Motivation and Morale

Motivation and morale are two independent concepts that are inherently related. They are intertwined as individual fibers in a rope, each unique but very similar to each other and necessarily intertwined to make something useful when each would be useless on its own. One must have at least minimally high morale to be motivated, and motivating people, when done properly, can often help to improve morale. It is for this reason that the two are frequently able to be used interchangeably, with only subtle differences between them—differences that warrant individual treatment of the two concepts, but not individual chapters. Motivation is the degree to which a person is psychologically compelled to achieve a goal. There are two basic types of motivation sources: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is based on internal factors—self-determination, challenge, and curiosity. Extrinsic motivation relies on external incentives to motivate such as reward and punishment. For example, a person may feel internally motivated to improve his life by starting an exercise routine, or a business may motivate an individual to increase production efficiency by offering performance-based incentives. In contrast, morale is the degree to which a person believes in a goal and feels that it is worth being included among those things that take precedence in his life at that time. The US Army’s office of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) has a stated mission and vision that involves, “Increasing soldier and family resiliency; restoring balance; and enhancing recruiting, readiness, and retention for soldiers and families,” through “programs and services that result in a quality of life to soldiers and families commensurate with their sacrifice and service” (“Family and MWR”).