Themenstrang: »Gesellschaft«

Referent_in: Marina Minor

Tag/Zeit: Donnerstag, 13.9.2018, 13:00–15:00 Uhr

Who is motivating whom, why and wherefore? – A historical materialistic analysis and critique of current motivation research and application of psychological interventions

Recently Richard W. Thaler was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his conception of nudging and its contributions to behavioral economics. Nudging is not only used in particular psychological interventions to motivate people or initiate a behavioral change but also by several governments to save expenses through influence on the behavior of the populace. Another current popular technique applied for motivating people and increase productivity is gamification: the application of game-design elements in ‘non-game’ contexts. Nudging and gamification will be discussed as examples for motivational techniques within psychological research. To understand their meaning, implications and problems in relation to the current society, they will be discussed against the background of motivation theory and the societal-historical development of motivation as a research object. Weiterlesen »

Themenstrang: »Gesellschaft«

Referent_innen: Morten Nissen, Marina Minor

Tag/Zeit: Mittwoch, 12.9.2018, 15:30–17:30 Uhr

When do individuals act in a (genuinely) motivated manner, and when under constraints?

In a talk from the 14th July 2017, Morus Markard raised the following question: In view of the complexity and contradictoriness of social conditions and their interpretations – are individuals able to determine their own decisions and actions and to be reasonably certain that these are in line with their own life interests, or at least do not contradict them? This question emerges from the problem of motivated acting within an antagonistic class society: The actual producers are virtually excluded from participation in the planning of production and reality control but still have to adopt to societal requirements and goals as well as to obey societal obligations. The individual may not strive for their own goals but, instead, internalize those of societal authorities. So, what does Marxist Subject Science or Critical Psychology contribute to the understanding of humane motivation? Under which circumstances do individuals tend to engage in motivated acting (in terms of critical-psychological conception) within an antagonistic class society; that is, to stand up for an augmentation of control over their own living conditions or to gain a generalized human agency (German: ‘verallgemeinerte Handlungsfähigkeit’)?

Ferienuni Kritische Psychologie 2018 using Theme Adventure by Eric Schwarz adapted by Stefan Meretz
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