The process of motivation

This chapter addresses issues such as the meaning of motivation, the underlying steps/processes making the motivation process, and the role of context in motivation. Motivation concerns the direction and magnitude of human behaviour. It is the &s;reasons underlying behaviour&s;. Intrinsic motivation is defined as being the execution of a task or an activity because of the inherent satisfaction arising from it rather than due to some separate outcome. Extrinsic motivation is a term used to describe a state when an activity is done in order to attain some separable outcome. Traditionally, educators consider intrinsic motivation to be more desirable than extrinsic motivation, and as the type of motivation that results in better learning outcomes. The notion of intrinsic motivation is closely related to intrinsic value. Values are also closely related to interests, that is, the interactive relation between someone and certain aspects of his/her environment. Motivation can be assessed either through self-reporting measures.