![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/kid_sad_school.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Did you get where you intended to in life? Are you as healthy, wealthy and wise as you want to be? If not, perhaps the problem is a lack of motivation.<\/p>\n
Some studies suggest that motivation \u2013 rather than ability or skill \u2013 is the best predictor of educational and professional attainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n But what do we actually mean by motivation? It seems that wherever one turns, experts<\/a> have new<\/a> advice<\/a> on how to be motivated<\/a>.<\/p>\n As researchers interested in motivation and educational success<\/a>, we wondered: Is motivation just one thing, or are there many different kinds of motivation? Is motivation about how people respond to challenges or is it also about how people respond to ease? Understanding these different facets of motivation can help students succeed.<\/p>\n Why do people need motivation?<\/strong><\/p>\n People think of themselves and others as having some essence<\/a> \u2013 some fixed or at least stable core. They tend to believe that this sense of \u201cme\u201d defines who they are, who they might become and how they\u2019re likely to act over time.<\/p>\n If people actually had this sort of fixed \u201cessence\u201d (and always acted in ways that fit that essence), the idea of motivation wouldn\u2019t be necessary. People wouldn\u2019t need to be motivated to do something; they would simply do it because it\u2019s part of their identity.<\/p>\n But motivation is necessary. In part, that\u2019s because what people believe to be true of themselves in one situation doesn\u2019t necessarily predict<\/a> what they\u2019ll do in another situation. Wanting to be an \u201cA\u201d student doesn\u2019t mean that you\u2019ll pay attention to the teacher right now instead of passing notes to a friend. Even someone who wants to succeed in school may decide it\u2019s more important in the moment to develop friendships than focus in class. Rawpixel\/Shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n While this seemingly contradictory behavior might seem to be a human design flaw, it\u2019s actually a feature: Thinking (including thinking about who you are) is sensitively attuned to what individual situations have to offer<\/a>. After all, right now it might be more important to keep up a friendship than to worry about something like next week\u2019s test.<\/p>\n Too easy to matter? Too hard to bother?<\/strong><\/p>\n Everyday life involves experiences that are easy and those that are difficult. How do these challenges (or lack of challenges) impact motivation? Research tells us that what matters is what people think ease and difficulty mean for them<\/a>.<\/p>\n Both easy and difficult experiences can be demotivating. If homework feels easy, for instance, a student might think: \u201cThis is stupid. I\u2019m not going to do this.\u201d When something feels too easy, it can mean that the task is \u201cbeneath me\u201d or \u201cjust not worth my time.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand, if the homework feels difficult that same student could think: \u201cThis is too hard for me. I\u2019m just not a math person.\u201d Or \u201cPeople like me can\u2019t do this.\u201d When something feels too difficult, it can mean that success in that task is unlikely and that \u201cI\u201d or \u201cwe\u201d aren\u2019t cut out for it.<\/p>\n Both perspectives are likely to undermine motivation<\/a>. Why waste your time on things that are trivial or impossible? Better to quit and move on to something else.<\/p>\n At the same time, experiencing ease or difficulty while working on a task can also be motivating. When something feels easy, it can mean that success is possible and when something feels difficult, it can mean that success is worthwhile (\u201cno pain, no gain\u201d). In this case, homework that feels easy implies: \u201cI can do this!\u201d Homework that feels difficult implies: \u201cThis is valuable!\u201d<\/p>\n Naturally, the demotivating frames of mind can get in the way of success. In our research, we asked over 1,000 adults of various ages, genders and backgrounds their ideas about what ease and difficulty imply. We then asked about 200 of them to perform a complicated cognitive task in which some items were relatively easy to solve and others were quite difficult. We found that the people who performed better on the task<\/a> were the ones who felt that difficult does not mean impossible and that easy does not mean trivial.<\/p>\n How students interpret difficulty matters<\/strong><\/p>\n A growing number of studies show that how students perceive difficulty can significantly influence their performance in school.<\/p>\n In these studies, students are randomly divided into two groups. One group reads sentences implying that difficulty is a sign of importance. The other group reads sentences implying that difficulty is a sign of low odds of success. Students in the first kind of group solve more problems<\/a>, write better essays<\/a> and describe themselves as more<\/a> focused on school<\/a> than students in the second kind of group.<\/p>\n In short, how students interpret their everyday difficulties with school matters. Is there a way to predict how students might interpret difficulty and ease?<\/p>\n In the same 1,000-person set of studies, we asked people to rate how much they agreed or disagreed with four interpretations of what ease and difficulty might imply: easy means trivial, difficult means impossible, easy means possible and difficult means worthwhile. We found that people are more inclined to interpret their experiences in ways that are motivating rather than demotivating<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, people who did believe that easy things are trivial were likely to also believe that difficult things are impossible. Though not the majority, they make up a subset of people who, without assistance, may tend to work too little and quit too soon.<\/p>\n Who are these people?<\/p>\n Demographically speaking, in our study, they tended to be men with low income<\/a>. We found some evidence that among adults (primarily white Americans in our samples), low income was associated with higher agreement that when things get difficult, they may be impossible, and one should turn one\u2019s attention elsewhere. Interpreting ease as triviality is a bit gendered: men are somewhat more likely than women to believe that easy things aren\u2019t worth their time.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/lackoffocus.jpg\")
\n
\nIs there a pattern?<\/strong><\/p>\n