Motivation Theories and Workplace Fairness: Key Concepts in Organizational Psychology

Motivation

The psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an organization, a person's level of effort, and a person's level of persistence.

Expectancy

A perception about the extent to which effort will result in a certain level of performance.

Instrumentality

A perception about the extent to which performance results in the attainment of outcomes.

Valence

How desirable each of the available outcomes from a job or organization is to a person.

Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory

The theory that motivation will be high when workers believe that high levels of effort lead to high performance and high performance leads to the attainment of desired outcomes.

Need

A requirement or necessity for survival and well-being.

Need Theories

Theories of motivation that focus on what needs people are trying to satisfy at work and what outcomes will satisfy those needs.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A theory that categorizes human needs into a hierarchy, where basic needs must be met before higher-level needs can be addressed.

Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory

A need theory that distinguishes between motivator needs (related to the nature of the work itself) and hygiene needs (related to the physical and psychological context in which the work is performed) and proposes that motivator needs must be met for motivation and job satisfaction to be high.

Motivator Needs

Needs related to the nature of the work itself and how challenging it is.

Hygiene Needs

Needs related to the physical and psychological context in which the work is performed.

Intrinsic Motivation

Motivation that comes from within an individual, often related to personal satisfaction and enjoyment of the work.

Extrinsic Rewards

External rewards given to employees, such as pay or benefits, that motivate them to perform.

Equity

The perception of fairness in treatment, pay, and promotion within an organization.

Diversity in the Workforce

The inclusion of individuals from various backgrounds and perspectives in an organization.

Turnover

The rate at which employees leave an organization, often influenced by factors such as equity and job satisfaction.

Operant Conditioning Theory

A theory that suggests behavior is influenced by the consequences that follow it, including rewards and punishments.

Social Learning Theory

A theory that posits that people learn behaviors through observation and imitation of others.

Goal Setting

The process of establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives to motivate performance.

Performance

The execution of a task or the fulfillment of a job role, often measured in terms of quality and efficiency.

Psychological Forces

The internal factors that influence an individual's behavior and motivation in the workplace.

Job Satisfaction

The level of contentment employees feel regarding their job roles and responsibilities.

Workplace Culture

The shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how work gets done within an organization.

Employee Engagement

The level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values.

Motivation Lessons

Insights that managers can learn from various theories of motivation to enhance workforce performance.

Need for Affiliation

Extent to which an individual is concerned about establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relations, being liked, and having the people around them get along with each other.

Need for Power

Extent to which an individual desires to control or influence others.

Equity Theory

A theory of motivation that focuses on people's perceptions of the fairness of their work outcomes relative to their work inputs.

Inequity

Lack of perceived fairness in the workplace.

Underpayment Inequity

Exists when a person perceives that their own outcome-input ratio is less than the ratio of a referent.

Overpayment Inequity

Exists when a person perceives that their own outcome-input ratio is greater than the ratio of a referent.

Procedural Justice

A person's perception of the fairness of the procedures that are used to determine how to distribute outcomes in an organization.

Distributive Justice

A person's perception of the fairness of the distribution of outcomes in an organization.

Informational Justice

A person's perception of the extent to which their manager provides explanations for decisions and the procedures used to arrive at them.

Interpersonal Justice

A person's perception of the fairness of the interpersonal treatment he or she receives from whoever distributes outcomes to them.

Goal-Setting Theory

Focuses on identifying the types of goals that are most effective in producing high levels of motivation and performance and explaining why goals have these effects.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in person's knowledge or behavior that results from practice or experience.

Operant Conditioning

People learn to perform behaviors that lead to desired consequences and learn not to perform behaviors that lead to undesired consequences.

Negative Reinforcement

Eliminating undesired outcomes when people perform organizationally functional behaviors.

Positive Reinforcement

Giving people outcomes they desire when they perform organizationally functional behaviors.

Extinction

Curtailing the performance of a dysfunctional behavior by eliminating whatever is reinforcing them.

Punishment

Administering an undesired or negative consequence when dysfunctional behavior occurs.

Vicarious Learning

Learning that occurs when a learner is motivated to perform a behavior by watching another person perform and be reinforced for doing so.

Self-Efficacy

A person's belief about their ability to perform a behavior successfully.

Self-Reinforcer

Any desired or attractive outcome or award that a person can give themselves for good performance.

Need Theory

Pay is used to satisfy many needs.

Merit Pay Plan

A compensation plan that bases pay on performance.

Employee Stock Option

A financial instrument that entitles the bearer to buy shares of an organization's stock at a certain price during a certain period of time or under certain conditions.

Piece-Rate Pay

Employee's pay is based on the number of units that the employee produces.

Commission Pay

Employee's pay is based on a percentage of sales that the employee makes.

Scanlon Plan

Members of an organization are motivated to propose and implement cost-cutting strategies because a percentage of the cost savings achieved during a specified time is distributed to the employees.

Profit Sharing

A share of an organization's profits.