Key Terms

ability

The knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to learning that an individual brings to a task or job.

avoidance learning

Occurs when people learn to behave in a certain way to avoid encountering an undesired or unpleasant consequence.

content motivation theories

Theories that focus on what motivates people.

direction

What a person is motivated to achieve.

effort-performance expectancy

E1, the perceived probability that effort will lead to performance (or E ➨ P).

equity theory

States that human motivation is affected by the outcomes people receive for their inputs, compared to the outcomes and inputs of other people.

ERG theory

Compresses Maslow’s five need categories into three: existence, relatedness, and growth.

expectancy theory

Posits that people will exert high effort levels to perform at high levels so that they can obtain valued outcomes.

extinction

Occurs when a consequence or lack of a consequence makes it less likely that a behavior will be repeated in the future.

extrinsic motivation

Occurs when a person performs a given behavior to acquire something that will satisfy a lower-order need.

extrinsic outcomes

Are awarded or given by other people (like a supervisor).

goal commitment

The degree to which people dedicate themselves to achieving a goal.

goal theory

States that people will perform better if they have difficult, specific, accepted performance goals or objectives.

hedonism

Assumes that people are motivated to satisfy mainly their own needs (seek pleasure, avoid pain).

hygienes

Factors in the work environment that are based on the basic human need to “avoid pain.”

input

Any personal qualities that a person views as having value and that are relevant to the organization.

instincts

Our natural, fundamental needs, basic to our survival.

intensity

(1) The degree to which people try to achieve their targets; (2) the forcefulness that enhances the likelihood that a stimulus will be selected for perceptual processing.

intrinsic motivation

Arises out of performing a behavior in and of itself, because it is interesting or “fun” to do.

intrinsic outcomes

Are awarded or given by people to themselves (such as a sense of achievement).

latent needs

Cannot be inferred from a person’s behavior at a given time, yet the person may still possess those needs.

manifest needs

Are needs motivating a person at a given time.

manifest needs theory

Assumes that human behavior is driven by the desire to satisfy needs.

motivation

A force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs, and sustains human behavior. Within the body, examples might be needs, personal values, and goals, while an incentive might be seen as a force outside of the body. The word stems from its Latin root movere, which means “to move.”

motivators

Relate to the jobs that people perform and people’s ability to feel a sense of achievement as a result of performing them.

motive

A source of motivation; the need that a person is attempting to satisfy.

need

A human condition that becomes energized when people feel deficient in some respect.

need for achievement (nAch)

The need to excel at tasks, especially tasks that are difficult.

need for affiliation (nAff)

The need to establish and maintain warm and friendly relationships with other people.

need for power (nPow)

The need to control things, especially other people; reflects a motivation to influence and be responsible for other people.

negative reinforcement

Occurs when a behavior causes something undesirable to be removed, increasing the likelihood of the behavior reoccurring.

nonreinforcement

Occurs when no consequence follows a worker’s behavior.

operant conditioning

A learning process based on the results produced by a person “operating on” the environment.

operant conditioning theory

Posits that people learn to behave in a particular fashion as a result of the consequences that followed their past behaviors.

outcome

Anything a person perceives as getting back from an organization in exchange for the person’s inputs.

overreward inequity

Occurs when people perceive their outcome/input ratio to be greater than that of their referent other.

performance environment

Refers to those factors that impact employees’ performance but are essentially out of their control.

performance-outcome expectancy

E2, the perceived relationship between performance and outcomes (or P ➨ O).

positive reinforcement

Occurs when a desirable consequence that satisfies an active need or removes a barrier to need satisfaction increases the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring.

primary needs

Are instinctual in nature and include physiological needs for food, water, and sex (procreation).

process motivation theories

Theories that focus on the how and why of motivation.

punishment

An aversive consequence that follows a behavior and makes it less likely to reoccur.

referent others

Workers that a person uses to compare inputs and outcomes, and who perform jobs similar in difficulty and complexity to the employee making an equity determination.

reinforcement

Occurs when a consequence makes it more likely a behavior will be repeated in the future.

role perceptions

The set of behaviors employees think they are expected to perform as members of an organization.

schedules of reinforcement

The frequency at which effective employee behaviors are reinforced.

secondary needs

Are learned throughout one’s life span and are psychological in nature.

self-determination theory (SDT)

Seeks to explain not only what causes motivation, but also the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.

self-efficacy

A belief about the probability that one can successfully execute some future action or task, or achieve some result.

state of equity

Occurs when people perceive their outcome/input ratio to be equal to that of their referent other.

underreward inequity

Occurs when people perceive their outcome/input ratio to be less than that of their referent other.

valences

The degree to which a person perceives an outcome as being desirable, neutral, or undesirable.

work motivation

The amount of effort a person exerts to achieve a level of job performance

Source contents: Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior. Please visit OpenStax for more details: https://openstax.org/subjects/view-all