Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation
Author: Edward L. Deci
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1461344468

As I begin to write this Preface, I feel a rush of excitement. I have now finished the book; my gestalt is coming into completion. Throughout the months that I have been writing this, I have, indeed, been intrinsically motivated. Now that it is finished I feel quite competent and self-determining (see Chapter 2). Whether or not those who read the book will perceive me that way is also a concern of mine (an extrinsic one), but it is a wholly separate issue from the intrinsic rewards I have been experiencing. This book presents a theoretical perspective. It reviews an enormous amount of research which establishes unequivocally that intrinsic motivation exists. Also considered herein are various approaches to the conceptualizing of intrinsic motivation. The book concentrates on the approach which has developed out of the work of Robert White (1959), namely, that intrinsically motivated behaviors are ones which a person engages in so that he may feel competent and self-determining in relation to his environment. The book then considers the development of intrinsic motiva tion, how behaviors are motivated intrinsically, how they relate to and how intrinsic motivation is extrinsically motivated behaviors, affected by extrinsic rewards and controls. It also considers how changes in intrinsic motivation relate to changes in attitudes, how people attribute motivation to each other, how the attribution process is motivated, and how the process of perceiving motivation (and other internal states) in oneself relates to perceiving them in others.

Human Motivation and Interpersonal Relationships

Human Motivation and Interpersonal Relationships
Author: Netta Weinstein
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2014-07-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9401785422

This volume summarizes and organizes a growing body of research supporting the role of motivation in adaptive and rewarding interpersonal interactions with others. The field of human motivation is rapidly growing but most studies have focused on the effects of motivation on individuals' personal happiness and task engagement. Only recently have theorists and empiricists begun to recognize that dispositional and state motivations impact the ways individuals approach interpersonal interactions. In addition, researchers are now recognizing that the quality of interpersonal interactions influences consequent happiness and task engagement, thus helping to explain previous findings to this end. Similarly social psychology and relationships researchers have focused on the impact of cognitions, emotions, and behaviors on people's relationships. In their work, relationships researchers demonstrate that both contextual characteristics and individual differences influence the quality of interactions. Many of these studies seek to understand which characteristics strengthen the bonds between people, encourage empathy and trust and create a sense of well-being after a close interaction. This work seeks to integrate the field of human motivation and interpersonal relationships. Both fields have seen extensive growth in the past decade and each can contribute to the other. However, no single compiled work is available that targets both fields. This is the case, in part because only now is there enough work to make a strong and compelling case for their integration. In the previous years, research has been conducted to show that motivation is relevant and important for interactions among strangers and in close relationships. In addition developmental mechanisms for these relations are identified and mechanisms by which motivation strengthens people's relationships. Finally recent work has demonstrated the many implications for interpersonal relationships, showing that motivation impacts a range of interpersonal processes from prejudice regulation and objectification of others to empathy and care. This book seeks to summarize and organize all these findings and present them in a way that is relevant to both motivation researchers and social and relationship researchers.

Positive Approaches to Optimal Relationship Development

Positive Approaches to Optimal Relationship Development
Author: C. Raymond Knee
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2016-04-08
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1316589250

How can we get the most out of our close relationships? Research in the area of personal relationships continues to grow, but most prior work has emphasized how to overcome negative aspects. This volume demonstrates that a good relationship is more than simply the absence of a bad relationship, and that establishing and maintaining optimal relationships entails enacting a set of processes that are distinct from merely avoiding negative or harmful behaviors. Drawing on recent relationship science to explore issues such as intimacy, attachment, passion, sacrifice, and compassionate goals, the essays in this volume emphasize the positive features that allow relationships to flourish. In doing so, they integrate several theoretical perspectives, concepts, and mechanisms that produce optimal relationships. The volume also includes a section on intensive and abbreviated interventions that have been empirically validated to be effective in promoting the positive features of close relationships.

The Science of the Couple

The Science of the Couple
Author: Lorne Campbell
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1136481176

Although love and relationships have been focal points for poets and philosophers for thousands of years, these topics had not traditionally been the focus of empirical research. As a result, very little was known about how couples maintained happiness and satisfaction in their relationships, or how relationships deteriorated, ultimately ending in separation or divorce. However, since the early 1980s, relationships research has blossomed as a field – and is now one of the most vibrant topics in social psychology and beyond. This volume brings together the latest research on couple functioning from the perspectives of social and personality psychology, neurobiology, health, and clinical psychology. Additionally, the research presented highlights the use of survey, experimental, implicit, and longitudinal methods, as well as specialized techniques employed in neuroscience, psychophysiology, and psychoneuroimmunology in the study of couple level processes. The underlying aim of this volume is to examine how these theories and methods converge to provide a deeper, holistic model of couples’ processes and functioning. With its state-of-the-art, integrative overview of this exciting discipline, The Science of the Couple is essential reading for social psychologists, clinicians, and anyone with an interest in the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.

Self-Determination Theory

Self-Determination Theory
Author: Richard Ryan
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 770
Release: 2018-11-06
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1462538967

"Among the most influential models in contemporary behavioral science, self-determination theory (SDT) offers a broad framework for understanding the factors that promote human motivation and psychological flourishing. In this authoritative work, SDT cofounders Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci systematically review the theory's conceptual underpinnings, empirical evidence base, and practical applications across the lifespan. Ryan and Deci demonstrate that supporting people's basic needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy is critically important for virtually all aspects of individual and societal functioning."--Jacket.

The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation, and Self-Determination Theory

The Oxford Handbook of Work Engagement, Motivation, and Self-Determination Theory
Author: Marylene Gagne PhD
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2014-06-09
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0199794987

Self-determination theory is a theory of human motivation that is being increasingly used by organizations to make strategic HR decisions and train managers. It argues for a focus on the quality of workers' motivation over quantity. Motivation that is based on meaning and interest is showed to be superior to motivation that is based on pressure and rewards. Work environments that make workers feel competent, autonomous, and related to others foster the right type of motivation, goals, and work values. The Oxford Handbook of Work Motivation, Engagement, and Self-Determination Theory aims to give current and future organizational researchers ideas for future research using self-determination theory as a framework, and to give practitioners ideas on how to adjust their programs and practices using self-determination theory principles. The book brings together self-determination theory experts and organizational psychology experts to talk about past and future applications of the theory to the field of organizational psychology. The book covers a wide range of topics, including: how to bring about commitment, engagement, and passion in the workplace; how to manage stress, health, emotions and violence at work; how to encourage safe and sustainable behavior in organizations; how factors like attachment styles, self-esteem, person-environment fit, job design, leadership, compensation, and training affect work motivation; and how work-related values and goals are forged by the work environment and affect work outcomes.

Relationship Maintenance

Relationship Maintenance
Author: Brian G. Ogolsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 415
Release: 2020
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1108419852

Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on behaviors and strategies used to maintain intimate relationships.

The Oxford Handbook of Close Relationships

The Oxford Handbook of Close Relationships
Author: Jeffry A. Simpson
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 866
Release: 2013-05-02
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 0195398696

This book provides an in-depth and comprehensive summary of the psychology of close relationships, and showcases classic and contemporary theories, models, and empirical research that have been conducted in the field.

The Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior

The Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior
Author: David A. Schroeder
Publisher:
Total Pages: 817
Release: 2015
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0195399811

The Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior provides a comprehensive review of the current literature on when and why people act to benefit others. It provides a comprehensive overview of the field to give both the casual reader and the neophyte to the field some perspective about fundamental questions (what, why, when, and who) relative to prosocial behavior. Taking a multi-level approach, the chapters represent the broad spectrum of this multi-faceted domain. Topics range from micro-level analyses involving evolutionary and comparative psychological factors to macro-level applications, such as reducing intergroup conflicts and ethnic genocide. Between these extremes, the contributors--all internationally recognized in their field--offer their perspectives on developmental processes that may predispose individuals to empathize with and respond to the needs of others, individual differences that seem to interact with situational demands to promote helping, and the underlying motivations of those helping others. They explain volunteerism, intragroup cooperation, and intergroup cooperation to move the analysis from the individual to group-level phenomena. They extend the consideration of this topic to include support of pro-environmental actions, means to encourage participation in medical clinical trials, and the promotion of world peace. The ways that gender, interpersonal relationships, race, and religion might affect decisions to give aid and support to others are also addressed. The final chapter offers a unique view of prosocial behavior that encourages researchers and readers to take an even broader consideration of the field to search for a prosocial consilience.

The Developmental Course of Romantic Relationships

The Developmental Course of Romantic Relationships
Author: Brian G. Ogolsky
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2013-07-18
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1134092547

Recipient of the 2014 International Association for Relationship Researchers Book Award! This multidisciplinary text highlights the development of romantic relationships, from initiation to commitment or demise, by highlighting the historical context, current research and theory, and diversity of patterns. Engagingly written with colorful examples, the authors examine the joy, stress, power-struggles, intimacy, and aggression that characterize these relationships. Readers gain a better understanding as to why, even after the pain and suffering associated with a breakup, most of us go right back out and start again. Relationships are examined through an interdisciplinary lens –psychological, sociological, environmental and communicative perspectives are all considered. End of chapter summaries, lists of key concepts, and additional readings serve as a review. As a whole the book explores what precipitates success or failure of these relationships and how this has changed over time. Highlights of the book’s coverage: Incorporates both cross-sex and same-sex romantic relationships Examines the roles of gender, race, class, culture, age, and sexuality in relationship development Looks at multiple types of romantic relationships in emerging adulthood, including dating and cohabitation Explores both positive and negative relational processes Analyzes the latest and most important scholarship. The book opens with an introduction followed by a historical overview of the development of relationships. Next relationship development models are examined including the influence of social factors and the interaction of the partners involved. This volume examines how partners initiate romantic relationships, including infatuation, sexual attraction, and the impact of technology; how cohabitation affects the quality of the future of the relationship; and the individual, social, and circumstantial factors that predict stability or break-ups in romantic relationships. The book ends with an examination of the “dark side” of relationships, and suggestions for future research on romantic pairings. Intended as a supplement for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in marriage and family, personal/close/intimate relationships, or interpersonal/family communication taught in human development and family studies, psychology, social work, sociology, communication, counseling and therapy, this book also appeals to researchers and practitioners interested in the romantic relationship processes.