Motivation and Early Theories
1 Describe the three key elements of motivation.
Some individuals seem driven to succeed. The same young student who struggles to read a textbook for more than 20 minutes may devour a Harry Potter book in a day. The difference is the situation. As we analyze the concept of motivation, keep in mind that the level of motivation varies both between individuals and within individuals at different times.
We define motivation as the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.3 While general motivation is concerned with effort toward any goal, we’ll narrow the focus to organizational goals.
Intensity describes how hard a person tries. This is the element ...
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