Incentive Theory and Motivation - E-book - ePub

Motivation is one of the foremost driving forces of humannature. Its what puts us at the edge of every action andactivity; it is the sole driving force that keeps us to movingforward in our journey to live and write our own story of life. It might seem philosophical in the beginning, and yet itsmotivation alone that wakes us up every day, keeps us aliveevery minute we exist, prompts us to complete our daily tasksand ultimately aim for a higher and a better of living.
We haveit inside of us and everybody is possessed with it. Indeed, several socio-political and economic issues and disasters that weobserve often, can actually be very much related to a lack ofmotivation among people's lives. Motivation can thus be equatedas a synonym for 'morale'. Ever since the beginning of time, motivation has always beenwith us. Its what led our earliest ancestors to stay alive in spiteof numerous hardships that existed back then, prompted themto 'get the hunt in time' and made sure that groups neverfaded away.
Motivation has been the prime factor behind everyindividual we remember today! Einstein invented the theory ofrelativity and everything scientists have been able to know ofthe universe because he was motivated to discover thingsnobody had done so before, with passion and energy. Humancivilisation is in itself a by-product of motivated spirits; theinherent thirst to keep moving forward that has allowedhumans as a species to test the forces of time.
Motivation in our daily lives, and in our modern perspective isasimportant as it has been for the last 10 millennia. Peopleseek motivation when it comes to their careers, lifestyles, spirituality or even personal and professional problems. Motivation 'gurus' exist all around us and modern lifestyleshave given way to all new aspects regarding one's motivation inall aspects of life. In today's world, as technology and scientific understandingbehind several phenomena advances to deeper depths, a newunderstanding behind motivation has ringed interest amongpsychologists and economists, since the overall health of theeconomy depends on how motivated the population really is.
This theory can be called as the Incentive Theory ofMotivation that tries to explain motivation of people as beingof a result of outside or extrinsic factors that lead people toachieve newer aspects in their personal and professional lives. The incentive theory of motivation is very related and to someextent, even borrows elements from other motivation theoriesthat have preceded it.