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Motivation and Action

  • Comprehensive coverage of history and up-to-date theories and empirical study of motivation

  • Covers international research on motivation, including European approaches

  • Focuses on human motivation, including biological and higher-order processes involved

  • Indispensable reference for researchers

  • Chapters highly accessible for students at upper-division undergraduate and graduate level

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Table of contents (20 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Motivation and Action: Introduction and Overview

    • Jutta Heckhausen, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 1-14
  3. Historical Trends in Motivation Research

    • Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 15-65
  4. Trait Theories of Motivation

    • David Scheffer, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 67-112
  5. Situational Determinants of Behavior

    • Jürgen Beckmann, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 113-162
  6. Motivation as a Function of Expectancy and Incentive

    • Jürgen Beckmann, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 163-220
  7. Achievement Motivation

    • Joachim C. Brunstein, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 221-304
  8. Social Bonding: Affiliation Motivation and Intimacy Motivation

    • Jan Hofer, Birk Hagemeyer
    Pages 305-334
  9. Power Motivation

    • Holger Busch
    Pages 335-368
  10. Implicit and Explicit Motives

    • Joachim C. Brunstein
    Pages 369-405
  11. Biopsychological Aspects of Motivation

    • Oliver C. Schultheiss, Michelle M. Wirth
    Pages 407-451
  12. Goals

    • Veronika Brandstätter, Marie Hennecke
    Pages 453-484
  13. Motivation and Volition in the Course of Action

    • Anja Achtziger, Peter M. Gollwitzer
    Pages 485-527
  14. Individual Differences in Self-Regulation

    • Julius Kuhl
    Pages 529-577
  15. Intrinsic Motivation and Flow

    • Falko Rheinberg, Stefan Engeser
    Pages 579-622
  16. Causal Attribution of Behavior and Achievement

    • Joachim Stiensmeier-Pelster, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 623-678
  17. Development of Motivation

    • Jutta Heckhausen, Heinz Heckhausen
    Pages 679-743
  18. The Motivation of Developmental Regulation

    • Jutta Heckhausen
    Pages 745-782
  19. Motivation at School and University

    • Joachim Stiensmeier-Pelster, Nantje Otterpohl
    Pages 783-817
  20. Motivation and Volition in the Workplace

    • Hugo M. Kehr, Matthias Strasser, Andrea Paulus
    Pages 819-852

About this book

This third edition provides translations of all chapters of the most recent fifth German edition of Motivation and Action, including several entirely new chapters. It provides comprehensive coverage of the history of motivation, and introduces up-to-date theories and new research findings. Early sections provide a broad introduction to, and deep understanding of, the field of motivation psychology, mapping out different perspectives and research traditions. Subsequent chapters examine major themes of human motivation, including achievement, affiliation, and power motivation as well as the fundamentals of motivation psychology, such as motivated and goal oriented behaviors, implicit and explicit motives, and the regulation of development. In addition, the book discusses the roles of motivation in three practical fields: school and college, the workplace, and sports.  

Topics featured in this text include: 
  • Social Relationships and its effects on sexual or intimacy motivation. 
  • Conscious and unconscious motivators of behavior.
  • Drives and incentives in the fields of achievement, intimacy, sociability and power.
  • How the biochemistry and structures of our brain shapes motivated behavior.
  • How to engage in intentional goal-directed behavior.
  • The potential and limits of motivation and self-direction in shaping our lives.

Motivation and Action, Third Edition, is a must-have resource for undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in the fields of motivation psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology, as well as personality psychology and agency. 


About the Editor: 
Jutta Heckhausen is the daughter of Heinz Heckhausen, who published "Motivation and Action” as a monograph in 1980 and who died in 1988 just before the 2nd edition came out. Dr. Heckhausen received her Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow with a dissertation about early mother-child interaction, and did her Habilitation in 1996 at the Free University of Berlin with a monograph about developmental regulation in adulthood. Dr. Heckhausen worked for many years at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin, conducting research about the role of motivation in lifespan development. She is currently a professor of psychology at the University of California, Irvine. 


Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, USA

    Jutta Heckhausen

  • Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, Germany

    Heinz Heckhausen

About the editors

Jutta Heckhausen, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Psychology & Social Behavior at the University of California - Irvine. Her areas of interest are: life-span developmental psychology, motivational psychology, control behavior, psychological influences on health, and developmental regulation across the life-span. Her ongoing research addresses the role of the individual as an active agent in major life-course transitions and when confronted with challenging life events. Dr. Heckhausen has published articles in The Oxford Handbook of Human Development and Culture, the International Journal of Behavioral Development, Psychology and Health, Ageing and Society, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Psychological Review, and The Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. She is the author of the monograph Developmental Regulation in Adulthood and the editor of several books: Motivation and Self-Regulation Across the Life-Span, Motivational Psychology of Human Development, Motivation and Handeln, and Motivation and Action. 

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Motivation and Action

  • Editors: Jutta Heckhausen, Heinz Heckhausen

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65094-4

  • Publisher: Springer Cham

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and Psychology, Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-65093-7Published: 12 April 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-09732-5Published: 08 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-65094-4Published: 27 March 2018

  • Edition Number: 3

  • Number of Pages: XV, 909

  • Number of Illustrations: 159 b/w illustrations, 5 illustrations in colour

  • Additional Information: The 2nd Edition was published in 2010 by Cambridge University Press. The 1st Edition was published in 1991 by Springer-Verlag.

  • Topics: Cognitive Psychology, General Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access