Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior

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LECTURE 4 · PSYCHOLOGY
Motivation &
Goal-Directed Behavior
The anatomy of human drive — why we start, and why we keep going

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LECTURE OUTLINE
What we'll explore today
Why do two equally talented developers respond so differently to the same deadline — one energized, the other
paralyzed? Motivation isn't a personality trait you either have or lack. It's a mechanism, and psychology has
mapped it in detail.
What motivation is
The four components of the force behind goal-directed
behavior
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic drive
Self-Determination Theory and the three basic
psychological needs
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
Content vs. process theories
What people want, and how the wanting turns into
action
Motivation in the digital age
How platforms engineer — and sometimes exploit —
these same mechanisms
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SECTION 1 · FOUNDATIONS
Defining the force
Motivation is the driving force responsible for goal-directed behavior — a vector with both a size
and a direction, not a single switch that is simply on or off.
Initiation
Persistence
Direction
Strength
The moment action
The sustained effort
The specific path chosen
The intensity of the
begins — overcoming
maintained over time,
toward a goal, out of
energy applied — how
inertia to start at all.
despite setbacks.
many possible ones.
hard, not just how long.
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SECTION 1 · MAP OF THE FIELD
Two ways to study motivation
There is no single universal formula. Decades of research split into two complementary approaches, asking
different questions.
Content Theories
Process Theories
WHAT motivates us — the study of basic and
psychological needs.
HOW it works — the cognitive processes of choice,
expectation, and behavior.
▪ Maslow — Hierarchy of Needs
▪ Vroom — Expectancy Theory
▪ Alderfer — ERG Theory
▪ Adams — Equity Theory
▪ McClelland — Learned Needs
▪ Skinner — Operant Conditioning
▪ Herzberg — Two-Factor Theory
▪ Locke — Goal-Setting Theory
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
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SECTION 2 · CONTENT THEORIES
From Maslow to Alderfer: needs evolve
Main takeaway: unlike Maslow's strict ladder, Alderfer's ERG allows movement in both directions — if a higher need (Growth) is blocked, people regress and over-invest in a lower one (Existence), a
pattern called frustration-regression.
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
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SECTION 2 · CONTENT THEORIES
McClelland's three learned needs
Unlike Maslow's universal hierarchy, McClelland (1961) proposed these needs are learned through socialization,
vary in strength between people, and can be deliberately developed.
Achievement (nAch)
To excel and master challenges. Sets specific,
moderately difficult goals; wants clear feedback.
Entrepreneur; specialist; researcher
Affiliation (nAff)
To build close, harmonious relationships. Prioritizes
people over tasks; avoids conflict.
Support roles; HR; customer success
Power (nPow)
To influence and lead. Two subtypes: personal
(domination) and social (empowerment).
Manager; team lead; product owner
The most effective profile for technical leadership: high achievement need combined with social (not personal) power — power used
to empower a team, not dominate it.
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SECTION 2 · CONTENT THEORIES
Herzberg: satisfaction and dissatisfaction aren't opposites
Frederick Herzberg (1968) found that the things that satisfy us at work
and the things that dissatisfy us are driven by two completely separate
sets of factors — not one sliding scale.
Hygiene factors (salary, policy, supervision, conditions) only prevent
dissatisfaction. Improving them removes complaints — it does not
create drive.
Motivators (achievement, recognition, responsibility, growth)
actively create satisfaction and effort.
Raising salary or improving the office will not make people
work harder — it only clears the floor. Real motivation has to
be designed into the work itself.
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SECTION 3 · PROCESS THEORIES
Vroom's Expectancy Theory: the mathematics of effort
E × I × V = M
[E] Expectancy
[I] Instrumentality
[V] Valence
"Can I achieve this?" — the effort-
"Will my success lead to a
"Do I personally value this
to-performance link.
reward?" — the performance-to-
reward?" — the subjective value
outcome link.
of the outcome.
This is a multiplicative equation: if any single factor drops to zero, overall motivation instantly drops to zero too — no amount of the
other two can compensate.
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SECTION 3 · PROCESS THEORIES
Locke's Goal-Setting Theory: the anatomy of an ideal goal
A correctly designed goal motivates by itself — Locke (1968) identified five properties that separate goals that
drive performance from goals that get ignored.
Clarity
Challenge
Commitme
nt
Vague goals
Too easy and it
Participation in
Real-time
Break overly
paralyze. The
bores; too hard
setting the goal
knowledge of
complex goals into
target must be
and it demoralizes.
builds internal
results maintains
stages to avoid
concrete and
An optimal
agreement with it.
the rhythm of
frustration.
specific.
difficulty exists.
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
Feedback
Task
Complexity
effort.
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SECTION 3 · PROCESS THEORIES
Adams' Equity Theory: fairness is relative
People don't evaluate their rewards in isolation — they constantly compare the ratio of their own inputs to outcomes against
a reference other's ratio.
My Inputs : My Outcomes
vs.
Colleague's Inputs : Colleague's Outcomes
A perceived imbalance — even an unintentional one —
registers as inequity, and triggers an immediate, often
unconscious, adjustment of effort to restore balance.
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior

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SECTION 4 · SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
Two sources of drive: intrinsic and extrinsic
Extrinsic Motivation
Engaging in a behavior to earn a reward or avoid
a punishment — linked directly to Skinner's
operant conditioning.
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
Intrinsic Motivation
Engaging in a behavior because it is inherently,
personally rewarding — no external prod
required.
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SECTION 4 · SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
Deci & Ryan: the gold standard of motivation research
With over 1,500 empirical studies across education, healthcare, sport,
and organizations, Self-Determination Theory (1985, 2000) is the most
thoroughly tested motivation theory in psychology today.
▪ When all three are satisfied, external requirements are internalized
and transform into genuine engagement — not mere compliance.
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SECTION 4 · SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
What satisfies — and frustrates — each basic need
NEED
SATISFIED BY...
FRUSTRATED BY...
Autonomy
Choice; rationale for requests;
acknowledging perspective
Surveillance; controlling rewards;
unreasonable deadlines
Competence
Optimal challenge; clear, timely
feedback; mastery experiences
Tasks too easy or too hard; harsh
criticism; arbitrary rules
Relatedness
Genuine care; belonging; mutual
respect
Exclusion; coldness; competition that
pits people against each other
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior
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SECTION 6 · FASCINATING FINDINGS
What motivation research has discovered, part I
A salary raise motivates for
about 3 months
The motivational boost from even a substantial raise typically dissipates within 2–4 months as the new
salary becomes the new baseline — Herzberg's hygiene-factor principle, empirically confirmed.
Herzberg, HBR, 1968; Frederick & Loewenstein, 1999
You are most motivated when a
challenge slightly exceeds your
skill
"Flow" state — complete absorption in a task, often called "being in the zone" — occurs in a narrow
channel between boredom and anxiety, and produces peak concentration and satisfaction.
Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, 1990
People with written goals are
42% more likely to achieve
them
Writing a goal down — rather than just thinking about it — crystallizes it, creates commitment, and
activates planning cognition that mental rehearsal alone does not trigger.
Matthews, Dominican University, 2015
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SECTION 6 · FASCINATING FINDINGS
What motivation research has discovered, part II
Procrastination is an
emotion-regulation
problem, not a timemanagement one
People procrastinate primarily to escape the unpleasant feelings a task triggers — anxiety, self-doubt,
boredom — which is why classic scheduling techniques often fail to fix it.
Pychyl & Flett, 2012; Sirois & Pychyl, 2013
Micromanagement can
reduce team productivity
by up to 30%
Autonomy-supportive management — explaining rationale, offering real choice — consistently
produces higher intrinsic motivation, better performance, and lower turnover than controlling
management.
Deci et al., 1989; Slemp et al., 2018
Dopamine responds more
to anticipating a reward
than to receiving it
Dopamine neurons fire maximally when a reward is predicted — especially an uncertain one — and
drop to baseline once the reward is fully expected. Digital platforms engineer unpredictability to exploit
this directly.
Schultz, Dayan & Montague, Science, 1997
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SECTION 6 · FASCINATING FINDINGS
What motivation research has discovered, part III
A sense of purpose motivates
more than money
Workers who experience their work as a "calling" show significantly higher engagement than those who
see it as a "job," regardless of salary — and a 5-minute conversation with a beneficiary doubled one
team's persistence and results.
Wrzesniewski et al., 1997; Grant, 2008
Grit predicts success better
than talent alone
The combination of long-term passion and perseverance through setbacks predicted outcomes in
military training, spelling bees, and sales better than IQ or talent measures — and, importantly, grit
itself can be developed.
Duckworth et al., 2007
Regular breaks improve
motivation — they don't
reduce it
The brain cycles through roughly 90-minute periods of higher and lower alertness. Working through
the low phase increases errors and irritability; strategic breaks restore attention and drive.
Kleitman, 1982; Ariga & Lleras, Cognition, 2011
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SECTION 7 · PRACTICE
Designing motivation into work and goals
Set Clear, Staged
Goals
Protect
Autonomy
Design for
Mastery
Connect Work to
Purpose
Practice Digital
Hygiene
Apply Locke: specific,
challenging, and broken into
stages with fast feedback.
Offer real choice and explain
the "why" behind requests
— avoid surveillance-style
management.
Match task difficulty to skill
level to create flow, not
boredom or anxiety.
Make the beneficiary and
impact of the work vivid, not
abstract.
Notice streaks and progress
bars as designed persuasion,
not neutral feedback.
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SUMMARY
Key takeaways
▪ Motivation is a vector — initiation, persistence, direction, and strength — not a single trait people simply have or lack.
▪ Content theories (Maslow, Alderfer, McClelland, Herzberg) explain what people want; process theories (Vroom, Adams,
Locke) explain how wanting becomes action.
▪ Herzberg's key insight still surprises: hygiene factors like salary prevent dissatisfaction but do not create drive — that
comes from motivators like growth and recognition.
▪ Self-Determination Theory's three basic needs — autonomy, competence, relatedness — are the strongest evidencebased framework for building genuine, sustainable motivation.
▪ Digital platforms apply these exact mechanisms at scale — recognizing them is the first step in protecting your own
motivation and designing it ethically for others.
▪ A well-designed goal motivates by itself: clear, appropriately challenging, agreed upon, and paired with fast feedback.
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SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Sources
❖Issakhanova, A., Belessova, N., & Kospakov, A. (2026). Psychology
for IT Professionals: Visual Methodological Guide. Astana IT
University.
❖Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological
Review.
❖Alderfer, C. P. (1969). Existence, relatedness, and growth.
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance.
❖Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A Theory of Goal Setting and
Task Performance. Prentice-Hall.
❖Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal
pursuits. Psychological Inquiry.
❖Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal
Experience. Harper & Row.
❖McClelland, D. C. (1961). The Achieving Society. Van Nostrand.
❖Duckworth, A. L., et al. (2007). Grit. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology.
❖Herzberg, F. (1968). One More Time: How Do You Motivate
Employees? Harvard Business Review.
❖Schultz, W., Dayan, P., & Montague, P. R. (1997). A neural substrate
of prediction and reward. Science.
❖Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and Motivation. Wiley.
❖Montag, C. (2021). New Gods: The Psychology of Smartphone Use.
Springer.
❖Adams, J. S. (1963). Toward an understanding of inequity. JASP.
❖Matthews, G. (2015). Goal Research Summary. Dominican
University of California.
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Thank you for your attention!
Questions & discussion
Motivation and Goal-Directed Behavior · Lecture 4