Motivation and Psychological Development

Essay 2 – Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development

(2A)

The theory of Psychosocial development proposed by Erikson spans the entire lifespan from infancy to older adulthood and from the age of trust vs. mistrust to integrity vs. despair as the theory emphasizes the interplay between personal growth and social experiences (Forbes, 2011). The relevance of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development to the motivation and goals are as follows:

1. Infancy, birth to 18 months (Trust vs. Mistrust)

• Motivation: Infants develop trust in their caregivers who meet all their needs which gives them motivation. This motivation helps them to explore the world with confidence.
• Goals: Establishing a sense of trust and a secure attachment is crucial in developing trust in oneself and others around.

1. Toddler years, 18 months to 3 years (Autonomy vs. Doubt and Shame)

• Motivation: Success at this stage helps toddlers to seek autonomy which fuels them to explore the world and learn from little things around them.
• Goals: The goal of this stage is to establish a striking balance between a sense of competence and healthy boundaries.

1. Pre-school years, 3 to 5 years (Initiative vs. Guilt)

• Motivation: Pre-schoolers are imaginative and curious which helps them to set goals.
• Goals: The goal at this stage is to learn from failures and explore new opportunities without feeling excessive guilt.

1. Middle school years, 6 to 11 years (Industry vs. Inferiority)

• Motivation: Middle schoolers strive for recognition to achieve success.
• Goals: The goal is to build a sense of competence and a strong work ethic.

1. Teen years, 12 to 18 years (Identity vs. Confusion)

• Motivation: Teenagers seek identity by exploring their various roles in different situations.
• Goals: They explore a self-definition which helps them make informed choices in life.

1. Young adult years, 18 to 40 years (Intimacy vs. Isolation)

• Motivation: They desire to form deep connections and close relationships.
• Goals: The goal is to balance emotional closeness and independence to maintain meaningful relationships.

1. Middle age, 40 to 65 years (Generativity vs. Stagnation)

• Motivation: Middle-aged individuals seek to contribute to society.
• Goals: The goal is to feel purposeful through fostering generativity.

1. Older adulthood, 65 to death (Integrity vs. Despair

• Motivation: They develop a sense of accomplishment and reflect on life.
• Goals: The goal is to find meaning and wisdom and face death or mortality with dignity.

Essay 2: (2B)

First, the age of infancy (trust vs. mistrust) relates to the academic context as during this stage trust develops based on the child’s readiness for learning. This environment of trust encourages exploration and a positive attitude towards learning. Infants who experience trust at the early stage of their life can more likely engage in relationship building, exploration, effective learning, and developing a positive self-concept. Moreover, responsive caregiving and a reliable learning environment whether in the hands of a caregiver or a teacher promote academic engagement.

Second, the middle school years seek competence to make themselves capable of achieving goals. Industry-driven middle schoolers set their academic goals and work hard for achievements. If they feel inadequate, it hinders their motivation making their tasks more complex. This can lead them to low self-esteem, avoidance, and underachievement at academic levels. Teachers can recognize their achievements, address feelings of inadequacy, foster a sense of industry, and provide opportunities for growth.

In sum, understanding Erikson’s psychosocial development stages allows teachers to build trust, promote self-efficacy, provide predictability, and create a safe learning environment. Teachers can play a crucial role in shaping the psychosocial growth of students by impacting self-concept and academic motivation.

Essay 4 – Motivation

(4A)

The theory of attribution deals with how individuals explain the causes of events and behavior. Attributions refer to the happening of events and the explanations that individuals construct when something happens (Kelley & Michela, 1980). They play a crucial role in shaping the subsequent behavior and motivation of individuals. Internal controllable factors enhance motivation whereas external uncontrollable factors may hinder one from motivating oneself for the future. Understanding attributions impacts future efforts and achievements as they influence motivation.

Suppose, John and Maya are two students who have different attributions to the C grade they received in the exam. John attributes his C grade to an internal factor as he thinks that he could not study properly during the exam. On the other hand, Maya attributes her C grade to the external factor as she believes that the exam was a bit challenging. Relating to the attributions of both students in this scenario, Maya might think that the exam was challenging, and the test difficulty will remain high in the future so she may feel less motivated to study for the next exam. However, John is likely to be more motivated based on his attribution as he sees the cause as something within his control. So, he would study harder to receive good grades in his future exams.

(4B)

Self-efficacy plays a crucial role in shaping motivation which helps an individual to perform specific tasks and achieve particular goals. It is associated with motivation because it is task-specific and helps an individual believe in their own ability. It focuses on concrete abilities which motivate an individual.

Suppose Amy is a college student who wants to excel in creative writing class. She can produce well-structured essays as she thinks her self-efficacy regarding writing creative essays is high. This motivates her to invest her time and effort in writing projects and choose tasks willingly so that she can write content, revise drafts, produce quality work, and persist even when days are challenging. The motivation that she feels in herself due to self-efficacy helps her encounter setbacks as learning opportunities which propels her towards achieving high grades and recognition while fueling her determination. Thus, her self-efficacy makes her a brilliant, motivated, and resilient student who believes in her writing prowess.

Essay 6 – Intrinsic and Extrinsic

(6A)

Fostering intrinsic motivation encourages deeper learning while extrinsic motivation enhances short-term performance. Intrinsic motivation often leads to better grades and academic outcomes as it positively influences persistence, satisfaction, and engagement among students. When students feel intrinsically motivated, they are naturally drawn towards learning and tend to explore their tasks through understanding and applying critical thinking skills.

Contrary to that, extrinsic motivation can boost performance but for a short-term period as students cannot be engaged in sustaining motivation for the long term. Excessive extrinsic motivation can also hinder genuine learning as overemphasis on learning and grades may lead to cramming and cheating among students. Thus, prioritizing intrinsic motivation positively influences learners in their academic experience as it tends to yield more meaningful learning outcomes.

(6B)

Extrinsic rewards encourage behavior and influence motivation to do various different things. These rewards may be tangible such as money or intangible like encouragement. These rewards and motivation operate on operant conditioning and the person’s brain releases dopamine upon attaining the reward. However, these rewards may be less effective long term than intrinsic motivation. Offering too many such rewards may hinder a person’s ability to learn and explore which may lead to a decrease in intrinsic motivation. Therefore, intrinsic satisfaction and external incentives should be balanced to maintain long-term motivation while rewards can encourage and influence motivation, excessive rewards may go wrong.

(6C)

The over-justification effect is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when the intrinsic motivation of an individual decreases for a particular activity. The phenomenon is also known as motivational “crowding out”. It refers to a practice of giving rewards to individuals for the activities which they already enjoy that actually make them lose interest in such activities (Boggiano & Ruble, 1979).

Works Cited

Boggiano, A. K., & Ruble, D. N. (1979). Competence and the overjustification effect: A developmental study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(9), 1462.

Forbes, D. L. (2011). Toward a unified model of human motivation. Review of General Psychology, 15(2), 85–98.

Kelley, H. H., & Michela, J. L. (1980). Attribution theory and research. Annual Review of Psychology, 31(1), 457–501.