Slides prepared for my UHS 2062 UTM (Skudai, Malaysia ) students based on the references given. These are just guides to initiate further readings.

1. UHS 2062 LECTURES at UTM Skudai.
Prepared by Siti Rokiah Siwok, August 2009
srsiwok@gmail.com

2. Motivation and Work
 IO psychologists generally define work motivation as
the internal force that drives a worker to action , as
well as the external factors that encourage the actions.
 Ability and skill determine the employee can do the
job.
 Motivation determines whether the employee will
do the job properly.
 Generally psychologist agree that increased employee
motivation results in increased job performance.

3. Theory X and Theory Y
 In his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise,
Douglas McGregor proposed two theories by which to
view employee motivation.
 He avoided descriptive labels and simply called the
theories Theory X and Theory Y.

4. Theory X
 People cannot be trusted, they are irrational ,
unreliable and inherently lazy.
 Therefore people need to be controlled and motivated
using financial incentives, threats and punishment.
 In the absence of such controls, people will pursue
their own goals , which will be in conflict with those
of their work organisation.

5. Theory Y
 People seek independence, self-development and
creativity in their work.
 People can see further than their immediate
circumstances and are able to adapt to new ones.
 They are moral and responsible beings, who, if treated
as such, will strive for good of their organisation.

6. Needs, values and wants
 Work motivation and job satisfaction are also
determined by the discrepancy between what we want,
value and expect, and what actually the job provides.
 Three theories focus on employees’ needs and values:
Maslow’s needs hierarchy, ERG theory and two-factor
theory.

7. Needs Theories
 Need theories are based on the idea that there are
psychological needs, that lie behind human
behaviour.
 When our needs are unmet we experience tension or
disequilibrium which we try to put right; which means
we behave in ways that satisfy our needs.

8. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

9. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Hierarchical , meaning that the lower-level needs
have to be satisfied before one is concerned with the
next level (like the staircase).
 Each level is taken a step at a time and thus the higher
level need cannot be reached until the lower- level
need is satisfied

10. Humanistic perspective
 The humanistic perspective emphasis free will , the ability
to make choices and come to decisions in their lives
(Feldman, 2006).
 Carl Rogers, a major proponent of the humanistic
perspective, suggests that all people have a need for
positive regard, results from the undelying need to be loved
and respect.
 Maslow suggest s that self actualization is the primary goal
in life.
 Self actualization is a state of self fulfillment in which
people achieve their highest potential in their own unique
way (Feldman, 2006).

11. Evaluation of Maslow’s Theory
 “Maslow’ theory is popular and stood the test of time,
but not very much supported by research.
 The biggest “problem” with regards to the levels.
…need there be five? Or two or three enough?
 There are people who skip levels .
 What about overlapping of levels?

12. ERG Theory
 To address the limitation of Maslow’s Theory, ,
Clayton Alderfer proposed the ERG theory, which like
Maslow's theory, describes needs as a hierarchy.
 The letters ERG stand for three levels of needs:
Existence, Relatedness, and Growth.
 The ERG theory is based on the work of Maslow, so it
has much in common with it but also differs in some
important aspects.
 Other research supports the number of levels as
proposed by Alderfer

13. ERG Theory
 According to this theory, people can skip levels.
 ERG theory also explains why a higher-level need
sometimes do not become more important once a
lower-level need has been satisfied. There are other
factors.
 Overlapping of levels has been addressed by reducing
the number of levels to three

14. Two-factor theory
 Two-factor theory was proposed by Herzberg (1966),
in which job related factors are divided into two
categories: hygiene factors and motivators.
 Hygiene factors are those job-related elements that
related from, but not involving the job itself.
Examples :
 pay and benefits
 making friends
(These are results of the work, but do not involve the work
itself)

15. Two-factor theory
 Motivators are the job elements that concern the
actual task and duties.
 For employees to have motivation and satisfaction,
both hygiene factors and motivators must be present.
 This theory make sense but has not receive research
support.
 The theory is being critised because of the methods to
develop the two factors

16. Two-factor theory
Hygiene factors Motivators
 Pay
 Security
 Co workers
 Working conditions
 Company policy
 Work schedule
 Supervisors
 Responsibilities
 Growth
 Challenge
 Stimulation
 Independence
 Variety
 control

17. Comparison of Theories
Maslow ERG Herzberg
Self -actualization Growth Motivators
Self-esteem
Belonging and love
(social)
Relatedness Hygiene factors
Safety Existence
Physiological needs

18. References:
 Aamodt, M.G (2007). Industrial /organizational
psychology. An applied approach. Belmont, CA: Thomson
 Arnold, J ( 2005). Work Psychology. Understanding
Human Behaviour in the Workplace (4th ed). England :
Pearson Education Ltd.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivation
 http://www.wadsworth.com/cgi-
wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid
 http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/
 Feldman, R. S. (2006) Development across the lifespan.
(4th ed). New Jersey: Pearson Education.