Pain – Pleasure Theory of Motivation

Abstract

The pain pleasure theory of motivation is based upon the assumption that human nature seeks
pleasure and avoids pain. One is never comfortable in painful situation and in order
to get rid of that painful situation, the individual puts efforts to come out and seeks pleasure.
Level of efforts put to avoid pain indicates motivation level. In order to support the assumption,
a scale indicating 5 different stages i.e. 20, 40, 60, 80, & 100 was developed. These stages
indicate pleasure level of an individual. According to the theory, if an individual reaches the
stage of 20 and gets stuck at this stage, either he will show his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In
case of satisfaction, he will not put anymore effort to reach next stage, he will be happy whatever
he has got. In case of dissatisfaction, he is going to face two situations; he will put more efforts
to reach next stage and may manage to reach the target stage; otherwise, his dissatisfaction
would lead towards anxiety and depression. This psychological state would further lead towards
two behavior patterns; either he will go to seek medical help or his psychological disorders will
get intensified which will finally lead towards abnormal behavior patterns.

Full text

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Pain – Pleasure Theory of Motivation
Dr. Hummayoun Naeem
Associate Professor in Management, Foundation University Institute of Engineering and
Management New Lalazar, Rawalpindi Cantt., Pakistan
Mr. Amir Gulzar
Assistant Professor in Management, Foundation University Institute of Engineering and
Management Sciences, New Lalazar, Rawalpindi Cantt.
Mr. Aziz ur Rehman Rana
Assistant Professor in Management, Foundation University Institute of Engineering and
Management Sciences, New Lalazar, Rawalpindi Cantt.
Mrs. Naintara Sarfraz Raja
Assistant Professor in Management, Foundation University Institute of Engineering and
Management Sciences, New Lalazar, Rawalpindi Cantt.
Abstract
The pain pleasure theory of motivation is based upon the assumption that human nature seeks
pleasure and avoids pain. One is never comfortable in painful situation and in order
to get rid of that painful situation, the individual puts efforts to come out and seeks pleasure.
Level of efforts put to avoid pain indicates motivation level. In order to support the assumption,
a scale indicating 5 different stages i.e. 20, 40, 60, 80, & 100 was developed. These stages
indicate pleasure level of an individual. According to the theory, if an individual reaches the
stage of 20 and gets stuck at this stage, either he will show his satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In
case of satisfaction, he will not put anymore effort to reach next stage, he will be happy whatever
he has got. In case of dissatisfaction, he is going to face two situations; he will put more efforts
to reach next stage and may manage to reach the target stage; otherwise, his dissatisfaction
would lead towards anxiety and depression. This psychological state would further lead towards
two behavior patterns; either he will go to seek medical help or his psychological disorders will
get intensified which will finally lead towards abnormal behavior patterns.
Keywords: Pain ; Pleasure Theory of Motivation
Introduction
One of the best possible foundations of every business is motivated enthusiastic and motivated
work force. Without motivated workers, a business may survive but can not do extraordinarily
well. Much of the manual work has been taken over by computers but despite such
developments, we need motivated employees to operate and control these machines & robots.
Motivation being evergreen topic in management sciences, is still studied and researched with
the same zeal and devotion as used to decades and centuries ago.

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The word “Motivation” derived from a Latin word “Movere” to move, has been defined in the
following way
Arousal of needs
Intensity of that aroused behavior
Direction of that aroused behavior
Maintenance of that aroused behavior
It refers to arousal, intensity, direction and persistence of efforts directed towards job tasks over
a period of time (Futrell 1998, P.461) There is always motivation behind every achievement.
People strive through out their lives to get comforts and pleasures. But to get pleasure. one has to
go through pains because it is better to be in pain for a short while than to remain in pain for a
long time.
Motivation can therefore be thought of as the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to
engage in certain behaviors. So it may be stated that individual behavior is at the heart of human
motivation.
The basic motivation process is based upon the following model (Luthans, 2002, P. 249):
Need__________Drives__________Incentives
Need is created whenever there is a physiological and psychological imbalance.
Drives are set up to alleviate needs, needs for water and food are translated into thirst and hunger
drives. Need for friends becomes drive for affiliation.
Incentives restore physiological and psychological balance, following the above example, water,
food and friends become incentives.
Since every individual has a set of needs and a different set of goals, individuals behave in a
way as to satisfy their needs and to fulfill their goals. Therefore, individuals behave differently.
So the reason why do we need to develop another theory of motivation is to know the extent to
which the factors affecting an individual’s life differ as we move on to different stages of life.
The Pain- Pleasure Theory of Motivation is based upon the assumption that human nature seeks
pleasure and tends to avoid pain. The theory provides us the basis and helps us to evaluate the
importance of different factors involved in motivation phenomena. This theory may also help us
to raise the standard of living as we see different scenarios at different stages. Pain and Pleasure
are characteristics of a very distinct evaluation that is generally perceived with emotions, desires
and bodily sensations, thus particular feelings are associated with the two states and this is not
controversial rather the understanding of these emotions is controversial.
Theory Elaboration
The Pain - Pleasure Theory of Motivation is based on the assumption that “human nature seeks
pleasure and avoids pain”. The level of effort put to avoid pain indicates his motivation level.
The theory can be best explained with the help of following model.

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PAIN-PLEASURE MOTIVATION MODEL
Contentment
Getting Stuck
Pain
20 40 60 80 100
Dissatisfaction
Depression / Anxiety More efforts to
reach next step
Medical Criminal
treatment behavior
At one extreme end we have pain and at the other extreme end we have pleasure. It is human
nature that it tries to achieve pleasure by putting some effort. In order to reach high levels of
pleasure stage it has to pass through different stages.
Pain Pleasure
20
40
60
80
100
Pleasure

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Stages:
We have divided these stages as follows
1) Stage 20
2) Stage 40
3) Stage 60
4) Stage 80
5) Stage100
If a person gets stuck at any of these stages then he faces two scenarios.
Either he is contended at that STAGE and remains there. If he is dissatisfied and is too
ambitious to reach the next state of pleasure but doesn’t have the capacity to do so, he would
develop anxiety. When a person has constant anxiety leading to depression that situation would
lead to two types of situations: either he would go for psychiatry consultation / medical help or
his psychological disorders will get intensified which will finally lead towards abnormal
Showing
Contentment
Pain Pleasure
Medication
20
40
60 80 100
Anxiety More efforts to reach next stage
Gets stuck
Depression
Criminal acts

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behavior patterns. He may develop criminal inclinations starting from snatching and stealing to
high level planned robberies.
It has generally been observed that the stage of committing crimes comes at either stage 20 or
close to 40. As the individual moves up, the tendency of the person to commit crimes decreases.
Diagram shows that tendency to commit crime decreases as we move
On top.
Lets us have a look at the factors affecting an individual’s life.
Wealth
Education
Job
Friends
Health
Clothing
Shelter
Profession
-al Life
Food
Family
Individual’s
Life
Pleasure
100
80
20
40
60
Pain

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4
5
1
3
5
1 1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Food Shelter Clothing Health Family Friends Education WealthProfessional
Life Job
20
Assumptions
1. The individual is in pain without basic needs.
2. 100% pleasure is the absolute one and one can only dream about that.
3. Those who reach the stage of 20 (having basic needs fulfilled), will face either of the
two situations: contentment or dissatisfaction. Those showing contentment would get
stuck at this stage; those showing dissatisfaction would either develop depression /
anxiety or they will put more efforts to jump at next stage.
4. The same explanation applies to stages 40, 60, and 80.
5. If they manage to jump at the next stage, they will have sense of achievement.
6. If they remain in anxiety / depression stage, that would lead to the development of
two types of behavior patterns; either one would go for medical treatment to
psychiatrist and would get himself treated or his psychological disorders will get
intensified which will finally lead towards abnormal behavior patterns.
Graphic Elaboration of Different Stages
Stage 20
At this stage the maximum score has been given to Food, Shelter, and Family. Whereas
Clothing, Health, and Friends constitute the rest of the points / marks. At this stage the person
has no points for job, professional life, education and wealth. However in order to move to next
stages, he puts more efforts and tries to reach the stage of 40.

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8 8
5
7
8
5
6
4 4
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Food Shelter Clothing Health Family Friends Education WealthProfessional
Life Job
60
Stage 40:
Stage 40 is the stage where the person has acquired all basic facilities and now wants to add
luxuries to his life. Many people get stuck at this stage and few manage to reach the stage of 60.
At this stage, the max score goes to Food, Shelter, and Family. Next to these we have ranked
heath followed by clothing, friends, education, job, wealth and professional life.
6 6
4
5
6
4
3
2
1
3
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Food Shelter Clothing Health Family Friends Education Wealth Professional
Life Job
40
Stage 60:
Those who managed to reach the stage of 60, have raised their standard of living. Here the max
score goes to Food, Shelter, and Family followed by health, education, clothing and friends, job
and then finally comes to the factors wealth and professional life. Those who managed to reach
this stage achieve a level of contentment. This stage is considered to be the most desirable stage.

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Stage 80:
This stage is an ideal one. Very few people manage to reach this stage. At this stage the person is
quite satisfied as when we look at the rankings the max score has been given to Food, Shelter,
Family and health followed by clothing, wealth, and the remaining factors.
9 9
8
9 9
7 7
8
7 7
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Food Shelter Clothing Health Family Friends Education Wealth Professional
Life Job
80
Stage 100:
This is the last and an ideal stage. One can only dream about it. At this stage all factors have
been given max score of 10. It is a rare phenomena.
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Food Shelter Clothing Health Family Friends Education Wealth Professional
Life Job
100

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Conclusion
Behavior scientists at different times proposed different theories on motivation; almost all
scientists believe that people are motivated towards their different goals by their internal urge to
do something & that urge is “motivation”. All motivation theories have their strengths and
flaws, but they do give us an insight into some of the factors and mechanisms which play an
important role in motivation phenomena. The Pain-Pleasure Theory of Motivation describes the
significance of efforts put by an individual to avoid pain. The level of efforts put to avoid pain
indicates the motivation level of an individual. Because of the curious nature, human beings keep
putting efforts to reach heights of pleasure. In case of failure, they become dissatisfied and their
dissatisfaction leads to abnormal behavior patterns.
References
McShane and Von Glinow.2005.Organizational Behavior. McGraw Hill Inc., New York.
Robbins, Stephen P. 2003. Organizational Behavior. Pearson Education Inc. India.
Feldman, Robert S.2003. Essentials of Understanding Psychology. McGraw Hill Inc. New York.
Luthens, Fred.2002. Organizational Behavior. McGraw Hill Inc., Nrew York.
Futrell, Charles M.1998.Sales Management. The Dryden Press, Orlando.