Two-factor theory

For Schachters theory of emotion, see two-factor theory petency, status, personal worth, and self-realization, thus
of emotion.
making him happy and satised. However, the absence
of such gratifying job characteristics does not appear to
The two-factor theory (also known as Herzbergs lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Instead, dissatisfaction results from unfavorable assessments of such jobmotivation-hygiene theory and dual-factor theory)
states that there are certain factors in the workplace that related factors as company policies, supervision, technical problems, salary, interpersonal relations on the job,
cause job satisfaction, while a separate set of factors
cause dissatisfaction. It was developed by psychologist and working conditions. Thus, if management wishes to
Frederick Herzberg, who theorized that job satisfaction increase satisfaction on the job, it should be concerned
and job dissatisfaction act independently of each other.[1] with the nature of the work itself the opportunities it
presents for gaining status, assuming responsibility, and
for achieving self-realization. If, on the other hand, management wishes to reduce dissatisfaction, then it must foprocedures, su1 Two-factor theory fundamentals cus on the job environment policies,
pervision, and working conditions.[1] If management is
equally concerned with both, then managers must give
Attitudes and their connection with industrial mental attention to both sets of job factors.
health are related to Abraham Maslow's theory of motivation. His ndings have had a considerable theoret- Two-factor theory distinguishes between:
ical, as well as a practical, inuence on attitudes to Motivators (e.g. challenging work, recognition,
ward administration.[1][2] According to Herzberg, indiresponsibility) that give positive satisfaction, arisviduals are not content with the satisfaction of lowering from intrinsic conditions of the job itself, such
order needs at work; for example, those needs associated
as recognition, achievement, or personal growth,[4]
with minimum salary levels or safe and pleasant workand
ing conditions. Rather, individuals look for the gratication of higher-level psychological needs having to do
Hygiene factors (e.g. status, job security, salary,
with achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancefringe benets, work conditions) that do not give
ment, and the nature of the work itself. This appears
positive satisfaction or lead to higher motivation,
to parallel Maslows theory of a need hierarchy. Howthough dissatisfaction results from their absence.
ever, Herzberg added a new dimension to this theory by
The term hygiene is used in the sense that these
proposing a two-factor model of motivation, based on the
are maintenance factors. These are extrinsic to the
notion that the presence of one set of job characteristics
work itself, and include aspects such as company
or incentives leads to worker satisfaction at work, while
policies, supervisory practices, or wages/salary.[4][5]
another and separate set of job characteristics leads to disHerzberg often referred to hygiene factors as
satisfaction at work. Thus, satisfaction and dissatisfaction
KITA factors, which is an acronym for kick in the
are not on a continuum with one increasing as the other
ass, the process of providing incentives or threat of
diminishes, but are independent phenomena. This theory
punishment to make someone do something.
suggests that to improve job attitudes and productivity,
administrators must recognize and attend to both sets of
characteristics and not assume that an increase in satis- According to Herzberg, hygiene factors are what causes
faction leads to decrease in unpleasurable dissatisfaction. dissatisfaction among employees in a workplace. In order
to remove dissatisfaction in a work environment, these
The two-factor theory developed from data collected hygiene factors must be eliminated. There are several
by Herzberg from interviews with 203 engineers and ways that this can be done but some of the most important
accountants in the Pittsburgh area, chosen because of ways to decrease dissatisfaction would be to pay reasontheir professions growing importance in the business able wages, ensure employees job security, and to create
world. Regarding the collection process:
a positive culture in the workplace. Herzberg considered
From analyzing these interviews, he found that job char- the following hygiene factors from highest to lowest imacteristics related to what an individual does that is, to portance: company policy, supervision, employees relathe nature of the work one performs apparently have tionship with their boss, work conditions, salary, and relathe capacity to gratify such needs as achievement, com- tionships with peers.[6] Eliminating dissatisfaction is only
1

VALIDITY AND CRITICISMS

one half of the task of the two factor theory. The other
Providing regular and continuous feedback on prohalf would be to increase satisfaction in the workplace.
ductivity and job performance directly to employees
This can be done by improving on motivating factors.[7]
instead of through supervisors.
Motivation factors are needed to motivate an employee to
Encouraging employees to take on new and chalhigher performance. Herzberg also further classied our
lenging tasks and becoming experts at a task.
actions and how and why we do them, for example, if you
perform a work related action because you have to then
that is classed as movement, but if you perform a work
related action because you want to then that is classed as
3 Validity and criticisms
motivation. Herzberg thought it was important to eliminate job dissatisfaction before going onto creating conditions for job satisfaction because it would work against In 1968 Herzberg stated that his two-factor theory study
had already been replicated 16 times in a wide variety
each other.[7]
of populations including some in Communist countries,
According to the Two-Factory Theory there are four posand corroborated with studies using dierent procedures
sible combinations:[8]
that agreed with his original ndings regarding intrinsic
employee motivation making it one of the most widely
1. High Hygiene + High Motivation: The ideal situa- replicated studies on job attitudes.
tion where employees are highly motivated and have
While the Motivator-Hygiene concept is still well refew complaints.
garded, satisfaction and dissatisfaction are generally no
2. High Hygiene + Low Motivation: Employees have longer considered to exist on separate scales. The sepafew complaints but are not highly motivated. The ration of satisfaction and dissatisfaction has been shown
to be an artifact of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT)
job is viewed as a paycheck.
used by Herzberg to record events.[10] Furthermore, it has
3. Low Hygiene + High Motivation: Employees are been noted the theory does not allow for individual diermotivated but have a lot of complaints. A situations ences, such as particular personality traits, which would
where the job is exciting and challenging but salaries aect individuals unique responses to motivating or hyand work conditions are not up to par.
giene factors.[4]
4. Low Hygiene + Low Motivation: This is the worst A number of behavioral scientists have pointed to inadesituation where employees are not motivated and quacies in the need for hierarchy and motivation-hygiene
theories. The most basic is the criticism that both of these
have many complaints.
theories contain the relatively explicit assumption that
Unlike Maslow, who oered little data to support his happy and satised workers produce more, even though
ideas, Herzberg and others have presented considerable this might not be the case. For example, if playing a betempirical evidence to conrm the motivation-hygiene ter game of golf is the means chosen to satisfy ones need
theory, although their work has been criticized on for recognition, then one will nd ways to play and think
about golf more often, perhaps resulting in a lower outmethodological grounds.
put on the job due to a lower amount of focus. Another
problem is that these and other statistical theories are concerned with explaining average behavior, despite con2 Workarounds
siderable dierences between individuals that may impact ones motivational factors. For instance, in their purHerzbergs theory concentrates on the importance of in- suit of status a person might take a balanced view and
ternal job factors as motivating forces for employees. He strive to pursue several behavioral paths in an eort to
designed it to increase job enrichment for employees. achieve a combination of personal status objectives.
Herzberg wanted to create the opportunity for employIn other words, an individuals expectation or estimated
ees to take part in planning, performing, and evaluating
probability that a given behavior will bring a valued out[4][5][9]
their work. He suggested to do this by:
come determines their choice of means and the eort they
will devote to these means. In eect, this diagram of ex Removing some of the control management has over pectancy depicts an employee asking themselves the quesemployees and increasing the accountability and re- tion posed by one investigator, "How much payo is there
sponsibility they have over their work. Which would for me toward attaining a personal goal while expendin return increase employee autonomy.
ing so much eort toward the achievement of an assigned
[11]
The expectancy theory by
Creating complete and natural work units where it organizational objective?"
Victor
Vroom
also
provides
a
framework for motivation
is possible. An example would be allowing employbased
on
expectations.
ees to create a whole unit or section instead of only
allowing them to create part of it.

This approach to the study and understanding of motiva-

3
tion would appear to have certain conceptual advantages [10] King, Nathan (1970). Clarication and Evaluation of
the Two-Factor Theory of Job Satisfaction. Psychologover other theories: First, unlike Maslows and Herzbergs
ical Bulletin 74 (1): pp. 1831. doi:10.1037/h0029444.
theories, it is capable of handling individual dierences.
OCLC 4643874729.
Second, its focus is toward the present and the future, in
contrast to drive theory, which emphasizes past learning. [11] Georgopolous, Basil S.; Mahoney, Gerald M.; Jones, Jr.,
Third, it specically correlates behavior to a goal and thus
Nyle W. (December 1957). A Path-Goal Approach to
eliminates the problem of assumed relationships, such as
Productivity. Journal of Applied Psychology 41 (6): pp.
between motivation and performance. Fourth, it relates
345353. doi:10.1037/h0048473. OCLC 4643146464.
motivation to ability: Performance = Motivation*Ability.
That said, a study by the Gallup Organization, as detailed in the book First, Break All the Rules: What the
Worlds Greatest Managers Do by Marcus Buckingham
and Curt Coman, appears to provide strong support
for Herzbergs division of satisfaction and dissatisfaction
onto two separate scales. In this book, the authors discuss
how the study identied twelve questions that provide a
framework for determining high-performing individuals
and organizations. These twelve questions align squarely
with Herzbergs motivation factors, while hygiene factors
were determined to have little eect on motivating high
performance.

References

Hyun, Sungmin (2009).

Re-examination of
Herzbergs Two-Factor Theory of Motivation in the
Korean Army Foodservice Operation (MS thesis).
Iowa State University.
Khalifa, Mohamed Hossam El-Din; Truong, Quang
(2010). The Relationship between Employee Perceptions of Equity and Job Satisfaction in the Egyptian Private Universities. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics 3 (5): pp. 135150.

6 External links

[1] Herzberg, Frederick; Mausner, Bernard; Snyderman, Barbara B. (1959). The Motivation to Work (2nd ed.). New
York: John Wiley. ISBN 0471373893.
[2] Herzberg, Frederick (1966). Work and the Nature of Man.
Cleveland: World Publishing. OCLC 243610.
[3] Herzberg, Frederick (JanuaryFebruary 1964). The
Motivation-Hygiene Concept and Problems of Manpower. Personnel Administrator (27): pp. 37.
[4] Hackman, J. Richard; Oldham, Greg R. (August 1976).
Motivation Through the Design of Work: Test of a Theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance
16 (2): pp. 250279. doi:10.1016/0030-5073(76)900167. OCLC 4925746330.
[5] Herzberg, Frederick (JanuaryFebruary 1968). One
More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?". Harvard Business Review 46 (1): pp. 5362. OCLC
219963337.
[6] Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory (Two Factor
Theory)". NetMBA.com. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
[7] Herzbergs Motivators and Hygiene Factors.
tools.com. Retrieved December 2, 2014.

5 Further reading

Mind-

[8] Summary of Herzbergs Motivation and Hygiene Factors. Abstract. Value Based Management. Retrieved
December 9, 2014.
[9] Schultz, Duane P.; Schultz, Sydney Ellen (2010). Psychology and Work Today: An Introduction to Industrial and
Organizational Psychology (10th ed.). New York City:
Prentice Hall. pp. 3839. ISBN 0-205-68358-4.

Herzbergs Two Factor Theory

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