(n) the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior, Syn. motive, need, Example:we did not understand his motivation; he acted with the best of motives
2. The mental process that arouses an organism to action; as, a large part of a teacher's job is to give students the motivation to learn on their own. Syn. -- motive, need. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]
3. The goal or mental image of a goal that creates a motivation{ 2 }; as, the image of a peaceful world is a powerful motivation for only a rare few individuals. [ PJC ]