Motivation

Motivation: What drives you? Motivation: A psychological process that directs and maintains your behavior toward a goal fueled by motives Motives: Needs or desires that energize your behavior Primary, biological motives: Hunger, thirst, sex, pain reduction, optimal arousal, agression Secondary, social motives: Achievement, affiliation, autonomy, curiosity, play Social motives: learned motives acquired as part of growing up in a particular society or culture

Theories of Motivation Instinct/Evolutionary Theory Drive Reduction Theory Incentive Theory Arousal Theory Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Instinct/Evolutionary Theory Darwin believe many behaviors could be passed on through genes William James believed that motivation via instincts was important for human behavior McDougall supported the idea that all thoughts and behaviors resulted from instincts (curiosity, aggression, & sociability) Ethologist Konrad Lorenzo investigated imprinting with baby geese and their instinct to follow their mother Sociobiology tries to relate social behaviors to evolutionary biology The Big Debate…Are any human behaviors considered TRUE instincts?

Drive Reduction Theory Need (motivated state caused by a physiological deficit) Drive (state of psychological tension induced by a need) Behavior (attempting to return to homeostasis) According to Clark Hull, behavior is motivated by the need to reduce drives such as hunger, thirst, or sex Homeostasis: Body’s ability to maintain an internal steady state of metabolism Metabolism: Sum total of all chemical processes that our in our bodies and allows us to stay alive

Incentive Theory Pushes: Primary motives that satisfy our biological needs Pulls: Environmental factors Secondary motives; Motives we learn to desire Incentive: an environmental stimulus (negative or positive) that motivates us to get us closer to a goal

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Self-actualization: achievement of all our potentials Transcendence: Spiritual fulfillment

Arousal Theory Arousal: The level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system Yerkes-Dodson Law: We usually perform most activities best when moderately aroused, and efficiency of performance is usually lower when arousal is either low or high Easy tasks  Moderately high arousal Difficult tasks Moderately low arousal Average tasks Moderate level of arousal

Achievement Motive A desire to meet some internalized standard of excellence Thematic Appreciation Test (TAT): Created by David McClellan to measure achievement motivation High need for achievementmoderately challenging tasks to satisfy needs Avoid easy goals (no sense of satisfaction) and impossible goals (no hope of success) Low need for achievement easy or impossible goals (do not take responsibility for failure)

Affiliation Motive (Need to Belong) Being isolated for long periods of time causes anxiety Aroused when feeling threatened, anxious, celebratory Evolutionary psychologist believe that the need to belong provides social bonds which lead to survival and reproductive benefits such as food, shelter, safety, and reproduction, and care for offspring

Overjustification Effect (Intrinsic Motivation) When promising a reward for doing something we already like to do results in us seeing the reward as the motivation for performing the task. When the reward is taken away, the behavior tends to disappear Example: Naturally you are a good student and enjoy learning and doing well. Your parents begin to reward you with money for your good grades during elementary school and middle school. When you get to high school, they stop giving you money, so you stop trying hard to get good grades.

Social Conflict Situations Being torn in different directions by opposing motives the block us from attaining a goal, leaving us feeling stressed & frustrated Approach-approach conflicts: situations involving two positive options only one which we can have Live on campus or buy a new car Avoidance-avoidance conflicts: Situations involving two negative options, one which we must choose Use a lot of my savings for the rabies shot or potentially die! Approach-avoidance conflicts: Situations involving whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and a negative consequence(s) Go to a party that may get busted to hang out with the popular crowd or go to the mall and spend a lot of money on clothes for spring break Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts: Situations involving several alternative courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects Changing your outfit many times to look great for a first date although you may be late

Sex Hormones Luteinizing hormone (LH) & follicle stimulating hormone (FSH): Secreted by the pituitary gland, which stimulate the gonads Males Testes Females Ovaries Testosterone & estrogen: Secreted by the gonads to initiate and maintain sexual arousal