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Sources of Motivation

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Submitted By laughologist7
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Sources of Motivation Paper
Kellie Dahl
PSY/355
March 30, 2015
Tracy Christian-Cruz

Sources of Motivation Paper
“I think I can, I think I can” this common phrase is usually heard when trying to get motivation flowing. This is just one small part of motivation and where it comes from. By defining motivation, learning where it comes from, how it relates to behavior, and how behavior can affect motivation, one can learn to be at the “I think I can” step of being motivated.
Motivation is, by definition; the act or instance of motivating, the desire to do; interest or drive (Collins English Dictionary, 10th ed.). This definition is very broad and can be interpreted in many ways. To break it down lets look at the act of being motivated, which is said to be moving into action or deciding on a change in action according to the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1841-1960). He believed that actions were not spontaneous in nature but were induced by motives or incentives (Deckers, 2010). A motive is a person’s internal disposition to be concerned with and approach positive incentives and avoid negative incentives, while an incentive is the anticipated reward or adverse event available within the environment. These two are linked because receiving an incentive is the goal of a motive (Deckers, 2010). One good example commonly used to describe this is being hungry; hunger is the motive for getting something to eat.
Since our motivation comes from events that move us from motives and incentives to the final prize of being satisfied, there are different things that can be addressed that ultimately cause the motivation. Firstly, are the internal sources, which include biological attributes and psychological dispositions. The biological attributes are those of the body and brain that cause motivating behavior like eating. When the body has little food in the

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