the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
<noun.tops> we did not understand his motivation he acted with the best of motives
the condition of being motivated
<noun.state> his motivation was at a high level
the act of motivating; providing incentive
<noun.act>
Motivate \Mo"ti*vate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {-vated}; p. pr. & vb. n. {-vating}.] [From {Motive}, n.] To provide with a motive; to move; impel; induce; incite. -- {Mo`ti*va"tion}, n. --William James.
motivation \motivation\ n. 1. The act or process of motivating. [PJC]
2. The mental process that arouses an organism to action; as, a large part of a teacher's job is to give students the motivation to learn on their own.
Syn: motive, need. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]
3. The goal or mental image of a goal that creates a motivation[2]; as, the image of a peaceful world is a powerful motivation for only a rare few individuals. [PJC]
'It's motivation and experience, not just ability.
Today's growth management makes land more valuable by limiting development and provides no motivation for more efficient uses.
School administrators say they find nothing surprising in the similarity in costs, and they say there is a strong motivation to keep tuitions in line with schools with which they compete for students.
One motivation for using a bonus, rather than higher salaries, is to avoid disrupting the rest of the organization.
The military has complained for years about the declining quality of its recruits, particularly their lack of motivation and poor physical condition.
"The big motivation for me was the desire to be independent, to get up when you want, write what you want and work where you want," he said in a 1984 interview with The Associated Press.
Uncertainty centers around the future of Soviet change and motivation, including how Gorbachev handles the Lithuanian breakaway move, he said.
"Money is the motivation," said John Fernandes, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Booth, in more than five hours of testimony, said the plan was undertaken to increase worker motivation and that Polaroid had talked about an employee stock plan as long as 15 years ago.
"The prime motivation at the Fernald plant and other Department of Energy sites was production, and the environment either played no role at all in decisions, or at best a backup role," he said.
So the only way ahead may be to change your motivation to suit such opportunities as are available.
She said black families had to "make an investment of time, attention, and love" to their children to give them the motivation to become leaders.
One motivation for acting decisively was Bush's scheduled visit.
Woven into the story is the role of Dr. Leavy, a Hollywood psychotherapist and communist sympathizer whose motivation is critical to the film's denouement.
Politics is one motivation.
We have the motivation, we have our country, and we know where we are going." Most firearms are tightly controlled in the Soviet Union, so Gorbachev's directive primarily touched hunting weapons.
Your suspicion of other motivation is wholly unsupported by any evidence.
The change in Japan's investment motivation is especially striking considering how export-oriented the investments were previously.
That's an element among many elements." Rudman added Durenberger's motivation also could be considered in determining whether punishment should be applied.
"My motivation is to be on a one-and-one basis with my readers. To say, `Look, I'm old enough and wise enough to work in this area of human relationships.'
Later, the ministers were evasive about the motivation for the turnabout, although Mr. Nazer of Saudi Arabia said he was "satisfied" with the outcome.
"I don't believe there's any political motivation related to agriculural policies at all," he said.
Miners claimed throughout the strike that the motivation behind Pittston's original contract proposal was to eventually set up a non-union operation.
"Our whole team has great motivation to compete for our new country," says Uros Velepec, a Slovene biathlete.
According to a draft report by the internal team investigating Aircraft 934 (a portion of which Mr. Upton read aloud to a reporter), Mr. Warren's motivation techniques range from pillorying to springing for the pizza.
And even though early operating improvements can be achieved through heightened motivation and improved morale, substantive reorganization nearly always will be necessary.
It's just not done, says Warren Bennis, a professor at the University of Southern California and a leadership and motivation consultant, who believes Mr. Meyo's promise is "ridiculous."
Generally the motivation isn't for gain through blackmail, it's just anarchy,' says Mr Douglas.
Collins said one motivation for her research was being chased for long distances by hundreds of bees while studying them in Venezuela.
There, as elsewhere, the motivation is primarily economic.