Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

reinforcement theory of work motivation  

Definition

  • The operant conditioning or reinforcement theory of B. F. Skinner is one of the major psychological theories concerned with motivation at work. Unique in the social sciences, it identifies two of its major concepts according to the time at which they occur: (1) antecedents, such as communicating company policy, providing training, and setting goals, which typically precede the targeted behavior; and (2) consequences that take place after performance, such as compliments for a job well done, acknowledgment of the receipt of work, feedback on the quality of the task done, and graphs showing performance plotted over time, as well as the avoidance of such distasteful events as unwarranted criticism, punching in on a time clock, or the processing of complaints or grievances. [Source: Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Reinforcement Theory of Work Motivation]

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/reinforcement_theory_of_work_motivation

Download this concept: