Motivation
In its most basic form, motivation is an inspiration or impetus to act (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Being of pivotal importance for actors in carrying out tasks, motivation can originate from a variety of sources. A distinction is often made between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it is inherently satisfying or enjoyable, based on an actor’s internal interest (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It relates to intrinsic life goals, and is driven by feelings of autonomy, competence and relatedness (Deci & Ryan, 2008a). Extrinsic motivation is characterized by external incentives (e.g. rewards or avoided punishments) to accomplish something, and may even be counterproductive to intrinsic motivation (Bhaduri & Kumar, 2011; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is most crucial for sustainable change, i.e. motivation which is autonomous and leads to ownership and genuine engagement in an activity (Vansteenkiste, Simons, Lens, Sheldon, & Deci, 2004).
Motivation in the PIP approach is about creating ownership and avoiding that farmers undertake action because of an external reward (like money or in-kind incentives). It is stimulated from the start, when during PIP creation – based on their needs and aspirations – families draw their future vision. Developing a vision provides motivation to act (Greiner & Gregg, 2011) and visualizing an attainable future gives people an increased sense of purpose. This is related to self-reliance, with people feeling competent to achieve something and actively search for solutions. This autonomous motivation which comes from internal sources (Deci & Ryan, 2008b) is a strong motivator for good stewardship (Ryan, Erickson, & De Young, 2003). Furthermore, social capital aspects such as trust, collaboration and reciprocity have a positive effect on the motivation of people to manage natural resources collectively (Pretty, 2003), including concrete action to stop soil erosion.