Herzberg propounded a motivation
theory based on a study of need satisfaction and the reported motivational
effect of these satisfactions on 203 engineers and accountants. In his two-
factor theory of motivation, Herzberg asked the respondents in his study to
relate times when they felt exceptionally good or exceptionally bad about their
present or previous job.
The respondents were asked to describe the reason for
these feelings. The responses to that interview
were generally consistent and
revealed that there were two different sets of factors affecting motivation and
work. This gave rise to the two factor theory: Motivators and Hygiene factors.