Directed motivational currents: An agenda for future research

Abstract

Directed motivational currents (DMCs) encapsulate a unique motivational phenomenon. DMCs arehighly positive, potent motivational experiences which can carry individuals or groups forwards toachieving valued goals at both a remarkable rate, and with a perceived feeling of seemingly ‘effortlesseffort’. Although research into DMCs began under a decade ago (Dörnyei, Ibrahim & Muir, 2015;Dörnyei, Muir & Ibrahim, 2014; Henry, Davydenko & Dörnyei, 2015; Muir & Dörnyei, 2013), themotivational experience DMCs encapsulate is, in and of itself, certainly not novel. DMCs appear to bewidely recognizable in diverse contexts, and may even be relatively widely experienced (Muir, 2020). Thetheoretical underpinning of DMC theory draws together findings from a broad range of well-establishedmotivational disciplines in related areas of psychology (including cognitive and educational psychology),alongside motivation research rooted more fully in the context of language learning (LLing) and teaching.We begin by overviewing the DMC construct itself, outlining key cornerstones and primary theoreticalprinciples that underpin our understanding of each. We go on to lay out a broad agenda for further study,continuing the discussion in the final chapter of Muir (2020), by foregrounding six avenues for futureresearch. Viewed together, they are demonstrative of the scope of future research potential surroundingDMC theory, incorporating both theoretical and applied (pedagogic) directions for inquiry. For eachfuture avenue that we propose, we foreground several more specific directions in which research effortmight begin.