Psychology 2660A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Executive Functions, Procedural Justice, Social Comparison Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2660A/B
• Professor: Laura Fazakas- De Hoog

Document Summary

Motivation is generally denned as an internal state that induces a person to engage in particular behaviors: from one perspective, it has to do with the direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior over time. Direction refers to the choice of specific behaviors from a large number of possible behaviors. Intensity refers to the amount of effort a person expends at doing a task. Persistence refers to the continuing engagement in a behavior over time: from another perspective, motivation is concerned with the desire to acquire or achieve some goal. That is, motivation derives from a person"s wants, needs, or desires. Work motivation theories are most typically concerned with the reasons, other than ability. That some people perform their jobs better than others. Depending on the situation, these theories can predict people s choice of task behavior, their effort, or their persistence.