Individual Response to Motivators

This is the second stage in the emergence of an organisation. Positive motivators are perceived opportunities for the satisfaction of our needs. Negative motivators are perceived threats to the satisfaction of our needs, perceived threats of contra-satisfiers or the simple presence of the latter.

Our individual response to a motivator is governed by the following factors:

1. Our needs/contra-needs and their relative importance at the time, together with the emotions caused by them.
2. Knowledge and beliefs influence what we regard as a motivator.
3. Norms, values, beliefs, etc. internalised from our social environment via social learning.
4. Individual human psyche, e.g., our ability to reason, psychological damage, attitude towards risk, opportunity, threats, etc.

There are two main forms of response when we encounter a negative motivator: emotion focussed coping and problem focussed coping. Emotion focussed coping involves efforts to reduce the negative emotions associated with the motivator and generally occurs when we are faced with situations that are entirely beyond our control, e.g., grief at the death of a loved one. Problem focussed coping, on the other hand, uses our problem-solving skills to respond to the motivator.

The same is true when we encounter a positive motivator. We either feel empowered to grasp the opportunity or not.

However, even if we adopt a problem-solving approach, we may recognise that we do not have the resources to act alone. People are attracted to organisations they feel will satisfy their needs, irrespective of whether these needs are consistent with the purpose of the organisation, and irrespective of whether the needs are normal or anti-social. One option is therefore to join an existing organisation.

Another is to participate in the creation of a new one. If so, then individuals will proceed to the next stage, and contact others in a similar situation or with similar ambitions. However, the more people there are in that situation or with that ambition, the more likely they are to make contact. Also, the more people who do make contact, and the more motivated they are, the more likely it is that an organisation will emerge. Thus, as the impact or the recognition of a motivator increases, there may be a threshold at which an organisation forms. Unfortunately, however, charismatic individuals, news fakers, and established interests can exaggerate, or even manufacture, a potential motivator, to that end.