Introduction
After completing the self-motivation assessment tool, I was informed that my score is 50 which placed me on the border between the first and second categories. People who have the highest degree of self-motivation belong to the first category and the second one is reserved for those whose motivation can be best described by the phrase, “you are well-motivated but you could be achieving more.” In other words, those who belong to this category have certain expectations and strive to achieve them but those expectations should be higher given their potential. It is not the case that their potentials are extremely high but just that their expectations are lower than their actual potential.
Main body
My personal response to the results of the test is that they were expected and, overall, I agree with them. I was able to notice this characteristic in my behavior in personal experience. For example, oftentimes I was having some expectations about the results of an exam and thought that a B would be a perfect grade given my ability to perform the tasks needed. After the exam was over and I finally got my B, I realized that plenty of people whom I outperformed in some tasks and was sure that they had weaker knowledge on the subject, had done better than me. Realizing that always made me dissatisfied with my achievement. In that light, I am sure that the test results match closely my actual level of self-motivation.
When hiring people, HR managers have to rely on some modes of testing and I believe that this one would be appropriate for the purpose of measuring a person’s self-motivation. The first reason for this claim would be the personal experience with the test which matched the way I really feel about my own level of self-motivation. Furthermore, when analyzing questions I found that the test was designed while relying on two relevant theories of motivation. The first one is the humanistic theory of motivation proposed by Maslow. The theory holds that human beings are born with a certain set of needs and also with some potentials and they act in order to fulfill those needs and potentials. The needs form a pyramid with five levels and a person cannot fulfill the needs at a higher level before those at a lower level and the basis of the pyramid is, of course, occupied by physiological needs while the peak is reserved for general self-fulfillment (Neher, 1991, pp.90-91). Questions such as, “I tend to put forth my best effort so that I feel proud of my work,” clearly hint at self-fulfillment as the motivation for an activity. The second theory which seems to be relevant in relation to this test is the so-called incentive theory of motivation, which holds that humans are motivated to act in a certain way because the activity can result in a reward or incentive (Killeen, 1981, p. 170). A question such as, “I reward myself when accomplishing significant goals,” suggests that the role of incentives was taken into account while constructing the test.
Some theories of motivation, usually those which are no longer supported by many psychologists, were not used in this inventory. One such theory is the Drive theory of motivation. According to this theory, individuals have internal drives and needs and their activity is aimed at satisfying them. In the inventory, no question is formulated in such a way that we can state that it relies on this theory, presumably because the theory can hardly be used to explain behaviors other than immediate physiological needs (Taylor, 1956, p. 304). Another theory that has little support in contemporary literature and is, therefore, not used in the inventory is the Instinct theory. This theory was popular at the beginning of the 20th century and was popularized by the famous psychologist William James. This theory viewed human behavior as resulting from inborn instincts and James made a list of them. The reason why the theory is no longer used is that it does not give an explanation of why behaviors exist, it only describes them (Loewald, 1971, p. 93).
In my view, the most comprehensive theory of motivation is the Cognitive theory. According to this theory, people tend to form cognitive judgments about their circumstances and the probability of the positive outcome of their activity, on the basis of which they make decisions on whether or not to perform the activity (Tollefson, 2000, p.64). Statements like, “I believe that if I work hard and apply my talents and abilities, I will be successful,” mean that people can cognitively evaluate the situation in which they are and determine whether it is worth trying to achieve something. Those who almost always find that it is worth trying are considered highly motivated.
Conclusion
Finally, there is one problem that I find concerning giving this type of test when hiring people. The problem is mirrored in the fact that the questions are almost always easy to see through and the candidates can, with little difficulty, predict which answer is going to have a positive evaluation and give that answer for the sole purpose of leaving the best impression. This can damage the validity of the test results to a great extent. However, it remains up to those who give the test to be able to find out whether the candidate was honest in his or her answers or not.
References
Killeen, P. (1981). Incentive Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 29, 169-216.
Loewald, H. (1971). On Motivation and Instinct Theory. The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 26, 91-128.
Neher, A. (1991). Maslow’s Theory of Motivation: A critique. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 31, 89-112.
Taylor, J. (1956). Drive Theory and Manifest Anxiety. Psychological Bulletin, 53(4), 303-320.
Applications of Cognitive Theories of Motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 12, 63-83.