Blackwell Reference Online

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Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. (Lou Holtz) As the quote by famed college football coach Lou Holtz illustrates, we often identify people as “motivated” or “unmotivated,” as if people have a central motivation switch that turns on and off. Alternatively, we distinguish between people in terms of the reasons that typically motivate them (e.g., intrinsic v. extrinsic), acknowledging the possibility of a group of people who are apparently unmotivated by any reason (the latter group usually associated with some type of mental health problem, such as depression). In these examples, then, we see attempts to identify individual differences in motivation in terms of characteristic levels of motivation (i.e., high or low), and in terms of its characteristic direction (i.e., the things that people are typically motivated by or for). While allowing for individual variability in these dimensions, our model of motivation suggests that the amount and direction of motivation are not static factors that people bring to a situation. Rather, these are dimensions that can be intentionally regu- lated by a person over time and contexts. To better understand how individuals vary, therefore, we must consider the self-regulation process . We suggest that although the process is universal, personality and individual differences impact the process to create distinct motivational ... log in or subscribe to read full text