Wade and Tavris Essay Example

improving motivation but they have to be pegged on certain conditions.The two argue that in order for the goals to improve motivation then some of the characteristics that they have to posses is that they should be specific, challengeable but achievable and framed in such a way that what is being wanted supersedes what is unwanted. Wade and Tavris go further to describe types of goals which are performance and mastery (learning) goals.

The two describe performance goals as those that are framed in such a way that an individual has enhanced performance in front of others and thus is judged favorably with little or no criticism being directed in his direction.Masterly (learning goals) on the other hand are framed in such a way that the individual works towards increasing his competence and skills. With these the two authors suggest that an individual’s main motivation will be to perform well in front of others or learning the skill for the satisfaction of it. The two renowned personalities tend to argue that praise may not be a motivation and they show this by giving an example of how a child may loose the pleasure or motivation of learning if the child is being praised for being smart.

Motivation is regarded as one of the powerful tools that has the capability of enhancing performance and when the right form of motivation is found then the individual will achieve higher. Self efficacy which is an individuals belief that he they are capable of attaining goals, being efficient and learning new skills is one of the best motivations that an individual can have (Bandura, 1997). However the motivation will only work

when the goals that are desired are achievable and thus the expectation that is pegged to the motivation should coincide with the attainability of the goal.