In the modern world, we are increasingly faced with the indifference of people. Every now and then we come across people who think: “This doesn’t concern me…. All people get on my nerves...By and large I don't care about anyone.... I don’t need anyone...etc.”
Young people, elderly people, lucky and not so lucky, wealthy and poor, all have one problem - they do not allow anything to affect them. Indifference engulfs society like a plague. As quickly as material wealth grows in society, so quickly does life weariness grow. Why does this happen and how to deal with it, how to say YES to Life.
Currently, Russia ranks first in the number of mental illnesses. More and more people cannot adapt to the modern world. More and more people are losing the meaning of life. More and more often they are visited by such thoughts as “why do I need to endure pain and suffering, fight difficulties if everything is over and nothing else awaits me?”, “how can this life have meaning if I am sick of this world, of people, disgusting in their cruelty, greed, selfishness?
This all happens when fundamental motivations are violated, which can be combined into four questions:
1. The question of Being-in-the-world,
2. The question of the value of life,
3. The question of justifying one’s own,
4. The question of the meaning of existence.
Being-in-the-world
Deciding to live in this world is the basis of all existence. The first thing that drives a person is the desire to be able-to-be-here, in-this-world. If this is not provided, then neither is everything else. Modest “I am!” - this is the beginning of everything. “I am! Under any life circumstances – I am!” This is the basis of our life, which we must know, feel, accept. Without this contact with the “ground of being,” life is riddled with fear. Take your territory, create your space, be completely here, fill your space that you have been given in this world. Wherever you are, be there completely and your connection with life will grow stronger. But if you do not occupy your own territory, then you are choosing the fate of a tenant in your life.
Anyone who cannot accept his own strengths and weaknesses, who rejects his life conditions, will increasingly strive to be accepted by others. They must do for him what he cannot do for himself: accept him. However, for those around them, this is an excessive demand - and such people are perceived as making excessive demands on others, which, in principle, are not feasible.
Striving for the value of life
This is the second fundamental motivation. It’s not enough for us to just live, we need a cozy and good life. So we search for that which will make life worth living. Everyone wants to have things and people in their home that they can love. To feel the value of life, a person needs other people who can say: “It’s so good that you exist!” We are motivated to live our lives as valuable, and we want others to feel that way too. Relationships between people are the same fundamental factors of life as their living space. A warm feeling addressed to us from the outside is important and warms our lives. However, it is not enough to develop your own love for life. We must say “yes to life” ourselves. It is the most important task for a person to reach the depth of life and measure its value.
Question: “Is it good that I exist?” - refers to the fundamental value of life. If I love life, I can say “Yes” to life, then both experience and suffering will become valuable.
Have the right to your own life
Anyone who has living space and life value is already good and strong. But there is still no special personal note. We have a deep need to respect ourselves. This is the level of responsibility and desire to feel justified in the face of oneself and others. A person wants to be himself, for this he must be able to defend himself in who he is and what he does. That's why it hurts us so much when we are ridiculed or insulted. The desire to protect the right to be oneself is a motivational force that has different manifestations. Typical is our desire to justify ourselves when it seems to us that we do not meet someone else's expectations. The concept of conscience also has its roots here, and all moral values, a sense of justice and dignity stem from it.
This is where our desire for achievement comes from. After all, the one who achieves more is respected more. Status symbols are displays of achievement. Respecting achievements and honoring people who have them is important and necessary. This becomes critical when the value and dignity of a person are made dependent on his usefulness. This becomes critical when there is a feeling that the right to exist must be bought through achievements. This becomes critical when a person works, focusing only on being needed.
But if a person feels inner agreement regarding what he is doing and can refuse what he considers wrong, then his desire to “be himself” is fulfilled. He should also like the way he acts. Say “Yes to yourself” and remain true to yourself, then life becomes authentic.
Meaning
A person’s maturity and mental health depend on the extent to which he can experience the fulfillment of fundamental motivations in his relationship with himself and with the world. To be able to be here, to have value, and to have the right to be oneself, these levels of being make one ready and open to the fourth fundamental motivation - to hear the world's call for meaning. Then he can develop for the future in order to answer the question: “What should I do?” This is an experience of deep fulfillment of life, satisfaction from one’s values. This is what counters deep disappointment with life and a sense of meaninglessness. 
The diversity of human needs also determines the diversity of motives for behavior and activity, however, some motives are quite often updated and have a significant impact on human behavior, while others act only in certain circumstances. Let's consider the main types of motives.
The motive of self-affirmation is the desire to establish oneself in society; associated with self-esteem, ambition, self-love. A person tries to prove to others that he is worth something, strives to obtain a certain status in society, wants to be respected and appreciated. Sometimes the desire for self-affirmation is referred to as prestige motivation (the desire to obtain or maintain a high social status).
Thus, the desire for self-affirmation, for increasing one’s formal and informal status, for a positive assessment of one’s personality is a significant motivational factor that encourages a person to work intensively and develop.
The motive for identification with another person is the desire to be like a hero, an idol, an authoritative figure (father, teacher, etc.). This motive encourages you to work and develop. It is especially relevant for teenagers who try to copy the behavior of other people.
The desire to be like an idol is an essential motive of behavior, under the influence of which a person develops and improves.
Identification with another person leads to an increase in the individual’s energy potential due to the symbolic “borrowing” of energy from the idol (object of identification): strength, inspiration, and the desire to work and act as the hero (idol, father, etc.) did. By identifying with the hero, the teenager becomes bolder.
Having a model, an idol with whom young people would strive to identify themselves and whom they would try to copy, from whom they would learn to live and work, is an important condition for an effective socialization process.
The motive of power is the individual’s desire to influence people. Power motivation (the need for power) is one of the most important driving forces of human action. This is the desire to take a leadership position in a group (collective), an attempt to lead people, determine and regulate their activities.
The motive of power occupies an important place in the hierarchy of motives. The actions of many people (for example, managers of various ranks) are motivated by the motive of power. The desire to dominate and lead other people is a motive that encourages them to overcome significant difficulties and make enormous efforts in the process of activity. A person works hard not for the sake of self-development or satisfaction of his cognitive needs, but in order to gain influence on individuals or a team.
A manager may be motivated to act not by the desire to benefit society as a whole or an individual team, not by a sense of responsibility, i.e. not by social motives, but by the motive of power. In this case, all his actions are aimed at gaining or maintaining power and pose a threat to both the cause and the structure that he heads.
Procedural-substantive motives are an incentive to activity by the process and content of the activity, and not by external factors. A person likes to perform this activity, to demonstrate his intellectual or physical activity. He is interested in the content of what he is doing. The action of other social and personal motives (power, self-affirmation, etc.) can enhance motivation, but they are not directly related to the content and process of activity, but are only external to it, therefore these motives are often called external, or extrinsic. In the case of procedural-substantive motives, a person likes and encourages the process and content of a certain activity to be active.
For example, a person goes in for sports because he simply likes to demonstrate his physical and intellectual activity (ingenuity and unconventional actions in sports are also significant factors for success). An individual is encouraged to play sports by procedural-substantive motives when the process and content of the game cause satisfaction, and not by factors that are not related to sports activities (money, self-affirmation, power, etc.).
The meaning of activity during the actualization of procedural and content motives lies in the activity itself (the process and content of activity are the factor that encourages a person to show physical and intellectual activity).
Extrinsic (external) motives are a group of motives when the motivating factors lie outside the activity. In the case of extrinsic motives, activity is encouraged not by the content or process of the activity, but by factors that are not directly related to it (for example, prestige or material factors). Let's consider some types of extreme motives:
* motive of duty and responsibility to society, group, individuals;
* motives for self-determination and self-improvement;
* the desire to gain the approval of other people;
* desire to obtain high social status (prestigious motivation). In the absence of interest in the activity (procedural-content motivation), there is a desire for those external attributes that the activity can bring - excellent grades, obtaining a diploma, fame in the future;
* motives for avoiding troubles and punishment (negative motivation) are motivations caused by the awareness of some troubles and inconveniences that may arise in case of failure to perform an activity.
If, in the process of activity, extrinsic motives are not supported by procedural-substantive ones, i.e., interest in the content and process of the activity, then they will not provide the maximum effect. In the case of extreme motives, it is not the activity itself that is attractive, but only what is associated with it (for example, prestige, fame, material well-being), and this is often not enough to motivate activity.
The motive of self-development is the desire for self-development, self-improvement. This is an important motive that encourages an individual to work hard and develop. According to A. Maslow, this is the desire to fully realize one’s abilities and the desire to feel one’s competence.
As a rule, moving forward always requires a certain amount of courage. A person often holds on to the past, to his achievements, peace and stability. Fear of risk and the threat of losing everything holds him back on the path of self-development.
Thus, a person often seems to be “torn between the desire to move forward and the desire for self-preservation and security.” On the one hand, he strives for something new, and on the other, fear of danger and something unknown, the desire to avoid risk restrains his movement forward.
A. Maslow argued that development occurs when the next step forward objectively brings more joy, more internal satisfaction than previous acquisitions and victories, which have become something ordinary and even boring.
Self-development and movement forward are often accompanied by intrapersonal conflict, but do not constitute violence against oneself. Moving forward is anticipation, anticipation of new pleasant sensations and impressions.
When it is possible to actualize a person’s motive for self-development, the strength of his motivation for activity increases. Talented coaches, teachers, and managers know how to use the motive of self-development, pointing out to their students (athletes, subordinates) the opportunity to develop and improve.
The motive for achievement is the desire to achieve high results and mastery in activities; it manifests itself in the choice of difficult tasks and the desire to complete them. Success in any activity depends not only on abilities, skills, knowledge, but also on motivation to achieve. A person with a high level of achievement motivation, striving to obtain significant results, works persistently to achieve his goals.
Achievement motivation (and behavior that is aimed at high results) even for the same person is not always the same and depends on the situation and subject of activity. Some people choose complex problems in mathematics, while others, on the contrary, limiting themselves to modest goals in the exact sciences, choose complex topics in literature, striving to achieve high results in this area. What determines the level of motivation in each specific activity? Scientists identify four factors:
1. the importance of achieving success;
2. hope for success;
3. subjectively assessed probability of achieving success;
4. subjective standards of achievement.
Prosocial (socially significant) motives are motives associated with awareness of the social significance of an activity, with a sense of duty, responsibility to a group or society. In the case of prosocial (socially significant) motives, the individual identifies with the group. A person not only considers himself a member of a certain social group, not only is identified with it, but also lives by its problems, interests and goals.
A person who is motivated to action by prosocial motives is characterized by normativity, loyalty to group standards, recognition and protection of group values, and the desire to realize group goals. Responsible people, as a rule, are more active and perform their professional duties more often and more conscientiously. They believe that the common cause depends on their work and efforts.
It is quite important for a manager to update the corporate spirit among his subordinates, since without identification with the group (company), namely, with its values, interests, and goals, it is impossible to achieve success.
A public figure (politician) who identifies more than others with his country and lives by its problems and interests will be more active in his activities and will do everything possible for the prosperity of the state.
Thus, prosocial motives associated with identification with the group, a sense of duty and responsibility are important in motivating a person to act. The actualization of these motives in the subject of activity can cause his activity in achieving socially significant goals.
The motive of affiliation (from the English affiliation - joining) is the desire to establish or maintain relationships with other people, the desire to contact and communicate with them. The essence of affiliation is the intrinsic value of communication. Affiliative communication is communication that brings satisfaction, captures, and pleases a person.
An individual, however, can also communicate because he is trying to settle his affairs and establish useful contacts with the necessary people. In this case, communication is motivated by other motives, is a means of satisfying other needs of the individual, and has nothing in common with affiliative motivation.
The purpose of affiliative communication may be the search for love (or, in any case, sympathy) on the part of the communication partner.
Negative motivation is motivation caused by the awareness of possible troubles, inconveniences, and punishments that may follow in case of failure to perform an activity. For example, a schoolchild may be motivated to study by the demands and threats of his parents, or by the fear of receiving unsatisfactory grades. Studying under the influence of such a motive takes on the character of a protective action and is compulsory. A pupil or student stops studying on his own, begins to copy, or even orders ready-made work, for example, here diplomade.ru.
In the case of negative motivation, a person is encouraged to act by fear of possible troubles or punishment and the desire to avoid them. He reasons like this: “If I don’t do this, then trouble awaits me.” This is what drives action under the influence of negative motivation.
The forms of negative sanctions that can be applied and that can actualize negative motivation are varied:
* verbal (verbal) punishment (condemnation, remark, etc.);
* material sanctions (fine, deprivation of privileges, scholarships);
* social isolation (neglect, ignorance, rejection by the group, social ostracism);
* imprisonment;
* physical punishment.
The main disadvantage of negative sanctions is the short duration of their influence: they stimulate activity (or deter undesirable actions) only for the period of their action.
Negative motivation has a stronger influence on a person, the greater his confidence in the inevitability of punishment.
Thus, negative motivation, including punishment, is a fairly strong motivational factor that can motivate a person to activity, but is not without many disadvantages and undesirable consequences.
Current and potential motives
Motives that occupy a leading place, are constantly updated and have a significant motivational influence on human activity are called active. Motives located at the bottom of the motivational hierarchy, which have little influence on a person’s activity and often do not appear at all, are called potential, since at a given specific period of time they do not exert a motivating influence, but can be actualized under certain circumstances.
Under the influence of certain factors, potential motives acquire motivating significance (become active motives). For example, after a conversation with a manager, a subordinate’s social motive (responsibility), which was passive (did not encourage activity), acquires greater motivating significance and becomes active.
The dynamism of the hierarchy of motives
The hierarchy of motives is not an absolutely stable motivational complex; it changes over time and age (depending on circumstances and the influence of people). For example, a subordinate is motivated to work by the manager’s demands and the desire to avoid trouble. Later, this motive has less influence on his activity, and the cognitive motive may acquire leading importance.
The motivational sphere is quite dynamic: the meaning and influence of individual motives change (accordingly, the hierarchy of motives also changes). Various factors can change this hierarchy, however, despite the dynamism of the motivational sphere, each person is characterized by relative stability of the hierarchy of motives. It can be argued that the motives that motivate us to activity are relatively stable, unchanged over a certain period of time. The relative stability of the hierarchy of motives is predetermined by the fact that the personality in general and motives in particular (but not motivation, which also depends on situational factors) are not so easily subject to change. And if it is relatively easy to change or develop a child’s motivational sphere, then doing this with an adult is much more difficult.
Thus, despite the influence of various factors that can change the hierarchy of motives, there is reason to consider it relatively stable.
Activity is stimulated not by one, but by several motives. The more motives determine activity, the higher the overall level of motivation. For example, when an activity is motivated by five motives, the overall level of motivation is usually higher than in the case when a person’s activity is determined by only two motives.
Much depends on the driving force of each motive. Sometimes the power of one motive prevails over the influence of several motives. In most cases, however, the more motives are actualized, the stronger the motivation. If you manage to use additional motives, the overall level of motivation increases.
Therefore, the overall level of motivation depends on:
* on the number of motives that encourage activity;
* from the actualization of situational factors;
* on the motivating force of each of these motives.
Based on this pattern, a manager, in an effort to increase the motivation of his subordinates, must fulfill three conditions:
1. involve (update) as many motives as possible;
2. increase the motivating power of each of these motives;
3. update situational motivational factors.
This pattern also applies to motivational self-regulation. When it is necessary to perform a certain activity, but there is not enough motivation, additional motives should be activated (involved) that can increase the overall level of motivation.
© Sergey Bobyr
Have you ever wondered what motivates us? Why and why do we get up and go somewhere, drive, do something, worry, worry, etc. What is the driving force behind our activity?
There are different levels of motivation, here is one way to describe them:
- Pain– complexes, blocks, diseases, psychological trauma, etc. This is the lowest level, at which, nevertheless, the majority of the world's population resides, including the majority of those reading these lines, no matter how unpleasant it is to realize it.
- Personal will. This is the next level, when a person consciously chooses something for himself and purposefully does it. At the same time, a person’s choice can be both useful and good for himself, and harmful.
- Life from individual motivations. Here it is no longer the volitional aspect of choice that develops, but the sensual one. A person, following this path, begins to distinguish his true desires from those imposed by society and realizes them. We can say that individuality is the totality of all the real desires of a person. An enlightened person can have 30-40 desires and he lives them out. An ordinary person has 100, 200 and more, because he does not live them. The gradual disclosure of these motivations leads to the awareness of ever deeper desires. As a person’s awareness develops, he goes through several stages of individual motivation:
a) life from personal motivations;
b) life from spiritual motivations;
c) life from spiritual motivations.
Although living different levels of individual motivation can go in parallel when a person has grown up to this. But all layers of motivation must be realized. If a person in some past life reached a high level and resolved spiritual issues, he will still have to refine spiritual and personal ones later. And only when all layers of personal motivation have been lived through is it possible to move to the next level.
- Life is from the will of God. This is the highest level possible when individual motivations and energies no longer interfere with hearing the will of God. A person does what God says and no longer lives even from some of his own subtle energies. The level of energy, perception, happiness, connectedness of such a person is beyond anything most of us can imagine.
Here different scales of plans are possible. Those. the function of such a person in the system relative to the city, region, country, genus, species, etc.
If we draw parallels between this system of motivations and the traditional Indian one, then (Pain) refers to karma; (Life from individual motivations) – to dharma, (Life from the will of God) - is beyond karma and dharma. The second level of motivation (Personal will) is no longer karma, but also not yet dharma. A person can, by his own will, develop in himself something against his nature and against karma. It is believed that for modern civilization the more evolutionary path is not volitional, but sensual, described here as “life from individual motivations.” Moreover, if a person follows this path, the will develops automatically. In some teachings this is called the “Path without Effort” - when you find true motivation, you are given the strength to realize it. Personal will can be a trigger here, but this moment is minimal.
What motivates a person? History of the issue.
Anyone knows the answer to this question. Referring to the generally accepted statements of psychologists, he will answer that a person is driven by a thirst for power, a thirst for sex and a thirst for public recognition. Someone will add that they should be driven by the desire to improve.
And any reader, with reference to the poet, will say that love and hunger rule the world. Let's clarify this expression. It belongs to the German poet Friedrich Schiller
(1759-1805) and sounds like this:
"Nature is relentless
It strengthens the relationship itself,
Don't rely on the sages.
And so that the world is young,
Love and hunger reign!”
Poem “Philosophers” (Translation by L. Ginzburg).
For reference.
At the age of 32, Schiller fell ill with tuberculosis. As a result of his illness, there were only occasional intervals of several months or weeks when the poet was able to work quietly. The last years of Schiller's life were overshadowed by serious, protracted illnesses. After a severe cold, all the old ailments worsened. The poet suffered from chronic pneumonia. He died on May 9, 1805 at the age of 45 from tuberculosis.
Question: why didn’t such a phrase come to the woman’s mind? After all, who, if not her,
Is there an inherent instinct for unconditional maternal love, as well as concern for raising children? And a woman’s intuition is more developed. Strange, isn't it?
But I will continue. A thinking reader will list motives, that is, incentives to action. For what purpose? To put everything on the “shelves”. After all, the human mind tends to identify itself in the world around it, so it tries to classify things and phenomena. And this is precisely his main misconception. Why misconception? Because having approved any point of view, due to conservatism, he will defend it, even if it is incorrect.
However, I will list the main types of motives that the human mind has classified. These are: the motive of self-affirmation, the motive of identification, the motive of power, procedural and content motives, external motives, the motive of self-development, the motive of achievement and a number of others.
But is this classification true? And how did it come about?
Let's turn to the history of the issue. The author of the term “motivation” belongs to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860). He was interested in mysticism and the ideas of Buddhism. Of Schopenhauer's books, according to contemporaries, the Upanishads, translated from Sanskrit into Latin, enjoyed the greatest love. Of course, he was influenced by these ancient Indian philosophical treatises.
Here is a direct indication. According to Schopenhauer, “will is inherent not only in man, but also in animals and plants. After all, they have a power that forces them to live and develop. This force is will. Everything real is mortal, transitory. Only the will is immortal. Therefore it is true reality. Everything in the world is explained by it.”
For reference.
In the spring of 1823 (at the age of 37), Schopenhauer was passing through the Tyrol to Munich from Italy. Here he suffered a serious illness, as a result of which he became almost deaf in one ear. In other words, he was seriously ill for half his life. And he was still lonely. What was his attitude towards life?
Let's see what the Upanishads are. These are the sacred scriptures of Hinduism in the Shruti category. They mainly discuss philosophy, meditation and the nature of God.
In Hinduism, shruti texts are considered apaurusheya - revealed by God, without an author. They represent eternal transcendental knowledge, a record of the “cosmic sounds of truth.” According to the Hindu tradition, this knowledge was transmitted orally by holy sages from the beginning of the universe, and then, at the beginning of the present era of Kali Yuga, it was divided into the four Vedas and codified. Shruti literature is generally classified according to the four divisions of the Vedas.
I will not delve into ancient Indian literature so as not to lose the thread of the story. But this link alone is enough to understand Schopenhauer’s worldview in general.
I note that his views, his views on human motivation and desire, influenced many famous thinkers. Among them are Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Ludwig Wingenstein, Erwin Schrödinger (Nobel Prize laureate), Albert Einstein (Nobel Prize laureate), Sigmund Freud, Otto Rank, Carl Jung and others.
Of course, all these people are world authorities in the field of human psychology. But let's not forget that they, like us, are people woven from the same fabric of the universe.
Schopenhauer himself was an old bachelor. He valued his inner and spiritual freedom very much. He put his health first. He was harsh in his judgments, extremely ambitious and suspicious. In addition, he was distinguished by extreme suspicion and distrust of people. He was subject to various fears.
Accordingly, in his main work “The World as Will and Representation” there is a motif of fear of death. Life is devoid of meaning, which could somehow smooth out this fear.
Schopenhauer believed that there is no objective truth or justice in the world. Happiness is not a blissful state, but only deliverance from suffering, but this deliverance is accompanied by new suffering, boredom.
Suffering is a constant form of manifestation of life; a person can get rid of suffering only in its concrete expression. Thus, the world is dominated by ineradicable evil, happiness is illusory, and suffering is inevitable, it is rooted in the very “will to live.”
And where did Schopenhauer get his knowledge about suffering? Of course, from Buddhism.
Here are his main postulates. Life consists of suffering, suffering is caused by unsatisfied desires; to avoid suffering, one must suppress desires in oneself. This can be achieved on the so-called eightfold path.
The ancient Indian yoga philosopher Patanjali (2nd century BC) speaks about this. We read his sutras.
"15. (2) Verily, for the wise, everything is suffering - due to subjection to continuous change, anxiety, traces of [past] impressions, and also due to the contradictory unfolding of the gunas.
16. (2) Suffering that has not yet occurred [is that which] must be eliminated.”
But recognition of what is written in the Upanishads and other ancient Indian treatises cannot be the basis for a single and indisputable statement about motivation! We should not forget that India is located in the equatorial zone, and the people living there have a different neurohumoral structure and skin color than people living in the North. Accordingly, they have a different way of life and culture, which cannot be blindly transferred to European soil.
And one more important circumstance. We should not forget about the existing caste system in India. And the Upanishids were written not by simple peasants, but by representatives of the “pure” breed - the Brahmins. They historically were priests, teachers, monks, scientists. In other words, they represented the ruling class.
What follows from this? There is only one thing - the doctrine of suffering was intended to maintain its dominant position.
But then Schopenhauer coined the term “motivation” and away we go. From an early age, a person begins to be domesticated according to programs that were invented a long time ago, under the influence of who knows what. Neither in the time of Schopenhauer, nor even more so today, will anyone be able to truly convey the spirit of the Upanishads! (YIII century BC)
But once you have entered this world, then live by the rules that the world offers you. A person is constantly given instructions on how to use life. He is born into a family that lives according to certain rules in a certain class of society. Then he goes through the stages of training. This is nothing more than studying some instructions. He is brought up in a certain social environment. From it he learns life lessons, or rules of behavior, moral standards, etc. And so it is in everything.
All life is a continuous study of operating instructions for something or someone. Accordingly, a person simply does not have time to refuse to study the instructions. And this means that he is always within the framework of certain templates, cliches, etc. And the template narrows his worldview.
A person cannot devote time to studying the main instructions - instructions for operating his body. He doesn't have to think about himself. A person is not allowed to think about himself. There are numerous branches of knowledge designed to explain the main instruction to us. This is hardly logical. It is unlikely that any of us gave anyone the right to condemn our ignorance of this instruction. When they say that it happened this way, that this is a tradition, this is not entirely fair. This means a monopoly on knowledge. And monopoly leads to an increase in the level of its own exclusivity.
That's it.
The question arises, what does Schopenhauer have to do with it?
He introduced the Indian religious and philosophical worldview into the cultural life of Europe. How is everything intertwined in this world? And when a person goes to pray to his G-d, which G-d does he worship?
Instead of a conclusion.
One can also recall Kant (1724-1804), the founder of German classical philosophy, with his “Critique of Pure Reason”. He lived a boring and monotonous life. As a child, I was very sick and had to adhere to a strict regime all my life. Never married, never traveled outside of Königsberg. His favorite expression is “life is worth living mainly to work.”
The legacy left by Kant became the starting point for processes that subsequently changed the whole world. His critical philosophy is the basis of natural scientific materialism. True, in adulthood he came to the conclusion that a mechanistic idea was not enough to explain the processes of life. But his theory, like Schopenhauer’s “motivation,” has already begun to live an independent life.
What motivates a person? What makes us act a certain way? What makes us feel alive? These are feelings, this is the leading force that determines our aspirations. However, the question of what motivates a person, reason or love, is still open. The modern world requires the individual to “turn on” his head. But what is more important from this? What moves a person forward?
Influence of the mind
We live in an era of technological progress that hardens people, dulls the senses and challenges the idea that man is driven by desire. The theory of motivation for human behavior is taught in a separate course at institutes and is studied by the scientific community. But there is no consensus on what motivates a person. Reason is defined by two concepts - fear and pride. It is these components that provoke and motivate a person to action. Events in life, no matter whether good or bad, are perceived by a person as inhibiting or provoking urges to act in the future. In turn, pride can be defined as the desire to be ahead, to achieve more than others, to prove that you are worth something and can be higher than others. Here, both failures and disappointments can serve as a motivating signal to action just to please your pride. Any society functions in accordance with some rules or foundations. However, pride, being the best motivation, often forces us to act contrary to the established rules of behavior. It turns out that in such situations the action itself is important.
What does love mean?
And if reason is a rational motivation, then feelings are an irrational motivation for behavior for an individual; these are dangerous desires that drive a person. People love to justify their actions with the words “I want it that way,” “I love it so much,” and so on. Giving in to such impulses, many act thoughtlessly, impulsively, and often do not even try to think about the consequences, succumbing to momentary emotions. You can often encounter the fact that, while satisfying your little joys or acting in a certain situation the way you want, an individual’s actions are absolutely beyond logic and for others such actions may be simply inexplicable. This can affect any area of life: travel, choosing partners, hobbies, professions, and so on. You can study architecture all your life, and then give up everything and go sing in a restaurant just because you’ve dreamed about it for a long time. No one will understand, but we want it, like it, and so on. Many people believe that it is love that moves a person.
What's the result?
It turns out that both criteria occupy an important place in the life of every person. Thanks to both love and reason, a person can balance his entire life. Often a person is driven by an idea. Scientists have long proven that a person gets the real joy and feeling of “flow” first of all by doing what he likes, what he likes, and according to reason and logic. The actions that we perform “on emotions” dictate to us inexplicable desires, which we strive to fulfill contrary to accepted norms, foundations and logic.
Reason or love?
Not a single person will voluntarily act throughout his life only based on what his mind dictates to him. And for some, betrayal of their heartfelt feelings and love is akin to a crime and is possible only under violent influence from the outside. An example is marriage at the insistence of parents, without love. Both ancient thinkers and modern philosophers adhere to the position, the essence of which is that reason will never defeat feelings and love. And here we are not talking about physical attractions, but about the most sincere deep love that comes from the heart. Reason and motivation have no meaning when there is love in a person’s life, which occupies all thoughts, which tears you apart from the inside, for which you want to move mountains. When thoughts do not give rest either day or night, then what kind of mind can we talk about? Philosophers of all times and peoples have been interested in this question. Let's look at the most significant theories.
What did Plato write about?
For Plato, the driving force not only for the development of a particular individual, but also for society as a whole, was the desire for knowledge, research, and truth. True pleasure is not following feelings, only wisdom determines all actions and only through it can true pleasure be obtained. Plato wrote that there is no alternative to the power of joy than the joy of knowledge. We can conclude that Plato gave preference to reason, moral duty, and service to society over feelings and emotions.
Freud's theory
Sigmund Freud held a different point of view; he believed that the force that makes a person act is nothing more than the sexual desires of people. And this motivational force does not let go of a person from birth to death. Sexual desires that are not at least half realized lead to aggressive behavior. What motivates a person according to Freud? He believed that most people act only based on their “base” instincts and their actions are not subject to either reason or logic. Freud attached great importance to a person's sexual life, considering it the basis of everything.
Followers of the philosopher’s theory to this day encourage everyone around them to take care of their sex life, since thanks to this they can avoid manifestations of aggression, neuroses, health problems and even trouble in communicating with people. However, this theory has long been under the shadow of doubt, because many years of observations tell us that libido is not the ultimate truth. Sigmund Freud's theory was that the leading instinct and motivational force is the libido instinct. The theory is still popular today. For example, many psychotherapists develop their own techniques based on Freud's theory to identify problems in the behavior of spouses, for example. In order to give them the correct “diagnosis,” the psychotherapist first asks questions about their intimate life, believing that the marriage can only be saved by restoring the partners’ sexual life. In many cases, such techniques work. But not everyone agrees with this. In particular, the famous Australian psychotherapist Alfred Langley. And when asked what motivates a person, Langle answered that, first of all, these are sensations and feelings.
Motivation from negativity
Often a person is driven by instincts, namely negative situations, various troubles, inconveniences, difficulties that do not so much motivate as force them to act. The simplest example, which is familiar to everyone, is the fear of children to bring a bad grade from school for unfinished homework or bad behavior. Not only the fear of a bad grade works here, but also condemnation from teachers, fear of parental control and subsequent punishment. However, negative motivation is most often short-term and not intended to last for a long time. For example, for schoolchildren this motivation ends exactly at the moment when the punishment is canceled. The incentive to action immediately disappears. Negative motivation is caused by the following factors: verbal, material or physical punishment, restrictions on freedom or other deprivations that are of a social nature. With age, a person’s resistance to negative motivation also increases, while for children and adolescents who are directly dependent on parents or other people, a permissive attitude towards negativity is quite difficult.
What motivates you to develop yourself?
What forces drive a person in his activities? The first and most important thing that motivates us to take care of ourselves and develop is the desire to realize ourselves in life, which, to one degree or another, is inherent in every person. Here we are talking about the fact that a person must constantly study, learn something new. Some people attend courses, improve their skills, and learn something new throughout their lives. If you believe Maslow's theory, then the best source of motivation is a passionate desire to prove to yourself and others your competence in professional matters, as well as full self-realization in certain areas of life. The scientist believed that the main motivating force is the movement towards learning something new.
At the same time, fear of uncertainty can inhibit this motivation. A person’s greatest joy comes from his own new achievements, preferably with a positive outcome. As for failures, mistakes, criticism, active motivation is inhibited here, which can affect a person’s future activities. The example of other successful and talented people also encourages action, which can even be compared with the internal satisfaction of one’s achievements. This is due not only to achieving goals, fame, but also recognition from other people. Only the anticipation of new victories, especially after a series of successful results, motivates a person to do impossible things.
Basics of Motivation
This theory is not about factors that are directly related to specific activities. They are defined as motivation that influences the external content, and not the process of execution. This can include a sense of responsibility to other people, and it doesn’t matter at all whether they are relatives, colleagues or anyone else. It is also impossible not to mention the desire to be recognized and to receive approval from others. Nowhere without self-improvement, motivation to gain a certain status and social position. And even the most banal motive is the desire to avoid unpleasant consequences and the fear of getting a negative result due to one’s own actions and actions.
Extrinsic motivation
As for external motivation, we are not talking about the content of the activity; this factor does not arouse any interest. First of all, this is external attractiveness; here we are talking about material wealth, recognition, social status, and so on. It turns out that in external motivation, evaluation of activities, behavior, and actions by other people is of great importance. In this case, it is most important for a person to hear and realize that his activities have weight among others. Fame and recognition are what everyone craves.
What's the conclusion?
Effective activity is only possible if it is based on several motivational aspects at once. The more motives a person is driven by, the more effective his activities will be. Therefore, our desire for self-development includes each of the listed theories in varying quantities.
