82 Motvational Theories-Gassic Approaches 307 completely satisfy this need.Instead,the individual would always be seeking to grow and develop.Some examples of fully self-actualized individuals might be Martin Luther King.Jr.Gandhi,or Mother Theresa(although even they might have claimed that they were not finished 'growing"). In Maslow's theory,individuals would be motivated to fulfill the most basic set of unful. filled needs Thus,if an individual's physlological and security needs were fulfilled,then the individual would expend energy attempting to fulfill the love needs.When the love needs were met,the individual would be motivated by circumstances that would satisfy the esteem needs,and so on.Should a lower-level need that had once been satisfied reemerge (eg,a life-threatening illness occurs to a formerly healthy person).the person would immediately revert to actions that might satisfy that now-unsatisfied lower-level need. Maslow's model fits the person-as-machine metaphor quite well The behavior of the individual is unconscious and automatic.The individual will respond to whatever satisfies the lowest unfulfilled need.In addition,as Maslow proposes that all individuals operate in the same manner.the theory is universal.Even though Maslow's theory is seldom explicitly invoked by organizations today,the adoption of a benefits/rewards menu orcafeteria"plan (in which employees can choose a subset of benefits from a larger"menu")in many organi. zations indicates that Maslow's theory has had some influence on modern organizational practices.In these plans,workers are allowed to choose among alternative rewards and e-lacter theory benefits packages,which can address multiple needs. 个ed与t d特dhee mt样山o保轮的 Variations on Maslow's Theory 试n9时等 d城与w Since Maslow's five-factor need theory was introduced.psychologists have suggested a 制e much hieratd向 number of modifications.The most enduring and well known was proposed by Herzberg ananged as mdependent of and was called the two-factor theory.Herzberg(1966)suggested that there were really two basic needs,not five,and that they were not so much hierarchically arranged as indepen- 与e meeds Lower dent of each other.These two needs were called hygiene needs (Maslow's physical and lel needs deonbed n security needs)and motivator needs (Maslow's social,esteem,and actualization needs). Herabergstwe-tacer thes的 Herzberg believed that meeting hygiene needs would eliminate dissatisfaction but would ht网p not result in motivated behavior or a state of positive satisfaction.In contrast,meeting merting these needs would nnat女tomh motivator needs would result in the expenditure of effort as well as positive satisfaction. a刻n以wA■cHe Although Herzberg's theory generated considerably more research than the 'parent"theory na制面界 of Maslow,the support for his theory was as disappointing as it had been for Maslow's.As 女taaa with Maslow's theory.it was also difficult to determine exactly what Herzberg's theory ate地中好 might predict(King.1970).We mention these two theories-Maslow's and Herzberg's- lnl needs drsgbedm only as historical markers of the person-as-machine era.Neither theory has received much 士w中nu research or practical attention in several decades.Today's theorists and practitioners have little enthusiasm for approaches that do not allow for the concepts ofexpectancy,evaluation. th mertng suh needs 来树e能关e or judgment on the part of the individual. dn春超 vdacbon An External Mechanical Theory:Reinforcement Theory heery that propoves that Approximately 60 years ago,a young psychologist working on problems of animal behator drpends on three learning discovered that the manner by which rewards were connected to behavior could nhnn电ta have a dramatic effect on animal performance.The psychologist was B.F.Skinner,now considered the father of modern behaviorism.In its simplest form.behaviorism (or reinforcement theory)proposes that behavior depends on three simple elements: stimulus,response,and reward.It does not matter whether the behavior being observed is that of a white rat in an experimental cage,a child learning how to use a knife and 青物a特春h制 fork,or a worker faced with a production challenge.The mechanical proposition of
0 Chapter 8 The Motivation to Work behaviorism is that if a response in the presence ofa particular stimulus is rewarded (i.e. reinforced).that response is likely to occur again in the presence of that stimulus. Consider,for example,a monetary bonus as a reward in a work setting.If a worker produces at a particular level and receives a bonus for that performance,reinforcement theory predicts that the worker is more likely to achieve that level of performance again in the future. When a reward depends on a response,it is called a contingent reward (ie.,the reward a时td仙0aen卷 is contingent on the response).Contingent reward or reinforcement is a central proposition of the behaviorist approach.A second important proposition has to do with the schedule of reward or reinforcement.Rewards can be given continuously (every time a correct response Intermittentreward A occurs.a reward is presented)or intermittently (only a portion of correct responses are 2a时试sgv的加向 rewarded).Ferster and Skinner(1957)discovered that intermittent rewards actually pro- duced higher levels of performance than continuous rewards. These two principles-contingent reinforcement and differing schedules of reinforce- ment-have been applied frequently in work settings:examples include piecework payment in manufacturing.year-end performance bonuses,sales commissions,and the like.We will present an example of this application in the last module of this chapter. Although the results of experiments using contingent reinforcement-whether in the classroom,the nucear family,or the workplace-can be impressive,there are many problems associated with such an approach to the concept of motivation.First,the approach is impractical.There are few jobs or tasks that can be neatly enough com- partmentalized to make it clear exactly how much reinforcement should be given and how often.Single-contributor jobs are rapidly giving way to team and group work.In addition.we cannot observe some of the most important behaviors that occur in the workplace because they are not simple physical actions but complex cognitive proce. sses.If we observed a technician troubleshooting a piece of electronic equipment,the behavior we observed would be looking at the equipment,referring to a manual,and occasionally activating the equipment,but when the equipment was finally fixed.we would recognize that it was fixed as a result of some behavior we could not observe: gathering information.thinking.and hypothesis testing.Finally,the principle of contingent reinforcement requires careful observation of the behavior of the worker,an additional and time- consuming task for a supervisor.More importantly,however,the approach has no role for any cognitive activity.As we indicated in Module 8.1.behaviorism. like other person-as-machine theories, cannot account for expectancies,the effects of goals,or even the simplest of intentions on the part of the worker. Locke (1980)presented an excellent critical review of the strengths and shortcomings of behaviorism as a theory of motivation.We are not arguing that Pulling alever is not an intrinsically interesting task,but people will do it repeatedy if reinforcement theory is "wrong"or they believe it yields generous rewards onan unpredictable timetable. ineffective.Nevertheless,as a complete theory of work motivation,behaviorism falls short.as do other person-as-machine approaches that fail to acknowledge higher mental activities such as reasoning and judgment.See Box 8.2 for an example of an ill. advised use of behaviorism