“Motivation – Why We Do What We Do” by Phin Upham

February 17th, 2012 by admin

Motivation, Philosophy, Phin Upham

By contributor Phin Upham 

 

Locke teams up with Latham (1990) to create a deadly empirical duo who proceed to marshal significant past empirical evidence for Locke’s previously described theories on motivation. This idea that directed, goal-seeking behavior is crucial to motivation is quite intuitive but was often ignored by the behaviorist approach (the intellectual context of a work is crucial to understanding the debate in which it was a part, and thus the thrust of its arguments since even essays such as this one are goal directed!). This does add complexity to Locke’s previous theory by categorizing and differentiating between goals – proximal, distal, sub, etc. Importantly, they explain how external incentives help shape goals which in turn act as mediators to actions.

Victor Vroom (1964) has taken a very different tact than Locke. He has reviewed the literature of motivation, from hedonism to Hull to reinforcement, to Lewin and ending at cognitive models. This rich history of explorations is fertile ground for Vroom’s formalization of past understandings and constriction of a new model which synthesizes primarily the views of the cognitive researchers such as Atkinson, Tolman, etc. but includes a few others. He takes an a-historical approach, limits his theory to conscious action, and comes right and says that his model is untestable. He does, though, review the ways in which the aspects of the model might be tested.

About the Author

Phin Upham is a New York City based investor, who is a frequent contributor to blogs like VentureCapMonthly.com. He is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Click here to read more articles by Phin Upham.

 

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