Editing Content theory (section)

==Socio-cultural theory==
{{See also|Cultural-historical psychology}}
Sociocultural theory (also known as Social Motivation) emphasizes the impact of activity and actions mediated through social interaction, and within social contexts. Sociocultural theory represents a shift from traditional theories of motivation, which view the individual's innate drives or mechanistic operand learning as primary determinants of motivation.  Critical elements to socio-cultural theory applied to motivation include, but are not limited to, the role of social interactions and the contributions from culturally-based knowledge and practice.<ref name="Rueda and Moll 1994" />  Sociocultural theory extends the social aspects of [[Cognitive Evaluation Theory]], which espouses the important role of positive feedback from others during the action,<ref name="Ryan, R. M. 2000" /> but requires the individual as the internal locus of causality.  Sociocultural theory predicts that motivation has an external locus of causality, and is socially distributed among the social group.<ref name="Rueda and Moll 1994" />

Motivation can develop through an individual's involvement within their cultural group. Personal motivation often comes from activities a person believes to be central to the everyday occurrences in their community.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Rogoff |first = Barbara |date = 2009 |title = Side by Side: Learning by Observing and Pitching In |journal = Journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology |pages = 102–138 }}</ref> An example of socio-cultural theory would be social settings where people work together to solve collective problems. Although individuals will have internalized goals, they will also develop internalized goals of others, as well as new interests and goals collectively with those that they feel socially connected to.<ref name="Sharing Motivation">{{cite journal |last1 = Walton |first1 = Gregory |last2 = Cohen |first2 = Geoffrey |date = 2011 |title = Sharing Motivation |journal = Social Motivation |pages = 79–101 }}</ref> Oftentimes, it is believed that all cultural groups are motivated in the same way. However, motivation can come from different child-rearing practices and cultural behaviors that greatly vary between cultural groups.

In some indigenous cultures, collaboration between children and adults in the community and household tasks is seen as very important<ref>{{cite book |title = Growing Up in a Culture of Respect |last = Bolin |first = Inge |date = January 2006 }}</ref> A child from an indigenous community may spend a great deal of their time alongside family and community members doing different tasks and chores that benefit the community. After having seen the benefits of collaboration and work, and also have the opportunity to be included, the child will be intrinsically motivated to participate in similar tasks. In this example, because the adults in the community do not impose the tasks upon the children, the children therefore feel self-motivated and have a desire to participate and learn through the task.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Murray | first1=Marjorie | last2=Bowen | first2=Sofia | last3=Segura | first3=Nicole | last4=Verdugo | first4=Marisol |date = 2015 |title = Apprehending Volition in Early Socialization: Raising 'Little Persons' among Rural Mapuche Families |journal = Ethos |volume = 43 |issue = 4 |pages = 376–401 | issn=0091-2131 |doi = 10.1111/etho.12094 }}</ref> As a result of the community values that surround the child, their source of motivation may vary according to the different communities and their different values.

In more Westernized communities, segregation between adults and children participating in work-related tasks is a common practice. As a result of this, these adolescents demonstrate less internalized motivation to do things within their environment than their parents. However, when the motivation to participate in activities is a prominent belief within the family, the adolescents autonomy is significantly higher. This therefore demonstrates that when collaboration and non-segregative tasks are norms within a child's upbringing, their internal motivation to participate in community tasks increases.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Gronhoj, Rhogersen |first = Alice, John |date = 2017 |title = Why young people do things for the environment: the role of parenting for adolescents motivation to engage in pro-environmental behavior |journal = Journal of Environmental Psychology |volume =  54|pages =  11–19|doi = 10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.09.005 }}</ref> When given opportunities to work collaboratively with adults on shared tasks during childhood, children will therefore become more intrinsically motivated through adulthood.<ref>{{cite book |title = Growing Up in a Culture of Respect |last = Bolin |first = Inge |publisher = University of Texas Press |year = 2006 |location = Austin, TX }}</ref>

Social motivation is tied to one's activity in a group. It cannot form from a single mind alone. For example, bowling alone is naught but the dull act of throwing a ball into pins, and so people are much less likely to smile during the activity alone, even upon getting a strike because their satisfaction or dissatisfaction does not need to be communicated, and so it is internalized. However, when with a group, people are more inclined to smile regardless of their results because it acts as a positive communication that is beneficial for pleasurable interaction and teamwork.<ref name="Sharing Motivation"/> Thus the act of bowling becomes a social activity as opposed to a dull action because it becomes an exercise in interaction, competition, team building and sportsmanship. It is because of this phenomenon that studies have shown that people are more intrigued in performing mundane activities so long as there is company because it provides the opportunity to interact in one way or another, be it for bonding, amusement, collaboration, or alternative perspectives.<ref name="Sharing Motivation"/> Examples of activities that one may not be motivated to do alone but could be done with others for the social benefit are things such as throwing and catching a baseball with a friend, making funny faces with children, building a treehouse, and performing a debate.