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Essay on What Motivates You?
Introduction
The desires to succeed and to excel are called achievement needs. Achievement motivation is basic to a good life. Achievers, as a whole, enjoy life and feel in control. Being motivated keeps us productive and gives us self-respect. Where and how achievement needs are learned are complex, intriguing, and important questions.
Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory Herzberg constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting people's attitudes about work. He concluded that such factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are hygiene factors rather than motivators. According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction. In contrast, he determined from the data that the motivators were elements that enriched a person's job.
He found five factors in particular that were strong determinants of job satisfaction: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement. These motivators (satisfiers) were associated with long-term positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level. According to several authorities, the proper approach to motivation lies in a careful distinction between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards.
Discussion
A large number of competing motives or needs are striving for expression at the same time, such as the need for achievement, the need for close relationships, the need for power, and the need to be cared for by others. Besides the conflict among many motives, the theory assumes there is a conflict between the hope of success and the fear of failure, i.e. an approach-avoidance conflict over each goal. The fear of failure can keep us from trying in school, just as the fear of rejection can keep us from getting emotionally involved with someone.................
