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A critique of motivation constructs to explain higher-order behavior: We should unpack the black box

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2024

Kou Murayama Open the ORCID record for Kou Murayama [Opens in a new window]  and
Hayley K. Jach Open the ORCID record for Hayley K. Jach [Opens in a new window]
Kou Murayama*
Affiliation:
Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany [email protected] [email protected] https://motivationsciencelab.com/ Research Institute, Kochi University of Technology, Kochi, Japan
Hayley K. Jach
Affiliation:
Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany [email protected] [email protected] https://motivationsciencelab.com/
*
Corresponding author: Kou Murayama; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The constructs of motivation (or needs, motives, etc.) to explain higher-order behavior have burgeoned in psychology. In this article, we critically evaluate such high-level motivation constructs that many researchers define as causal determinants of behavior. We identify a fundamental issue with this predominant view of motivation, which we call the black-box problem. Specifically, high-level motivation constructs have been considered as causally instigating a wide range of higher-order behavior, but this does not explain what they actually are or how behavioral tendencies are generated. The black-box problem inevitably makes the construct ill-defined and jeopardizes its theoretical status. To address the problem, we discuss the importance of mental computational processes underlying motivated behavior. Critically, from this perspective, motivation is not a unitary construct that causes a wide range of higher-order behavior – it is an emergent property that people construe through the regularities of subjective experiences and behavior. The proposed perspective opens new avenues for future theoretical development, that is, the examination of how motivated behavior is realized through mental computational processes.

Keywords

causalitycomputational modelingessentialismincentivesintrinsic motivationmeasurement modelmetatheoryreward
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 48 , 2025 , e24
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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