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Published on: March 19, 2014
The structure of human motivation
1Employee Benefit Research Institute, Washington, DC, 20024, USA. jdavid.pincus@leadingindicator.com.
Background:
A unified model of human motivation has been recently introduced that integrates all prior "mini-theories" of motivation into a single, symmetrical model based on first principles: four life domains crossed by three levels of attainment, resulting in 12 discrete motivations. Evidence from a series of studies using a novel image-based method is used to test structural hypotheses derived from a unified model of human motivation.
Method:
The studies employ large samples (810n to 986n) of working adults who conducted a time-constrained image-based exercise to measure the relative presence or absence of different emotional needs.
Results:
These studies provide support for the theoretical model, suggesting that there is substantial heuristic and practical value in a structured framework of motivating needs.
Conclusions:
Findings suggest that our theoretical model reflects deep interrelationships between discrete types of human motivation, and by linking specific measures to a comprehensive model of human motivation, researchers can have confidence that they have adequately measured the motivation construct.
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