MGMT1003 Chap.2 Needs, Self-Determination and Two-Factor Theory
Needs, Self-Determination and Two-Factor Theory
Three content theories
This chapter covers the theories that ask what people want from work. Maslow orders five needs by priority; the research keeps the list but not the strict order.
Self-determination theory separates intrinsic from extrinsic motivation and names autonomy, competence and relatedness as the needs that sustain the first.
One scale or two
Herzberg argues that the opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction, so fixing pay and conditions stops complaints without motivating anyone.
The chapter shows how to combine Maslow and Herzberg in one applied answer and why Herzberg's method is contested.
How this chapter is examined
Expect classification items, such as whether recognition is a motivator or whether safety sits above belongingness, and conditions items on when a reward undermines interest.
Applied questions usually describe staff who stay despite poor pay, or leave despite good pay, and ask you to explain the pattern. Using two theories together, one to name the need and one to say which scale it moves, shows breadth that a single label cannot.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Maslow's five needs and prepotency
- 02
What the evidence supports in the hierarchy
- 03
Intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation
- 04
Autonomy, competence and relatedness
- 05
The undermining effect of expected tangible rewards
- 06
Motivators versus hygiene factors
- 07
Critiques of Herzberg's method
Worked example · free
Place job features on Herzberg's two separate scales
- 1Air-conditioning is a working condition, a hygiene factor: it can move nurses from dissatisfaction to no dissatisfaction.
- 1A promotion path tied to leading projects offers advancement and responsibility, motivators that can create satisfaction.
- 1A rostering policy is company policy and administration, another hygiene factor, so it removes complaints without adding satisfaction.
Key terms
- Prepotency
- Maslow's idea that an active need dominates attention until it is reasonably satisfied.
- Intrinsic Motivation
- Motivation in which the satisfaction lies in doing the task itself, such as interest or the pleasure of improving.
- Undermining Effect
- The finding that expected tangible rewards contingent on doing a task reduce intrinsic interest in it.
- Motivators
- Herzberg's work factors, such as achievement and recognition, that can create satisfaction when present.
- Hygiene Factors
- Herzberg's context factors, such as pay and supervision, that prevent dissatisfaction but do not create satisfaction.
- Extrinsic Motivation
- Motivation driven by a consequence that someone else provides and that is separate from the task, such as pay, grades or promotion.
Needs, Self-Determination and Two-Factor Theory FAQ
Is Maslow's hierarchy still accepted?
Partly. A review by Wahba and Bridwell found little support for the fixed order or for one need activating the next. A study across 123 countries found the five needs do predict wellbeing, but people meet them in no fixed sequence. The lecture advice is to use the needs as a checklist rather than a staircase.
Does praise undermine intrinsic motivation the way money can?
No. The meta-analysis of 128 experiments cited in the lecture found that expected, contingent, tangible rewards reduce intrinsic interest, while verbal praise does not and often raises it. The framing of the reward matters more than whether there is one.
Why is pay a hygiene factor rather than a motivator?
Herzberg found pay belongs to the context of the job. Inadequate pay causes complaint, and adequate pay removes it, but pay alone does not create satisfaction. Satisfaction comes from the work itself: achievement, recognition, responsibility and growth. The lecture notes the split may partly reflect how Herzberg collected his data.
What is the main criticism of Herzberg's research method?
His interviews asked people to recall unusually good and bad moments at work. People tend to credit good outcomes to themselves and blame bad ones on pay, policy or the boss, so the neat split between motivators and hygiene factors may partly reflect how people tell stories rather than how work affects them.
Exam move
Draw the two Herzberg bars and the five Maslow tiers from memory, then classify ten job features you know from part-time work. For self-determination theory, learn the three needs with one workplace example each, and the conditions under which a reward undermines interest: expected, contingent and tangible.
As a last step, write one sentence explaining why praise and a promised cash bonus can have opposite effects on interest, naming the three conditions that make a reward risky.
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