Title: Motivation - Wikipedia
Headings: Motivation
Motivation
Contents
Definition
Motivation and mental states
Strength of desire and action
Content theories
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
Herzberg's two-factor theory
Alderfer's ERG theory
Self-Determination Theory
Behaviorist theories
Classical and operant conditioning
Incentive motivation
Motivating operations
Motivation and psychotherapy
William McDougall's purposive psychology
Drives
Cognitive dissonance theory
Types of motivation
Intrinsic and extrinsic
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Unconscious and conscious
Unconscious
Conscious
Neuroscience
Motivational reasons and rationality
Practical applications
Applications in business
Job characteristics model
Employee recognition programs
Applications in education
Indigenous education and learning
Self-determination in education
Applications in game design
Applications in the military
See also
References
Further reading

Content: It is often held that different mental states compete with each other and that only the strongest state determines behavior. This means that we can be motivated to do something without actually doing it. The paradigmatic mental state providing motivation is desire. But various other states, like beliefs about what one ought to do or intentions, may also provide motivation. Various competing theories have been proposed concerning the content of motivational states. They are known as content theories and aim to describe what goals usually or always motivate people. Abraham Maslow 's hierarchy of needs and the ERG theory, for example, posit that humans have certain needs, which are responsible for motivation. Some of these needs, like for food and water, are more basic than other needs, like for respect from others. On this view, the higher needs can only provide motivation once the lower needs have been fulfilled. Behaviorist theories try to explain behavior solely in terms of the relation between the situation and external, observable behavior without explicit reference to conscious mental states.