Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal-oriented behaviors.

Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. It involves the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In everyday usage, the term motivation is frequently used to describe why a person does something. For example, you might say that a student is so motivated to get into aclinical psychologyprogram that she spends every night studying. Psychologists have proposed a number of differenttheories of motivation, including drive theory, instinct theory and humanistic theory. in psychology, an urgent basic need pressing for satisfaction, usually rooted in some physiological tension, deficiency, or imbalance (e.g., hunger and thirst) and impelling the organism to action. Some researchers have used the term need synonymously, although others distinguish betweenneed as the deprived state and drive as its psychological manifestations need noun \nd\ : a situation in which someone or something must do or have something : something that a person must have : something that is needed in order to live or succeed or be happy : a strong feeling that you must have or do something

DEFINITION OF DRIVE Acts of motivation like thirst or hunger that have primarily biological purposes An aroused state of psychological tension that typically arises from a need. A drive, such as hunger or thirst, motivates the organism to act in ways that will reduce the tension. So, for example, when you become hungry (tension caused by need for food) you are motivated to eat (method of reducing the tension).