Reasons for Lack of Motivation

Citation: Huitt, W. (2005). Reasons for lack of motivation. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date], from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/reaslck.html

Return to: Motivation

Reasons for Lack of Motivation
	Stipek Why Students Are Not Motivated to Learn	Sternberg Why Intelligent People Fail
Cognitive-Oriented Reasons	Present activities not seen as related to important goals. Do not have (or believe one does not have) the ability to do present activities or obtain future goals.	Distractibility and lack of concentration Spreading oneself too thin or too thick Inability or unwillingness to see the forest for the trees Lack of balance between critical, analytic thinking and creative, synthetic thinking Using the wrong abilities
Affective/Socially- Oriented Reasons	Feelings/emotions about present activities are generally negative. Satisfaction of achieving goals seems in distant future. Personal problems interfere with present activities.	Misattribution of blame Fear of failure Excessive self-pity Excessive dependency Wallowing in personal difficulties Too little or too much self-confidence
Conative/Volitionally- Oriented Reasons	Do not have a written list of important goals that define success personally. Believe that present goals or activities are wrong for individual. Important goals conflict with present activities.	Failure to initiate Lack of motivation Lack of perservance and perseveration Inability to complete tasks and to follow through Lack of impulse control Inability to translate thought into action Procrastination Lack of product orientation Inability to delay gratification
Environmentally-Oriented Reasons	Extrinsic incentives are low.

References

• Sternberg, R. (1994). In search of the human mind (395-396). New York: Harcourt Brace.
• Stipek, D. (1988). Motivation to learn: From theory to practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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