need to have self esteem, confidence, and feeling of self worth. Next come cognitive needs which include need for knowledge and understanding, followed by need for order and beauty. Finally a person moves towards reaching the full potential called self-actualization. Such a person has the qualities of self awareness, is socially responsive, and is open to the challenges of life.

(iii) Primary motive: ‘Need’ refers to a lack of something that is necessary for us. We feel hungry when our blood sugar level is low, thus we need to eat food to satisfy our hunger. Motives

or needs are characterised in terms of primary and secondary needs or motives. Important primary needs are biological needs such as hunger, thirst, oxygen, rest, sleep, temperature regulation, warmth, shelter, excretion, and sex. These needs have to be satisfied for us to stay alive. Needs such as hunger and sleep are cyclical in nature or are repetitive. Thus we need to eat and sleep regularly. Attempt Activity 1 to understand the effects of not eating or sleeping for a long time.

The important characteristics of motivation are:

(a) Effect of lack of sleep on performance. Try to keep awake for a long period of time, for example for about 16 hours. 

Now list your experience on two aspects: 

(i) how long you take to learn a lesson. and 

(ii) your feelings at this point of time.  

(b) Effect of not eating for a long period of time. Try not to eat for a long period, for example, 8 hours. List your experience in terms of how you feel. Rate your feelings on a five point scale in terms of: 

(i) extent of low feeling. 

(ii) level of irritation and annoyance.