Human Motivation

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Atkinson 's Motivation Theory

Achievement motivation has been defined as the desire to demonstrate competence in activities (Alexander and Winne , 2006 ,

.352 . This desire to achieve is one of the psychological needs that motivates or drives behaviour . A major achievement motivation theory is the expectancy -value theory , which was put forward by Atkinson , Feather and Raynor . Based on previous work carried out by researchers such as Kurt Lewin , Atkinson determined that individuals attach levels of aspirations to particular tasks , and that

success raises the level of aspiration , while failure lowers it

An individual will feel accomplished when he attains goals or meets certain standards which he had set for himself . The level of aspiration which the individual will have is determined by his expectation that he will achieve a certain outcome depending on his performance of certain activities , and that the outcome to be so achieved is valuable to him When the individual believes that a certain outcome is both attainable and valuable , he will thus be motivated to pursue it (Alexander and Winne , 2006 ,

.352 . According to Alexander and Winne (2006 ,

.353 , the individual 's behaviour in attempting to achieve the desired outcome is a function of his hopes for success as well as his fears of failure Consequently , even when an individual has a high aspiration level (hope for success , it does not automatically follow that he will achieve since his efforts will be tempered by the fear that he...