Motivation and operant conditioning go hand in hand. Positive and negative reinforcers determine the behavior of the subjects to perform the action required, and the incentive is the motivation. Motivation is what compels us to complete goals and meet our needs, it has to be sustained as well so that those needs can be met. Unfortunately motivation can be used towards a goal even if it is detrimental to your health like taking drugs. It all depends on the incentive and the desired destination. Using operant conditioning you can manipulate yourself and others motivations, and therefore achieve your goals. For example if you want someone to study more you can give them candy every time they pass a benchmark for a positive reinforcer. An example of a negative reinforcer could be if you want someone to stay out of your room you can spray them with water when they try to enter.
https://youtu.be/LhI5h5JZi-U
When motivating yourself I agree it is important to make sure you are doing it in a positive way and not negative. Everyone needs to feel motivated to do something and there is no harm in rewarding yourself as long as it is done properly. You really make good point in this post taking how sometimes people motivate themself with drugs and that is a prime example of negative motivation. I don't think many people realize that so it was very important that you point that out.
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