Abstract
Ritchar Boyatzis defined competencies as a set of behaviors organized around an underlying construct called intention (Boyatzis. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective 15(2):91–100, 2011). This intention, this desire, significantly and consistently influences behavior (Hogan and Shelton. Human Performance 11(2):129–144, 1998).
As Gagné (High Ability Studies 21(2):81–99, 2010) points out, the goals that people set themselves indicate what they want to achieve. Most of the research in this field has followed this author along with the objectives and has focused on the motives, the intention, conscious or not, that justifies the choice of a certain goal.
Human motives are associated with interests, desires, passions, needs, values, willpower, determination, perseverance, intrinsic, extrinsic, or prosocial motivation, among many others. Juan Antonio Pérez López (Pérez López) distinguishes between motives—intention and motivation—the impulse required to achieve the motives—and the influence that each of the motives exerts in the formation of that impulse.
Faced with an isolated and static conception, Pérez López provides a dynamic explanation between the motives and the conditions necessary for their transformation into an “internal force” that leads to decision making. This chapter aims to show the interrelation and dynamism of the motives in people’s behavior and the value of training in order to learn to evaluate “a priori” the consequences of the actions themselves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Discussing ethics without mentioning moral virtues is like discussing mechanics without mentioning gravitation. A poetic discourse will be made, but nothing resembling a rigorous analysis. In the specific case of ethics, that omission is especially serious and has dire consequences. It implies a discourse—a way of reasoning—that not only ignores ethical realities, but supplants them using pseudo-ethical, pseudo-humanist categories, which are the opposite of true humanism.
- 2.
A more detailed development of this issue can be found at: López-Jurado, M. and K. Sowon, “Moral learning and the good life,” Spanish Journal of Pedagogy, LXXI (255) (May-August 2013), pp. 327–341.
References
Alderfer, C. P. (1972). Existence, relatedness, and growth: Human needs in organizational settings. Conflict, and strain. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 4(1), 72–77.
Ariño, M. Á. (2005). Toma de decisiones y gobierno de organizaciones. Bilbao: Ediciones Deusto.
Avolio, B., & Locke, E. (2002). Contrasting different philosophies of leader motivation. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(2), 169–191.
Barney, J. (1995). Looking inside for competitive advantage. Academy of Management Perspectives, 9(4), 49–61.
Batson, C. (1990). How social an animal? The human capacity for caring. American Psychologist, 45(3), 336–346.
Boudreau, J., & Ramstad, P. (2005). Talentship, talent segmentation, and sustainability: A new HR decision science paradigm for a new strategy definition. Human Resource Management, 44(2), 129–136.
Boyatzis, R. (2011). Managerial and leadership competencies. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 15(2), 91–100.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Cialdini, R., Schaller, M., Houlihan, D., Arps, K., Fultz, J., & Beaman, A. (1987). Empathy-based helping: Is it selflessly or selfishly motivated? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(4), 749–758.
Ciulla, J. (2004). Ethics and leadership effectiveness. In J. Antonakis, A. T. Cianciolo, & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The nature of leadership (pp. 302–327). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Covey, S. (1992). The 7 habits of highly effective people. London: Simon & Schuster.
Cox, W. M., & Klinger, E. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of motivational counseling: Concepts, approaches, and assessment. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Davis, W. A. (1984). The two senses of desire. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, 45(2), 181–195.
Eisenberg, N., & Miller, P. (1987). The relation of empathy to prosocial and related behaviors. Psychological Bulletin, 101(1), 91–119.
Fazio, R. H. (1995). Attitudes as object-evaluation associations: Determinants, consequences, and correlates of attitude accessibility. Attitude strength: Antecedents and consequences, 4, 247–282.
Grant, A. M. (2007). Relational job design and the motivation to make a prosocial difference. Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 393–417.
Grant, A. (2008). Does intrinsic motivation fuel the prosocial fire? Motivational synergy in predicting persistence, performance, and productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(1), 48–58.
Haidt, J. (2007). The new synthesis in moral psychology. Science, 316(5827), 998–1002.
Herzberg, F. I. (1966). Work and nature of man. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell.
Kruglanski, A. W., Shah, J. Y., Fishbach, A., Friedman, R., Chun, W. Y., & SleethKeppler, D. (2002). A theory of goal systems. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 331–378). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Loewenstein, G., & Small, D. (2007). The scarecrow and the tin man: The vicissitudes of human sympathy and caring. Review of General Psychology, 11(2), 112–126.
Malle, B. F., & Knobe, J. (2001). The distinction between desire and intention: A folk-conceptual analysis. Intentions and intentionality: Foundations of social cognition, 45, 67.
Maslow, A. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.
McClelland, D. C. (1971). Assessing human motivation. New York: General Learning Press.
McClelland, D. C. (1985). How motives, skills, and values determine what people do. American Psychologist, 40(7), 812–825.
McGregor, D., & Cutcher-Gershenfeld, J. (1960). The human side of enterprise (Vol. 21, pp. 166–171). New York: McGraw-Hill.
McNeely, B., & Meglino, B. (1994). The role of dispositional and situational antecedents in prosocial organizational behavior: An examination of the intended beneficiaries of prosocial behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 79(6), 836–844.
Meglino, B., & Korsgaard, A. (2004). Considering rational self-interest as a disposition: Organizational implications of other orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(6), 946–959.
Penner, L. A., Midili, A. R., & Kegelmeyer, J. (1997). Beyond job attitudes: A personality and social psychology perspective on the causes of organizational citizenship behavior. Human Performance, 10(2), 111–131.
Pérez López, J. A. (1993). Fundamentos de la dirección de empresas. Madrid: Ediciones Rialp.
Pérez López, J. A. (1998). Liderazgo y ética en la dirección de empresas. Bilbao: Deusto.
Perugini, M., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2004). The distinction between desires and intentions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34(1), 69–84.
Rioux, S., & Penner, L. (2001). The causes of organizational citizenship behavior: A motivational analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(6), 1306–1314.
Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jiménez-Hijes López, E. (2020). The Ethical Value of Motivation as an Operative Desire. In: Bosch, M. (eds) Desire and Human Flourishing. Positive Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47001-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47001-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-47000-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-47001-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)