Unit 8A: Motivation and Emotion: Motivation

Introduction Motivation a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Motivational Concepts

Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology Instinct a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned. At the heart of this perspective, is the motivation to survive - we are biologically programmed to survive.

Drives and Incentives Drive-reduction theory the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

Drives and Incentives Incentive a positive or negative environment stimulus that motivates behavior Positive and negative Homeostasis a tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state

A Hierarchy of Motives Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Variations in the hierarchy Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

A Hierarchy of Motives

Hunger

The Physiology of Hunger Body Chemistry and the Brain Set point the point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set. When the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight. Basal metabolic rate the body’s resting rate of energy expenditure

The Psychology of Hunger Eating Disorders Anorexia nervosa an eating disorder in which a person (usually an adolescent female) diets and becomes significantly (15 percent or more) underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve. Bulimia nervosa an eating disorder characterized by episodes of overeating, usually high-calorie foods, followed by vomiting, laxative use, fasting, or excessive exercise. Binge-eating disorder significant binge-eating episodes, followed by distress, disgust, or guilt, but without the compensatory purging, fasting, or excessive exercise that marks bulimia nervosa.

The Psychology of Hunger Eating Disorders

Level of Analysis for Our Hunger Motivation

Obesity and Weight Control Historical explanations for obesity Obesity Definition Statistics Obesity and life expectancy

Obesity

Obesity and Weight Control The Social Effects of Obesity Weight discrimination Psychological effects of obesity

Weight Discrimination

Obesity and Weight Control The Physiology of Obesity Fat Cells

Obesity and Weight Control The Physiology of Obesity The genetic factor The food and activity factor Sleep loss Social influence Food consumption and activity level

Sexual Motivation

The Physiology of Sex The Sexual Response Cycle Sexual response cycle the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson –Excitement phase Plateau phase Orgasm Resolution phase Refractory Period a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.

The Physiology of Sex Hormones and Sexual Behavior Effects of hormones Development of sexual characteristics Activate sexual behavior Estrogen Testosterone

The Psychology of Sex External stimuli Imagined stimuli Dreams Sexual fantasies

Levels of Analysis for Sexual Motivation

Adolescent Sexuality Teen Pregnancy Ignorance Minimal communication about birth control Guilt related to sexual activity Alcohol use Mass media norms of unprotected promiscuity

Adolescent Sexuality Sexually Transmitted Infections Statistics of STIs Teen abstinence High intelligence Religious engagement Father presence Participation in service learning programs xxx

Sexual Orientation Sexual orientation an enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own sex (homosexual orientation) or the other sex (heterosexual orientation). Homosexual orientation Heterosexual orientation

Theories of Emotion

What Is Emotion? Emotion – A four-part process consisting of physiological arousal, cognitive interpretation, subjective feelings, and behavioral expression

Theories of emotions James-Lange theory the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

Theories of emotions Cannon-Bard theory the theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers

Theories of emotions Two-factor theory theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal. Schachter-Singer

Theories of emotions

Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System

Physiological Differences Among Specific Emotions Differences in brain activity Amygdala Frontal lobes Nucleus accumbens Polygraph a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measure several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion

The Effects of Facial Expressions Facial feedback the effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions, as when a facial expression of anger or happiness intensifies feelings of anger or happiness

Levels of Analysis for the Study of Emotion

Experienced Emotion

Fear Adaptive value of fear The biology of fear amygdala

Anger Anger Evoked by events Expressing anger can increase anger Catharsis emotional release. The catharsis hypothesis maintains that “releasing’ aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges Expressing anger can increase anger

Happiness Feel-good, do-good phenomenon people’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. Well-being self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people’s quality of life

Happiness Two Psychological Phenomena: Adaptation and Comparison Happiness and Prior Experience Adaptation-level phenomenon our tendency to form judgments (of sounds, of lights, of income) relative to a neutral level defined by our prior experience Happiness and others’ attainments Relative deprivation the perception that we are worse off relative to those with whom we compare ourselves.

Happiness Predictors of Happiness

Stress and Health

Stress and Illness Stress the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging.

Stress and Illness The Stress Response System General adaptation syndrome (GAS) concept of the body’s adaptive response to stress in three phases –Alarm Resistance exhaustion

Stress and Illness General Adaptation Syndrome

Stress and Illness Stressful Life Events Catastrophes Significant life changes Daily hassles

Stress and the Heart Coronary heart disease the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; the leading cause of death in North America Type A versus Type B Type A competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, and anger-prone people Type B easygoing, relaxed people

Stress and Susceptibility to Disease Psychophysiological illnesses literally, “mind-body” illness; any stress-related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) the study of how psychological, neural, and endocrine processes together affect the immune system and resulting health