Motivation & Emotion

Psychology – Ms. Montagnon

* A psychological process that directs and maintains your behavior toward a goal. * Fueled by motives. * Needs or desires that energize your

behavior.

What is Motivation?

* Primary, biological motives: * Hunger, thirst, sex, pain reduction,

optimal arousal and aggression * Secondary, social motives: * Achievement, affiliation, autonomy,

curiosity and play

Types of Motives

* All thought and necessary action comes from our instincts such as curiosity, aggression and sociability. * Instincts are complex, inherited

behavior patterns.

Instinct Theory of Motivation

*  Behavior is motivated by the need to reduce drives. *  Need = a motivated state caused by a physiological

deficit *  Drive = a state of psychological tension induced by a

need * Hunger * Thirst

*  The greater the need, the stronger the drive. *  Our body seeks to maintain homeostasis. *  An internal steady state to remain balanced

Drive-Reduction Theory of Motivation

* Primary motives push us to satisfy our biological needs. * Environmental factors pull us to

satisfy social needs. * An incentive is a positive or negative

stimulus that pulls us towards a goal.

Incentive Theory of Motivation

*  Arousal is the level of alertness, wakefulness and activation caused by activity in the CNS. *  Yerkes-Dodson Law states that a person will

usually perform most activities best when moderately aroused. * Difficult or new tasks at a lower level of arousal. *  Easy or well-known tasks at a higher level of

arousal.

Arousal Theory of Motivation

* Prioritized needs in order from physiological needs (hunger, thirst) to transcendence (fulfilling spiritual potential in life). * One cannot meet higher needs until

lower needs are met.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

* Hunger * Thirst * Pain Reduction * Sex

Physiological Motives

* Why do we eat? * Contracting stomach * Low blood sugar * Hypothalamus sends message * Set point * Taste of food * Social eating * Emotional eating

Hunger

* Why do we drink? * Hypothalamus sends message * Mouth dryness * Habit

Thirst

* We are motivated to avoid pain by acting in ways to avoid or escape it. * We attempt to eliminate causes of

discomfort.

Pain Reduction

* Sex drive is controlled by the hypothalamus and the endocrine system. * Hormones increase the sex drive.

Sex

* Achievement *  The need to be successful at something * Affiliation *  The need to belong * Approval *  The need to be recognized *  Intrinsic v. Extrinsic Motivation *  Internal motivation * External motivation

Social Motivation

*  Curiosity Motive *  Humans are naturally curious – we want to

know *  Manipulation Motive *  Humans naturally have the desire to

manipulate/touch/explore their environment *  Contact Comfort *  Harry Harlow – claimed that without being held

for comfort, babies will not develop properly *  Babies cry to be held

Inherited Motivation

* A conscious feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness accompanied by biological activation and expressive behavior. * Cognitive * Physiological * Behavioral

Emotion

* Experience the emotion by encountering a physiological feeling first and then the emotion. * You see a snake * Your heart starts pounding * You feel scared

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

* Experience the emotion by feeling the physiological feeling and the emotion simultaneously. * You see a snake * Your heart starts pounding and you

feel scared at the same time

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

* Experience the emotion by encountering a physiological feeling, cognitively labeling it and then feel the emotion. * You see a snake * Your heart begins pounding * You cognitively label the incident as being

scared by appraising the situation. * You are scared

Schacter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion

* When we experience an emotion, an opposing emotion will counter the first emotion, lessening the experience of that emotion.

Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion

* Anger * Sadness * Contempt * Fear * Disgust * Joy * Surprise

7 Basic Emotions