1. Motivation and Emotion
PowerPoint®
Presentation
by Jim Foley
Motivation and Emotion
© 2013 Worth Publishers

2. Module 28: Basic Motivational Concepts, the Need to Belong, and Achievement Motivation
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3. Topics you might be driven to learn about
Models of Motivation:
Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology
Drives and Incentives
Seeking Optimum Arousal levels
A Hierarchy of Motives
The Need to Belong
The Pain of Being Shut out
Social Networking
The Motivation to Achieve, to Work
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4. Motivation
Motivation: a need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it towards a goal.
For example, Aron Ralston found the motivation to cut off his own arm when trapped on a cliff in Utah in What motivated him to do this? Hunger? The drive to survive? The drive to reproduce?
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The drive to survive might seem more obvious, but see if students can guess why the drive to reproduce is listed here. Ralston, after thinking he had no way to survive, had a dream of a one-armed man picking up a young boy. Maybe this stirred up his desire to live to be a father someday. [His first child, Leo, was born in 2010.]

5. Perspectives on Motivation
There are different ways of thinking of the way motivation works, all of which relate to the “push” of biological processes and the “pull” of culture, social forces, and ideals.
Instinct Theory  Evolutionary Perspective
Drive-Reduction Theory
Arousal [Optimization] Theory
Hierarchy of Needs/Motives
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6. Do Instincts Direct Human Behavior?
An instinct is a fixed (rigid and predictable) pattern of behavior that is not acquired by learning and is likely to be rooted in genes and the body.
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Humans may have a general nesting “instinct,” but the specific behavior is less predictable. The bird can only build one kind of nest, but humans may decorate a baby’s room in a variety of ways, or use this general “instinct” to simply buy and repair a home.
Human “nesting” behavior
Instinctual nesting

7. Instincts  Evolutionary Perspective
Other species have genetically programmed instincts “motivating” their actions.
Do humans?
Human babies show certain reflexes, but in general, our behavior is less prescribed by genetics than other animals.
We may, however, have general patterns of behavior which can be explained as emerging through natural selection.
Instinct theory has given way to evolutionary theory in explaining human behavior.
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8. Drive Reduction
A drive is an aroused/tense state related to a physical need such as hunger or thirst.
Drive-reduction theory refers to the idea that humans are motivated to reduce these drives, such as eating to reduce the feeling of hunger. This restores homeostasis, a steady internal state.
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9. Seeking Optimum Arousal
Some behavior seems driven by a need to either increase or decrease our physiological arousal level.
Curiosity, as with kids and these monkeys, may seek stimulation to reach an optimum arousal level.
A hunger for stimulation, novelty, makes humans infovores, seekers of knowledge.
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It seems that curiosity can be considered a basic need or drive to get to know one’s environment to improve the chances of survival. However, in this model, curiosity is seen as a way of seeking an optimum arousal level.
People with ADHD seem to seek stimulation for this reason; it increases dopamine levels almost as well as Ritalin, although the pursuit of such stimulation, even by fidgeting, can be disruptive.
It is not clear that the curiosity of scientists, though, serves to increase physiological arousal.

10. Performance and Arousal Level
What happen when we succeed at raising our arousal levels?
Below: the effect of arousal on performance depends on how comfortable we are with the task.
Yerkes-Dodson Law:
Arousal levels can help performance but too much arousal can interfere with performance.
For taking an exam, moderate arousal might be best.
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11. Hierarchy of Needs/Motives
Abraham Maslow proposed that humans strive to ensure that basic needs are satisfied; then, they find motivation to pursue goals that are higher on this hierarchy.
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12. Violating the Hierarchy?
Do hunger strikers and mystics feel secure enough in meeting their needs that they can do without food temporarily to pursue a higher goal?
Soldiers sacrifice safety, but could they be seen as fighting for safety, both indirectly (protecting the country) and directly (defeating the people shooting at them)?
Violating the Hierarchy?
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13. Another Motivation: “To Belong”
What do people need besides food and sex?
Aristotle: social life
Alfred Adler: community
In Middle English, to be wretched [wrecche] means to “be without kin nearby”
Roy Baumeister, Mark Leary, and Abraham Maslow say we need:
“To Belong.”
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Belonging: being connected to others, part of a group or family or community.

14. Why do we have a need to belong?
Evolutionary psychology perspective: seeking bonds with others aids survival in many ways
Keeping children close to caregivers
Mutual protection in a group
Coopera-tion in hunting and sharing food
Division of labor to allow growing food
Emotional support to get through crises
Why do we have a need to belong?
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15. Balancing Bonding with Other Needs
The need to bond with others is so strong that we can feel lost without close relationships.
However, we also seem to need autonomy and a sense of personal competence/efficacy.
There a tension between “me” and “us,” but these goals can work together.
 Belonging builds self-esteem, and prepares us for confident autonomy.
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16. The Need to Belong Leads to:
loyalty to friends, teams, groups, and families.
However, the need to belong also leads to:
changing our appearance to win acceptance.
staying in abusive relationships.
joining gangs, nationalist groups, and violent organizations.
OPTIONAL SLIDE, material not in this edition of the text. Click to reveal text box.
Abusive relationships typically undermine our autonomy and our sense of self-efficacy/competence. Ironically, this makes us less likely to leave an abusive relationship.

17. Disrupted Bonds, New Beginnings
Children repeatedly moved away from primary caretakers in childhood may have difficulty forming deep attachments in adulthood.
People losing a loved one or moving away from a hometown can feel grief.
Being ostracized, cut off from social contact or excluded, can lead to real physical pain.
And yet people can find resilience and relief from pain by building social connections.
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18. Social Networking = Social Connection?
Do updates and tweets build connection?
Use of social networking can become a compulsion, sacrificing face-to-face interaction and in- depth conversation.
Research shows: Portrayal of one’s self online is often close to one’s actual sense of self.
Research shows: Online social networking is associated with
Narcissism/self-centeredness
less connection to neighbors
more connection to people who share our narrow interests and viewpoints
Is our online self-disclosure honest, and healthy?
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Regarding the face-to-face interaction: I suggest pointing out here that something called “Facebook” may have reduced our exposure to both faces and books.
Is social networking making us more connected, or less?

19. Motivation to excel in work
What is our motivation to do well in our jobs?
Is it just the desire for belonging, and gaining income to meet basic needs?
Humans in many cultures seem to have an achievement motivation, a desire for:
accomplishment of goals,
mastery of skills,
meeting of standards,
control of resources.
What helps us satisfy our achievement motivation?
Discipline: Sticking to a task despite distractions
10-year rule: Having enough experience to Develop expertise in a field
Grit: passionate persistence at a goal
Hardiness: Resilience under stress
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