What is motivation?

Definition of motivation

Motivation means a person’s level of readiness or willingness to engage in an activity requiring effort.

Motivation is critical for rehabilitation programmes. When a person is motivated to change they are more likely to start and complete their programme.

Tipping the balance

A person’s level of motivation for change is an outcome of their “decisional balance” – a mental accounting of the costs and benefits of changing versus the costs and benefits of staying the same.

The goal of ME is to “tip the balance” in favour of change or in a pro-change direction and programme participation.

Factors which influence motivation

Motivation levels can vary over time, and are susceptible to influence. Factors that can influence prisoners’ motivation include:

• their underlying attitudes and values
• their access to information and misinformation about options
• their emotional state
• whether they think they have the ability to succeed in changing
• the attitudes and values of others, especially peers
• their expectations of likely costs and benefits of change compared with staying the same.