Theoretical foundations of motivational psychology in the advertising business. Understanding the motive in the works of A. N. Leontiev and S. L. Rubinshtein

activities called the system various forms realization of the relationship of the subject to the world of objects. This is how the concept of “activity” was defined by the creator of one of the variants of the activity approach in psychology, Alexei Nikolaevich Leontiev (1903 - 1979) (10).

Eshe in the 30s. 20th century in the school of A. N. Leontiev, the structure of a separate activity was carefully developed, and in the following decades the structure of a separate activity was carefully developed. Let's represent it in the form of a diagram:

Activity- motive(object of need)

Action - Purpose

Operation- Task(target under certain conditions)

This scheme of structure of activity is open both upwards and downwards. From above, it can be supplemented by a system of activities of various types, hierarchically organized; below - psychophysiological functions that ensure the implementation of activities.

In the school of A. N. Leontiev, two more forms activity of the subject (according to the nature of its openness for observation): external andinternal (12).

In the school of A.N. Leontiev, a separate, specific activity was singled out from the system of activities according to the criterion motive.

motive is usually defined in psychology as that which “drives” activity, that for which this activity is carried out.

Motive (in the narrow sense of Leontiev)- as an object of need, i.e., in order to characterize the motive, it is necessary to refer to the category of "need".

A.N.Leontiev determined need in two ways:

Definition of NEED

decoding

1) as an "internal condition", as one of the prerequisites for activity, which, however, is not capable of causing a directed activity, but causes - as a "need" - only an orienting research activity aimed at finding an object that can save the subject from a state of need .

"virtual need" need "in oneself", "need state", just "need"

2) as something that directs and regulates the specific activity of the subject in the subject environment after his encounter with the subject.

"current need"(need for something specific)

Example: Before meeting with a specific object, the properties of which are fixed in the most general form in the genetic program of the gosling, the chick does not need to follow exactly that specific object that will be in front of its eyes at the moment of hatching from the egg. However, as a result of the meeting of an “unobjectified” need (or a “need state”) with an appropriate object that fits the genetically fixed scheme of an exemplary “sample”, this particular object is imprinted as an object of need - and the need is “objectified”. Since then, this object has become the motive for the activity of the subject (chick) - and he follows him everywhere.

Thus, the need at the first stage of its development is not yet a need, but the need of the body for something that is outside of it, although it is reflected on the mental level.

The activity prompted by a motive is realized by a person in the form action, aimed at achieving a certain goals.

Purpose (according to Leontiev)- as a desired result of activity, consciously planned by a person, i.e. a motive is something for the sake of which a certain activity is performed, a goal is what is planned to be done in this regard to realize the motive.

As a rule, in human activity motive and purpose do not match.

If the goal is always conscious of the subject(he can always be aware of what he is going to do: apply to the institute, take entrance exams on such and such days, etc.), then the motive, as a rule, is unconscious for him (a person may not be aware of the true reason for his admission to this institute: he will assure that he is very interested, for example, in technical sciences, while in fact he is motivated to go there by the desire to be close to his loved one).

In the school of A.N. Leontiev, special attention is paid to the analysis of the emotional life of a person. emotions are considered here as a direct experience of the meaning of the goal (which is determined by the motive behind the goal, so emotions can be defined as a subjective form of the existence of motives). Emotion makes it clear to a person what the true motives for setting a particular goal may be. If a negative emotion arises when a goal is successfully achieved, then this success is imaginary for a given subject, since that for which everything was undertaken has not been achieved (the motive has not been realized). A girl entered the institute, but a loved one did not enter.

The motive and the goal can pass into each other: the goal, when it acquires a special motivating force, can become a motive (this mechanism for turning a goal into a motive is called in the school of A.N. Leontiev " shifting motive to a goal”) or, on the contrary, the motive becomes the goal.

Example: Suppose that the young man entered the institute at the request of his mother. Then the true motive of his behavior is "to maintain a good relationship with his mother," and this motive will give the appropriate meaning to the goal of "study at this institute." But studying at the institute and the subjects taught in it captivate this boy so much that after a while he begins to attend all classes with pleasure, not for the sake of his mother, but for the sake of obtaining the appropriate profession, since she completely captured him. There was a shift of the motive to the goal (the former goal acquired the motivating force of the motive). In this case, on the contrary, the former motive can become a goal, i.e. change places with it, or something else can happen: the motive, without ceasing to be a motive, turns into a motive-goal. This last case happens when a person suddenly, clearly realizes the true motives of his behavior and says to himself: “Now I understand that I didn’t live like that: I didn’t work where I wanted, I didn’t live with who I wanted. From now on, I will live differently and now, quite consciously, I will achieve goals that are really significant for me.

The set goal (which the subject is aware of) does not mean that the way to achieve this goal will be the same under different conditions for achieving it and always aware of it. Different subjects often have to achieve the same goal under different conditions (in the broadest sense of the word). Mode of action under certain conditions called operation and corresponds Withtask (i.e. a goal given under certain conditions) (12).

Example: college admission can be achieved different ways(for example, you can go through the entrance exams “through the sieve”, you can enroll on the basis of the results of the Olympiad, you can not get the points you need for the budget department and still enter - to the paid department, etc.) (12).

Definition

Note

Activity

    a separate "unit" of the subject's life, prompted by a specific motive, or an object of need (in the narrow sense according to Leontiev).

    it is a set of actions that are caused by one motive.

Activities are hierarchical.

Level of specific activities (or specific activities)

Action Level

Operations level

Level of psychophysiological functions

Action

basic unit of activity analysis. A process aimed at achieving a goal.

    action includes as a necessary component an act of consciousness in the form of setting and maintaining a goal.

    action is at the same time an act of behavior. In contrast to behaviorism, activity theory considers external movement as an inextricable unity with consciousness. After all, movement without a goal is more a failed behavior than a true essence.

action = inseparable unity of consciousness and behavior

    through the concept of action, the theory of activity affirms the principle of activity

    the concept of action “brings” human activity into the objective and social world.

Subject

carrier of activity, consciousness and knowledge

Without a subject there is no object and vice versa. This means that the activity, considered as a form of relationship (more precisely, a form of realization of the relationship) of the subject to the object, is meaningful (necessary, significant) for the subject, it is performed in his interests, but is always directed at the object, which ceases to be "neutral" for subject and becomes the object of his activity.

An object

what the activity (real and cognitive) of the subject is directed to

Thing

denotes a certain integrity, isolated from the world of objects in the process of human activity and cognition.

activity and object are inseparable(that is why they constantly talk about the "objectivity" of activity; there is no "objective" activity). It is thanks to activity that the object becomes an object, and thanks to the object, activity becomes directed. Thus, activity combines the concepts of "subject" and "object" into an inseparable whole.

motive

an object of need, something for the sake of which this or that activity is carried out.

Each individual activity is motivated by a motive; the subject himself may not be aware of his motives, i.e. don't be held accountable for them.

Motives give rise to actions, that is, they lead to the formation of goals, and goals, as you know, are always realized. The motives themselves are not always understood.

- Conscious motives(motives - goals, characteristic of mature individuals)

- Unconscious motives(manifested in consciousness in the form of emotions and personal meanings)

Polymotivation of human motives.

The main motive is the leading motive, secondary - motives - incentives.

Target

image of the desired result, i.e. that result, which must be reached during the execution of the action.

The goal is always conscious. Incited by this or that motive to activity, the subject sets himself certain goals, those. consciously plans actions achieve any desired result. At the same time, the achievement of the goal always occurs in specific conditions, which may vary depending on the circumstances.

The goal sets the action, the action ensures the realization of the goal.

Task

purpose given under certain conditions

Operation

Ways to take action

The nature of the operations used depends on the conditions in which the action is performed. If the action meets the goal, then the operation meets the conditions (external circumstances and opportunities) in which this goal is given. The main property of the operation is that they are little or not realized at all. The operation level is filled with automatic actions and skills.

Operations are of 2 types: some arise through adaptation, direct imitation (they are practically not realized and cannot be called into consciousness even with special efforts); others arise from actions by automating them (they are on the verge of consciousness and can easily become actually conscious). Any complex action consists of a layer of actions and a layer of operations “underlying” them.

Need

    it is the original form of activity of living organisms. The objective state of a living organism.

    This is the state of the organism's objective need for something that lies outside it and constitutes necessary condition its normal functioning.

The need is always subjective.

The organic need of a biological being for what is necessary for its life and development. Needs activate the body - the search for the necessary object of need: food, water, etc. Before its first satisfaction, the need "does not know" its object, it must still be found. In the course of the search, there is a “meeting” of the need with its object, its “recognition” or "objectification of need". In the act of objectification, a motive is born. The motive is defined as an object of need (concretization). By the very act of objectification, the need changes, is transformed.

- biological need

Social need (the need for contacts with their own kind)

Cognitive (need for external impressions)

Emotions

reflection of the relation of the result of activity to its motive.

personal meaning

experiencing an increased subjective significance of an object, action, event, caught in the field of activity of the leading motive.

The subject acts in the process of performing this or that activity as an organism with its own psychophysiological characteristics, and they also contribute to the specifics of the activity performed by the subject.

From the point of view of the school of A. N. Leontiev, knowledge of the properties and structure of human activity is necessary for understanding the human psyche (12).

Traditionally, in the activity approach, there are several dynamic components(“parts”, or, more precisely, functional organs) activities necessary for its full implementation. The main ones are indicative and executive components, the functions of which are, respectively, the orientation of the subject in the world and the performance of actions based on the received image of the world in accordance with the goals set by him.

task executive The component of activity (for the sake of which activity generally exists) is not only the adaptation of the subject to the world of objects in which he lives, but also the change and transformation of this world.

However, for the full implementation of the executive function of activity, its subject must navigate in the properties and patterns of objects, i.e., having learned them, be able to change their activities (for example, use certain specific operations as ways to carry out actions under certain conditions) in accordance with the known patterns. This is precisely the task of the indicative "part" (functional organ) of activity. As a rule, a person must, before doing something, orient himself in the world in order to build an adequate image of this world and a plan of action corresponding to it, i.e. orientation should run ahead of execution. This is most often done by an adult in normal conditions of activity. At early stages of development (for example, in young children), orientation takes place in the process of performance, and sometimes even after it (12).

Summary

    Consciousness cannot be considered as closed in itself: it must be brought into the activity of the subject ("opening" the circle of consciousness)

    behavior cannot be considered in isolation from human consciousness. The principle of the unity of consciousness and behavior.

    activity is an active, purposeful process (principle of activity)

    human actions are objective; they realize social - production and cultural - goals (the principle of the objectivity of human activity and the principle of its social conditionality) (10).

MOSCOW UNIVERSITY BULLETIN. SERIES 14. PSYCHOLOGY. 2016. No. 2 MOSCOW UNIVERSITY PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN. 2016.#2

THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS

UDC 159.923, 159.9(091), 159.9(092), 331.101.3

THE CONCEPT OF MOTIVE IN A.N. LEONTIEV

AND THE PROBLEM OF THE QUALITY OF MOTIVATION

D. A. Leontiev

The article deals with the formation of the concept of motive in the theory of A.N. Leontiev in correlation with the ideas of K. Levin, as well as with the distinction between external and internal motivation and the concept of the continuum of regulation in the modern theory of self-determination by E. Deci and R. Ryan. The separation of extrinsic motivation based on reward and punishment and "natural teleology" in the works of K. Levin and (external) motive and interest in the early texts of A.N. Leontiev. The ratio of motive, purpose and meaning in the structure of motivation and regulation of activity is considered in detail. The concept of the quality of motivation is introduced as a measure of the consistency of motivation with deep needs and the personality as a whole, and the complementarity of the approaches of the theory of activity and the theory of self-determination to the problem of the quality of motivation is shown.

Keywords Keywords: motive, goal, meaning, theory of activity, theory of self-determination, interest, external and internal motivation, quality of motivation.

The relevance and vitality of any scientific theory, including the psychological theory of activity, is determined by the extent to which its content allows us to get answers to the questions that confront us today. Any theory was relevant at the time when it was created, giving an answer to questions that

Leontiev Dmitry Alekseevich - Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head. International Laboratory of Positive Psychology of Personality and Motivation, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Professor, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov and NRU HSE. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 0137-0936 (Print) / ISSN 2309-9852 (Online) http://msupsyj.ru/

© 2016 Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov"

were at that time, but not any of them retained this relevance for a long time. Theories that apply to the living are able to provide answers to today's questions. Therefore, it is important to correlate any theory with the issues of today.

The subject of this article is the concept of motive. On the one hand, this is a very specific concept, on the other hand, it occupies a central place in the works of not only A.N. Leontiev, but also many of his followers who develop the activity theory. Earlier, we have repeatedly addressed the analysis of the views of A.N. Leontiev on motivation (Leontiev D.A., 1992, 1993, 1999), focusing on such individual aspects as the nature of needs, polymotivation of activity and motive functions. Here, briefly dwelling on the content of previous publications, we will continue this analysis, paying attention, first of all, to the origins of the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation found in the activity theory. We will also consider the relationship between motive, purpose and meaning and correlate the views of A.N. Leontiev with modern approaches, primarily with the theory of self-determination by E. Deci and R. Ryan.

The main provisions of the activity

theories of motivation

Our earlier analysis was aimed at eliminating contradictions in the traditionally cited texts by A.N. Leontiev, due to the fact that the concept of "motive" in them carried an excessively large load, including many different aspects. In the 1940s, when it was only introduced as an explanatory term, this extensibility could hardly have been avoided; the further development of this construct led to its inevitable differentiation, the emergence of new concepts and the narrowing of the semantic field of the concept of “motive” due to them.

starting point for our understanding overall structure motivation scheme favors A.G. Asmolov (1985), who singled out three groups of variables and structures that are responsible for this area. The first is the general sources and driving forces of activity; E.Yu. Patyaeva (1983) aptly called them "motivational constants". The second group is the factors of choosing the direction of activity in a particular situation here and now. The third group is the secondary processes of “situational development of motivation” (Vilyunas, 1983; Patyaeva, 1983), which make it possible to understand why people complete what they have begun to do, and not switch

every time they face more and more new temptations (for more details, see: Leontiev D.A., 2004). Thus, the main question of the psychology of motivation is “Why do people do what they do?” (Deci, Fiaste, 1995) breaks down into three more specific questions corresponding to these three areas: “Why do people do anything at all?”, “Why do people currently do what they do, and not something else? » and “Why do people, when they start doing something, usually finish it?” The concept of motive is most often used to answer the second question.

Let's start with the main provisions of the theory of motivation by A.N. Leontiev, discussed in more detail in other publications.

1. Needs are the source of human motivation. A need is an objective need of an organism for something external - an object of need. Before meeting with the object, the need generates only non-directional search activity (see: Leontiev D.A., 1992).

2. Meeting with the object - the objectification of the need - turns this object into a motive for purposeful activity. Needs develop through the development of their subjects. It is due to the fact that the objects of human needs are objects created and transformed by man that all human needs are qualitatively different from the sometimes similar needs of animals.

3. Motive is “the result, that is, the subject for which the activity is carried out” (Leontiev A.N., 2000, p. 432). It acts as “... something objective, in which this need (more precisely, the system of needs. - D.L.) is concretized in these conditions and what activity is directed to as encouraging it” (Leontiev A.N., 1972, p. .292). A motive is a systemic quality acquired by an object, manifested in its ability to induce and direct activity (Asmolov, 1982).

4. Human activity polymotivated. This does not mean that one activity has several motives, but that, as a rule, several needs are objectified in one motive to varying degrees. Due to this, the meaning of the motive is complex and is set by its connections with different needs (for more details, see: Leontiev D.A., 1993, 1999).

5. Motives perform the function of motivation and direction of activity, as well as meaning formation - giving personal meaning to the activity itself and its components. In one place A.N. Leontiev (2000, p. 448) directly identifies the guiding and meaning-forming functions. On this basis, he distinguishes two

categories of motives - meaning-forming motives, which carry out both motivation and meaning-formation, and "motive-stimuli", only stimulating, but devoid of a meaning-forming function (Leontiev A.N., 1977, pp. 202-203).

Statement of the problem of qualitative differences

activity motivation: K. Levin and A.N. Leontiev

The distinction between “sense-forming motives” and “stimulus motives” is in many respects similar to the distinction, rooted in modern psychology, of two qualitatively different types of motivation based on different mechanisms - internal motivation, due to the process of activity itself, as it is, and external motivation, due to benefit, which the subject can receive from the use of alienable products of this activity (money, marks, offsets and many other options). This breeding was introduced in the early 1970s. Edward Deci; The relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation began to be actively studied in the 1970s and 1980s. and remains relevant today (Gordeeva, 2006). Deci was able to articulate this dilution most clearly and illustrate the implications of this distinction in a number of beautiful experiments (Deci and Flaste, 1995; Deci et al., 1999).

Kurt Lewin was the first to raise the question of qualitative motivational differences between natural interest and external pressures in 1931 in his monograph “The Psychological Situation of Reward and Punishment” (Levin, 2001, pp. 165-205). He examined in detail the question of the mechanisms of the motivational action of external pressures that force the child to “perform an action or demonstrate behavior different from the one to which he is directly drawn at the moment” (Ibid., p. 165), and about the motivational action of the opposite “situation” in which the child's behavior is governed by a primary or derivative interest in the matter itself” (Ibid., p. 166). The subject of Levin's immediate interest is the structure of the field and the direction of the vectors of conflicting forces in these situations. In a situation of direct interest, the resulting vector is always directed towards the goal, which Levin calls "natural teleology" (Ibid., p. 169). The promise of a reward or the threat of punishment create conflicts of varying intensity and inevitability in the field.

A comparative analysis of reward and punishment leads Levin to the conclusion that both methods of influence are not very effective. “Along with punishment and reward, there is also a third possibility to cause the desired behavior - namely, to arouse interest and cause a tendency to this behavior” (Ibid., p. 202). When we try to force a child or an adult to do something on the basis of a carrot and a stick, the main vector of his movement turns out to be directed to the side. The more a person strives to get closer to an undesirable but reinforced object and to start doing what is required of him, the more the forces that push in the opposite direction grow. Levin sees a cardinal solution to the problem of education in only one thing - in changing the motivation of objects through changing the contexts in which the action is included. “Inclusion of a task in another psychological area (for example, transferring an action from the area of ​​“school assignments” to the area of ​​“actions aimed at achieving a practical goal”) can radically change the meaning and, consequently, the motivation of this action itself” (Ibid., p. 204).

One can see a direct continuity with this work of Levin, which took shape in the 1940s. ideas of A.N. Leontiev about the meaning of actions given by the integral activity in which this action is included (Leontiev A.N., 2009). Even earlier, in 1936-1937, based on research materials in Kharkov, an article was written "Psychological study of children's interests in the Palace of Pioneers and Octobrists", published for the first time in 2009 (Ibid., pp. 46-100), where in the most detailed way not only the ratio of what we call today internal and external motivation, but also their interrelation and mutual transitions is investigated. This work turned out to be the missing evolutionary link in the development of A.N. Leontiev on motivation; it allows us to see the origins of the concept of motive in the activity theory.

The subject of the study itself is formulated as the child's relationship to the environment and activity, in which an attitude to work and other people arises. The term “personal meaning” is not yet here, but in fact it is precisely this term that is the main subject of study. The theoretical task of the study concerns the factors of formation and dynamics of children's interests, and the behavioral signs of involvement or non-involvement in a particular activity act as interest criteria. We are talking about Octobrists, junior schoolchildren, specifically, second-graders. It is characteristic that the work sets the task of not forming certain,

these interests, but finding common means and patterns that allow stimulating the natural process of generating an active, involved attitude to different types of activity. Phenomenological analysis shows that interest in certain activities is due to their inclusion in the structure of relationships that are significant for the child, both subject-instrumental and social. It is shown that the attitude towards things changes in the process of activity and is associated with the place of this thing in the structure of activity, i.e. with the nature of its connection with the goal.

It was there that A.N. Leontiev is the first to use the concept of "motive", and in a very unexpected way, opposing motive to interest. At the same time, he also states that the motive does not coincide with the goal, showing that the child's actions with the object are given stability and involvement by something other than interest in the very content of the actions. By motive, he understands only what is now called "external motive", as opposed to internal. This is “external to the activity itself (i.e., to the goals and means included in the activity) the driving cause of the activity” (Leontiev A.N., 2009, p. 83). Younger schoolchildren (second graders) are engaged in activities that are interesting in themselves (its goal lies in the process itself). But sometimes they engage in activities without interest in the process itself, when they have another motive. External motives do not necessarily come down to alienated stimuli like grades and demands from adults. This also includes, for example, making a gift for mother, which in itself is not a very exciting activity (Ibid., p. 84).

Further A.N. Leontiev analyzes motives as a transitional stage to the emergence of a genuine interest in the activity itself as one is involved in it due to external motives. The reason for the gradual emergence of interest in activities that had not previously caused it, A.N. Leontiev considers the establishment of a connection of the means-end type between this activity and what is obviously interesting to the child (Ibid., pp. 87-88). In fact, we are talking about the fact that in the later works of A.N. Leontiev was called personal meaning. At the end of the article A.N. Leontiev speaks of the meaning and involvement in meaningful activity as a condition for changing the point of view on the thing, the attitude towards it (Ibid., p. 96).

In this article, for the first time, the idea of ​​meaning appears, directly related to the motive, which distinguishes this approach from other interpretations of meaning and brings it closer to Kurt Lewin's field theory (Leontiev D.A., 1999). In the completed version, we find these ideas formulated

several years later in the posthumously published works “Basic Processes of Mental Life” and “Methodological Notebooks” (Leontiev A.N., 1994), as well as in articles of the early 1940s, such as “The Theory of the Development of the Child’s Mind”, etc. (Leontiev A.N., 2009). Here, a detailed structure of activity already appears, as well as the idea of ​​a motive, covering both external and internal motivation: “The subject of activity is at the same time what prompts this activity, i.e. her motive. ...Responding to this or that need, the motive of activity is experienced by the subject in the form of desire, desire, etc. (or, conversely, in the form of experiencing disgust, etc.). These forms of experience are forms of reflection of the relationship of the subject to the motive, forms of experience of the meaning of activity” (Leontiev A.N., 1994, pp. 48-49). And further: “(It is the discrepancy between the object and the motive that is the criterion for distinguishing action from activity; if the motive of a given process lies in itself, this is activity, but if it lies outside this process itself, this is action.) This is a conscious relation of the object of action to his motive is the meaning of the action; the form of experience (consciousness) of the meaning of an action is the consciousness of its purpose. (Therefore, an object that has meaning for me is an object that acts as an object of a possible purposeful action; an action that has meaning for me is, accordingly, an action that is possible in relation to this or that goal.) A change in the meaning of an action is always a change in its motivation ”( Ibid., p. 49).

It was from the initial distinction between motive and interest that the later breeding of A.N. Leontiev, motives-stimuli that only stimulate genuine interest, but are not connected with it, and sense-forming motives that have a personal meaning for the subject and, in turn, give meaning to the action. At the same time, the opposition of these two varieties of motives turned out to be excessively pointed. A special analysis of motivational functions (Leontiev D.A., 1993, 1999) led to the conclusion that the incentive and meaning-forming functions of the motive are inseparable and that motivation is provided solely through the mechanism of meaning formation. "Incentive motives" are not devoid of meaning and sense-forming power, but their specificity lies in the fact that they are associated with needs by artificial, alienated connections. The rupture of these bonds also leads to the disappearance of motivation.

Nevertheless, one can see clear parallels between the distinction between the two classes of motives in activity theory and in

theories of self-determination. It is interesting that the authors of the theory of self-determination gradually came to realize the inadequacy of the binary opposition of internal and external motivation and to the introduction of a motivational continuum model that describes the spectrum of different qualitative forms of motivation for the same behavior - from internal motivation based on organic interest, "natural teleology" , to external controlled motivation based on the "carrot and stick" and amotivation (Gordeeva, 2010; Deci, Ryan, 2008).

In the theory of activity, as well as in the theory of self-determination, the motives of activity (behavior) are distinguished, organically related to the nature of the activity itself, the process of which is of interest and others. positive emotions(meaning-forming, or internal, motives), and motives that induce activity only because of their acquired connections with something directly significant for the subject (stimulus motives, or external motives). Any activity can be carried out not for its own sake, and any motive can enter into submission to other, extraneous needs. “A student may study in order to win the favor of his parents, but he may also fight for their favor in order to be allowed to study. Thus, we have before us two different relations of ends and means, and not two fundamentally different types of motivation” (Nuttin, 1984, p. 71). The difference lies in the nature of the connection between the activity of the subject and his real needs. When this connection is artificial, external, motives are perceived as stimuli, and activity is perceived as devoid of independent meaning, having it only due to the stimulus motive. In its pure form, however, this is relatively rare. The general meaning of a particular activity is an alloy of its partial, partial meanings, each of which reflects its relation to any one of the needs of the subject, directly or indirectly related to this activity, in a necessary way, situationally, associatively, or in any other way. Therefore, activity prompted entirely by "external" motives is just as rare a case as activity in which they are completely absent.

It is expedient to describe these differences in terms of the quality of motivation. The quality of activity motivation is a characteristic of the extent to which this motivation is consistent with deep needs and the personality as a whole. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes directly from them. External motivation is a motivation that is not originally associated with them; her connection

with them is established due to the construction of a certain structure of activity, in which motives and goals acquire an indirect, sometimes alienated meaning. This connection can, as the personality develops, internalize and give rise to fairly deep formed personal values, coordinated with the needs and structure of the personality - in this case we will deal with autonomous motivation (in terms of the theory of self-determination), or with interest (in terms of the early works of A. N. Leontieva). Activity theory and self-determination theory differ in how they describe and explain these differences. In the theory of self-determination, a much clearer description of the qualitative continuum of forms of motivation is proposed, and in the theory of activity, the theoretical explanation of motivational dynamics is better developed. In particular, the key concept in the theory of A.N. Leontiev, explaining the qualitative differences in motivation, is the concept of meaning, which is absent in the theory of self-determination. In the next section, we will consider in more detail the place of the concepts of meaning and semantic connections in the activity model of motivation.

Motive, purpose and meaning: semantic connections

as the basis of motivation mechanisms

The motive “starts” human activity, determining what exactly the subject needs at the moment, but he cannot give it a specific direction except through the formation or acceptance of a goal, which determines the direction of actions leading to the realization of the motive. “The goal is a result presented in advance, to which my action aspires” (Leontiev A.N., 2000, p. 434). The motive “determines the zone of goals” (Ibid., p. 441), and within this zone a specific goal is set, which is obviously associated with the motive.

Motive and goal are two different qualities that the object of purposeful activity can acquire. They are often confused, because in simple cases they often coincide: in this case, the final result of the activity coincides with its object, being both its motive and goal, but for different reasons. It is a motive, because needs are objectified in it, and a goal - because it is in it that we see the final desired result of our activity, which serves as a criterion for assessing whether we are moving correctly or not, approaching the goal or deviating from it.

A motive is what gives rise to this activity, without which it will not exist, and it may not be realized or realized distortedly. The goal is the end result of actions anticipated in a subjective way. The goal is always present in the mind. It sets the course of action accepted and sanctioned by the person, regardless of how deeply motivated it is, whether it is associated with internal or external, deep or surface motives. Moreover, the goal can be offered to the subject as a possibility, considered and rejected; this cannot happen with a motive. Marx's statement is well-known: "The worst architect differs from the best bee from the very beginning in that, before building a cell out of wax, he has already built it in his head" (Marx, 1960, p. 189). Although the bee builds very perfect structures, it has no purpose, no image.

And vice versa, behind any acting goal, a motive of activity is revealed, which explains why the subject accepted this goal for execution, whether it is a goal created by him or given from outside. The motive connects this particular action with needs and personal values. The question of the goal is the question of what exactly the subject wants to achieve, the question of the motive is the question of "why?".

The subject can act straightforwardly, doing only what he wants directly, directly realizing his desires. In this situation (and all animals are in it), the question of the goal does not arise at all. Where I do what I immediately need, from which I directly enjoy and for what, in fact, I do it, the goal simply coincides with the motive. The problem of purpose, which is different from motive, arises when the subject does something that is not directly aimed at satisfying his needs, but will ultimately lead to a useful result. The goal always directs us to the future, and goal orientation, as opposed to impulsive desires, is impossible without consciousness, without the ability to imagine the future, without a time perspective. Realizing the goal, the future result, we are also aware of the connection of this result with what we need in the future: any goal makes sense.

Teleology, i.e. goal orientation, qualitatively transforms human activity in comparison with the causal behavior of animals. Although causality persists and occupies a large place in human activity, it is not the only and universal causal explanation.

Human life can be of two kinds: unconscious and conscious. By the former, I mean life governed by causes; by the latter, life governed by purpose. A life governed by causes may rightly be called unconscious; this is because, although consciousness here participates in human activity, it is only as an aid: it does not determine where this activity can be directed, and also what it should be in terms of its qualities. Causes external to man and independent of him are responsible for the determination of all this. Within the boundaries already established by these reasons, consciousness fulfills its service role: it indicates the methods of this or that activity, its easiest ways, possible and impossible to perform from what the reasons force a person to do. A life governed by a goal can rightly be called conscious, because consciousness is here the dominant, determining principle. It belongs to him to choose where the complex chain of human actions should go; and likewise - the dispensation of all of them according to the plan that best meets what has been achieved. (Rozanov, 1994, p. 21).

Purpose and motive are not identical, but they can be the same. When what the subject consciously seeks to achieve (goal) is what really motivates him (motive), they coincide, overlap each other. But the motive may not coincide with the goal, with the content of the activity. For example, study is often motivated not by cognitive motives, but by completely different ones - career, conformist, self-affirmation, etc. As a rule, different motives are combined in different proportions, and it is precisely a certain combination of them that turns out to be optimal.

The discrepancy between the goal and the motive arises in those cases when the subject does not do what he wants right now, but he cannot get it directly, but does something auxiliary in order to eventually get what he wants. Human activity is built that way, whether we like it or not. The purpose of the action, as a rule, is at odds with what satisfies the need. As a result of the formation of a jointly distributed activity, as well as specialization and division of labor, a complex chain of semantic connections arises. K. Marx gave an exact psychological description of this: “For himself, the worker produces not the silk that he weaves, not the gold that he extracts from the mine, not the palace that he builds. For himself he makes wages. The meaning of twelve hours of work for him is not that he weaves, spins, drills, etc., but that this is a way of earning money that gives him the opportunity to eat, go to

tavern, sleep” (Marx, Engels, 1957, p. 432). Marx describes, of course, an alienated meaning, but if this semantic connection did not exist, i.e. connection of the goal with motivation, then the person would not work. Even an alienated semantic connection connects in a certain way what a person does with what he needs.

The above is well illustrated by a parable often retold in philosophical and psychological literature. A wanderer was walking along the road past a large construction site. He stopped a worker who was pulling a wheelbarrow full of bricks and asked him, "What are you doing?" "I'm bringing bricks," the worker replied. He stopped the second one, who was pulling the same wheelbarrow, and asked him: “What are you doing?” “I feed my family,” the second answered. He stopped a third and asked, "What are you doing?" “I am building a cathedral,” answered the third. If at the level of behavior, as the behaviorists would say, all three people did exactly the same thing, then they had a different semantic context in which they entered their actions, meaning, motivation, and the activity itself were different. The meaning of labor operations was determined for each of them by the breadth of the context in which they perceived their own actions. For the first there was no context, he did only what he was doing now, the meaning of his actions did not go beyond this particular situation. "I carry bricks" - this is what I do. A person does not think about the wider context of their actions. His actions are not correlated not only with the actions of other people, but also with other fragments of his own life. For the second, the context is connected with his family, for the third - with a certain cultural task, in which he was aware of his involvement.

The classical definition characterizes the meaning as expressing “the relationship of the motive of activity to the immediate goal of the action” (Leontiev A.N., 1977, p. 278). This definition needs two clarifications. First, meaning does not merely express this relation, it is this relation. Secondly, in this formulation we are not talking about any sense, but about the specific sense of action, or the sense of purpose. Speaking about the meaning of an action, we ask about its motive, i.e. about why it is being done. The relation of the means to the end is the meaning of the means. And the meaning of a motive, or, what is the same, the meaning of activity as a whole, is the relation of a motive to something that is larger and more stable than a motive, to a need or personal value. Meaning always connects the lesser with the greater, the particular with the general. Speaking about the meaning of life, we correlate life with something that is greater than individual life, with something that will not end with its completion.

Conclusion: the quality of motivation in approaches

the theory of activity and the theory of self-determination

This article traces the line of development in the theory of activity of ideas about the qualitative differentiation of forms of activity motivation, depending on the extent to which this motivation is consistent with deep needs and with the personality as a whole. The origins of this differentiation are found in some works of K. Levin and in the works of A.N. Leontiev in the 1930s Its full version is presented in the later ideas of A.N. Leontiev about the types and functions of motives.

Another theoretical understanding of the qualitative differences in motivation is presented in the theory of self-determination by E. Desi and R. Ryan, in terms of the internalization of motivational regulation and the motivational continuum, in which the dynamics of “growing” inside motives, initially rooted in external requirements, irrelevant to the needs of the subject, can be traced. In the theory of self-determination, a much clearer description of the qualitative continuum of forms of motivation is proposed, and in the theory of activity, a theoretical explanation of motivational dynamics is better developed. The key is the concept of personal meaning, which connects goals with motives and motives with needs and personal values. The quality of motivation seems to be an urgent scientific and applied problem, in relation to which a productive interaction between the theory of activity and leading foreign approaches is possible.

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Deci E., FlasteR. Why we do what we do: Understanding Self-motivation. N.Y.: Penguin, 1995.

Deci E.L., Koestner R., Ryan R.M. The undermining effect is a reality after all: Extrinsic rewards, task interest, and self-determination // Psychological Bulletin. 1999 Vol. 125. P. 692-700.

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Received September 13, 2016 Accepted for publication October 4, 2016

A. N. LEONTIEV"S CONCEPT OF MOTIVE

AND THE ISSUE OF THE QUALITY OF MOTIVATION

Dmitry A. Leontiev1 2

1 Higher School of Economics - National Research University, Moscow, Russia

2 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Psychology, Moscow, Russia

Abstract: The paper analyzes the emergence of the concept of motive in Alexey N. Leontiev"s early writings and its correspondence to Kurt Lewin"s ideas and to the distinction of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation and the concept of the continuum of regulation in the present day self-determination theory of E. Deci and R. Ryan. The distinctions of extrinsic motivation based on reward and punishment versus "natural teleology" in K. Lewin's works and of (extrinsic) motive versus interest in early A. N. Leontiev's texts are explicated. The relationships between motive, goal, and personal meaning in the structure of activity regulation are analyzed. The author introduces the concept of quality of motivation referring to the degree of correspondence between motivation and one "s needs and authentic Self at large; the complementarity of activity theory approach and self-determination theory as regards the quality of motivation issue is highlighted.

Key words: motive, goal, meaning, Activity theory approach, Self-determination theory, interest, extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation, the quality of motivation.

Asmolov, A.G. (1982) Osnovnye printsipy psikhologicheskogo analiza v teorii deyatel "nosti. Voprosypsikhologii, 2, 14-27.

Asmolov, A.G. (1985) Motivatsiya. In A.V. Petrovsky, M.G. Yaroshevsky (eds.) Kratkiy psikhologicheskiy slovar (pp. 190-191). Moscow: Politizdat.

Deci, E., Flaste, R. (1995) Why we do what we do: Understanding Self-motivation. N.Y.: Penguin.

Deci, E.L., Koestner, R., Ryan, R.M. (1999) The undermining effect is a reality after all: Extrinsic rewards, task interest, and self-determination. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 692-700.

Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M. (2008) Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development and health. Canadian Psychology, 49, 182-185.

Gordeeva, T.O. (2006) Psikhologiya motivatsii dostizheniya. Moscow: Smysl; Academy, 2006.

Gordeeva T.O. (2010) Teoriya samodeterminatsii: nastoyashchee i budushchee. Chast" 1: Problemy razvitiya teorii. Psikhologicheskie issledovaniya : elektron. nauch. zhurn. 2010. N 4 (12). URL: http://psystudy.ru

Leontiev, A.N. (1972) Problemy razvitiyapsikhiki. 3rd ed. Moscow: Izd-vo MGU.

Leontiev, A.N. (1977) Deyatel "nost". Conscience. Lichnost". 2nd izd. Moscow: Politizdat, 1977.

Leontiev, A.N. (1994) Filosofiyapsikhologii: iz nauchnogo naslediya / A.A. Leontiev, D.A. Leontiev (eds.) Moscow: Izd-vo MGU, 1994.

Leontiev, A.N. (2000) Lektsii po obshchey psikhologii / D.A. Leontiev, E.E. Sokolova (eds.). Moscow: Smysl.

Leontiev, A.N. (2009) Psikhologicheskie osnovy razvitiya rebenka i obucheniya. Moscow: Smysl.

Leontiev, D.A. (1992) Zhiznennyy mir cheloveka i problema potrebnostey. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal, 13, 2, 107-117.

Leontiev, D.A. (1993) Sistemno-smyslovaya priroda i funktsii motiva // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 14. Psychology, 2, 73-82.

Leontiev, D.A. (1999) Psychology smysla. Moscow: Smysl.

Leontiev, D.A. (2004) Obshchee predstavlenie o motivatsii cheloveka. Psychology v vuze, 1, 51-65.

Levin, K. (2001) Dinamicheskaya psikhologiya: Izbrannye trudy. Moscow: Smysl.

Marks, K. (1960) Kapital // Marks, K., Engel "s, F. Sochineniya. 2nd izd. Vol. 23. Moscow: Gospolitizdat.

Marks, K., Engel's, F. (1957) Naemnyy trud i kapital // Sochineniya . 2nd izd. (Vol. 6, pp. 428-459). Moscow: Gospolitizdat.

Nuttin, J. (1984) Motivation, planning, and action: a relational theory of behavior dynamics. Leuven: Leuven University Press; Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Patyaeva, E. Yu. (1983) Situativnoe razvitie i urovni motivatsii // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 14. Psychology, 4, 23-33.

Rozanov, V. (1994) Tsel "chelovecheskoy zhizni (1892). In N.K. Gavryushin (ed.) Smysl zhizni: antologiya (pp. 19-64). Moscow: Progress-Kul" tura.

Vilyunas, V.K. (1983) Teoriya deyatel "nosti i problemy motivatsii. In A.V. Zaporozhets et al. (eds.) A.N. Leontiev i sovremennayapsikhologiya (pp. 191-200). Moscow: Izd-vo MGU.

Original manuscript received September, 13, 2016 Revised manuscript accepted October, 4, 2016

Chapter 22

Summary

The concept of personality orientation and activity motivation. The main forms of orientation: attraction, desire, aspiration, interests, ideals, beliefs. The concept of motive. The problem of motivation of human activity. The concept of need. The purpose of the activity. The main characteristics of the motivational sphere of a person: breadth, flexibility, hierarchization.

Psychological theories of motivation. The problem of motivation in the works of ancient philosophers. Irrationalism. Automaton theory. The role of Ch. Darwin's evolutionary theory in the development of the problem of human behavior motivation. Theories of instincts. Theory of human biological needs. Behavioral theory of motivation and theory of higher nervous activity. Classification of human needs but A. Maslow. Motivational concepts of the second half of the 20th century. The theory of the activity origin of the motivational sphere of a person A. N. Leonteva.

The main patterns of development of the motivational sphere. Mechanisms for the development of motives according to A. N. Leontiev. The main stages in the formation of the motivational sphere in children. Features of the first interests of children. Features of the formation of the motivational sphere in preschool and school age. The role of the game in the formation of the motivational sphere.

Motivated behavior as a characteristic of personality. Achievement and avoidance motivation. The level of claims and self-esteem. Peculiarities of manifestation of the motives of affiliation and power. Rejection motive. prosocial behavior. Aggression and the motive of aggressiveness. Types of aggressive actions according to A. Bandura. Tendencies towards aggression and tendencies towards suppression of aggression.

22.1. The concept of personality orientation and activity motivation

In domestic psychology, there are various approaches to the study of personality. However, despite the differences in interpretations of personality, in all approaches, personality is distinguished as its leading characteristic. orientation. Exists different definitions of this concept, for example, “dynamic tendency” (S. L. Rubinshtein), “sense-forming motive” (A. N. Leontiev), “dominant attitude” (V. N. Myasishchev), “main life orientation” (B. G. Ananiev), “the dynamic organization of the essential forces of man” (A. S. Prangishvnli).

Most often in the scientific literature, directionality is understood as a set of stable motives that guide the activity of the individual and are relatively independent of the current situation.

It should be noted that the orientation of the individual is always socially conditioned and is formed in the process of education. Orientation is installations, which have become personality traits and manifested in such forms as attraction, desire, aspiration, interest, inclination, ideal, worldview, conviction. Moreover, the motives of activity lie at the basis of all forms of personality orientation.

512 Part IV. Mental properties of personality

Let us briefly characterize each of the selected forms of orientation in the order of their hierarchy. First of all, one should focus on in treatment. It is generally accepted that attraction is the most primitive, essentially biological form of orientation. From a psychological point of view, this is a mental state that expresses an undifferentiated, unconscious or insufficiently conscious need. As a rule, attraction is a transient phenomenon, since the need represented in it either fades away or is realized, turning into desire.

Wish - it is a conscious need and attraction to something quite definite. It should be noted that desire, being sufficiently conscious, has a motivating force. It sharpens the awareness of the purpose of the future action and the construction of its plan. This form of orientation is characterized by awareness not only of one's need, but also of possible ways to satisfy it.

The next form of directionality is pursuit. Aspiration arises when the volitional component is included in the structure of desire. Therefore, the desire is often considered as a well-defined motivation for activity.

most clearly characterize the orientation of the personality of her interests. Interest is a specific form of manifestation of a cognitive need, which ensures the orientation of the individual to the realization of the goals of activity and thereby contributes to the orientation of the individual in the surrounding reality. Subjectively, interest is found in the emotional tone that accompanies the process of cognition or attention to a particular object. One of the most significant characteristics of interest is that when it is satisfied, it does not fade away, but, on the contrary, it evokes new interests corresponding to a higher level of cognitive activity.

Interests are the most important motivating force to the knowledge of the surrounding reality. Distinguish between direct interest caused by the attractiveness of the object, and indirect interest in the object as a means of achieving the goals of the activity. An indirect characteristic of the awareness of needs reflected in interests is the stability of interests, which is expressed in the duration of their preservation and in their intensity. It should also be emphasized that the breadth and content of interests can serve as one of the most striking characteristics of a person.

Interest in the dynamics of its development can turn into inclination. This happens when the volitional component is included in the interest. Propensity characterizes the orientation of the individual to a particular activity. The basis of the inclination is the deep, stable need of the individual for this or that activity, i.e., interest in a particular activity. The basis of the propensity can also be the desire to improve the skills associated with this need. It is generally accepted that the emerging inclination can be considered as a prerequisite for the development of certain abilities.

The next form of manifestation of personality orientation is ideal. The ideal is the objective goal of the inclination of the individual, concretized in the image or representation, that is, what he strives for, what he focuses on. Human ideals

can act as one of the most significant characteristics of a person’s worldview, that is, his system of views on the objective world, on a person’s place in it, on a person’s attitude to the reality around him and to himself. The worldview reflects not only ideals, but also value orientations people, their principles of cognition and activity, their beliefs.

Belief - the highest form of orientation is a system of motives of the individual, prompting him to act in accordance with his views, principles, worldview. Beliefs are based on conscious needs that encourage a person to act, form her motivation for activity.

Since we have approached the problem of motivation, it should be noted that there are two functionally interrelated aspects in human behavior: incentive and regulatory. The mental processes and states considered by us earlier provide mainly the regulation of behavior. As for its stimulation, or motives that provide activation and direction of behavior, they are associated with motives and motivation.

A motive is a motive for activity associated with the satisfaction of the needs of the subject. The motive is also often understood as the reason underlying the choice of actions and deeds, the totality of external and internal conditions that cause the activity of the subject.

The term "motivation" is a broader concept than the term "motive". The word "motivation" is used in modern psychology in a double sense: as a system of factors that determine behavior (this includes, in particular, needs, motives, goals, intentions, aspirations, and much more), and as a characteristic of a process that stimulates and supports behavioral activity at a certain level. Most often, in the scientific literature, motivation is considered as a set of psychological causes that explain human behavior, its beginning, direction and activity.

The question of the motivation of activity arises every time when it is necessary to explain the reasons for a person's actions. Moreover, any form of behavior can be explained by both internal and external causes. In the first case, the psychological properties of the subject of behavior act as the starting and ending points of the explanation, and in the second, the external conditions and circumstances of his activity. In the first case, they talk about motives, needs, goals, intentions, desires, interests, etc., and in the second - about incentives coming from the current situation. Sometimes all psychological factors that, as it were, from the inside, from a person determine his behavior, are called personal dispositions. Then, respectively, one speaks of dispositional and situational motivations as analogues of internal and external determination of behavior.

Internal (dispositional) and external (situational) motivation are interconnected. Dispositions can be updated under the influence of a certain situation, and the activation of certain dispositions (motives, needs) leads to a change in the subject's perception of the situation. In this case, his attention becomes selective, and the subject perceives and evaluates the situation in a biased way, based on current interests and needs. Therefore, any human action is considered as doubly determined: dispositionally and situationally.

514 Part IV. Mental properties of personality

Need to know

Antisocial personality

Considering the problem of personality orientation, we cannot but consider a special group of people who are usually called "asocial personalities." Such people have little to no sense of responsibility, morality, or interest in others. Their behavior is almost entirely determined by their own needs. In other words, they have no conscience. If a common person already at an early age imagines that behavior has certain limits and that sometimes pleasure must be abandoned for the sake of the interests of other people, antisocial persons rarely take into account anyone else's desires, but their own. They behave impulsively, strive for immediate satisfaction of their needs and do not tolerate frustration.

It should be noted that the term “asocial personality” itself does not refer to the majority of people who commit antisocial acts. Antisocial behavior has a number of causes, including membership in a criminal gang or criminal subculture, a need for attention and elevated status, a loss of contact with reality, and an inability to control impulses. Most teenage criminals and adult criminals have a certain interest in other people (family or gang members) and a certain moral code (for example, don't betray a friend). In contrast, the antisocial person has no feelings for anyone but himself, and does not feel guilt or remorse, no matter how much suffering he has caused people.

Other characteristics of an antisocial personality (sociopath) include an unusual ease with lying, a need to disturb oneself or

lead to excitement and inability to change their behavior as a result of punishment. Such individuals are often perceived as attractive, intelligent, charming people who easily come into contact with other people. Their competent and sincere appearance allows them to get a promising job, but they have little chance of holding on to it. Restlessness and impulsiveness soon lead them to failure, revealing their true nature; they accumulate debts, abandon their families or commit crimes. Once caught, they speak of their remorse so convincingly that they often have their punishments revoked. But the antisocial person rarely lives up to his claims; in such people, what is said has nothing to do with their deeds and feelings.

Two characteristics of an asocial personality are considered especially revealing; firstly, a lack of empathy and interest in others and, secondly, a lack of shame or guilt, an inability to repent of one's actions, no matter how reprehensible they were.

Modern researchers distinguish three groups of factors contributing to the development of an asocial personality: biological determinants, features of the relationship between parents and the child, and style of thinking.

The conducted studies testify to the genetic causes of antisocial behavior, especially criminal. Thus, in identical twins, the concordance value for criminal behavior is twice as high as in related ones, from which it is clear that such behavior is partially inherited. A study of adoption shows that crimes adopted boys similar to the crimes of their biological fathers.


a person's momentary behavior should not be seen as a reaction to certain internal or external stimuli, but as the result of the continuous interaction of his dispositions with the situation. Thus, human motivation can be represented as a cyclic process of continuous mutual influence and transformation, in which the subject of action and the situation mutually influence each other and the result of which is really observable behavior. From this point of view, motivation is a process of continuous choice and decision making based on the weighting of behavioral alternatives.

In turn, a motive, in contrast to motivation, is something that belongs to the subject of behavior itself, is its stable personal property, due to

Need to know

In addition, it is noted that antisocial individuals have low excitability, which is why they, with the help of impulsive and dangerous actions, seek to receive stimulation that causes appropriate sensations.

Some researchers say that what The quality of parental care received by a child who is prone to hyperactivity and behavioral problems determines to a large extent whether or not he will develop into a full-blown antisocial personality. One of the best indicators of children's behavioral problems is the level of parental supervision: children who are often left unsupervised or poorly supervised for a long time are much more likely to develop a pattern of criminal behavior. A closely related variable is parental indifference; children whose parents are not involved in their daily lives are more likely to become asocial.

Biological and familial factors contributing to behavioral problems often overlap. Children with behavioral problems often have neuropsychological problems resulting from maternal drug use, poor intrauterine nutrition, pre- and post-natal toxicity, abuse, birth complications, and low birth weight. Such children are more likely to be irritable, impulsive, clumsy, hyperactive, inattentive, and learn material more slowly than their peers. This makes parental care more difficult for them, and they are at increased risk of abuse and neglect by their parents. In turn, the parents of these children most likely have psychological problems themselves that contribute to ineffective or rude, incompetent parenting. Therefore, in addition to having a biological predisposition to antisocial behavior, these children experience the treatment of their parents, which contributes to such behavior.

The third group of factors that determine the development of an antisocial personality are the individual psychological characteristics of children. Children with behavioral disorders process information about social interactions in such a way that they develop aggressive reactions to these interactions. They expect other children to be aggressive towards them, and interpret their actions based on this assumption, instead of relying on signs of a real situation. In addition, children with behavioral disorders tend to consider any negative action of their peers directed at them not as accidental, but as deliberate. When deciding what action to take in response to a perceived peer provocation, a child with a behavioral disorder will choose from a very limited set of responses, usually including aggression. If such a child is forced to choose something other than aggression, he performs chaotic and ineffective actions and considers everything except aggression to be useless and unattractive.

Children who think of social interaction in this way tend to exhibit aggressive behavior towards others. Retribution may await them: other children beat them, parents and teachers punish them, and they are perceived negatively by others. These responses, in turn, reinforce their belief that the world is against them and cause them to misinterpret the future actions of those around them. This can create a vicious circle of interactions that support and inspire the child's aggressive and antisocial behavior.

internally motivate to perform certain actions. Motives may be conscious or unconscious. The main role in shaping the orientation of the personality belongs to conscious motives. It should be noted that the motives themselves are formed from needs person. A need is a state of need of a person in certain conditions of life and activity or material objects. A need, like any state of a person, is always associated with a person's feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. All living beings have needs, and this nature different from non-living. Its other difference, also related to needs, is the selectivity of the response of the living to what constitutes subject of needs


516 Part IV. Mental properties of personality

i.e., what the body lacks at a given moment in time. The need activates the body, stimulates its behavior, aimed at finding what is required.

The quantity and quality of needs that living beings have depends on the level of their organization, on the way and conditions of life, on the place occupied by the corresponding organism on the evolutionary ladder. Plants that need only certain biochemical and physical conditions of existence have the least needs. A person has the most diverse needs, who, in addition to physical and organic needs, also has spiritual and social needs. Social needs are expressed in the desire of a person to live in society, to interact with other people.

The main characteristics of human needs - strength, frequency and way of satisfaction. An additional, but very significant characteristic, especially when it comes to personality, is subject matter needs, i.e., the totality of those objects of material and spiritual culture with the help of which this need can be satisfied.

The motivating factor is purpose. The goal is a perceived result, the achievement of which is currently directed by the action associated with the activity that satisfies the actualized need. If we imagine the entire sphere of conscious behavior as a kind of arena in which a colorful and multifaceted spectacle of human life unfolds, and assume that at the moment it is most brightly illuminated in the place that should attract the most attention of the viewer (the subject himself), then this will be the goal. Psychologically, the goal is that motivational-impelling content of consciousness, which is perceived by a person as an immediate and immediate expected result of his activity.

The goal is the main object of attention, which occupies a certain amount of short-term and random access memory; it is connected with the thought process unfolding at a given moment in time and most of all possible emotional experiences.

It is customary to distinguish purpose of activity and life purpose. This is due to the fact that a person has to perform many different activities during his life, in each of which a specific goal is realized. But the goal of any individual activity reveals only one side of the orientation of the personality, which is manifested in this activity. The life goal acts as a generalizing factor of all private goals associated with individual activities. At the same time, the realization of each of the goals of activity is a partial realization of the general life goal of the individual. The level of achievements of the individual is associated with life goals. In the life goals of the individual, the “concept of his own future” conscious of it finds expression. A person's awareness of not only the goal, but also the reality of its implementation is considered as a perspective of the individual.

The state of frustration, depression, characteristic of a person who is aware of the impossibility of realizing the prospect is called frustration. This state occurs when a person on the way to achieving a goal encounters really insurmountable obstacles, barriers, or when they are perceived as such.

The motivational sphere of a person, in terms of its development, can be assessed by the following parameters: breadth, flexibility and Hebrewization. The breadth of the motivational sphere is understood as a qualitative variety of motivational factors - dispositions (motives), needs and goals. The more diverse motives, needs and goals a person has, the more developed his motivational sphere is.

The flexibility of the motivational sphere is expressed in the fact that in order to satisfy the motivational impulse, more general(more high level) can be used more diverse lower-level motivational stimuli. For example, the motivational sphere of a person is more flexible, which, depending on the circumstances of satisfying one and the same same motive can use more variety of means than the other person. Say, for one individual, the need for knowledge can only be satisfied with the help of television, radio and cinema, and for another her satisfaction also are a variety of books, periodicals, communication with people. In the latter, the motivational sphere, by definition, will be more flexible.

It should be noted that breadth and flexibility characterize the motivational sphere of a person in different ways. Breadth is the variety of the potential range of objects that can serve for a given person as a means of satisfying an actual need, and flexibility is the mobility of the connections that exist between different levels of the hierarchical organization of the motivational sphere: between motives and needs, motives and goals, needs and goals.

The next characteristic of the motivational sphere is the hierarchization of motives. Some motives and goals are stronger than others and occur more often; others are weaker and updated less frequently. The greater the differences in the strength and frequency of actualization of motivational formations of a certain level, the higher the hierarchization of the motivational sphere.

It should be noted that the problem of studying motivation has always attracted the attention of researchers. Therefore, there are many different concepts and theories devoted to the motives, motivation and orientation of the individual. Consider in in general terms some of them.

22.2. Psychological theories of motivation

The problem of human behavior motivation has attracted the attention of scientists since time immemorial. Numerous theories of motivation began to appear in the works of ancient philosophers, and at present there are already several dozen such theories. The point of view on the origin of human motivation in the process of development of mankind and science has repeatedly changed. However, most scientific approaches always located between two philosophical currents: rationalism and irrationalism. According to the rationalist position, and it was especially pronounced in the works of philosophers and theologians until the middle of the 19th century, man is a unique being of a special nature.

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kind that has nothing to do with animals. It was believed that only a person is endowed with reason, thinking and consciousness, has the will and freedom of choice in action, and the motivational source of human behavior was seen exclusively in the mind, consciousness and will of a person.

Irrationalism as a doctrine mainly considered the behavior of animals. Supporters of this doctrine proceeded from the assertion that the behavior of an animal, unlike a person, is not free, unreasonable, controlled by dark, unconscious forces that have their origins in organic needs. Schematically, the history of the study of the problem of motivation is presented in fig. 22.1. The scheme depicted on it was proposed by the American scientist D. Atkinson and partially modified by R. S. Nemov.

The first actually psychological theories of motivation are considered to have arisen in Hoop-Hoop! centuries decision theory, explaining human behavior on a rational basis, and automaton theory, explaining on an irrational basis the behavior of an animal. The first was related to the use of mathematical knowledge in explaining human behavior. She considered the problems of human choice in the economy. Subsequently, the main provisions of this theory were transferred to the understanding of human actions in general.

The emergence and development of the automaton theory was caused by the successes of mechanics in the 17th-18th centuries. One of the central points of this theory was the doctrine of the reflex. Moreover, within the framework of this theory, the reflex was considered as a mechanical, or automatic, innate response of a living organism to external influences. The separate, independent existence of two motivational theories (one for humans, the other for animals) continued until the end of the 19th century.

Rice. 22.1. History of the study of the problem of motivation

(from: Nemov R. S., 1998)

In the second half of the XIX century. with the advent evolutionary theory Ch. Darwin, the prerequisites arose to reconsider some views on the mechanisms of human behavior. The theory developed by Darwin made it possible to overcome the antagonisms that divided the views on the nature of man and animals as two phenomena of reality that are incompatible in anatomical, physiological and psychological terms. Moreover, Darwin was one of the first who drew attention to the fact that humans and animals have many common needs and behaviors, in particular emotionally expressive expressions and instincts.

Under the influence of this theory, an intensive study of rational forms of behavior in animals (W. Köhler, E. Thorndike) and instincts in humans (Z. Freud, W. MacDougall, IP Pavlov, and others) began in psychology. In the course of these studies, the perception of needs has changed. If earlier researchers, as a rule, tried to connect needs with the needs of the body and therefore used the concept of "need" most often to explain the behavior of animals, then in the process of transformation and development of scientific views this concept used to explain human behavior. It should be noted that the use of the concept of "need" in relation to a person has led to the expansion of this concept. They began to single out not only biological, but also some social needs. but main feature studies of the motivation of human behavior at this stage was that, unlike the previous stage, at which the behavior of a person and an animal was opposed, they tried to minimize these fundamental differences between a person and an animal. As motivational factors, humans began to be attributed the same organic needs that were previously assigned only to animals.

One of the first manifestations of such an extreme, essentially biologizing, point of view on human behavior was theories of instincts 3. Freud and W. MacDougall, proposed at the end of the 19th century. and gained the greatest popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. Trying to explain human social behavior by analogy with the behavior of animals, Freud and MacDougall reduced all forms of human behavior to innate instincts. So, in Freud's theory there were three such instincts: the instinct of life, the instinct of death and the instinct of aggressiveness. McDougall proposed a set of ten instincts: the instinct of invention, the instinct of construction, the instinct of curiosity, the instinct of flight, the herd instinct, the instinct of pugnacity, the reproductive (parental) instinct, the instinct of disgust, the instinct of self-humiliation, the instinct of self-affirmation. In later writings, McDougall added eight more instincts to those listed, mostly related to organic needs.

The developed theories of instincts still could not answer many questions and did not allow solving a number of very significant problems. For example, how can one prove the existence of these instincts in a person, and to what extent can those forms of behavior that a person acquires during his lifetime under the influence of experience and social conditions be reduced to instincts or derived from them? And also how to separate in these forms of behavior what is actually instinctive and what is acquired as a result of learning?

Disputes around the theory of instincts could not give a scientifically sound answer to any of the questions posed. As a result, all discussions ended with the fact that

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the very concept of "instinct" in relation to a person began to be used< реже. Появились новые понятия для описания поведения человека, такие как потребность, рефлекс, влечение и другие.

In the 20s. 20th century the theory of instincts was replaced by a concept in which all human behavior was explained by the presence of biological needs in him. In accordance with this concept, it was assumed that humans and animals have common organic needs that have the same effect on behavior. Periodically arising organic needs cause a state of excitement and tension in the body, and satisfaction of the need leads to a decrease in tension. In this concept, there were no fundamental differences between the concepts of “instinct” and “need”, with the exception of the fact that instincts are innate, but needs can! acquired and changed throughout life, especially in humans.

It should be noted that the use of the concepts of "instinct" and "need for this concept" had one significant drawback: their use eliminated the need to take into account cognitive behavior in explaining human behavior. psychological characteristics associated with consciousness and subjective states of the body. Therefore, these concepts were subsequently replaced by the concept of attraction, or drive. Moreover, attraction was understood as the body's desire for some end result, subjectively presented in the form of some goal, expectation or intention against the background of the corresponding emotional experience.

In addition to theories of human biological needs, instincts and drives at the beginning of the 20th century. two new directions have emerged. Their emergence was largely due to the discoveries of IP Pavlov. This behavioral (behavioristic) theory of motivation and theory of higher nervous activity The behavioral concept of motivation in its essence was a logical continuation of the ideas of the founder of behaviorism D. Watson. The most famous representatives of this trend are E. Tolman K. Hull and B. Skinner. All of them tried to explain behavior within the framework of the original scheme of behaviorism: "stimulus-response".

Another theory - the theory of higher nervous activity - was developed;

IP Pavlov, and its development was continued by his students and followers, among whom were the following: N. A. Bernshtein - the author of the theory of psychophysiological regulation of movements; P. K. Anokhin, who proposed a model of a functional system that describes and explains the dynamics of a behavioral act at the modern level; E. N. Sokolov, who discovered and studied the orienting reflex, which is of great importance for psychophysiological understanding;

mechanisms of perception, attention and motivation, and also proposed a model of the conceptual reflex arc.

One of the theories that emerged at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. and continuing to be developed now, is theory of organic needs of animals. It arose and developed under the influence of former irrationalistic traditions in understanding the behavior of animals. Its modern representatives see their task in explaining the behavior of animals from the standpoint of physiology and biology.

Names

McDougall William (1871-1938) - Anglo-American psychologist, founder of "hormic psychology", according to which the instinctive desire for a goal was originally inherent in the nature of the living. MacDougall announced himself as an original thinker in 1908, when one of his most important works, The Basic Problems of social psychology”, where he formulated the basic principles of human social behavior. This work formed the basis of his "hormic psychology" as a part of dynamic psychology, which emphasizes the modifications of mental processes and their energy basis.

Skill, according to McDougall, in itself is not the driving force behind behavior and does not orient it. As the main driving forces human behavior, he considered irrational, instinctive urges. Behavior is based on interest, due to an innate instinctive attraction, which only finds its manifestation in a habit and is served by one or another behavioral mechanism. Every organic body from birth is endowed with a certain vital energy, the reserves and forms of distribution (discharge) of which are rigidly predetermined by the repertoire of instincts. As soon as the primary impulses are defined in the form of impulses directed to certain goals, they receive their expression in the corresponding bodily adaptations.

Initially, McDougall identified 12 types of instincts: flight (fear), rejection (disgust), curiosity (surprise), aggressiveness (anger), self-abasement (embarrassment), self-affirmation (enthusiasm), parental instinct (tenderness), procreation instinct, food instinct, herd instinct, instinct of acquisition, instinct of creation. In his opinion, the basic instincts are directly related to the corresponding emotions, since the inner expression of the instincts are emotions.

Concepts and theories of motivation that apply only to a person began to appear in psychological science since the 1930s. 20th century The first of these was the theory of motivation proposed by K. Levin. Following her, the works of representatives of humanistic psychology were published - G. Murray, A. Maslow, G. Allport, K. Rogers and others. Consider some of them.

G. Murray's motivational concept has become quite widely known. Along with the list of organic, or primary, needs identified by W. McDougall, identical to the basic instincts, Murray proposed a list of secondary (psychogenic) needs that arise on the basis of instinct-like drives as a result of education and training. These are the needs to achieve success, affiliation, aggression, the need for independence, opposition, respect, humiliation, protection, dominance, attention, avoidance. harmful effects, avoidance of failures, patronage, order, games. rejection, understanding, sexual relations, help, mutual understanding. Subsequently, in addition to these twenty needs, the author attributed six more to a person: acquisition, rejection of accusations, knowledge, creation, explanation, recognition and thrift.

Another, even more well-known concept of the motivation of human behavior, belongs to A. Maslow. Most often, when they talk about this concept, they mean the existence of a hierarchy of human needs and their classification proposed by Maslow. According to this concept, seven classes of needs consistently appear in a person from birth and accompany his growing up.

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Rice. 22.2. The structure of needs according to A. Maslow


(Fig. 22.2): physiological (organic) needs, security needs, belonging and love needs, respect (reverence) needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, self-actualization needs. Moreover, according to the author, this motivational pyramid is based on physiological needs, and higher needs, such as aesthetic and the need for self-actualization, form its top.

In the second half of the XX century. theories of human needs were supplemented by a number of motivational concepts presented in the works of D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Hekhausen, G. Kelly, J. Rotter, and others. To a certain extent, they are close to each other and have a number of common provisions.

First, most of these theories denied the fundamental possibility of creating a unified universal theory of motivation that would equally successfully explain both the behavior of animals and humans.

Secondly, it was emphasized that the desire to relieve tension as the main motivational source of purposeful behavior at the level of a person does not work, in any case, is not the main motivational principle for him.

Thirdly, in most of these theories it was stated that a person is not reactive, but is initially active. Therefore, the principle of stress reduction is unacceptable for explaining human behavior, and the sources of his activity should be sought in himself, in his psychology.

Fourthly, these theories recognized, along with the role of the unconscious, the essential role of human consciousness in shaping his behavior. Moreover, on According to most authors, conscious regulation for a person is the leading mechanism for the formation of behavior.

Fifth, most of the theories of this group were characterized by the desire to introduce into scientific circulation specific concepts that reflect the characteristics of human motivation, for example, “social needs, motives” (D. McClelland, D. Atkinson, G. Heckhausen), “life goals ”(K. Rogers, R. May), “cognitive factors” (Yu. Rotter, G. Kelly and others).

Sixth, the authors of the theories of this group were unanimous in their opinion that methods for studying the causes of behavior in animals are unacceptable for the study of human motivation. Therefore, they made an attempt to find special methods for studying motivation, suitable only for humans.

In domestic psychology, attempts were also made to solve the problems of human motivation. However, until the mid-1960s psychological research has focused on the study of cognitive processes. The main scientific development of domestic psychologists in the field of motivation problems is theory of the activity origin of the human motivational sphere, created by A. N. Leontiev.

You are already familiar with Leontiev's psychological theory of activity. According to his concept, the motivational sphere of a person, like his other psychological features, has its own sources in practice. In particular, between the structure of activity and the structure of the motivational sphere of a person, there are relations of isomorphism, that is, mutual correspondence, and at the basis of the dynamic changes that occur with the motivational sphere of a person,


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lies the development of a system of activities that obeys objective social laws.

Thus, this concept explains the origin and dynamics of the human motivational sphere. It shows how the system of activities can change, how its hierarchization is transformed, how certain types of activities and operations arise and disappear, what modifications occur with actions. In accordance with the laws of development of activities, laws can be derived that describe changes in the motivational sphere of a person, the acquisition of new needs, motives and goals by him.

All the considered theories have their advantages and at the same time their disadvantages. Their main drawback is that they are able to explain only some of the phenomena of motivation, to answer only a small part of the questions that arise in this area of ​​psychological research. Therefore, the study of the motivational sphere of a person continues to this day.

22.3. The main patterns of development of the motivational sphere

In domestic psychology, the formation and development of a motivational sphere in a person is considered within the framework of the psychological theory of activity proposed by A. N. Leontiev. The question of the formation of new motives and the development of the motivational system is one of the most complex and has not been fully studied. Leontiev described only one mechanism for the formation of motives, which was called the mechanism of shifting a motive to a goal (another version of the name of this mechanism is the mechanism for turning a goal into a motive). The essence of this mechanism lies in the fact that in the process of activity, the goal, which, for certain reasons, a person aspired to, over time, becomes an independent motivating force, i.e., a motive.

The central point of this theory is that the motive, because of which we strive to achieve the goal, is associated with the satisfaction of certain needs. But over time, the goal we were striving to achieve can turn into an urgent need. For example, often parents, in order to stimulate a child's interest in reading books, promise him to buy some kind of toy if he reads a book. However, in the process of reading, the child develops an interest in the book itself, and gradually reading books can become one of his main needs. This example explains the mechanism of development of a person's motivational sphere by expanding the number of needs. At the same time, the most significant thing is that the expansion of the number of needs, that is, the expansion of the list of what a person needs, occurs in the process of his activity, in the process of his contact with the environment.

Historically, in Russian psychology, the formation of a person's motivational sphere in the process of his ontogenesis is considered within the framework of the formation of a person's interests as the main reasons that motivate him


to development and activity. As you remember, interests primarily reflect the cognitive needs of a person. Therefore, in domestic psychology, the development of the motivational sphere, as a rule, is considered in unity with the general development of the human psyche, especially its cognitive sphere.

Conducted scientific studies have shown that the first manifestations of interest are observed in children already in the first year of life, as soon as the child begins to navigate in the world around him. At this stage of development, the child is most often interested in bright, colorful objects, unfamiliar things, sounds made by objects. The child not only experiences pleasure in perceiving all this, but also demands that he be shown the object that interested him again and again, again allowed to hear the sounds that aroused his interest. He cries and resents if he is deprived of the opportunity to continue to perceive what has aroused interest.

A characteristic feature of the first interests of the child is their extreme instability and attachment to present perception. The child is interested in what he perceives at the moment. He gets angry and cries if something that interested him has disappeared from his field of vision. It is not difficult to calm the child in these cases - it is enough to draw his attention to something else, as the interest in what he perceived before is extinguished and replaced by a new one.

As the motor activity in the child is more and more interested in independent performance of actions, which he gradually masters. Already in the first year of life, the child discovers, for example, a tendency to repeatedly throw things in his hand on the floor - throwing the thing he has taken, he demands that it be picked up and given to him, but then he throws it again, again demands its return to himself. , throws again, etc. Mastering more complex actions, he also shows interest in performing them repeatedly and can, for example, put one thing into another for a long time and take it out again.

With the development of speech and communication with others, as well as with the expansion of the range of objects and actions with which the child gets acquainted, his cognitive interests. A vivid expression of them is the most diverse questions asked by children to adults, starting with the question: “What is this?” and ending with questions related to explaining what is perceived by the child: “Why does the cow have horns?”, “Why does the moon not fall to the earth?”, “Why is the grass green?”, “Where does the milk go when we drink it?”, “Where does the wind come from?”, “Why do birds sing?” - all these questions, and many similar ones, are of keen interest to the child, and at the age of three to five years, he “falls asleep” with them to an adult so much that this entire period of his life is rightly called the period of questions.

The end of pre-preschool and the beginning of pre-school age are characterized by the appearance interest in the game more and more expanding throughout preschool childhood. The game is the leading activity of the child at this age, it develops various aspects of his mental life, many of the most important psychological qualities his personality. However, the game - it activities that attract the child the most captivating him. She stands at the center of his interests, interests him herself and, in her own

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turn, reflects all other interests of the child. Everything that interests children in the world around them, in the life unfolding around them, usually finds some reflection in their games.

It should be noted that the cognitive interests of preschoolers, aimed at the knowledge of reality, are very wide. A preschool child watches for a long time what attracted his attention from the world around him, asks a lot about what he notices around him. However, just like at an earlier age, he is interested in everything bright, colorful, sonorous. He is especially keenly interested in everything that is dynamic, moving, acting, revealing noticeable, clearly expressed and especially unexpected changes. With great interest, he follows the changes in nature, willingly observes the growth of plants in the "living corner", the changes associated with the change of seasons, with the change of weather. Animals are of considerable interest to him, especially those with which he can play (kittens, puppies) or whose behavior he can observe for a long time (fish in an aquarium, chickens fussing near a hen, etc.) .

Being widely interested in reality, preschool children show great interest in fantastic stories, especially in fairy tales. Preschool children are ready to listen to the same fairy tale many times.

The end of the preschool period and the beginning of school age are usually characterized by the emergence of new interests in the child - interest in learning and school. As a rule, he is interested in the learning process itself, the possibility of a new activity that he has to do, new rules for him. school life, new responsibilities, new comrades and school teachers. But this initial interest in the school is still undifferentiated. A novice student is attracted to all types of work at school: he equally willingly writes, reads, counts, and carries out assignments. Even the different marks that he receives often cause him to have the same attitude towards himself in the first days. For example, it is known that some children who first come to school are initially interested not so much in what mark they received, but in their number.

Over time, interest in the school is more and more differentiated. Initially stand out as more interesting, separate subjects. So, some schoolchildren are more attracted to reading or writing, others are more attracted to mathematics, etc. Along with educational interests, some new ones arise at this age. extracurricular interests. For example, literacy creates the prerequisites for the emergence of interest in extracurricular reading, therefore, for the first time, the child's reading interests appear. At primary school age, there is a significant interest in "everyday" literature, in stories from the lives of children. Fairy tales more and more lose their charm for the child. Often a primary school student already refuses them, emphasizing that he wants to read about what was “really”. Towards the end of this period, more and more travel and adventure literature comes to the fore, which in adolescence arouses the greatest interest, especially among boys.

In the course of growing up, interest in games undergoes significant changes. In the life of a schoolchild, play no longer occupies a leading place; it gives way to learning, which becomes for a long time the leading activity of the child.

But interest in the game still remains, this is especially true for primary school age. At the same time, the content of the games changes significantly. " Role-playing games» of a preschooler recede into the background and disappear altogether. Most of all, the student is attracted, on the one hand, by the so-called "board" games, and on the other hand, by outdoor games, in which, over time, the moment of competition is more and more included and the emerging, especially among boys, interest in sports games. As an interest characteristic of the end of primary school age, which remains in subsequent years, one can point to the collection of certain objects, in particular postage stamps.

During adolescence, further changes take place in the interests of schoolchildren. Significantly expand and deepen primarily interests of the socio-political plan. The child begins to be interested not only in current events, but also to show interest in his future, in what position he will take in society. This phenomenon is accompanied by an expansion cognitive interests teenager. The circle of what interests a teenager and what he wants to know is getting wider and wider. Moreover, often the cognitive interests of a teenager are due to his plans for future activities.

Adolescents, of course, differ in their cognitive interests, which at this age become more and more differentiated.

Adolescence is characterized by the further development of interests, and above all cognitive ones. High school students begin to be interested in already defined areas scientific knowledge, strive for deeper and more systematic knowledge in their area of ​​interest.

In the process of further development and activity, the formation of interests, as a rule, does not stop. With age, a person also has the emergence of new interests. However, this process is largely conscious or even planned, since these interests are largely related to the improvement of professional skills, the development of family relationships, as well as those hobbies that, for one reason or another, were not realized in adolescence.

It should be especially emphasized that the formation and development of the interests and motives of the child's behavior should not take place spontaneously, outside the control of parents or teachers. The spontaneous development of a child's interests in most cases makes it possible for him to develop negative and even pernicious interests and habits, such as an interest in alcohol or drugs. Quite reasonably, the question arises of how to avoid the formation of these negative interests in the child. Of course, there is no single “recipe” for how to avoid this. In each case, you should look for a unique option. Nevertheless, one general pattern can be traced, which allows us to speak about the validity of the theoretical views that have developed in Russian psychology on the problem of the development of a person's motivational sphere. This pattern lies in the fact that motives and interests do not arise from nowhere or from nothing. The likelihood of a child's interests or motives arising is determined by the activities in which he is involved, as well as by the responsibilities that he has at home or at school.

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It is necessary to pay attention to one more point in the problem of the formation and development of the motivational sphere. The goals a person strives for can eventually become his motives. And having become motives, they, in turn, can be transformed into personal characteristics and properties.

22.4. Motivated behavior as a personality characteristic

In the process of growing up, many of the leading motives of behavior eventually become so characteristic of a person that they turn into traits of his personality. To their The number should include achievement motivation, or motivation to avoid failure, the motive of power, the motive of helping other people (altruism), aggressive motives of behavior, etc. Dominant motives become one of the main characteristics of the personality, which is reflected in the characteristics of other personality traits. For example, it has been found that success-oriented people are more likely to be dominated by realistic, while individuals oriented to avoiding failures are unrealistic, overestimated or underestimated. self-esteem. From what does self-esteem depend on? The level of self-esteem is largely related to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a person with himself, his activities, resulting from success or failure. The combination of successes and failures in life, the predominance of one over the other constantly form the self-esteem of the individual. In turn, the features of a person's self-esteem are expressed in the goals and general direction of a person's activity, since in practical activities he, as a rule, strives to achieve results that are consistent with his self-esteem, contribute to its strengthening.

Closely related to self-esteem level of claims. The level of claims means the result that the subject expects to achieve in the course of his activities. It should be noted that significant changes in self-esteem occur when the successes or failures themselves are associated by the subject of activity with the presence or absence of the necessary abilities.

motives affiliations(motive of desire to communicate) and authorities actualized and satisfied only in the communication of people. The motive of affiliation usually manifests itself as a desire of a person to establish good, emotionally positive relationships with people. Internally, or psychologically, it acts as a feeling of attachment, fidelity, and externally - in sociability, in an effort to cooperate with other people, to be constantly with them. It should be emphasized that relationships between people built on the basis of affiliation are, as a rule, mutual. Communication partners with such motives do not consider each other as a means of satisfying personal needs, do not seek to dominate each other, but rely on equal cooperation. As a result of satisfying the affiliation motive

Chapter 22. Orientation and motives of personality 529

between people there are trusting, open relationships based on sympathy and mutual assistance.

The opposite of the affiliation motive is rejection motive, manifested in the fear of being rejected, rejected by people significant to the individual. The dominance of the motive of affiliation in a person gives rise to a style of communication with people, characterized by confidence, ease, openness and courage. On the contrary, the predominance of the rejection motive leads to uncertainty, constraint, awkwardness, and tension. The predominance of this motive creates obstacles in the way of interpersonal communication. Such people cause distrust in themselves, they are lonely, they have poorly developed skills and communication skills.

Another very significant motive for the activity of the individual is power motive. It is defined as a person's persistent and distinct desire to have power over other people. G. Murray gave the following definition to this motive: the motive of power is the tendency to control the social environment, including people, to influence the behavior of other people in a variety of ways, including persuasion, coercion, suggestion, restraint, prohibition, etc.

The motive of power is manifested in encouraging others to act in accordance with their interests and needs, seeking their location, cooperation, proving their case, defending their own point of view, influencing, directing, organizing, leading, supervising, ruling, subjugating, ruling, dictating conditions, judge, establish laws, determine the norms and rules of behavior, make decisions for others that oblige them to act in a certain way, persuade, dissuade, punish, charm, attract attention, have followers.

Another researcher of power motivation, D. Veroff, tried to determine the psychological content of the power motive. He believes that the motivation of power is understood as the desire and ability to receive satisfaction from control over other people. In his opinion, signs of a person having a motive, or motivation, of power are pronounced emotional experiences associated with the retention or loss of psychological or behavioral control over other people. Another sign that a person has a power motive is satisfaction from defeating another person in any activity or grief about failure, as well as an unwillingness to obey others.

It is generally accepted that people who seek power over other people have a particularly pronounced power motive. In its origin, it is probably associated with a person's desire for superiority over other people. The first to pay attention to this motive were peofreudians. The motive of power was declared one of the main motives of human social behavior. For example, A. Adler believed that the desire for superiority, perfection and social power compensates for the natural shortcomings of people experiencing the so-called inferiority complex.

A similar point of view, but theoretically developed in a different context, was held by another representative of neo-Freudianism, E. Fromm. He found that psychologically, the power of one person over other people is reinforced in several ways. First, the ability to reward and punish

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It is interesting

Aggressive behavior

Emotions are one of the most interesting phenomena of the psyche. Emotions can cause not only some sensations or general reactions, but also specific actions. For example, we laugh when we are happy, we start when we are frightened, etc. One of these actions is especially seriously studied by psychologists. This action is aggression. By aggression, we mean behavior that deliberately harms another person (physically or verbally) or destroys their property. The key concept of this definition is intention. If a person accidentally pushed you and immediately apologizes, his behavior cannot be regarded as aggressive; but if someone comes up to you and defiantly steps on your foot, then you will have no doubt that this is an aggressive act.

Special attention provoked to aggression her social significance. Many people often have aggressive thoughts and impulses, and how they deal with these thoughts affects not only their health and interpersonal relationships but also the well-being of others. Today there are theories that differently consider the problem of aggression and aggressiveness of a person. For example, Freud's psychoanalytic theory considers aggression as an innate need, and social learning theory as a reaction acquired in learning.

According to Freud's early psychoanalytic theory, many of our actions are determined by instincts, in particular, by sexual attraction. When the realization of these drives is suppressed (frustrated), there is a need for aggression. Later, representatives of the psychoanalytic direction began to interpret the manifestation of aggression as follows: whenever a person’s efforts to achieve a goal are blocked, an aggressive impulse arises that motivates behavior to harm the obstacle that caused frustration. There are two main points to this assumption: first, the usual cause of aggression is frustration; secondly, aggression is an innate reaction, and also has the properties of an organic need and persists until the goal is achieved. In this interpretation of aggression, it is precisely that aspect of the hypothesis that is associated with the consideration of aggression as an organic need that causes the greatest controversy.

If aggression is indeed an organic need, then other mammalian species should be expected to display aggressive patterns similar to ours. Long-term studies have allowed to accumulate the most diverse data on this issue. In the 60s. 20th century it has been suggested that the main difference between humans and other species is that animals have evolved mechanisms to control their aggressive instincts while humans have not. Subsequent work in the 1970s and 1980s, however, showed that animals can be just as aggressive as we are. It has been shown that cases of murder, rape and destruction of cubs among animals are much more common than believed in the 60s. For example, one type of killing of chimpanzees is related to the border wars they wage. So, in the Gombi Stream National Park in Tanzania, a group of five male chimpanzees guarded their territory from any outside male that wandered there. If this group met another group of two or more males, then their reaction was sharp, but not fatal; but if they came across only one intruder, then one member of the group held his hand, another by the leg, and the third beat him to death. Or a couple of group members dragged the intruder over the rocks until he died. In another chimpanzee frontier war in the 1970s, a tribe of about 15 chimpanzees wiped out a neighboring group, methodically killing its male members one at a time.

In connection with the data obtained, it is logical to assume that aggression has a biological basis. Thus, a number of studies have shown that moderate electrical stimulation of a certain area of ​​the hypothalamus causes aggressive, even deadly behavior in animals. When the cat's hypothalamus is stimulated through the implanted electrodes, it hisses, her the fur bristles, the pupils dilate, and the cat attacks

It is interesting

rat or other objects placed in her cell. Stimulation of a different part of the hypothalamus causes a completely different behavior; instead of showing any violent reactions, the cat calmly sneaks up and kills the rat. Aggressive behavior was induced in rats using a similar technique. A lab-raised rat that has never killed mice or seen wild rats kill them can live happily in the same cage as a mouse. But if its hypothalamus is stimulated, the rat will lunge at its cagemate and kill her, exhibiting the same reactions as the wild rat (bite to the neck, tearing spinal cord). The stimulation appears to trigger an innate kill response that had previously been dormant. Similarly, if a neurochemical blocker is injected into the part of the brain of rats that causes them to spontaneously kill a mouse that catches their eye, they temporarily become peaceful.

In the above cases, aggression acquires the properties of an organic need, since it is directed by innate reactions. In higher animals, such instinctive patterns of aggression are controlled by the cerebral cortex, therefore, they are more influenced by experience. Monkeys living in groups establish a dominance hierarchy, with one or two males becoming leaders, while others occupy various subordinate levels. When the hypothalamus of a dominant monkey is electrically stimulated, it will attack the subordinate males, but not the females. When a low-ranking monkey is stimulated in the same way, it shrinks and behaves submissively. Thus, aggressive behavior in the monkey is not automatically induced by stimulation of the hypothalamus, but also depends on its environment and past experience. Probably, in humans, the physiological reactions associated with aggression proceed in a similar way. Although we are equipped with neural mechanisms of aggression, their activation is usually under the control of the cortex (except in cases of brain damage). In most individuals, the frequency of aggressive behavior, the forms it takes, and the situations in which it occurs are largely determined by experience and social influence.

Social learning theory emphasizes the importance of vicarious learning, or learning by observation. Many patterns of behavior are acquired by observing the actions of others and the consequences that these actions have on them. A child watching the painful expression on the face of an older brother sitting in a chair at the dentist will be afraid when it comes time for him to visit the dentist for the first time. Social learning theory emphasizes the role of models in the transmission of both specific behaviors and emotional responses.

Within the framework of this theory, the concept of aggression as a need generated by frustration is rejected. Aggression is treated like any other learned response. Aggressiveness can be acquired by observation or imitation, and the more often it is reinforced, the more likely it is to occur. A person who is frustrated about not being able to achieve a goal, or who is worried about some event, experiences an unpleasant emotion. What reaction this emotion evokes depends on what reactions that individual has learned in order to cope with stressful situations. A person in a state of frustration may seek help from others, show aggression, try to overcome an obstacle, give up everything, or drown himself with drugs and alcohol. The response that has most successfully alleviated frustration in the past will be chosen. According to this view, frustration provokes aggression mainly in those people who have learned to respond to hostile situations with aggressive behavior.

Thus, we "got acquainted with two opposing points of view on the problem of aggression. Which one should be preferred? Probably, the second point of view is closer to us:

human aggression has a social nature. However, we cannot yet say that this point of view is absolutely correct. Further purposeful studies of this complex and urgent problem for humanity are needed.

By; Agkinsrn R. L., Atkinson R. S., Smith E. E. et al. Introduction to psychology: A textbook for universities / Per. from English. under. ed. V. P. Zinchenko. - M.: Trivola, 1999


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people. Secondly, the ability to force them to commit certain actions, including with the help of a system of legal and moral norms that give some the right to rule, and others oblige to obey the authority that one person has in the eyes of another.

A special place is occupied by studies of the so-called prosocial motives and corresponding prosocial behavior. Such behavior is understood as any altruistic actions of a person aimed at the well-being of other people, helping them. These forms of behavior are diverse in their characteristics and range from simple courtesy to serious charitable assistance provided by a person to other people, and sometimes with great damage to himself, at the cost of self-sacrifice. Some psychologists believe that a special motive lies behind such behavior, and call it the motive of altruism (the motive of helping, the motive of caring for other people).

Altruistic, or prosocial, behavior is most often characterized as being done for the benefit of another person and with no hope of reward. Altruistically motivated behavior leads to the well-being of other people to a greater extent than to the well-being of the one who implements it. With altruistic behavior, acts of concern for other people are carried out according to the person’s own conviction, without any calculation or pressure from the outside. In terms of meaning, this behavior is diametrically opposed to aggression.

Aggression is seen as a phenomenon inherently opposite to altruism. In the course of studying aggressive behavior, it was suggested that behind this form of behavior lies a special kind of motive, called ^ the motive of aggressiveness. It is customary to call aggressive actions that cause any damage to a person: moral, material or physical. Aggression is always associated with the intentional harm to another person.

Separate psychological studies have shown that in children between 3 and 11 years of age, manifestations of aggressiveness towards peers can be observed. At this time, many children have a desire to fight with each other. Moreover, aggressive responses as a reaction to the actions of peers in boys are more common than in girls. In the psychological literature, this phenomenon is interpreted in different ways. Some authors see biological reasons in this, including gender. Others believe that the manifestation of aggressiveness in children is associated with belonging to a certain socio-cultural group and the peculiarities of family upbringing.

For example, it has been found that fathers of children who are characterized by increased aggressiveness often do not tolerate manifestations of aggression at home, but outside it they allow and even encourage such actions of their children, provoke and reinforce such behavior. The role models for aggressive behavior are very often the parents themselves. A child who has been repeatedly punished eventually becomes aggressive himself.

The psychological difficulty of eliminating aggressive actions lies, in particular, in the fact that a person who behaves in this way usually easily finds many reasonable justifications for his behavior, completely or partially exonerating himself of guilt. A well-known researcher of aggressive behavior A. Bandura identified the following typical ways of justifying their actions by the aggressors themselves.

Chapter 22. Orientation and motives of personality activity 533

Bandura Albert(1925-1968) - American psychologist, author of the theory of social learning. In 1949 he graduated from the University of British Columbia, after which he received a master's degree from the University of Iowa (in 1951). PhD from the University of Iowa. Later he worked at Stanford University as a professor of psychology, and since 1973 - a professor of social sciences in psychology. He came to the conclusion that the “stimulus-response” model of behavior is not fully applicable to human behavior, and proposed his own model, which, in his opinion, better explains the observed behavior. Based on numerous studies, he gave a new formulation of instrumental conditioning, placing a central place in it on learning by observing a sample. At the same time, he considered reinforcement not as the only determinant of learning, but only as a contributing factor. The main determinant of human learning is the observation of patterns of behavior of other people and the consequences of this behavior: one or another form of behavior becomes motivating due to the anticipation of the consequences of these actions. Such consequences may include not only reinforcement from other people, but also self-reinforcement, due to the assessment of compliance with internally binding standards of behavior. The speed of learning depends on the psychological availability of the object of imitation and on the effectiveness of verbal coding of the observed behavior. Based on his research, Bandura came to the conclusion that anger, as a manifestation of general arousal that promotes aggression, will manifest itself only when, under the conditions of a given situation, patterns of angry reactions are socially acceptable.

Firstly, comparing one's own aggressive act with the personality flaws or actions of a person who has become a victim of aggression in order to prove that the actions committed against him do not seem as terrible as they seem at first glance.

Secondly, the justification of aggression against another person by some ideological, religious or other considerations, for example, by the fact that it is committed from "noble" goals.

Thirdly, the denial of one's personal responsibility for the committed aggressive act.

Fourthly, the removal of part of the responsibility for aggression by referring to external circumstances or the fact that this action was committed jointly with other people, under their pressure or under the influence of circumstances, for example, the need to fulfill someone's order.

Fifthly, the “dehumanization” of the victim by “proving” that he allegedly deserves such treatment.

Sixth, the aggressor's gradual mitigation of his guilt by finding new arguments and explanations that justify his actions.

A person has two different motivational tendencies associated with aggressive behavior: the tendency to aggression and its inhibition. The tendency to aggression is the tendency of an individual to evaluate many situations and actions of people as threatening him and the desire to respond to them with his own aggressive actions. The tendency to suppress aggression is defined as an individual predisposition to evaluate their own aggressive actions as undesirable and unpleasant, causing regret and remorse. This

534 Part IV. Mental properties of personality

a tendency at the level of behavior leads to suppression, avoidance or condemnation of aggressive actions.

Thus, the motives formed in the process of life and activity, which have become habitual, or basic, are reflected in the general impression that a person makes on others, that is, they characterize the personality as a whole.

Control questions

1. Tell us about the main forms of orientation - inclinations, desire, aspiration, interests, ideals, beliefs.

2. Explain the essence of the concept of "motive".

3. What do you know about the motivation of human activity?

4. Explain the essence of the concept of "need".

5. Expand the main characteristics of the motivational sphere of a person.

6. How was the problem of motivation considered in the works of ancient philosophers?

7. Expand the essence of irrationalism and automaton theory.

8. Expand the role of Ch. Darwin's evolutionary theory in the development of the problem of human behavior motivation.

9. Tell us about the theory of instincts 3. Freud and W. McDougall.

10. What do you know about the theory of human biological needs?

11. Tell us about the classification of the hierarchy of human needs by A. Maslow.

12. What are the motivational concepts of the second half of the XX century. you know?

13. Expand the essence of the theory of the activity origin of the motivational spheres of man A. N. Leontiev.

14. Describe the mechanisms of development of motives according to A. N. Leontiev.

15. Name the main stages in the formation of the motivational sphere in children.

16. What is the role of the game in the formation of the motivational sphere?

17. How does the motivational sphere characterize a person? What are the main motives for human behavior?

1. Ananiev B. G. O problems of modern human knowledge / Academy of Sciences THE USSR, Institute of Psychology. - M.: Nauka, 1977.

2. Bratus B.S. Psychological aspects of the moral development of personality. - M. Knowledge, 1977 .

3. Gippenreiter Yu. B. Introduction to General Psychology: Lecture Course: Textbook

for universities. - M.: CheRo, 1997.

4. Ilyin E.P. Motivation and motives. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000.

5. Mute R.S. Psychology: Textbook for students. higher under. textbook institutions: In 3 books. Book. 1: General foundations of psychology. - 2nd ed. - M.: Vlados, 1998.

6. Leontiev A.N. Activity. Consciousness. Personality. - 2nd ed. - M.: Politizdat, 1977.

7. Rubinstein S. L. Fundamentals of General Psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 1999.

8. Warm B. M. Selected works: in 2 vols. T. 1. - M .: Pedagogy, 1985.

A motive is a stimulus to action. Functions Motivation Some motives, stimulating an activity, give it an emotional coloring, but emotions themselves are not motives. Meaning Others give it a personal meaning. This is important to understand internal structure individual consciousness The distribution of the functions of meaning formation and motivation between the motives of the same activity allows us to understand the main relationships that characterize the motivational sphere of the individual

The mechanism of the formation of motives according to A. N. Leontiev The essence: in the process of activity, the goal, to which, for certain reasons, a person aspired, eventually becomes an independent motivating force, i.e., a motive. As a result, this goal can turn into a need.

The formation of a person's motivational sphere occurs in the process of his ontogenesis within the framework of the formation of a person's interests as the main reasons that encourage him to develop and act.

Example: The first manifestations of interest in children are observed in the first year of life, as soon as the child begins to navigate in the world around him. At this stage of development, the child is interested in bright, colorful objects, unfamiliar things, sounds made by objects. The child not only experiences pleasure, perceiving all this, but also demands that he be shown the object that interested him again and again.

Thus: Motivation appears in indirect expression - in the form of experience, desire, desire; Sense-forming motives act as the main reason for stimulating activity, the basis for setting a goal, choosing means and ways to achieve it. The merging of both functions of the motive - inciting and sense-forming - gives the human activity the character of a consciously regulated activity.

Activity (according to A.N. Leontiev) is a process through which a connection is made with the object of a particular need and which usually ends with the satisfaction of a need specified in the subject of activity (the subject of activity is its real motive). Activity is always motivated by certain motives.

A.N. Leontiev deeply and consistently revealed the relationship

in the fundamental psychological triad "need-motive-activity". Actual needs act as the source of the motive power of the motive and the corresponding motivation for activity. A motive is defined as an object that meets a need, and therefore encourages and directs activity. Activity always has a motive, ("unmotivated" activity - one whose motive is hidden from the subject himself and / or an external observer). However, between motive and need, between motive and activity, as well as between need and activity, there are no strict unambiguous relations. In other words, one and the same object can serve to satisfy various needs, stimulate and direct various activities, etc.

Motives perform the following functions (according to A.N. Leontiev):

The function of motivation - motives-incentives - play the role of additional motivating factors: positive or negative;

The function of meaning formation - leading motives or sense-forming ones - encouraging activity, at the same time give it a personal meaning.

X. Hekhauzen considers the functions of a motive only in connection with the stages of action - beginning, execution, completion. At the initial stage, the motive initiates action, stimulates, induces it. Actualization of the motive at the stage of execution provides constant high level action activity. Maintaining motivation at the stage of completing the action is associated with the evaluation of results, with success, which contributes to the reinforcement of motives.

The components of the motive that create its structure include three blocks.

1. Need block, which includes biological, social needs and obligation.

2. Block "Internal filter", which includes the following components: preference for outward signs, interests and inclinations, the level of claims, assessment of one's capabilities, taking into account the conditions for achieving the goal, moral control (beliefs, ideals, values, attitudes, attitudes).

3. The target block, which includes the following components: objectified action, the process of satisfying needs and the need goal.

All of the above components of the three blocks can manifest themselves in the mind of a person in verbal or figurative form. They may not appear all at once, but one by one. One of the components in one case or another can be taken as the basis of an action from a particular block. The structure of the motive itself is built from a combination of components that determined the decision made by a person.

There is a huge variety of approaches to understanding the motive and its structure. Different authors give definitions, which sometimes differ significantly from each other. What they have in common is the use of descriptive terms instead of explanatory ones. Based on the purpose of our study, we will adhere to the following definition of motive, a motive is a need, the urgency of which is sufficient to direct a person to its satisfaction.

1.2 Types of motives

The motives that induce a person to act in a certain way can be conscious and unconscious.

1. Conscious motives are motives that encourage a person to act and behave in accordance with their views, knowledge, principles. Examples of such motives are major life goals that guide activity over long periods of life. If a person not only realizes, in principle, how to behave (belief), but also knows specific ways of behavior determined by the goals of such behavior, then the motives of his behavior are conscious.

2. Unconscious motives. A. N. Leontiev, L. I. Bozhovich, V. G. Aseev and others believe that motives are both conscious and unconscious motives. According to Leontiev, even when the motives are not recognized by the subject, that is, when he is not aware of what prompts him to carry out this or that activity, they appear in their indirect expression - in the form of experience, desire, desire.

Motives are also classified according to their relation to the activity itself.

External motivation (extrinsic) - motivation that is not related to the content of a particular activity, but due to circumstances external to the subject.

Intrinsic motivation (intrinsic) - motivation associated not with external circumstances, but with the very content of the activity.

External motives are divided, in turn, into public: altruistic (doing good to people), motives of duty and obligation (to the Motherland, to their relatives, etc.) and personal: motives for evaluation, success, well-being, self-affirmation. Internal motives are divided into procedural (interest in the process of activity); productive (interest in the result of activity, including cognitive) and self-development motives (for the sake of developing any of their qualities and abilities).

A person is motivated to act not by one, but by several motives. Each of them has a different strength. Some motives are updated quite often and have a significant impact on human activity, while others act only in certain circumstances (and in most cases are potential motives). Let us analyze in detail some types of motives.

Self-affirmation motive(the desire to establish oneself in society) is associated with self-esteem, ambition, pride. A person tries to prove to others that he is worth something, seeks to obtain a certain status in society, wants to be respected and appreciated. Sometimes the desire for self-assertion is referred to as motivation for prestige (the desire to obtain or maintain a high social status). The desire for self-affirmation, for improving one's formal and informal status, for a positive assessment of one's personality is an essential motivational factor that encourages a person to work intensively and develop.

Identification motivewith another person identification with another person - the desire to be like a hero, an idol, an authoritative person (father, teacher, etc.). This motive encourages work and development. It is especially relevant for children and young people who are trying to follow other people in their actions.

Identification with another person leads to an increase in the energy potential of the individual due to the symbolic "borrowing" of energy from the idol (object of identification): strength, inspiration, a desire to work and act as the hero (idol, father, etc.) did.

Power motive- is the desire of the subject to influence people. The motivation of power (the need for power) is one of the most important driving forces of human actions, it is the desire to take a leadership position in a group (collective), an attempt to lead people, determine and regulate their activities.