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Question

Which among the following is not a hygiene factor ?

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2025 Management Question Paper (07-Jan-2026) (Shift 1)
The correct answer is

Responsibility

 Responsibility is a motivator, not a hygiene factor — option 4.

The theory. Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, also called the Motivation-Hygiene theory, came out of asking accountants and engineers to describe times when they felt exceptionally good and exceptionally bad about their work. The striking finding was that the two sets of answers named different things, not opposite ends of the same thing.

 Hygiene factorsMotivators
Also calledMaintenance or dissatisfiersSatisfiers
Where they lieIn the context of the job — the environmentIn the content of the job — the work itself
ExamplesSalary, supervision, company policy and administration, working conditions, job security, interpersonal relations, statusAchievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, advancement, growth
If absentDissatisfactionNo satisfaction — but not dissatisfaction
If presentNo dissatisfaction — but not satisfactionSatisfaction and motivation

The central claim. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not opposites. The opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction, and the opposite of satisfaction is no satisfaction. Hygiene factors can only remove unhappiness; they cannot create motivation. Fix the pay, the policies and the supervisor and people stop complaining — but they do not thereby start caring.

The test for this question : ask whether the item is part of the work or part of the surroundings. Salary, supervision and company policy are all surroundings. Responsibility — being trusted with a task and answerable for it — is part of the work itself, and therefore a motivator.

What Herzberg recommended. Since motivation comes from job content, he argued for job enrichment — adding depth to a job by giving more responsibility, autonomy and feedback — and distinguished it sharply from job enlargement, which merely adds more tasks of the same kind and, in his phrase, only adds “zero to zero”.

Hence, the answer is Responsibility.

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Similar Questions

  1. An individual's involvement in work primarily indicates his/her:

  2. Which one of the following is not a ‘hygiene factor’ of Herzberg's Two Factor theory ?

  3. When an individual is motivated to approach two or more positive but mutually exclusive goals, he is facing which one type of the following conflicts ?

  4. According to Vroom’s theory of motivation, which one of the following is correct ?

  5. A theory of motivation that is concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation, is termed as :

  6. Which of the following is not perceived as the basic element of motivation ?

  7. An individual’s involvement in work primarily indicates his/her :

  8. Statement (I): “Motivation is a continuous, complex and dynamic process”.

    Statement (II): “As compared to other industries, extra motivation is required in service sector industries”.

  9. Give the correct order of stages in goal setting theory.

  10. Arrange the major steps of Luthan's O.B. Mod approach to behavioral performance management from earlier to later

    A. Measure

    B. Identity

    C. Intervene

    D. Analyse

    E. Evaluate

    Choose the correct answer from the options given below:


Important Questions from Motivation

  1. What do you think is the best tool to motivate students?

  2. ______ is the set of attributes used to describe oneself.

  3. Which of the following statement is correct?

    I. Praising children for ability and hard-work comes under intrinsic motivation

    II. Giving children money or treats for good grades comes under extrinsic motivation

  4. Which of the following strategies can be used to enhance the motivation level of the learners?

    I. Students should be encouraged to make decisions.

    II. Students should be praised for desirable behaviour.

    III. A teacher should spend more time on student weakness.

  5. Which one of the following is not a function of motivation in learning?

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