Motivation is the reason humans and other animals initiate, continue, or end behavior at a given time. Motivational states are generally understood to be forces operating within agents that create the dispositions to engage in goal-directed behavior. It is often thought that different mental states compete with each other and that only the strongest states determine behavior. This means that we can be motivated to do something without actually doing it. The paradigmatic mental state that provides motivation is desire. But various other circumstances, such as beliefs about what one should do or one's intentions, can also provide motivation. Motivation comes from the word 'motive', which denotes a person's need, desire, desire, or drive. It is the process of motivating individuals to take action to achieve a goal. Psychological elements that trigger people's behavior in the context of work goals may include the desire for money.


Various competing theories have been proposed regarding the content of motivational states. They are known as content theories and aim to describe what goals usually or always motivate people. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and ERG theory, for example, posit that humans have specific needs, which are responsible for motivation. Some of these needs, such as food and water, are more basic than others, such as respect from others. According to this view, higher needs can only provide motivation after lower needs have been satisfied. Behaviorist theories try to explain behavior solely in terms of the relationship between observable external situations and behavior without explicit reference to conscious mental states.


Motivation can be either intrinsic, if the activity is desirable because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable, or extrinsic, if the agent's goal is an external reward that is different from the activity itself. It has been argued that intrinsic motivation has more fruitful results than extrinsic motivation. Motivational states can also be categorized according to whether or not the agent is fully aware of why he is acting the way he does, referred to as conscious and unconscious motivation. Motivation is closely related to practical rationality. The central idea in this field is that we must be motivated to take an action if we believe that we must do it. Failing to meet this requirement results in a case of irrationality, known as akrasia or weakness of the will, where there is a discrepancy between our beliefs about what we should do and our actions.


Research on motivation has been conducted in various fields. In business, a central question concerns work motivation, for example, what actions an employer can take to ensure their employees are motivated. Motivation is also of particular interest to educational psychologists because of its very important role in student learning. Special interest has been given to the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in this area.


The above material was delivered by a presenter from Ukraine in a visiting lecturer held by STEKOM University in collaboration with Universities from Ukraine. The title of the presentation is "Learning Skills in 21st Century Education and Work Environment".


This international webinar activity is part of the implementation of STEKOM University's commitment to increase various international activities. This was done in order to realize the vision to become an international-class university. Various international activities carried out by STEKOM University continue from year to year. There are international activities that are sustainable and there are also some international activities that are not sustainable. All types of international activities are accommodated and regulated by the International department of STEKOM University.