5 ms·

isn't this "third motivation" simply fear that if they don't perform they will be fired and their family would suffer from it?

zzalpha 9y ago
Or, this "third motivation" is the desire to succeed so the family can thrive as a consequence of that success. Sort of a half-full/half-empty kind of thing, really. I suspect the perspective you cleave to is a product of your personal outlook.
jimmywanger 9y ago
Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's the feeling that you can't make your family/race/school/tribe look bad by not working hard. e.g. "If I slack off on this job, they will think everybody who graduated from Stanford is a lazy unprofessional bum." or "My parents raised me to be a better worker than this."
- dacracot 9y ago
  That's fear too. Fear of looking bad to your peer groups.
  - dpark 9y ago
    Fear of looking bad is a far different thing than fear of unemployment, though.
  - jimmywanger 9y ago
    No, it's pride. Wanting to not look bad to your peers (who aren't part of your tribe) because it reflects poorly on your tribe is pride. "If I'm lazy, people will think all Mexicans are lazy." is not a fear motivator. It's motivated by pride and a sense of internal self worth.
dacracot 9y ago
I agree. The article puts "extrinsic factors (like the chance to earn a big bonus) or intrinsic factors (like personal fulfillment)" as the primary factors. The "third" motivation, and I'd say likely the most common, is "fear". Even if the fear is that your children will suffer the same servitude that you are experiencing.
pxnii 9y ago
I think the point is doing the job makes you feel valuable/appropriated by someone you care about (family in this case). Just like personal fulfillment, in that case, yourself.
- dacracot 9y ago
  I think the different perspectives on this would line up with the personality testing from C. Jung. (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp)
jhou2 9y ago
That may be the case for some, but for some others I've met in similar situations in developing countries, they were happy and felt proud to be supporting their families. I didn't feel like their primary motivation was fear. Not everyone is so complex or pessimistic.
- goshx 9y ago
  Yes. To me it was about the challenge itself and the "I can do it" motivator.
Dove 9y ago
No. It is the pride of independence. I can provide, rather than being a dependent. It is literally being the one who has the power to make your family's life better, rather than being one of the powerless. Being able to provide your daughter with a better school, your mother with better health care, your family with a better place to live, feels to some the way "changing the world" feels to others.

zzalpha 9y ago

Or, this "third motivation" is the desire to succeed so the family can thrive as a consequence of that success. Sort of a half-full/half-empty kind of thing, really. I suspect the perspective you cleave to is a product of your personal outlook.

jimmywanger 9y ago

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it's the feeling that you can't make your family/race/school/tribe look bad by not working hard. e.g. "If I slack off on this job, they will think everybody who graduated from Stanford is a lazy unprofessional bum." or "My parents raised me to be a better worker than this."

dacracot 9y ago
That's fear too. Fear of looking bad to your peer groups.
- dpark 9y ago
  Fear of looking bad is a far different thing than fear of unemployment, though.
- jimmywanger 9y ago
  No, it's pride. Wanting to not look bad to your peers (who aren't part of your tribe) because it reflects poorly on your tribe is pride. "If I'm lazy, people will think all Mexicans are lazy." is not a fear motivator. It's motivated by pride and a sense of internal self worth.

dacracot 9y ago

I agree. The article puts "extrinsic factors (like the chance to earn a big bonus) or intrinsic factors (like personal fulfillment)" as the primary factors. The "third" motivation, and I'd say likely the most common, is "fear". Even if the fear is that your children will suffer the same servitude that you are experiencing.

pxnii 9y ago

I think the point is doing the job makes you feel valuable/appropriated by someone you care about (family in this case). Just like personal fulfillment, in that case, yourself.

dacracot 9y ago
I think the different perspectives on this would line up with the personality testing from C. Jung. (http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp)

jhou2 9y ago

That may be the case for some, but for some others I've met in similar situations in developing countries, they were happy and felt proud to be supporting their families. I didn't feel like their primary motivation was fear. Not everyone is so complex or pessimistic.

goshx 9y ago
Yes. To me it was about the challenge itself and the "I can do it" motivator.

Dove 9y ago

No. It is the pride of independence. I can provide, rather than being a dependent. It is literally being the one who has the power to make your family's life better, rather than being one of the powerless. Being able to provide your daughter with a better school, your mother with better health care, your family with a better place to live, feels to some the way "changing the world" feels to others.