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251 Pages·2016·3.89 MB·English
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BASHIUCM MAON TBIEVHAATVIOIONU ARND Control, Affiliation and Self-expression V E L I B O R B O B O K O V A C Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour Velibor   Bobo   Kovač Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour Control, Affi liation and Self-expression Velibor   Bobo   Kovač University of Agder Kristiansand , Norway ISBN 978-1-137-47055-3 ISBN 978-1-137-47056-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-47056-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016937334 © Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 Th e author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Th is work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and trans- mission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Th e use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Th e publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: © Marmaduke St. John / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper Th is Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature Th e registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Historical and Contemporary Background 19 3 Control Motivational System 55 4 Affi liation Motivational System 95 5 Th e Self-expression Motivational System 133 6 Th e Mechanisms of Control, Affi liation and Self-expression 169 7 Critical Th eoretical Concerns 201 8 Summary and Conclusions 227 Index 241 v 1 Introduction Introduction Th e principle aim of this book is to provide an answer to the fairly simple question Why do people do what they do? However, asking a simple question does not automatically imply that the answer will be just as simple. Indeed, it is safe to say that there are several possible theoretical alternatives when trying to supply the answer. Bearing this in mind, it is important to begin immediately by precisely defi ning the intentions, expectations and aims of the project being presented here. We can begin by stating that the main theme in this book is the identifi cation and description of fundamental aspects of human motivation, their under- ling mechanism(s) and the eff ects they have on consequent behaviour. Th e aim is to describe a few basic underlying motivational tendencies that are common to all people when exploring the diversity of human actions. Th is aim is diffi cult and frustrating to satisfy because as we all know, human behaviour is complex, variable and above all unpredict- able. Furthermore, the workings of underlying motives are per defi nition merely postulated, as these assumed processes are generally hidden, non- observable and, as such, diffi cult to study empirically. Indeed, although © Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 1 V.B. Kovač, Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-47056-0_1 2 Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour acknowledging the primacy of some motives, strong voices will suggest that there is no such thing as a basic foundation of motivation when it comes to ranking them according to importance (Pelham, 1 997 ). For this reason, the main aim of this book is quite ambitious and therefore requires a systematic approach, convincing and credible arguments and above all clarity of the presented text. I t is safe to say that human motivation is a diffi cult and complex theo- retical fi eld. In defi ning motivation, psychological dictionaries predomi- nantly underline two points: (1) that the fi eld of motivation is extremely important in understanding human behaviour and (2) that the con- cept of motive (or motivation) is most controversial, least satisfactory (Chaplin, 1 985 ), defi nitionally elusive (Reber, 1995) and has ill-defi ned boundaries (Evans, 1 989 ). In contemporary theory, the notion of moti- vation is considered to be a hypothetical construct that causes behaviour to arise, and provides further “fuel” for its execution, direction, selec- tion of goal(s), pause(s) and ultimately its end. Th e classical defi nitions of motivation place emphasis on behaviour as “ the activation of internal desires, needs, and concerns, [it] energizes behavior and sends the organ- ism in a particular direction aimed at satisfaction of the motivational issues that give rise to the increased energy (Pittman, 1 998, p. 549).” Similarly, Bandura (1 991, p. 69) perceives motivation as “a ttempts to explain the motivational sources of behavior [which] therefore primarily aim at clari- fying the determinants and intervening mechanisms that govern the selec- tion, activation, and sustained direction of behavior toward certain goals ”. Although our understanding of the basic underlying motivational pro- cesses or our ability to predict and account for specifi c behaviours is still unsatisfactory, it is nevertheless diffi cult to argue that the fi eld of motiva- tion represents a neglected fi eld in both the history of human thinking and contemporary literature. Over the past fi ve to six decades a number of specifi c theories, books, periodicals and research articles have been produced that delineate the most relevant motivational topics. Over the years, many subtopics have emerged, while others have vanished for good and some have reappeared, perhaps in a diff erent form or with a new focus and using refurnished terminology. Perceived from this historical point of view, it can be noted that the main focus of analysis has gradually but steadily shifted from investigations of basic processes that organise 1 Introduction 3 behavioural responses (e.g. traits, drives, instincts and needs), through behavioural theories (stimulus–response, reinforcements and contingen- cies) and fi nally towards explicit emphasis on self-regulatory processes and attempts to precisely calculate and predict the probability of goal attainment. Th us, the existing theoretical models predominantly attempt to com- bine the processes of basic motivation with the processes that are involved in self-regulation of behaviour, putting a little more emphasis on the lat- ter (i.e. goal-directed behaviour in which cognition, emotion and auto- maticity are combined). Put another way, one could say that over the years, the original interest in basic motivational processes has gradually faded and the theories that analyse the manner in which people energise and regulate their own behaviour towards intended goals have become more prominent. Th ese analyses have also become more and more com- prehensive, wherein they attempt to integrate the basic components of human functioning into one broad theoretical model. An illustration of this can be seen in the noticeable diff erences between the chapters labelled “Motivation” in the widely infl uential and acknowledged two- volume editions of the H andbook of Social Psychology. I am here refer- ring to editions four (Gilbert, Fiske, & Lindzey, 1998 ) and fi ve (Fiske, Gilbert, & Lindzey, 2 010 ). I n the fourth edition, Th ane S. Pittman, the author of the chapter on motivation, looks back on the history of the fi eld and declares that moti- vation has returned as a major theme in psychological analyses. It is easy to see that Pittman organised this chapter by focussing on broad, basic and fundamental motives, and far less on particular areas of motivational theory. However, in the 2010 edition, the chapter on motivation begins, not with a presentation of basic motivation processes, as was the case in the 1998 edition, but rather with the goal concept and achievement of desired outcomes (see Bargh, Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2 010 ). Th e chap- ter’s later pages continue to emphasise self-regulation, goal setting and goal pursuit, and further elaborate on these themes. All in all, it is evident that the main focus of this chapter is centred on the diff erences and simi- larities between conscious and unconscious routes towards goal pursuit and achievement, and their respective eff ectiveness. Th us, these two chap- ters on motivation, that is, the 1998 and 2010 editions, noticeably diff er 4 Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour in terms of the main focus and theoretical emphasis (basic motivational processes as opposed to self-regulation and goal attainment). Th is ten- dency is also acknowledged by Th rash and Elliot (2 001) , who note that current theory is dominated by a variety of goal approaches with the aim of attaining consciously articulated ends or purposes at the expense of analyses of underlying processes. Pittman and Zeigler (2 007 ) also explic- itly state that the topic of basic human needs is surprisingly neglected and call for more analyses on this issue. In fact, these authors basically predict that exploration of basic human needs in terms of structures and diff erent levels of analyses will be a recurring subject in the future. Despite these promising words, it still seems that the quest to fi nd basic motivators which energise and organise behavioural acts has become somewhat less important compared to analyses of the goal construct and the provision of more precise accounts of the specifi c behavioural directions towards desired end states (e.g. Fishbach & Ferguson, 2 007 ). In other words, exploration of the former is becoming an alarmingly neglected fi eld in contemporary literature compared to the quantity of studies focussing on analyses of the processes immediately prior to the execution of behaviour. For several reasons, I am not going to discuss here the background regarding for the increase in a preference for self-regulatory processes, as this is not important for this study. After all, shifts in emphasis in research are quite common and expected as accumulation of knowledge works as a wave that dynamically infl uences the emergence of new sub- jects of inquiry. Moreover, analyses of possible causes of any given action are always subjected to the fact that motives operate on diff erent levels of abstraction, ranging from concrete tasks and situations, over to more general domains and dispositions, and fi nally to fundamental levels on which all human behavioural activity might rest (Vallacher & Wegner, 1 987 ). Explicit Focus on Basic Motivation Regardless of the above-mentioned contributions of contemporary research to a detailed analysis of human action, it is unfortunate when research attention leans too far in one direction. Th is may directly result

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This book explores how and why humans are motivated to act in the ways that they do. The chapters examine the origins of a given action rather than their superficial appearance, which can often be misleading. Kovac integrates the existing knowledge of the field of motivation into a greater theoretic
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