Motivation: Understanding the Driving Forces Behind Our Behavior

Motivation is a general term for all the processes involved in initiating, directing, and persisting in physical and psychological activities. The word "motivation" originates from the Latin word movere, meaning "to move." All organisms move toward certain stimuli and activities and away from others, based on their desires and aversions. Motivation theories aim to explain general movement patterns across animal species, including humans, as well as individual preferences and performance within a species.

Let’s begin our discussion on motivation by reviewing the different ways researchers use the concept to explain and predict behavior in various species and individuals.

The Role of Motivation Concepts

Psychologists use the term "motivation" to serve five core purposes:

1. To link biology and behavior. As biological organisms, we have complex internal mechanisms that regulate bodily function and help us survive. Why did you get out of bed this morning? Maybe you were hungry, thirsty, or cold. In each case, internal states of deprivation triggered physical responses that drove you to act in order to restore the body’s balance.

2. To explain behavioral variation. Why can we perform a task well one day but fail the next? Why does one child perform better than another in a competitive task despite having similar skills? When ability, training, or luck can’t explain behavioral differences, psychologists turn to motivation. If you woke up early to study but your friend didn’t, it likely reflects different motivational levels.

3. To infer private states from public behaviors. Suppose you see someone sitting on a park bench giggling. How do you interpret this? Psychologists (and laypeople alike) tend to infer internal motives or emotional states from observed behaviors. The same applies to our own actions: we often ask whether our behavior is driven more by internal or external motivation.

4. To assign responsibility. Personal responsibility is fundamental to law, religion, and ethics. It assumes internal motivation and self-control. People are seen as less responsible when:

   • They didn’t intend the outcome.

   • Strong external pressures influenced their behavior.

   • Their actions were affected by substances, extreme emotions, or mental states.

5. To explain persistence despite adversity. Motivation explains why we act even when it would be easier not to. It drives us to show up to work or class even when exhausted and helps us stay in a losing game. Motivation fuels our perseverance.

Drives and Incentives

Some forms of motivation appear basic: we eat when hungry, drink when thirsty. Clark Hull’s drive theory proposed that internal states (drives) arise from physiological needs, disrupting homeostasis (bodily balance). This tension prompts behavior aimed at restoring balance so that once the drive is satisfied, the behavior stops. For example, when animals are deprived of food, hunger prompts them to seek and eat food. This behavior gets reinforced because it reduces internal tension.

Does drive reduction explain all motivated behavior? Probably not. For example, hungry and thirsty rats placed in a new environment first explored the surroundings before eating or drinking. Similarly, young monkeys spent considerable time playing with new objects in their environment for no obvious biological reward, suggesting enjoyment in exploration.

These studies show that external incentives- stimuli or rewards not tied to biological needs- also drive behavior. Human behavior, too, is influenced by incentives. Why do we stay up late browsing online? Watch scary movies knowing they’ll make us anxious? Eat junk food at parties even when full? In each case, environmental cues motivate our behavior, showing the interplay between internal drives and external incentives.

The Reversal Theory of Motivation

Michael Apter and colleagues developed the reversal theory, which rejects the idea that motivation always aims to reduce tension. Instead, it proposes four pairs of opposing motivational states, with only one from each pair active at any time.

For example, consider whether you are currently motivated by seriousness (purpose-driven activity) or playfulness (doing something just for enjoyment). When you read a chapter to gain knowledge, you are in a seriousness state. When you pause for a snack or music, you shift to playfulness.

A dramatic example is skydiving. Jumping from a plane raises tension, not reduces it- contrary to drive-reduction theories. But the reversal theory explains this: in a seriousness state, high arousal causes anxiety; in a playfulness state, the same arousal becomes excitement. Skydivers often report anxiety just before the jump but exhilaration once the parachute opens. The arousal doesn’t disappear, but is reframed.

Thus, the reversal theory offers a compelling lens to understand human motivation: we shift between opposites depending on context, and those shifts color our experiences.

Amahai Levy is a consultant in the Department of Peace at Home at Hidabroot.