metamotivation
n. in the humanistic psychology of Abraham Maslow, those motives that impel an individual to “character growth, character expression, maturation, and development,” operating on the level of self-actualization and transcendence in the hierarchy of needs (see Maslow’s motivational hierarchy). In Maslow’s view, metamotivation is distinct from the motivation operating in the lower level needs, which he calls deficiency motivation, and it emerges after the lower needs are satisfied. Also called being motivation; B-motivation; growth motivation. See also Maslow’s theory of human motivation.