Jutta Heckhausen - Motivation and Action

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This is the third English edition of Motivation and Action , an extensively revised version of the second English edition and fifth German edition, with four entirely new chapters. All chapters have been updated to incorporate current research trends and findings, while new chapters on the motivation of developmental regulatory behavior as well as the applied fields of school and college, workplace, and sports were added. The chapters on the affiliation motive, the power motive, and goals were completely rewritten by new authors. Each chapter comes with an individual list of references, allowing instructors to use them separately for their courses. In addition, the Springer website for the book will provide useful materials for students and instructors alike, including a glossary with key terms.

The first English edition of Motivation and Action , based on the second German edition, was written by Heinz Heckhausen, who passed away on October 30, 1988. Springer and I agreed that a revised edition of this influential textbook on motivational psychology was needed. There have been many exciting and important conceptual and empirical innovations since the second English edition published in 2008, for example, in the research fields of volition and sequential phases of behavioral regulation, two perspectives that Heinz Heckhausen already discussed in the second edition (especially in Chaps. Extended Perspectives). Additionally, there have been important contributions to the study of the differences between and interaction of implicit versus explicit motives, as well as motivational and behavioral influences on development over the lifespan. It would be a Herculean task to provide a comprehensive overview of all these developments and to survey the field of motivation psychology in its full range and complexity. No single scientist could hope to follow in Heinz Heckhausens footsteps and accomplish this task alone. A collaborative approach was clearly called for, and a look at the ranks of Heinz Heckhausens studentsand their studentsshows that almost every subdomain of motivation psychology is represented by one or several renowned researchers. This new edition of Motivation and Action was only possible with the support of these scholars as authors. This book thus represents the intellectual legacy of Heinz Heckhausen in two respects. First, it shows how Heckhausens approach to motivation psychology has been further developed and refined and that, while much has been retained, there have also been some important changes. Second, the books chapters have been written by Heinz Heckhausens intellectual heirs: by members of his research groups in Bochum and Munich and their students and by myself, his daughter.

This new edition pursues the same goals as the earlier edition. It seeks to disentangle convoluted perspectives within the psychology of motivation. It seeks to integrate separate research strands by pointing to common issues and offering a unifying conceptual framework. It introduces and critically discusses new research findings that have proven particularly fruitful. As in the previous editions, the motivational categories examined are limited to classes of behavior that are characteristic of humans. The individual chapters build on one another, but each can also be read and understood independently.

There are four main parts to the book. The first five chapters provide a broad introduction to the field of motivation psychology, mapping out different perspectives and research traditions. The first chapter gives a brief overview of the main issues addressed and previews the books contents. The second chapter on the historical development of motivation research remains unchanged from the original version written by Heinz Heckhausen for the first and updated for the second edition. Chapters , these perspectives are integrated through the introduction of models that take into account the expectancies and values of different persons in different situations.

The second group of chapters includes Chaps. on goals.

Following the chapters on the fundamentals of motivation psychology which lay the groundwork for discoveries regarding motivated and goal-oriented behavior, the third group of chapters, Chapters ) reflect the recent surge in research activity in international motivation psychology. Issues from current research provide fruitful topics of discussion for seminars and promising ideas for researchers and doctoral students.

The final group of chapters is the latest addition to this volume and elaborates the roles of motivation and volition in the three practical fields of school and college, workplace, and sports. In terms of authorship, Heinz Heckhausen is cited as coauthor of all chapters that contain parts of his original chapters, but they have been revised and expanded. This seemed the best way of reflecting Heinz Heckhausens authorship without suggesting that he authorized the changes and additions himself.

The chapter authors and I have done our best to ensure the reader-friendliness that is now expected of academic texts and textbooks in particular. I think we have succeeded in making the highly complex domain of motivation psychology accessible to students and novices while ensuring that the text remains informative and stimulating for experts and researchers in the field. These efforts have been facilitated by special formatting elements: text boxes, summaries, definitions, and review questions give the reader practical tools for navigating the texts.