Understanding Motivation
1 Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners
None of us are to be found in sets of tasks or lists of attributes; we can be known only in the unfolding of our unique stories within the context of everyday events. Vivian Gussin Paley Like the national economy, human motivation is a topic that people know is important, continuously discuss, and would like to predict. We want to know why people do what they do. But just as tomorrow’s inflationary trend seems beyond our influence and understanding, so too do the causes of human behavior evade any simple explanation or prescription. We have invented a word to label this elusive topic—motivation. Its definition varies among scholars depending on their discipline and orientation. Most social scientists see motivation as a concept that explains why people think and behave as they do (Weiner, 1992). Many philosophers and religious thinkers have a similar understanding of motivation but use metaphysical assumptions to explain its dynamics. Today, discoveries in the neurosciences offer a biological basis for what motivation is. Although this understanding is very far from complete, what we know about the working of the brain can enrich and integrate fields as disparate as psychology and philosophy. From a biological perspective, motivation is a process that “determines how much energy and attention the brain and body assign to a given stimulus—whether it’s a thought coming in or a situation that confronts one” (Ratey, 2001, p. 247). Motivation binds emotion to action. It creates as well as guides purposeful behavior involving many systems and structures within the brain and body (Ratey, 2001). Motivation is basic to our survival. It is the natural human process for directing energy to accomplish a goal. What makes motivation somewhat mysterious is that we cannot see it or touch it or precisely measure it. We have to infer it from what people say and do. We look for signs—effort, perseverance, completion—and we listen
None of us are to be found in sets of tasks or lists of attributes; we can be known only in the unfolding of our unique stories within the context of everyday events. Vivian Gussin Paley Like the national economy, human motivation is a topic that people know is important, continuously discuss, and would like to predict. We want to know why people do what they do. But just as tomorrow’s inflationary trend seems beyond our influence and understanding, so too do the causes of human behavior evade any simple explanation or prescription. We have invented a word to label this elusive topic—motivation. Its definition varies among scholars depending on their discipline and orientation. Most social scientists see motivation as a concept that explains why people think and behave as they do (Weiner, 1992). Many philosophers and religious thinkers have a similar understanding of motivation but use metaphysical assumptions to explain its dynamics. Today, discoveries in the neurosciences offer a biological basis for what motivation is. Although this understanding is very far from complete, what we know about the working of the brain can enrich and integrate fields as disparate as psychology and philosophy. From a biological perspective, motivation is a process that “determines how much energy and attention the brain and body assign to a given stimulus—whether it’s a thought coming in or a situation that confronts one” (Ratey, 2001, p. 247). Motivation binds emotion to action. It creates as well as guides purposeful behavior involving many systems and structures within the brain and body (Ratey, 2001). Motivation is basic to our survival. It is the natural human process for directing energy to accomplish a goal. What makes motivation somewhat mysterious is that we cannot see it or touch it or precisely measure it. We have to infer it from what people say and do. We look for signs—effort, perseverance, completion—and we listen