Motivational Principles

To understand and apply motivational principles related to extrinsic and intrinsic styles, I will be creating a hypothetical situation involving myself as the leader of a local volunteer group, and two possible volunteers. The first volunteer “Sarah”, is a third year art student whose goal is to teach art to children. She expressed her excitement in wanting to bring more creativity, playfulness and joy into her students’ lives. She has some time off and is considering how to get work experience in her field but doesn’t know where to start. From this information, one can determine that Sarah values art in the development of human lives. In this way, she would be intrinsically motivated to do participate in an activity promoting these interests and values. The second volunteer “Adam”, has recently decided to take a year off from college in order to find out what he wants to do. He is living at home so he wants to spend his extra time exploring different avenues of interest as well as avoid feeling that he’s wasting time. He expressed interest in medical professions as well as holds a high moral value in those who help people in need. Adam has somewhat external motivations and a somewhat introjected regulatory level in reference to volunteering.

I am in the position of encouraging their engagement in volunteer work. There are many ways to volunteer and thus my responsibility is to match them to an appropriate location in order to retain their participation. For Sarah, she has already indicated her psychological satisfaction in creating art and encouraging child development, but she is not obligated to volunteer. For that reason, I should utilize her interests by internalizing her perceived locus of causality in accordance with her volunteering status. She has already displayed competence and satisfaction with art and working with children. Subsequently, when offered a volunteer position in an interactive art class taught to mentally disabled teens and adults, if presented in the correct way, would be an excellent avenue for developing her inherent capabilities and aspirations. An informational approach would be central in presentation. The importance can be conveyed by explaining how the recent cut backs in art programs, especially for underprivileged adults suffering from developmental disabilities, have affected these institutions. By then identifying the significant progress that the art programs have had on their mental age as well as the excitement the consumers express during these programs, we will have presented this activity as rewarding in itself, aligning with her internalized interests. It would also be beneficial to reference the possibilities that come along with the position. For example, better experience in a field closely related to her field of study, as well as hands on experience aiding in the development of people in need while also using her passion for art.

Adam’s motivations are a little bit more complicated. He seems to mainly be motivated toward volunteering in order to avoid the guilt about taking time away from school. Nevertheless, there are just as practical ways to motivate his actions toward a related volunteer position. If done appropriately it may even lead to a more internalized engagement, but first things first. Considering his expressed interests that he is trying to ascertain possible career avenues, it would be best to first promote and support his autonomy. I would want to create a list of medical and advertising related positions available. Each including a description, future job experience the work would expose him to, and show the flexibility of hours across the different volunteer positons. This will inform him of his options in a way that will promote his perceived locus of causality into one that may be slightly more internal. This is possible because we’re using his desire to explore his interests as well as giving the opportunity to ease his guilt by presenting the diverse time slots. I asserted that this would relieve his guilt because most who take time off school not only want to explore their options but want to save money. This would allow him to maintain a part-time employment as well as feel he is exploring his future interests. It would also be very advantageous to allow him to alternate positions throughout the week or month. Although there would be some kind of structure on when and where, this would allow him to try numerous opportunities until (or if) he finds a particular avenue that excites and/or engages his interest.

These motivational strategies are just that, strategies. All I can do is organize the information and content in a way that is most likely to develop their actions in the direction that will fulfill my goal in finding volunteers. In the end, it is very possible that neither will be fully convinced and both may pick a different approach in order to fulfill their needs. Despite that possibility, by presenting them with answers of ‘why would I do this?’ in accordance with their already present motivational state as well as interests, I can competently motivate them into adopting their own construal, positively applied to their engaged volunteer work.