Motivation and Emotion Chapter 8 Motivation and Emotion

Motivation: What Makes Us Act as We Do? Motivation: All processes involved in starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activities

Behavior motivated by… Biological factors – food, water, sex Emotional factors – panic, fear, love Cognitive factors – perceptions, beliefs, expectations Social factors – parents, friends, media

How Psychologists Use the Concept of Motivation Connects observable behavior to internal states Accounts for variability in behavior Explains perseverance despite adversity Relates biology to behavior Helps explain behavior over time Based partly on desire to feel certain emotions Motivation affects emotion MOTIVATION & EMOTION ARE INTERTWINED!!!

Types of Motivation Drive: Biologically instigated motivation; usually from a need Motive: Reason or purpose for behavior (often used to describe motivations that are learned, rather that biologically based)

Types of Motivation Conscious motivation: Having the desire to engage in an activity and being aware of the desire Unconscious motivation: Having a desire to engage in an activity but being consciously unaware of the desire Intrinsic motivation: Desire to engage in an activity for its own sake Extrinsic motivation: Desire to engage in an activity to achieve an external consequence (reward)

Rewards Can Sometimes Squelch Motivation Overjustification: The process by which extrinsic rewards can sometimes displace internal motivation

Theories of Motivation Instinct theory: View that certain behaviors are determined by innate, automatic, involuntary and unlearned responses Emphasizes biological factors Fixed-action patterns: Genetically based behaviors, seen across a species, that can be set off by a specific stimulus (instincts)

Theories of Motivation Drive-reduction theory: View that motivation arises from imbalances in homeostasis Emphasizes biological factors Homeostasis: body’s tendency to maintain a biologically balanced condition Need: biological imbalance that threatens survival if left unmet; produces drives Brain responds to needs by creating drives Need for food hunger drive motivates you to find food

Theories of Motivation Social-Cognitive Theory: motivation due to cognitive processes Locus of control: An individual’s sense of where his or her life influences originate–internally or externally

Theories of Motivation Freud’s Psychodymanic Theory: motivation from the unconscious Focused on mental disorders more than everyday behaviors Everything we do based on either Eros – desire for sex Thantos – aggressive/destructive impulse

Maslow’s Humanistic Theory Hierarchy of needs: The notion that needs occur in priority order, with the biological needs as the most basic

Theories of Motivation Arousal theory: motivated to behave in ways that keep us at our optimal level of arousal Seek excitement when bored Seek relaxation when over-aroused

Theories of Motivation Incentive theory: behavior is directed toward attaining desirable stimuli and avoiding unwanted stimuli

Measuring the Need for Achievement Need for achievement (n Ach): Mental state that produces a psychological motive to excel or reach some goal Projection: Process by which people attribute their own unconscious motives to other people or objects

Motives in Conflict Approach-approach conflict: A conflict in which one must choose between two equally attractive options Avoidance-avoidance conflict: A conflict in which one must choose between two equally unattractive options

Motives in Conflict Approach-avoidance conflict: A conflict in which there are both appealing and negative aspects to the decision to be made Multiple approach-avoidance conflict: A conflict in which one must choose between options that have both many attractive and many negative aspects

Hunger Motivation The multiple-systems approach to hunger Set point: Refers to the tendency of the body to maintain a certain level of body fat and body weight Brain receptors/hypothalamus – fat/sugar in blood Lack of Leptin – keep eating Pressure detectors in stomach – full or empty Other mechanisms – sweet and fatty foods Physical activity

Thirst and Pain Thirst/hunger: Seek a stimulus Volumetric thirst: A drop in extracellular fluid levels Osmotic thirst: A drop in intracellular fluid levels Pain: Avoid/remove stimulus

What Do Our Emotions Do For Us? Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others

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

The Evolution of Emotions Emotions have survival value and have been shaped by natural selection Individuals vary tremendously in emotional responsiveness Emotions are not entirely programmed by genetics

Cultural Universals in Emotional Expression Seven universal basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness and surprise (Ekman) There are huge cultural differences in the context and intensity of emotional displays Display rules: Permissible ways of displaying emotions in a particular society

The Emotion Wheel (Robert Plutchik)

Where Do Our Emotions Come From? Two distinct brain pathways for emotional arousal: Fast & unconscious Slow & conscious clarified connections among biological structures involved in emotion offered solutions to many issues in the psychology of emotion

Where do our emotions come from? The Neuroscience of Emotion The biological mechanisms at work behind our emotions include: The limbic system The reticular formation The cerebral cortex The autonomic nervous system Hormones/neurotransmitters

Psychological Theories of Emotion James-Lange theory: A stimulus produces a physical response that, in turn, produces/causes an emotion Cannon-Bard theory: An emotional feeling and an internal physiological response to the stimulus occur at the same time One is not the cause of the other

Psychological Theories of Emotion Two-factor theory of emotion: Emotion results from the cognitive appraisal of both (1) physical arousal and (2) stimulus Schachter-Singer Theory

James-Lange theory Cannon-bard theory Two-factor theory Physiological arousal trembling increased heart rate Stimulus snake Emotion fear Physiological arousal trembling increased heart rate Emotion fear Cannon-bard theory Stimulus snake Cognitive interpretation “I feel afraid!” Physiological arousal trembling increased heart rate Two-factor theory Emotion fear Stimulus

Psychological Theories of Emotion Cognitive appraisal theory: Theory that individuals consciously decide on an appropriate emotion after the event (Lazarus) Opponent-process theory: Theory that emotions have pairs; when one is triggered the other is suppressed

Inverted “U” Inverted “U” function: Describes the relationship between arousal and performance Both low and high levels of arousal produce lower performance than does a moderate level of arousal Easy tasks = high level; Hard tasks = low level Performance Low High Arousal Level

Developing Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence: Ability to understand and control emotional responses Examples of when you’ve needed to mask an emotion? Marshmallow Test – delay of gratification

Arousal, Performance, and the Inverted “U” Sensation seekers: Individuals who have a biological need for higher levels of stimulation than do other people

How and Why Do We Experience Stress? The human stress response to a perceived threat activates thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and physiological arousal that normally promote adaptation and survival

Stress and Stressors Stress: A physical and mental response to a challenging or threatening situation Stressor: A stressful stimulus, a condition demanding adaptation

Psychological Stressors Pleasant or unpleasant Upleasant Catastrophic events – sudden, unexpected, potentially life-threatening experiences or traumas Life changes – divorce, family illness, difficulties at work, moving Chronic stressors – living in unsafe area, serious illness, lack of decent living, discrimination, academic pressure Daily hassles – irritations, pressures, annoyances

The Physical Stress Response Acute stress: a temporary pattern of arousal caused by a stressor with a clear onset and offset Chronic stress: a continuous state of stressful arousal persisting over time

The Physical Stress Response Fight-or-flight response: a sequence of internal processes that prepares the organism for struggle or escape Tend-and-befriend model: stress response model proposing that females are biologically predisposed to respond to stress by nurturing and protecting offspring and seeking social support

The Physical Stress Response General adaptation syndrome (GAS): a pattern of general physical responses that takes essentially the same form in responding to any serious chronic stressor

The General Adaptation Syndrome Alarm Reaction Alarm reaction – the body mobilizes it’s resources to cope with a stressor Exhaustion Illness/death Exhaustion – the body depletes it’s resources Resistance Resistance – the body seems to adapt to the presence of the stressor Successful Resistance Level of normal resistance

Stress and the Immune System Immune system: bodily organs and responses that protect the body from foreign substances and threats

Stress and the Immune System Psychoneuroimmunology: Multidisciplinary field that studies the influence of mental states on the immune system Cytokines: Hormone-like chemicals facilitating communication between brain and immune system

Personality and Stress Type A: behavior pattern characterized by intense, angry, competitive, or perfectionistic responses to challenging situations Type B: behavior pattern characterized by a relaxed, unstressed approach to life

Psychological Responses to Stress Learned helplessness: Pattern of not responding to noxious stimuli after an organism learns that its behavior has no effect