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Achievement Motivation
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Achievement Motivation
A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements.
- Orison Swett Marden
Achievement motivation is the desire to achieve a standard of excellence, to do well for the sake of doing well rather than for extrinsic reward. It has been noticed by behavioral scientists that people have an intense desire to achieve something, while others may not seem that concerned about their achievement. It is also noticed that people with a high level of achievement motivation exhibit certain characteristics. Achievement motivation is the tendency to endeavor for success and to choose goal oriented success or failure activities.
Many people confuse achievement and power Perhaps the distinction can be highlighted by U.S. essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words: “Build a better mousetrap (achievement), and the world will beat a path to your door (power)”An achievement motivated person would be more concerned with mousetrap quality than with the world’s reaction, whereas a power – motivated person could devise many ways of drawing the world’s attention – including renting, buying or even capturing a better mousetrap.
Measuring Achievement Motivation
Achievement motivation is regarded as an essential factor for success, but its measurement gives rise to many uncertainties. A multi-method diagnostics may be useful in order to obtain more wide-range picture. motivation is usually measured by content analysis of spoken and written test; as no individual will be willing to disclose his or her motives. Assessors usually use interview exercise or role plays and sometimes both to measure achievement motivation. The Assessors make their evaluation on the basis of clearly defined behavioral characteristics, example of how much willingness to perform, initiative, commitment perseverance, persistence and stamina the candidates use to fulfill their task.
Achievement Motivation and Behavior
People scoring high in achievement motivation are drawn towards task-related incentives rather than the social incentives. They are restless and innovative, seeking and using new information and advice from experts. They learn from their previous performance—even their failures—and are not afraid to modify their behavior on the basis of results. They take moderate risks and they experience time as moving relatively fast. They behave modest and they have a very sober personal style. They strive for upward social mobility. For all these reasons achievement motivated people are successful businessmen – particularly in the area of sales or a head to start up company where innovation is the key mantra for success. Achievement motivation is usually unrelated to academic or scientific achievement or success in large bureaucratic organizations.
Stimulation Factors for Achievement Motivation
Some situational factors also affect achievement motivation. They include the expectation of success, incentives, control, and opportunity:
- Expectation of success: People are more likely to have a high expectation of success if they have feeling of self – efficacy, or confidence in their own ability to meet challenges effectively. People can acquire self – efficacy by dealing with difficulties and learning from mistakes. Having good role models and getting constructive feedback and encouragement also help to build self efficacy.
- Incentives: Incentives reward people for their competence and motivate them to achieve. However, incentives can also decrease people’s intrinsic motivation if people focus on getting incentives rather then doing tasks for their own sake.
- Control: People tend to have more motivation to achieve if they feel they have control over some aspects of their work.
- Opportunity: are motivated to achieve only when they have the opportunity to achieve.
The Power of Goals
Goals are most likely to increase motivation to achieve if they are specific, challenging but achievable, and positive:
- Goals should be specific: The more specific the goals, the more effective they are as motivators. For example, if someone is trying to get all his reading done for a final exam, a specific goal, such as I will finish one chapter each week, is more effective than a more diffuse goal, such as I will make sure I’ am ready for my final.
- Goals should be challenging but achievable: Goals have to be difficult enough to be challenging but easy enough to be reachable. For example, If someone has been struggling to maintain a C average in a class all semester, a goal such as I will make a B on the final exam will be more motivational than a goal such as I will get an A in this class.
- Goal should be positive: It is better for people to frame goals in terms of what they will do rather than in terms of what they will not do. For example, a goal such as I will study for an hour every weekday evening is likely to be more effective than a goal such as I will not go out on weekday evenings.
The word Achievement is a broad one, with many meanings. Achievement motivation, however, is related to only specific kinds of achievement; it drives highly successful economic leadership in entrepreneurial settings. People who have a high achievement motivation tend to be persistent and hardworking. They are able to delay gratification to meet long-term goals, and they tend to choose careers that allow them to compete with others.
Achievement motivation not only improves a person’s performance but also helps in achievement of short term objectives and long term goals. The organization, which encourages people to have achievement motivation, is a successful organization and is always on the growth path.
An achievement is bondage. It obliges one to a higher achievement.
- Albert Camus
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