March 22, 2010

Class discussion on motivation

Monday's class discussion was enlightening. I discovered something about myself that I had not really considered before. I am usually motivated by positive reinforecment. for example, when someone one tells me I have done something well I try to do better in other areas to ensure continued approval. Another example is if someone puts trust in me to accompish something I will work hard to do a good job.

But guess what. When I want my kids to do something I use negative motivation. For example, I will tell them if you do not get your homework done you will be grounded from video games for a week.

I have set a goal to try using positive motivation with my children, if I prefer positive motivation maybe they do to.