Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. We are motivated in many different ways throughout our lifetime. Would you say that your motivational factors are different from situation to situation? That is, are you motivated by different things for school compared to work or some other activity (e.g. sports)? (150 words, 1 APA source)

1. Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. We are motivated in many different ways throughout our lifetime. Would you say that your motivational factors are different from situation to situation? That is, are you motivated by different things for school compared to work or some other activity (e.g. sports)? (150 words, 1 APA source)
2. The theory of Cognitive Dissonance is the idea that humans are often inconsistent in their thoughts, emotions and behavior, leading to an internal uncomfortable feeling. That uncomfortableness often motivates us to establish consistency, or balance, by altering our thoughts or our behaviors to create harmony within ourselves.
Example: I love to eat chocolate cake, but I know chocolate cake is bad for me.
This inconsistency (on one hand chocolate cake is good, and on the other it is bad) can cause an uncomfortable feeling in our brains, and in order to be able to be comfortable, or relief the uneasiness, I have to either change (1) my belief or (2) my behavior. I can either not eat the cake and eat a carrot instead (changing the behavior), or justify my eating the cake (a small piece will not hurt).
Typically, the change in attitude or belief will change, rather than an individuals behavior. Afterall, as humans we often take the easy way out and justify our actions rather than change them.
This sometimes occurs with our careers. We work at a job that doesnt pay well and it is a lousy job, but in order to allow ourselves relief from cognitive dissonance, we will justify it by saying it has good benefits or we really like the people we work with. It allows us to not change our behavior (i.e quit our job), but instead change our attitude about the job (Its not really so bad).
Smoking is also a good example of a bad habit. People will often justify their smoking because the knowledge that it is bad for them is not consistent with the behavior of smoking.
However, it is not always about changing your thinking to accommodate a behavior, although it is more common. Sometimes we change our behavior to accommodate the new thought process. For example, I think I am a conscientious person, however, one day it was pointed out to me that I do not recycle. This act very much conflicted with the person I thought I was, therefore, I changed my behavior and began recycling.
Can you give an example of experiencing cognitive dissonance in your own life? (150 words, 1 APA soucre)
3. Describe three of the five sources of motivation that stand out to you the most. Explain why you found these 3 more appealing than the others. How do the 3 sources of motivation play a role in your personal and professional life? (150 words, 1 APA source)

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