Motivation itself has a full on connection to why ballet
dancers keep on dancing. They are always willing to go through and face the
pressures of the industry because they have goals or dreams to conquer that are
more important than dealing with the hardships.
This fantastic
source of literature gives an in depth
explanation on all the different types of the unconscious and conscious motivations.
Here I have typed out some of my own notes and pointers, exploring the
relations of these theories in ballet dancers.
Intrinsic motivation-
Driven by interest and enjoyment of task itself, ‘exists within individual’
(own accord/choice)
Þ
Dancers express feelings from within
Extrinsic motivation-
comes from outside the individual, when you perform an activity in order to
gain an outcome
Þ
Can lead to over-justification and reduction of
interest in intrinsic motivations/desirability within
Þ
However with some extrinsic boundaries, can
enhance the desirability of activity
*More rewarding for themselves
to dance?
*Do the extrinsic benefits,
motives contribute them to keep going?
Push Factors - Connected
with internal forces (e.g. need for something)
-Stimulated by external and situational aspects of motivation
Pull Factors - External factors that create
desirability for that activity/goal
°As several motives can occur at the same time, you can’t
assume that only one motive drives an individual to perform an action
How does this all connect to professional ballet?
·
Dancers feel the
internal forces, and need/desire to dance (intrinsic and/or push)
o Feeling ‘whole,’ express feelings, creativity, enjoyment,
food for the soul, passion and love for it, adrenalin, and emotions to express
·
Extrinsic/pull
factors are included too
o Job, keeps body fit, pays salary, fame, competition,
promotion, and certain roles, music?
*What is a more effective type
of motivation? Intrinsic or extrinsic? Push or pull factors?
*Is a balance between the two
involved, to keep dancers going?
Drive or Desire
“A deficiency or need
that activated behaviour that is aimed at a goal or an incentive.”
(Drive-Dictionary.com)
A drive/desire originates from an individual’s feelings and
doesn’t require external incentives to stimulate their behaviour.
*Relation:
-
When not dancing, an
inner desire is established to want to dance (Injury, on holiday etc.)
-
Deficient in a
certain move, e.g. if challenging, the dancer will act upon it and be motivated
to practice?
Another perspective-
Drive-reduction theory:
Where strength of drive increases if it is not satisfied,
and once satisfied there is less of a desire to perform that
activity/behaviour.
E.g. after dancing you become
tired- After a long day of dancing generally you feel satisfied, which leads on
a desire to rest afterwards because that is what you lack at that point in
time…
Incentive theory
When a reward is presented after an action/behaviour has
happened, with the intention for it to occur again
Þ
Positive meaning to the behaviour
Þ
More immediate the reward, greater the effect
Þ
Repetitive reward- becomes a habit.
(Does it become a habit to dance? - class,
certain warm up, exercises result in the reward to dance better?)
Motivation
+ Behaviour- influenced by beliefs.
-
Engage in activity that is believed to
increase/gain reward, goal or feelings
*What rewards do ballet dancers
feel they gain once they have danced in?:
-
Class
-
Warm up or exercise
-
Rehearsals
-
Performing, on the
stage
-
Other exercise
*Do any dancers feel it is now a
habit at a professional level?
*Is it based on belief that
dancing will bring reward? How do they judge what is rewarding? Moral values...
Incentive theory=
Positive reinforcement
The stimulation leads to creating/conditioned to make the
person happier or satisfied
Þ
Dancing releases
endorphins, and feelings of wholeness
Þ
Stretching more to
achieve goal of higher legs
Þ
Practicing to
achieve a tricky movement/piece of choreography
Drive= Negative
Reinforcement
Stimulation to carry on knowing it will remove the
punishment
Þ
Do class every day
to improve technique, so improves lines and aesthetics of your movement
Þ
Exercise to keep
strong and reduce risk of injury
Þ
Rest to eliminate
pain from injury
“For those who
received no extrinsic reward, self determination theory proposes that extrinsic
motivation can be internalized by the individual if the task fits with their
values and beliefs, and therefore helps to fulfill their basic psychological
needs.”
This article moves on to reflecting how motivation derives
from providing an individual’s needs.
Motivation: “The
process used to allocate energy to maximize the satisfaction of needs”
(Pritchard and Ashwood definition)
*Reflecting upon articles, my
pilot interviews, discussion and my own experience, the inner feelings in the
enjoyment to dance comes with a ‘need’ to- giving the reason of ‘just because!’
I feel this can suggest that if
you want to satisfy a need, you will act upon it and allocate time and effort
towards that need. Ballet dancers will dance to satisfy their need to move…
well this is how I feel!
Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
“People are motivated by unsatisfied needs”
1.
Physiological (hunger, thirst, sleep)
2.
Safety/security/health
3.
Belongingness/love/friendship
4.
Self-esteem/recognition/achievement
5.
Self actualization
As a human being, we can relate
to motivating ourselves to provide us with these needs.
*How does dancing fit into this?
Do ballet dancers feel that their profession provides them with all of these?
Maslow believes ‘only unsatisfied needs influence behaviour’
and action.
Point of note: as ballet especially strives for that never
attainable perfection, is this why they always want to improve and push
forward? Is it the case where they are instantly trying to satisfy the needs of
perfection, which will technically always be unsatisfied to some extent?
*Idea:
To
test whether ballet/dance provides basic needs to professional dancers, give
list of the 16 basic desires and ask them to tick which they feel provide them.
Herzberg’s two-factor theory
Factors in the workplace that create job satisfaction
Motivators: challenging
work, responsibility, recognition
Þ
Working on
challenging choreo, roles in a ballet, representing a company, leading a group
piece
Hygiene Factors:
Status, job security, salary- doesn’t necessarily motivate but is de-motivating
when absent.
Þ
Injury creating lck
in job security
Þ
No
job/unemployed/contract cuts
Þ
Rejection in
auditions
Þ
Salary cutbacks due
to lack of funding in the arts
Self-determination
theory: Elements
• Humans are inherently proactive
with their potential and mastering their inner forces (such as drive and
emotions).
• Humans have an inherent tendency
towards growth, development and integrated functioning.
• Optimal development and actions
are inherent in humans but they do not happen automatically.
Goal setting theory
When
an individual has a drive to reach a certain goal or clearly defined end state-
often a reward in itself
Þ
Relates to the idea of how ballet
dancers motivate themselves to overcome challenges, achieve their goals to
perhaps feel rewarded?
Models of behavioural change:
When
there is a new, unexpressed behaviour, there might be a change in the behaviour
that can seem or become more important than the current motivation. Main
causes:
•
Instigation
(Ts) - increases tendency when an activity has intrinsic ability to satisfy;
•
Inhibition
(Taf) - decreases tendency when there are obstacles to performing an activity;
and
•
Consummation
- decreases a tendency as it is performed.
*Are
there behavioural changes in ballet, when it comes to motivation?
Attribution theory
A
process by which an individual believes how the causes of success and failure
affect motivations from emotions
Þ Intrapersonal-
self directed emotions and thoughts from one’s self/feelings
Þ Interpersonal-
Beliefs about responsibility of others and their impact on other’s emotions
*Talks
about seeking positive feedback from failures- used as motivation
Þ Use
emotion from failure to motivate, to then fix it and succeed
*Dancers
deal with constant failure, but they are known to be self drive, that these
failure could perhaps help keep them going?
*To
be so self driven- a vital attribute to have as a ballerina?
