The concepts of investment and participation have another important, but actually psychological, aspect. They clearly reveal the fact that not only the results, but also the labor process itself, under certain conditions, is a fairly strong motivator of a person. In this regard, it is necessary to turn to the concepts of external and internal motivation. In order to better understand these types of motivation, which are critical to explaining the real complexity of human behavior, it is necessary to take a short detour.
For a long time, psychology was dominated by so-called performance approaches to the study of motivation. Their meaning lies in how they answer the question why a person works - because he wants to get a result, and for it - a reward and through this reward to satisfy his needs. The needs themselves, arising, intensifying and becoming more and more urgent for a person (for example, a feeling of hunger), lead to the emergence of so-called homeostatic crises - to a violation of the optimal state of the body, to an increase in tension, which “pushes” a person to relieve it, to overcoming the crisis. After the need is satisfied, it loses relevance, the crisis passes, and homeostasis is restored.
However, in the 20s. XX century American scientists R. Woodworth and A. White showed that the human body, in addition to these homeostatic, productive needs, also has an innate need to function - to see, hear, feel, experience excitement, act, strive for something, etc. This need leads to activity that is performed not for the sake of any result, but for the sake of the process of action itself. Progress, and not the result of action, the activity itself is the “satisfier” of this need. It is thus procedural in nature, and all types of its modifications underlie the so-called amateur performance. This is an activity performed for its own sake and for the feeling of pleasure that arises from its process. This driving force is called internal motivation: its source is not outside the activity, but within it itself.
This need, as well as the motivation formed on its basis, are fundamentally different from the result-homeostatic needs and motives. The latter “pass” - they lose their relevance after they are satisfied, after overcoming the homeostatic crisis. It is different with procedural needs: they not only do not “pass”, but on the contrary, they intensify in the course and as a result of activity aimed at satisfying them. Everyone knows this peculiarity: the more we are busy with what we love and interesting and the more joy it brings, the more we want to continue it. Internal - procedural needs are therefore fundamentally unsatisfiable and have an anti-homeostatic character. Through them, the personality develops, and not only satisfies his need for something. All this forces us to distinguish between two main motivational systems - systems of external and internal motivation. They are relatively independent of each other, and motivational comfort can be achieved only if both of these systems are fully functioning. The system of internal motivation has a number of specific features that are manifested even in its least developed forms.
Striving for novelty: the cessation of the flow of information from the outside causes strong negative emotions and an equally strong need to compensate for the “information vacuum.” If this is not possible, a state of sensory deprivation occurs, which can lead to serious neuropsychiatric disorders.
Striving for motor activity: the need for basic physical activity is the simplest manifestation, a form of internal motivation.
Striving for efficient and economical development of the world and behavior in it: not just activity, but also the desire to choose its most effective forms, leading to better results, is also considered one of the independent and innate needs. Her satisfaction is seen as a source of strong positive emotions.
Striving for self-determination: a person has an inherent need to “feel like the cause of his behavior”, to be the master of himself and his behavior. And vice versa, he is characterized by the need to “resist” the attitude towards him as a means of controlling him from the outside (see the theory of “reactive resistance” in Chapter 9). A person is inclined to believe that it is his “I” that is the main source of his behavior; behave in ways that reinforce this belief.
Striving for self-actualization is closely related to the previous feature. It manifests itself in the fact that a person not only considers his “I” as the main reason for his actions, but also strives to realize this reason as fully as possible. This is a person’s need to “realize what he can accomplish” (A. Maslow), to fully realize his personal potential.
Thus, the system of internal motivation underlies those categories of needs that correspond to the highest levels in their general hierarchy (see Fig. 28). In addition, the motives based on it - self-actualization, self-determination, self-affirmation - are the most specific to management activities. Their presence and high level of development most often determine a person’s choice of managerial activities. They determine the subject’s personal preferences, the personal attractiveness of management activities, as well as professional success in its implementation. Individuals with developed internal motivation are thus characterized by absorption in the process of activity itself (including management), interest in its very course, and not just in the results. Moreover, positive results themselves become a kind of means for the individual that strengthens and enhances his interest in the process of activity.
There are quite complex and natural relationships between the systems of external and internal motivation. First, the implementation of external motives can strengthen internal motives. Secondly, the implementation of internal motives can lead to the formation of new - more complex effective (external) motives; the more interesting the work, the more you want to achieve in it and through it. However, other patterns are no less important. Thus, hypertrophy of internal motivation can lead to a decrease in external motivation, when a person is so absorbed in the process of activity itself and receives such strong satisfaction from it that the results fade into the background and become subjectively insignificant. A typical, albeit very peculiar example of this is the phenomenon of “intoxication with power.” Power is, of course, a multidimensional phenomenon (see next chapter). It, however, can and should be understood as a specific procedural motive, when power itself is a powerful source of strong satisfaction and positive emotions. As a result, power is transformed from a means into an end in itself and value in itself; It does not serve as a means of achieving results, but the results serve to strengthen it. As a result of this transformation, a specific type of personal orientation develops - a careerist, “promotion-oriented” personality.
Finally, another manifestation of the disharmony of two motivational systems is the phenomenon of the so-called destruction of internal motivation under the influence of hypertrophy of external motives and incentives. The following patterns have been established in psychological studies. If the external reward for any activity is high enough and, in particular, if it is not entirely proportional to the objectively achieved results of this activity, the real contribution of the subject to it, there is a noticeable decrease in interest in the activity process itself (even if it initially took place). A person, initially motivated by motivation for the process of activity (interest in its content, his passion - i.e. internal motives), gradually, under the influence of more and more tangible incentives, most often material, begins to switch his motivational aspirations precisely to them. Work turns into a “pursuit of results” and, therefore, rewards. She is increasingly losing the character of an independent motivator. As a result, internal motivation sharply decreases or completely disappears. Thus, one of the two motivational systems is excluded from the general motivation, and the overall level of motivation as a result decreases. A decrease in motivation, in turn, leads to a drop in the quality indicators of the activity itself.
This pattern explains a wide range of phenomena, when a person focused exclusively on results produces less productivity than a person focused not only on results, but also on the process of activity itself (deriving satisfaction from it, characterized by the presence of not only external, but also internal motives). It should be noted, however, that there is also a “mirror” pattern in relation to the described one. This is the destruction (or decrease) of internal motivation with the weakening of external motives and incentives. Interest in work can also decline in the case when it, as well as the actual results obtained, are not systematically reinforced properly through the satisfaction of external motives.
Both external and internal motives are realized in activities through the formulation and achievement of goals corresponding to them. Goals that correspond to external motives are designated by the concept of ecapmotive goals, and those corresponding to internal motives are designated by the concept of intrinsic goals. It was noted above that as a result of correlating motives with the goals of the subject, a special and most important psychological formation is formed - the personal meaning of activity. It characterizes the general attitude of the individual to the activity, shows what it actually means for the individual. If motivation is predominantly external, and goals are also extrinsic in nature, then the activity as a whole will not be characterized by deep personal meaning. It will not be perceived as deeply accepted and acting as “the work of one’s whole life,” but only as a certain means for achieving other life goals and values. If the activity is internally motivated, and its goals are predominantly of an intrinsic nature, then the degree of acceptance of the activity will be much higher, its personal meaning will be deeper and richer. As a result, both subject satisfaction and performance also increase. It follows that one of the main directions of psychological enrichment of activity and a means of increasing its effectiveness is the development of internal motivation, an emphasis on intense goals in its organization.
Other practically significant consequences follow from the theory of two motivational systems. It shows, in particular, that the highest level of work motivation can be achieved only if both motivational systems are connected to it. The manager’s implementation of the motivation function should therefore be based on taking into account both external and internal motives of subordinates. A bias in one direction or another leads to a decrease in overall motivation. Even more important is that in this case there is not only a decrease, but also a deformation of the motivational sphere. In pursuit of results, in a passion for the easiest and seemingly most effective - external, most often material, incentives - destruction of internal motivation occurs. Therefore, the best option for organizing motivation is proportional - the optimal combination of external and internal incentives, motives, ensuring the connection of both motivational systems.
A similar picture is observed in relation to the motivation of the leader himself. Here, too, a bias towards both external and internal motives leads to the dominance of one of the two motivational systems. The phenomena of “the pursuit of results at any cost”, “power as an intrinsic value”, “careerist personal development”, etc. arise. At the same time, the hypertrophy of one of the two motivational systems inhibits the other, “turns off” it, and as a result, the overall motivation is impoverished, “flattened” and in general it is decreasing. A decrease in motivation, in turn, naturally and inevitably leads to a decrease in the quality of activity, and in particular to a decrease in satisfaction from it (which, however, will also sooner or later affect its effectiveness).
One of the typical manifestations of motivational imbalance in the activities of a manager is the so-called motivational deformation. Their reason is rooted in one of the most general patterns of organization of the motivational sphere of the individual. It consists in the presence of a powerful tendency to switch the motivational attitudes of the individual to those types of activities and its individual tasks, functions that are characterized by the greatest success in their implementation. Simply put, the better a person is at something, the more he wants to do exactly that (“the law of results”). In professional, and especially in managerial activities, this manifests itself very clearly and clearly. The leader - most often unconsciously - chooses those methods of action, plans and implements those activities and applies his efforts to those problems that are more “up to his shoulder”, and not to those that really require a priority solution. Activities are reoriented from “what is needed” to “what is easier.” Management begins to unfold according to a replacement style. This is manifested in the choice of objects of managerial influence, and in the choice of methods of these influences, and in determining the scope of interpersonal contacts. The leader increasingly begins to rely on “convenient people” and, to a lesser extent, on those who objectively should be involved in solving a particular problem and organizing effective execution. In its extreme manifestation, this can lead to the emergence of the clique phenomenon, which is widely known in social and managerial psychology, and to corporate bureaucratic and managerial isolation.
In conclusion, it should also be noted that the measure and content of motivation for professional activity (both executive and managerial) naturally change during a professional career, at its various macro stages. It is customary to divide business life into five main macro stages.
- The period of the initial career is joining the organization, determining one’s place in it (20-24 years).
- A stage characterized by the individual’s desire to express himself, achieve success, and gain recognition in the organization (about 30 years).
- The phase of achieving a high level of professionalism, expanding the scope of application of one’s abilities, strengthening one’s position in the organization (approximately 35-40 years).
- The phase of reassessing one’s achievements, the value of the work done, possible doubts about the correctness of one’s life choice (about 45-50 years). This is the so-called mid-career crisis, which can take quite painful forms, lead to chronic stressful conditions and is often resolved by changing the professional field and place of work.
- The mastery stage, when a highly skilled manager focuses on the development of his employees, showing concern for younger employees, strives for the well-being of the entire organization, demonstrating the art of management (after 50 years and before retirement - see Fig. 31).retirement - see fig. 31).
Perestroika and even crisis moments in career advancement will be less painful if motivation for activity is maintained at a high level. And here it is necessary to point out existing recommendations for maintaining high motivation during a professional career - methods of self-motivation. Some of them are as follows [40 each].
Strive for goals, but live for today. No matter what big and distant goals a person sets for himself, he should not forget about today, since “real life is always present only here now.”
Take primary responsibility for your motivation in life. The more a person feels that he is the cause of his behavior, the more self-determined he is and the higher his subjective investment in activity, the higher his motivation and satisfaction. All this, of course, is associated with taking responsibility for one’s behavior and activities. This, however, is only the necessary payment that has to be paid to maintain motivation, for satisfaction from the activity, from one’s role in it. According to the theory of motivation, there is simply no other way.
Remember: organizations and people grow through crises. It is necessary to take into account and develop an appropriate attitude towards this, that a crisis is not the end, but a stage, a necessary attribute of a career; it not only can, but must be overcome; but lessons should be learned from it. The crisis itself, therefore, is a means of personal growth, a means of qualitative transformations of motivation and giving it more and more mature forms. L. Iacocca writes in this regard:
“There are moments in every person’s life when something useful is born out of misfortune. There are times when everything seems so bleak that you want to grab fate by the scruff of the neck and shake it hard.”
Accepting these difficulties is detrimental: on the contrary, trying to find new solutions to old problems means saving your motivation and yourself as a person.
Remember; Motivation for work is only part of motivation for life. A single “motivational line” of an individual, which is limited exclusively to the glufessional sphere, is a very risky attitude. If it fails (including through no fault of the person himself), a “motivational vacuum” sets in, leading to serious consequences such as loss of meaning in life and personal dramas. This attitude is typical for so-called workaholics and often manifests itself in “weekend neurosis” (W. Frankl):
“Sunday in any big city is the saddest day of the week. It is on Sunday that the pace of the work week is suspended, ...all the poverty of meaning in everyday life is revealed; ... when a daily pause occurs in the frantic race, all the aimlessness, the uselessness of existence again rises to its full height.”
As the famous domestic psychologist A.N. notes in this regard. Leontyev,
“...even if a person has a clear leading line of life, it cannot remain the only one... The motivational sphere of the individual is always multi-peaked.”
Accordingly, maintaining “multi-vertex”, multi-focus motivation is a means of self-motivation, a means of preventing the development of motivational career crises.
When we talk about effective motivation, then most often we mean the presence of an emotional state that prompts a person to act in a certain direction.
Motif (from old French motivation) literally “incitement to action.” Emotional states can be caused by many different reasons, usually not related to the subject of activity.
Thus, a young man can enter a higher educational institution, far from the environment of his possible interests, only because the girl he loves has entered there. The number of similar examples is endless.
In an old American comedy "Police Academy" The motives that brought crowds of young people into the ranks of the valiant cops were very diverse: “I want to be able to defend myself”, “I want to look at people who are different from us”, “I want to get away from home care” etc. and so on.
Random motives, which subsequently cause bewilderment and annoyance, are related by one circumstance. A person takes actions on the scale of life, on the scale of fate under the influence of private, small, spontaneous factors. All this fully applies to the choice of work, as well as to its effectiveness.
How many random people ended up in geology, caught up in the romance of Oleg Kuvaev’s books?
How many people rushed to open their own business, inspired by the stories of Ford, Kroc and Estee Lauder?
Sometimes, having heard someone’s success story in a network business, a person rushes into the first network company he comes across, so that after a couple of months he curses the whole company that did not bring him success.
A similar situation is well known in the field of education. A person who enters a higher educational institution because of false prestige and hopes for a highly paid job, strives for a diploma for many years, and then realizes that neither happiness, nor success, nor wealth, either directly or indirectly, can be achieved with a higher (or any other) education. connected.
Let's try to understand motivation and learn how to use it effectively.
Motivation, as most already know, can be internal and external. How to understand this and how does it work?
Effective motivation
Children got into the habit of playing under the windows of an elderly man’s house. Every evening they gathered on the lawn in front of his house, ran and made noise, which greatly disturbed him. No amount of requests or persuasion to play away from his house helped.
He was tormented for a long time by the question: what to do with them and came up with an idea - he went out to the children and said:
You ran, frolicked and screamed very well today. For this, each of you will receive $1 today.
Can you imagine the children's reaction?! Not only did they enjoy the game, they also received... The children were very happy.
The next day the owner of the house came out to the playing children and said:
You know, children, today my circumstances have changed, and I can only give you 50 cents each."
The children took the money, but played and shouted with less enthusiasm.
The next day this wise man handed out 20 cents to the children and said:
Come again tomorrow, I'll give you 5 cents.
To this the children replied: " Here's another! We'll run and scream here for just 5 cents!".
In such an intricate way, this elderly man got rid of the noise and screaming under his windows.
What is this story about? About internal and external motivations. What did this wise man do? He decreased intrinsic motivation children (their own emotions, desire to play freely, “run and scream”), translating it into external motivation(money), and then removed it too.
Where has the intrinsic motivation of these children gone? Disappeared like smoke...
Where does the internal motivation of those people who first begin to work actively and with interest in your campaign go, and then... “die out”?
Everything is very simple. Most likely, you pay too much attention to external motivation, while forgetting about the leading force - internal motivation.
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation- this is the driving force that pushes you forward and does not allow you to stand still, this is why you invest your efforts, why you act day after day, creating your team and your organization. You do this to change your life and the lives of others for the better.
Internal motivation is the “fuel” that supports us and does not allow us to go out and cool down when overcoming difficulties and failures. Intrinsic motivation motivates you to take action.
- , self-realization
- ideas, creativity
- self-affirmation
- conviction
- curiosity
- health
- feeling needed by someone
- need for communication
First in business (of any kind) - never reduce your internal motivation.
Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation these are visible signs of your achievements in the society around you.
- money
- career
- status
- confession
- prestigious things (house, apartment, car)
- decent aesthetics of everyday life
- the ability to travel
Your extrinsic motivation is constantly changing. Just yesterday you only wanted to earn enough to feed your family. Then you took your first steps in business and wanted to give your children a better education, a new house, a new car...
Do you remember the fairy tale about the fisherman and the fish? “I don’t want to be a black peasant woman, I want to be a pillar noblewoman” is an example of external motivation.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are most effective when in balance.
The second secret to the success of effective motivation is to maintain a balance between internal and external motivation.
Positive and negative factors of motivation
All possible motivational factors, in fact, can be reduced to just two intuitive ideas:
- enjoy
Moreover, both factors can be both internal and external. And if both factors are present in your action, then you get a very powerful locomotive. It's like a push and pull.
These types of motivation operate in different ways, in different directions, and with different results. All people use both to some extent, but each of us tends to prefer one of these directions.
Illustration
An example of a practically implemented scheme of internal motivation with simultaneously involved positive and negative factors is the film (eng. Artificial Intelligence) is a science fiction drama directed by Steven Spielberg, released in 2001.
I warn you right away: the film is not about motivation... It is about the irresponsible desire to create, about responsibility for those who have been tamed, human intolerance towards those who are unlike you and about many other things, but not about motivation. And yet... he is a clear illustration of the power of unstoppability hidden in motivation.
The film takes place in the future. Humanity is trying to maintain civilization by creating androids endowed with artificial intelligence. These attempts lead to the development of a fundamentally new type of humanoid robot child that is capable of love. They call him David. The company that created it wants to check how their creation will take root in a family environment.
Henry and Monica become this family. Their real son is in a coma due to a rare disease. Monica, having lost hope for her son's recovery, activates David's special functions, allowing him to love her the way a real child loves his parents. Everything seems to be going well. However, after a while, the real son recovers and returns home.
Now the children should live together as brothers, but instead become rivals for their mother's love. And, of course, the mother makes a choice in favor of a real child, this is logical. Instead of taking David to Cybertronics, Monica releases him into the forest, warning him to beware of the “triumph of the flesh” - a show event where androids are publicly destroyed in arenas, just like rebel slaves and Christians once did in ancient Rome.
And so the little, irresponsibly humanized robot goes in search of the Blue Fairy, whom he heard about from the fairy tale “Pinocchio” and believed that she could make him a real boy, thanks to which Mom would love him and accept him back into the family.
An all-consuming thirst for maternal love, a sense of safety and security, the desire to avoid the feeling of abandonment by his mother - two factors that help David go through a terrible meat grinder, fanatically move towards his completely unrealistic goal and, after 2000 years, achieve it in one short day.
The film is fantastic, but remarkable both in content and execution. If anyone hasn't had a chance to watch it yet, be sure to do so.
How do motivation factors relate to its state?
| Internal | External | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | dream, self-realization ideas, creativity self-affirmation conviction curiosity health feeling needed by someone personal growth need for communication |
money career status confession prestigious things (house, apartment, car) decent aesthetics of everyday life the ability to travel |
| Negative | unrealization feeling of humiliation lack of health lack of communication lack of security |
rebuke salary reduction demotion non-recognition direct threat to life or health disease |
Where and how to apply it?
You can motivate both your team and yourself. At the same time, keeping two things in mind:
- To ignite someone’s inspiration, someone’s dream, you must first ignite yourself.
- Maximum success can be achieved with a balance of internal and external motivation.
Thus, there are three tasks:
- how to ignite inner motivation
- how to motivate other people to do great things
- achieve balance
on balance
Any meaningful movement that can be calculated is possible provided you know where you are going and where you are coming from. Napoleon Hill wrote in his book Think and Grow Rich that every successful action begins with a desire.
A leader in this sense is one who is guided by internal motives, one who can temporarily postpone some external manifestations of success (delayed reward). Hence, the basis of leadership motivation is internal(positive and negative).
- It starts with a dream or vision. We discussed how to formulate a dream in one of the previous issues, “The Vision of a Leader: Myth or Reality?”
- As part of achieving your dream (vision), define and write down long-term goals
- Break long-term goals into short chunks - short-term goals
- Make daily plans for short-term goals
Why such tedious work in such an inspiring issue as motivation. Because effective motivation is only the engine of the locomotive, you also need a driver who knows the goal, you need rails that lead to this goal, someone must throw coal into the firebox or press the buttons. Those. motivation without clear goals is fireworks. There is a lot of noise, there is little sense.
We will talk in detail about why you need to plan, about the technique of clear goal setting, about the static and mobility of goals and plans in the next issue of the newsletter. In the meantime, just note to yourself somewhere (write it on your forehead, notch it on your nose, knock it out in your liver, in your kidneys) that planning is, well, it’s just very important, it’s just that you can’t do without it...
How to defeat the inner saboteur
What is an internal saboteur? This is the negative side of your personality. He is cunning and dangerous, because he appears when you are not expecting him. He can dissuade you from a new promising business or ruin something that has already been started. The ability to recognize and understand your saboteur is an important step in working on yourself. As soon as you think of something important, a saboteur immediately arises from the depths of your soul and insinuatingly says: “Why try, why get down to business? Everything is useless,” “Do you need more than everyone?”, “You are not capable of becoming the best.” , leave this matter."
These and other statements that sometimes break through from the negative side of your personality can turn you away from new beginnings and kill interest in any activity.
For example, you are a manager of a certain company. You are young and full of energy, striving to make a career and realize yourself. We have developed a new promising initiative (a new and original sales method, a technical innovation, etc.) But as soon as you are about to get down to business, an inner voice (saboteur) immediately begins to intimidate you, interfere with you and discourage you from working. He tells you:
What if nothing works out?
What if you don’t find support among your colleagues and superiors? They'll just laugh at you.
You are too busy with other things and you don't have time for this.
Every fool will tell you that this is impossible.
You are still young for such things, you will have time.
You will not be able to overcome so many difficulties and obstacles.
Another favorite trick of your saboteur is procrastination. He often resorts to it, giving you reasonable excuses: “Not now, I’ll still have time,” “No need to rush,” “I’ll definitely start doing this next Monday,” etc. Rest assured: when next Monday comes, the inner saboteur will find reasonable excuses to put things off again until “next Monday.” He will refer to anything: circumstances, lack of time, bad weather - just to prevent you from achieving success.
How to avoid the negative influence of an internal saboteur? Exercises invented by Gestalt psychologists will help you here.
Counterattack!
First of all, the internal saboteur seeks to deprive you of self-confidence. The main thing is not to give him the opportunity to dominate your aspirations. Confront him with your strong arguments.
Here are examples of counterarguments you can use when counterattacking your saboteur.
- This is impossible to achieve. But you can always try! And we'll see!
- I have many many other things to do and responsibilities But I can always devote one hour to this!
- Don't rush, there's still time. Time does not wait, you need to work so that it is not too late.
- There are a lot of difficulties and obstacles to overcome Difficulties exist to overcome them!
Your inner saboteur is not easy to defeat and silence. After all, a saboteur is not only your personal voice. It is also a product of the influence of other people - parents, friends, those around you, who told you a thousand times: “Keep your head down, be like everyone else.” Psychologists call it the internal censor (Super-ego). But you can and should discuss with him, convince him, do everything so that your other “I” (active, effective, confident of success) takes over.
Another method that is proposed for working with an internal saboteur is an active emotional dialogue with him.
Reformulation
Convince your saboteur. Don't follow his lead. Give counterarguments that would overcome its negative effect. Example:
- You're a weakling. You won't succeed. You're lying! I will succeed!
- You already have a lot of important things to do. But I can always find some time. This matter is very important. I am not lazy and will not look for excuses for my laziness!
- Is it worth taking on this business? It's worth it because...
Constructive negotiations
- Think about something you would like to do. Imagine that your plan was a success. Now try to come up with something that could harm your endeavors and prevent you from implementing your plans. Imagine this picture.
- Describe, draw a saboteur or the force that pushes for sabotage and counteracts the fulfillment of the plan.
- Now play the role of a saboteur yourself and purposefully try to prevent the implementation of your project. Tell us how you will benefit from it. Why do you need this?
- From the point of view of your true self, imagine meeting with the saboteur and have constructive negotiations with him. Reflect and write down what would you say to him? What arguments can convince him?
Analysis of excuses
- Write down in detail all the excuses your saboteur makes. For example: “I won’t be able to implement my plans because: I’m too busy I don’t have enough abilities I’m too young (old) for this No one will support me
- Analyze these excuses. Think: why are you using them? Are the circumstances really as insurmountable as your imagination makes them out to be? Often people resort to self-justification simply because they are afraid to take risks, to make mistakes, i.e. afraid of failure. In this case, psychological defense mechanisms intervene: a person strives to maintain his self-esteem at the appropriate level. And possible defeat and failure can reduce self-esteem. This determines the desire to avoid failure. And only those who do nothing make mistakes. As a result, passivity in life develops, avoidance of any endeavors. No wonder these people will never achieve anything. After all, they silently admit defeat even before the start. Don't be afraid of possible failures! Failures should be afraid of you, and nothing else!
Motivating others
In the process of motivating a team, it should be taken into account that people are motivated by different factors: Some are motivated by upward striving, others are driven by pain from behind.
The former pay less attention to comfort. Motivated by achieving both personal goals and organizational goals.
The latter, more motivated by the environment, may avoid opportunities that will deprive them of their comfort zone. More process oriented than task oriented. They move forward if things get hot behind them (a rooster pecks, thunder strikes, a crayfish hangs down, or some other natural absurdity happens)
Job satisfaction in this case is the result of the relationship between motivating (internal positive) and supporting (external positive) factors, with the supporting factors being: money, conditions, tools for work, safety, reliability. And motivating factors are recognition, growth, achievement, responsibility and authority.
If both groups of factors are absent, the work becomes unbearable.
If only supporting factors are present, job dissatisfaction is minimal.
If only motivating factors are present, the employee loves the job, but cannot afford it.
If both groups of factors are present, the job brings maximum satisfaction.
The law of reinforcement as a tool of external motivation
Now I will say a rather cynical thing from the point of view of some people (romantics, close your eyes and ears and do not read the next paragraph).
Pay attention to the ratio: if at least external positive factors are present, progress is real, but if only negative factors are present, there can be no talk of any positive result.
We gained real experience when we ran a nursery of Persian cats. Cats (and all other animals) divide their experiences into pleasant and unpleasant. All training and education systems are built on this simple principle (for small children, too, by the way).
The most remarkable theory ever proposed for the control of behavior is called the "law of reinforcement." It was formulated many years ago by educational psychologist E.L. Thorndike. This theory is great because it works. Thorndike's original technique was improved by B.F. Skinner, who described the conditions under which it works most effectively. Simply put, the "law of reinforcement" states: “Behavior that produces the desired effect is repeated.”.
In other words, if you like what happens as a result of your actions, you will repeat them. If you were given compliments when you were wearing “white”, you will try to wear white more often, and vice versa, if they sympathetically ask you about your health when you, say, are wearing purple, you don’t need to be a genius to draw the appropriate conclusions .
But here at least there is some noble work of the mind (perhaps purple doesn’t suit me...), and what do you say when a tennis player takes the racket with which he won the last game, rejecting the one with which he lost the year before. Superstition? No, the “law of reinforcement” or, more simply, extrinsic motivation!
Why am I talking about this? On one of the previous issues (about), I received the following letter from Elena:
“What to do with the laziness of teenagers - they don’t want to study and that’s it.He understands everything, but doesn’t want to do anything: maybe he’ll get away with it somehow. Doesn’t interest him in anything. As a child, I didn’t really like to read, but according to the program I had to, but for him the concept of “should” does not exist!”
Let's remember the law: “Every person, along with a problem, receives energy to solve it.” Based on this, it follows that a person has energy only for solving problems. Laziness is a lack of energy, that is, a lack of problems, a lack of assigned tasks.
But today is about motivation. There are several principles of extrinsic motivation that must be strictly followed in order to reinforce the required behavior.
- Both people and animals divide their life experiences into pleasant and unpleasant.
- Only desired behavior should be reinforced.
- Reinforcement must be immediate.
- (including those acquired with difficulty), which are not reinforced, will soon be abandoned and forgotten.
- Undesirable behavior should cause unpleasant associations, or not cause any: punishment can destroy a lot, but nothing can be created
- Never reinforce unwanted behavior.
The last point is very important. If, after asking your child to clean the room several times, and then giving up and doing it yourself, guess three times what he will do next time?
In order to understand in more detail the effect of this law and the similar law of expectations, I recommend:
Re-read the article "How to Apply the Law of Expectations"
Motivation in balance
Back in 1959, F. Emery and E. Trist provided a theory according to which there are six requirements for the organization of work that create the necessary conditions for satisfying psychological needs:
- Work should be varied and creative
- Development opportunities at work
- Ability to make independent decisions in your area of work
- The need for recognition among colleagues and belonging to a group
- Elbow feeling
- Confidence in the future
- External attributes of success: encouragement, praise, compliment, bonus, promotion, etc.
15 signs of a motivating work organization
- Any actions must be meaningful. This primarily refers to someone who demands action from others.
- Most people experience joy from work, being responsible for it, satisfying their need for personal involvement in the results of their activities, in working with people (clients). They want their actions to matter to someone in particular.
- Everyone wants to show what they are capable of. He wants to prove his abilities and his . He does not want decisions to be made without his participation in matters in which he is competent.
- Everyone strives to express themselves in work, to recognize themselves in some results, to have proof that they can do something. This “something” should, if possible, receive the name of its creator. This applies to both the individual and the group.
- Almost everyone has their own point of view on how to improve their work and its organization. He wants to realize his goals and is not afraid of sanctions. He expects that his proposals will be met with interest.
- People like to feel important. Every person knows how important his work is for overall success.
- Every person strives for success. Success is goals achieved. People have developed goals, the achievement of which can be measured by level and deadlines.
- Success without recognition leads to disappointment. Every well-working person rightfully counts on recognition and encouragement - both material and moral.
- By the way, in what form and at what speed people receive information, they assess what their real significance is in the eyes of the immediate sponsor and the system in general. If their access to information is difficult, if they receive information late, they feel belittled.
- People have a negative attitude when decisions about changes in their work, even if these changes are positive, are made without taking into account their knowledge and experience.
- Everyone needs information about the quality of their own work. The distributor needs it more than his sponsor. In addition, it must be prompt so that a person can make adjustments to his actions. Everyone wants to know the scale by which they are measured, and from the very beginning, and not when time has passed.
- For all of us, outside control is unpleasant. Every job benefits from the greatest possible degree of self-control. Directly visible results of action increase interest in work.
- Most people strive to acquire new knowledge in the process of work. Increased requirements, which give a chance for further development, are accepted much more willingly than lower ones. If the work is primitive and does not provide opportunities for development, you can practice changing types of activities.
- People react strongly if their efforts and the results they get only result in them being even more overloaded. Especially if this is not compensated in any way monetarily. This is how they “kill” initiative.
- There is free space for initiative in organizing work, for individual responsibility of people in the entire network chain.
How can this be done practically? If you are interested in building an effective team, I recommend working on the following:
The book "The One Minute Manager Builds High-Performing Teams" (Kenneth Blanchard, Donald Carew, Unice Parisi-Carew)
Audiobook "Motivation: Get Started - Attention - March! 5 Simple Steps That Bring Immediate Results" (Kerk Rector)
Make yourself.
⇕ Effective motivation: internal and external ⇕
☭ Effective motivation is why you act day after day to change your life for the better. But it is not always effective☝
Effective motivation
Written by: Lola Pirhal
Date Published: 02/24/2009
What is motivation and how to increase its effectiveness
Push-pull or effective motivation
Helps people achieve their goals. By nature, people most often do those things that bring them complete, perhaps partial, satisfaction. But this pleasant human characteristic is varied for each person, due to the fact that we are all different and each has our own unique talent and quality.
Let's decide first of all internal motivation. These are the pleasures that bring us harmony to our inner world. A person does not require any additional material benefits as a reward for the work done. The work itself, and its successful outcome, is the best reward for internal motivation.
The person for whom internal motivation is more important than external motivation, will never ask for anything in return, he acts exclusively in peaceful ways, trying not to harm the world around him, and finds a way out of any difficult situation without resorting to scandals and squabbles. To fully satisfy your inner self, it is enough to simply achieve this, for example, to do the work on your own, on your own. This unique feeling of pride appears in a person when his skill and quality of work exceeds his expectations, and, most importantly, suits other, third-party people. According to statistics cited by scientists, most often people receive moral satisfaction from activities, for example, dancing, drawing or singing.
Extrinsic motivation is some kind of third-party gift for achieving various goals. It has been proven that if children are offered a gift for carrying out any activity, then their internal motivation will sharply decrease and will be practically equal to zero. But if adults are included in the experiment, the results may be different. Because with age, internal motivation takes precedence over external motivation. But, again, everything depends on the individual psychological development of a person. It is worth noting the differences between external and internal motivation.
First of all extrinsic motivation stimulates an increase in productivity, and the internal one, in turn, is responsible for the good quality of work. Career growth is one of the manifestations that helps to significantly increase internal motivation.
It is worth noting that exactly extrinsic motivation begins before intrinsic motivation, which significantly reduces it. If you cannot motivate your work with internal qualities, you should promise yourself a simple chocolate bar when the work is completed. In this way, you will stimulate yourself and your work, only then should you pay special attention to quality, which may suffer in the process. What external factors motivate our actions? It depends directly on the person’s personality. But more often than not, the motives in the modern world are very similar. Vivid examples are: social status in society, money, career growth, possible holidays abroad.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation necessary for a person to grow, develop and enjoy it.
The article raises in detail the issue of motivation and reasons for people’s behavior. What is motivation, what types of motivations exist and what are the reasons for people’s behavior.
Explaining human behavior is one of the main and most interesting tasks of psychology. And even if you are completely far from science, you probably at least from time to time have to think about the reasons that force people to act this way and not otherwise. Each of us has observed many times that in the same situation different people behave completely differently. On the other hand, the same person can exhibit very different reactions and perform actions that we would also like to understand and explain.
In some cases the explanation lies on the surface, in others it is very difficult to establish the cause of the behavior. However, obvious explanations often turn out to be far from the truth.
The psychology of motivation deals specifically with the study of various factors that serve as the causes of certain forms of behavior. Of course, this is not a separate area of psychology: when explaining human behavior, researchers proceed not only from the characteristics of the situation, but also from personal characteristics of a person, take into account its emotional reactions, properties self-esteem. Let's take a look at some areas of motivation research.
The study of motivation is a search for answers to the questions: for what purpose does someone carry out this or that action? Why does an individual act in a certain way in a particular situation? Are there patterns that explain people's behavior in certain conditions?
What is motivation?
In a broad sense, the definition of motivation is:
Motivation is the impulses that cause the activity of the body and determine its direction.
When it comes to people we know well, we usually do not find it difficult to explain the reasons for their actions - we know (or assume that we know) why they perform certain actions. And even more so, we rarely question the reasons for our own behavior. And yet, we can name at least three reasons that make us think about motivation from time to time.
Firstly , sometimes we are faced with a situation where someone, under certain conditions, acts differently from what is customary, or differently from most other people. So the first reason can be formulated as the presence of individual differences in behavior. These differences can be traced in many, very diverse situations and, in general, are quite stable. Therefore, psychologists have long concluded that people differ from each other in their predispositions to how exactly to act in various situations. These individual predispositions that each of us have are called motives.
Secondly , we often consider people's behavior not from the point of view of their personal motives, but from the point of view of the characteristics of the situation. It often seems that the reasons for this or that action lie not in the person’s personality, but in the conditions in which he finds himself. Remember how often you say about someone that “circumstances forced him” to act this way and not otherwise, or, conversely, that someone “took advantage of the situation” - the second version of the explanation, although it presupposes the activity of the actor, but still indicates on external conditions: they are the ones who push a person to certain actions.
In such cases, we are interested in the stimuli that motivate action. We are constantly exposed to their influence in everyday life, but the impact of external conditions is especially pronounced in emergency situations, when some threatening circumstances arise. In addition to explaining people's behavior, studying the mechanism of action of various stimuli also interests us from a practical point of view: after all, every now and then we have a desire or need to somehow influence the behavior of another person, to induce him to certain actions.
Third , what matters is not only the fact of the action and its possible reasons, but also how exactly this action will be performed. Under certain circumstances, desires, as soon as they arise, are embodied in intentions and, at the next opportunity, are realized in action. Some people are distinguished by “decisiveness,” that is, they know how to organize themselves well and quickly move from desire to the implementation of intentions. Others cannot quickly and confidently choose a goal, concentrate attention and efforts on achieving it, they doubt and hesitate.
This leads us to the idea that human behavior is not reducible to a simple “stimulus-response” or “motive-action” scheme. Between the urge to do something and the action itself, there is still a certain preparatory stage: after the desire is formulated, it needs to be assessed, its importance, necessity and the possibility of its implementation must be weighed. You also need to plan exactly how you will act to achieve what you want. All this turns motive into intention, that is, an act of will.
Thus, one of the key points in the motivational process is the presence of a volitional component.
You might argue that you don't always set intentions by carefully weighing and thinking about your goals and action plan. And this objection is completely fair: of course, in most everyday situations we act automatically, in a habitual way. And in fact: it is impossible to even imagine the life of a person who consciously and consistently thinks about his every action. For a huge number of situations, we have long ago developed the behavior that is most effective in specific conditions, and we do not need to spend time and energy on planning and preparation - we simply act.
According to the figurative description of H. Heckhausen, these are those situations in which “the barrier of intention is raised and the path to action is clear.” The same author recalls that “in addition to volitional actions and actions of habit, there are also impulsive or affective actions. In this case, the internal tension of the motivational impulse makes its way to action even when the barrier is closed.”
So, let's summarize. From the point of view of the psychology of motivation, human behavior is structured as follows: by combining internal needs, individual characteristics and external conditions (incentives), a motive is formed. Further, in the course of volitional processes, this motive is “processed”, as a result of which an intention is formed - a plan for carrying out an action, “charged” with the energy of desire. And finally, the intention is realized in action:
Motivation => intention<=>action
In addition, in many cases, the stage of intention formation is very compressed and invisible (automated actions, actions out of habit) or absent (impulsive actions). This point deserves special attention, so now we will talk a little about conscious and unconscious motivation.
Conscious and unconscious motivation
Have you ever done something “against your will”, and then were surprised at your own behavior? How often do you hear from your friends explanations like “The demon has led me astray!” or “It was as if some kind of eclipse had come over me...”? It happens that we “accidentally” do some good deeds (for ourselves or others), but much more often we find it difficult to explain our motives in cases where our behavior turned out to be far from what we wanted. An entire direction in psychology, which had a noticeable influence on the entire world culture of the 20th century, is devoted, in fact, to the study of the causes and mechanisms of such “unconscious”, or rather, unconscious behavior. This direction is called psychoanalysis.
The founding father of psychoanalysis had an invaluable quality for a good researcher: the habit of not neglecting the little things. One of his works has a characteristic title: “The Psychopathology of Everyday Life.” In it, he analyzes such trifles as forgetting names and words, impressions and intentions: cases when a person “accidentally” made a slip of the tongue, forgot about something, “pawned it” and cannot find the right thing, etc. These are known to everyone Freud interprets “accidents” as signs of the work of the unconscious: every inexplicable action has a motive, even if it is hidden from our consciousness. For an outside observer, this motive can also be hidden, and sometimes it is quite obvious: “Forgetting intentions... gives the right to conclude about the presence of unrecognized motives.<...>A lover who is late for a date will in vain look for excuses to his lady that he, unfortunately, completely forgot about it. She will certainly answer him: “You wouldn’t have forgotten a year ago. You don’t love me anymore.”<...>She believes, and not without reason, that from unintentional oblivion one can draw the same conclusion about a certain reluctance as from conscious avoidance.”
Freud gives many examples of such ordinary, random actions. In some cases his explanations are quite obvious and plausible; for example, he tells with commendable sincerity that he once noticed that on a day when he had many appointments with patients, he often forgot to visit some of them, and these almost always turned out to be unpaid patients or his colleagues (from whom he also, of course, did not charge). From time to time, people forget the names of people who are not very pleasant to them, lose things with which some painful memories are associated - all this is completely unintentional, but in fact it is by no means accidental: the motives in such cases simply pass by our consciousness.
True, in most cases, Freud's explanations for such absurdities are far from being so simple and obvious: he builds complex associative chains, and as a result, it may turn out that a certain gentleman forgets an insignificant word in a Latin saying because he is worried about the possible and extremely unwanted pregnancy of his beloved . Very often such interpretations seem too far-fetched, and today psychologists for the most part do not share Freud’s desire to see behind every involuntary movement a pile of unconscious motives...
But the very fact that we have such unconscious motives, which often guide our actions “secretly” from ourselves, is proven and practically universally accepted.
Psychoanalysts explain this phenomenon by the action of psychological defenses.
The defense mechanism comes into play in cases where a person’s unconscious impulses run counter to the requirements of society. Desires and aspirations that are not approved by public morality, that violate ethics, and accepted cultural norms are hidden from consciousness.
Thanks to the action of psychological defenses, such “inappropriate” motives can simply be repressed into the sphere of the unconscious and retained there (this type of defense is called “repression”), or they can be modified in some way, “masked”: this is how actions that we we do unintentionally, inexplicably to ourselves.
The main purpose of psychological defenses is to weaken the feeling of guilt that a person would experience if he were aware of his “reprehensible” desires. It is absolutely impossible to completely get rid of such desires: no matter how far civilization has advanced, Homo sapiens still remains in some ways a natural being.
- this is the curbing and suppression of natural instincts: no instinct forces people to be polite towards each other, to share something with their neighbors, to visit patients without any benefit for themselves, to refuse immediate satisfaction of hunger or sexual desires, etc. All these restrictions and requirements are created by people themselves and, of course, are necessary for the survival of humanity as a whole. But at the same time, they are a source of constant internal conflict between “I want” and “I cannot,” or, as Z. Freud formulated it, between the pleasure principle and the reality principle. So, psychological defenses reduce the severity of this conflict, helping us to bypass these contradictions.
The significance of psychological defenses is twofold: on the one hand, they clearly help a person adapt to the demands of the external environment and maintain his inner world in some balance. On the other hand, they can lead to serious difficulties in social adaptation, since they always distort the perception of reality to one degree or another.
The most “healthy” version of psychological defense is considered to be sublimation - the redirection of unconscious impulses into socially acceptable behavior. Freud considered any creativity and generally productive activity to be sublimation. For example, sadistic tendencies that are unconscious and certainly unacceptable to social norms can be sublimated by becoming a surgeon or the author of exciting detective novels, that is, by directing a charge of one’s mental energy into useful, socially approved activities.
Today, ideas about unconscious motivation are by no means limited to the ideas of Freudian psychoanalysis.
Psychologists identify different styles of motivation, for example, aimed at achieving success / avoiding failure. The characteristics of each of these styles can, in certain situations, explain unconscious actions performed by people under the influence of their characteristic motives.
Another type of motivational style is impulsive/controlled action. The impulsive style is the tendency to act “according to the situation”, with minimal consideration of the options and consequences of one’s behavior. On the contrary, the controlled, or reflexive-volitional, style is distinguished by careful thinking, preliminary analysis of all options and possible results of actions.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
The motives for our activities can be formed not only on the basis of our internal needs, but also under the influence of external incentives - rewards coming (or expected) from the outside. You read for your own pleasure, because you are interested, or you simply like the process of reading, or you need to fill some gap in knowledge - all this is internal motivation. And your first-grader son reads because you told him to, or because he wants to get an A in class (or not get a D - if his motive for avoiding failure prevails over the motive for achieving success). His motivation is external.
And although you are busy with the same thing, you do it in completely different ways: you cannot be torn away from the book, and the child reads only as long as the external stimulus is active. As soon as you let go of the reins, you’ve only seen him: he’s already completely engrossed in the activity to which his internal motivation pushed him, for example, watching cartoons or building a spaceship out of Lego...
People who are extremely passionate about their work become immersed in the experience of flow. This is what psychologists called a special state, which is characterized by complete concentration of attention, when a person feels that he is in complete control of the situation, acts at the limit of his capabilities, does not react to external stimuli and is completely devoted to his activities. This is a state that is well known to all creative people, true professionals - be it an opera singer, a sculptor or a surgeon.
Researchers say that everyone can achieve the experience of flow.
This requires that he be faced with a very difficult task, which requires the full exertion of all forces, but is not in principle impossible. (A task that is too simple creates boredom and distraction; a task that is too difficult creates anxiety and uncertainty.) In addition, solving this problem should involve gaining new experience, growth and development.
Only activities driven by intrinsic motivation can lead to the experience of flow. In modern Western society, external motives much more often come to the fore - achieving success that is obvious to others (status, fame, reputation), material reward, good assessment, etc. But external motivation, the desire to receive external rewards never lead to the experience of flow - you are doing something that does not captivate you completely; it is not the process that is important to you, but only the result.
There are, of course, frequent cases when external and internal motivation are combined: a passionate student may really enjoy the process of studying and acquiring new knowledge, but attention from potential employers is also important to him.
Psychologists experimentally studied how external motivation affects internal motivation, and obtained very interesting results: it turned out that the appearance of external motivation, as a rule, weakens internal motivation!
For example, the following experiment was conducted: subjects who liked to solve puzzles (that is, who in this case had internal motivation) were divided into two groups. The first was simply asked to solve puzzles, and the participants in the second were told that for each correct solution they would receive one dollar.
After this, the subjects were left alone, giving them the opportunity to independently choose an activity and plan their time. The result was that people who were promised a reward spent much less time solving problems than those who worked for free. Internal motivation decreased significantly when external motivation emerged.
Perhaps this data will be of interest to those of our readers who have the habit of paying their children for good studies. The practice is very common, and many parents claim that this is the most effective way to force their child to study well. So, keep in mind: this destroys internal motivation and reduces the child’s cognitive activity. In fact, this method is not the most effective, but simply the least labor-intensive for parents: a lever to control the child, replacing deep participation in his interests and development.
Psychologists have found that the only type of external motivation that has a beneficial effect on behavior and does not interfere with internal motivation is verbal praise, which increases internal interest in activity.
There are internal and external motivations. With internal motivation, a person, as they say, “has within himself” the reward for his actions: a sense of his own competence, confidence in his strengths and intentions, satisfaction from his work, self-realization. Internal motivation is enhanced by positive feedback in the form of praise, approval, etc. External motivation depends on a person’s relationship with the environment (this could be the desire to receive a reward, avoid punishment, etc.). It is regulated by external psychological and material conditions of activity. If a person works for money, then money is an internal motivator, but if mainly because of interest in work, then money acts as an external motivator.
The following features of external and internal motivation can be distinguished:
External motivation generally contributes to an increase in the volume of work performed, and internal motivation - quality;
if external motivation (both positive and negative) does not reach the “threshold” value or is removed altogether, internal motivation increases;
when replacing internal motivation with external one, the first one, as a rule, decreases;
An increase in self-confidence and one’s strengths contributes to increased internal motivation.
Let's consider the most popular concept of motivation, authored by Abraham Maslow.
A. Maslow defined motivation as internal behavior that prompts an individual to take any action, and generated the basic ideas that, in his opinion, determine human behavior.
1. People's needs are endless: as soon as a person satisfies one need, he has others.
2. Satisfied needs lose their motivating power.
3. Unmet needs motivate a person to action.
4. Human needs are arranged in a certain hierarchy according to their importance.
Maslow discovered the law according to which the satisfaction of one level of needs makes another, higher level of needs urgent. After satisfying the underlying needs, a higher need is actualized in a person (Karl Marx called this the law of ascending needs). Therefore, there may be no end to displeasure and complaints. If lower-level needs are not satisfied, in most cases a person cannot fully satisfy higher-level needs. It's like climbing steps. Therefore, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is traditionally presented in the form of a pyramid consisting of 5 levels (steps). At the same time, the levels are not discrete, the needs are interpenetrated, and therefore it is often difficult to separate one from the other.
43. Attention- this is the process of conscious or unconscious (semi-conscious) selection of one information coming through the senses and ignoring others.
Attention functions:
activates necessary and inhibits currently unnecessary psychological and physiological processes,
promotes the organized and targeted selection of information entering the body in accordance with its current needs,
provides selective and long-term concentration of mental activity on the same object or type of activity.
determines the accuracy and detail of perception,
determines the strength and selectivity of memory,
determines the direction and productivity of mental activity.
is a kind of amplifier for perceptual processes, allowing one to distinguish the details of images.
acts for human memory as a factor capable of retaining the necessary information in short-term and operative memory, as a prerequisite for the transfer of memorized material into long-term memory storage.
for thinking it acts as an obligatory factor in correctly understanding and solving a problem.
in the system of interpersonal relations promotes better mutual understanding, adaptation of people to each other, prevention and timely resolution of interpersonal conflicts.
An attentive person is described as a pleasant interlocutor, a tactful and delicate communication partner.
An attentive person learns better and more successfully and achieves more in life than someone who is not attentive enough.
Main types of attention:
natural and socially conditioned attention,
direct and indirect attention,
involuntary and voluntary attention,
sensory and intellectual attention.
Natural attention- given to a person from his very birth in the form of an innate ability to selectively respond to certain external or internal stimuli that carry elements of information novelty (indicative reflex).
Socially conditioned attention- develops during life as a result of training and upbringing, is associated with the volitional regulation of behavior, with a selective conscious response to objects.
Direct attention- is not controlled by anything other than the object to which it is directed and which corresponds to the actual interests and needs of a person.
Vicarious attention- regulated using special means, such as gestures, words, pointing signs, objects.
Involuntary attention- is not associated with the participation of the will, does not require effort in order to maintain and focus attention on something for a certain time.
free attention- necessarily includes volitional regulation, requires effort in order to maintain and focus attention on something for a certain time, usually associated with a struggle of motives or impulses, the presence of strong, oppositely directed and competing interests,
Sensual attention - associated with emotions and selective work of the senses; in the center of consciousness there is some sensory impression.
Intelligent attention- predominantly associated with the concentration and direction of thought, the object of interest is thought.
44. Involuntary attention is a lower form of attention that arises as a result of the influence of a stimulus on any of the analyzers. It is formed according to the law of the orientation reflex and is common to humans and animals.
The occurrence of involuntary attention can be caused by the peculiarity of the influencing stimulus, and also be determined by the correspondence of these stimuli to past experience or the mental state of a person.
Sometimes involuntary attention can be useful, both at work and at home; it gives us the opportunity to promptly identify the appearance of an irritant and take the necessary measures, and facilitates inclusion in habitual activities.
But at the same time, involuntary attention can have a negative impact on the success of the activity being performed, distracting us from the main thing in the task at hand, reducing the productivity of work in general. For example, unusual noise, shouting and flashing lights during work distract our attention and make it difficult to concentrate.