The Hierarchy of Motivational Incentives for Children – Step One – The Promise of Carnal Pleasures
How do you motivate a person to do something they don’t want to do but you know they need to do? To some, the questions may seem a bit questionable. Imposing one’s will on another is unacceptable in a free society. However, teachers and parents understand that we sometimes have instructions for children that require the suppression of individual liberties. To successfully impart this teaching, we must often persuade children to see and do things our way. We, as parents and teachers, have been enlightened by experience with knowledge. It is imperative that we walk boldly with that knowledge.
I would like to reflect on 3 levels of motivational strategies that we can use to lead children to success. This hierarchy of motivation is a system to favor the correct development of young people. I have not invented this model. It has been practiced since the beginning of human existence. This is a reminder of the things we know that we sometimes forget in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. This is a shorthand definition of this hierarchy. With that said, here is the first of three levels of motivational strategies.
Level One: The Promise of Carnal Pleasures
Humans are born with certain natural drives and instincts. We will automatically seek to solve our needs. For example, a baby’s ability to signal its need for food or warmth through crying is an instinctive drive. Throughout our development, we will naturally seek to meet our needs. However, we have another category of drives that lends itself well to our motivational strategies: our desires.
Wishes are those things that we don’t necessarily need to survive, but are great to have. They are the things that make life more exciting than just surviving. Our desires add color and texture to our lives. These wishes are often provided by others.
In the early stages of development, our desires are based primarily on physical pleasures. We look for things that taste, smell, look, or feel good. The promise of tasty food, physical fun, relaxing touches motivates us to do whatever it takes to secure that desire. On the contrary, the fear of losing any of these things will drive us to modify our behavior. In a nutshell, if you want a child to start or stop some action, say speak up in class, just promise a piece of candy or physical punishment and the behavior will surely change.
However, this level of behavior modification has its drawbacks. Carnal pleasures are similar to animal training techniques. Dog training is based on treatment. Through a series of physical and verbal rewards, a trainer can condition animals to perform the most surprising and complex activities. Eventually the trainer removes the physical reward and only offers the verbal reward. However, the complex minds of human children will not be satisfied with such simple training practices. Children will only perform a task for a treat and their memories won’t allow us to remove the treats.
Today, I was visiting a fellow counselor when a young woman knocked on the door and walked into the room. In a honeyed, routine voice, she exclaimed, “I was good today.” The counselor responded immediately with a routine smile; followed by an opening of his desk drawer and the provision of a piece of candy. She crossed the room, took the candy from his hand and left the room. I imagine this is part of the end of each day with my friend. It is clear to this young lady that a good day equals a piece of candy.
Tomorrow, if this young lady has a good day, she will expect a piece of candy. Unlike animal training, she won’t forget the treat at the end of the day. Any refusal to pay the bounty will likely be met with abandonment of the good practice for the day. Also, the counselor may be considered unreliable or stingy if he asks for two days of good behavior for a gift. The young woman may then decide that the candy is not worth it and abandon her good practices. In addition, the counselor himself is inseparably linked to the performance of this young woman. He is as conditioned by her as she is by him. There is a time limit that a counselor or any teacher can spend handing out candy. This system is restrictive and can become very expensive over time.
Therefore, we must realize when and how we move to the next level of human motivation: community recognition. The psychic desire to be seen as good and important is far more compelling than our desire to satisfy our bodies. I will discuss this point in the second part of this article.