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Motivation

Published by
d. December 5, 2018

Motivation is crucial for us to get started on whatever we want to do. Most people have probably experienced being motivated to live healthier, but have lost motivation along the way. Three important needs that need to be met in order to promote engagement in an activity and mental health are autonomy, competence and connectedness. If there is a health initiative in the workplace, this means that it is important that employees experience autonomy, as they can choose which activities they want to participate in. In addition, the activities or offers should be organized for different levels, so that all employees feel that they are able to participate. Last but not least, community and meaningful relationships play an important role. This can arise, for example, when team teaching is offered or when employees are encouraged to talk about their common goals when participating in the health initiative. If these three needs are met, the enjoyment of participation and maintenance of the initiative increases. This is part of one of the most well-known and used motivation theories, which is Deci & Ryan's self-determination theory. According to it, there are different types of extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation.

What is extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?

If you are extrinsically motivated, there is some kind of gain from your action. This means that you participate in an activity if there is some kind of reward, for example, to avoid a guilty conscience, to gain social recognition or to achieve a goal, such as getting in better shape or preventing pain. In intrinsic motivation, people experience pleasure and interest in the activity itself and participate purely for pleasure.

Workplace health efforts

When participating in a workplace health initiative, a combination of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is often seen, as many people enjoy the treatment, exercise or conversation with a health professional, while also doing it for the sake of their health. Often, however, it's extrinsic motivation that can push a process into action. For example, people take up the offer of a health consultation at work because they feel guilty about their lifestyle or because other colleagues are doing the same. Eventually, however, this extrinsic motivation can turn into intrinsic motivation and people find joy in participating in health services.

By Josefine Huusom