Social Motives
David Skinner, Nicole Stoddard,
Liz Heaps, Heather Hutchinson,
and Max Martinez
Psychology 3rd hour
Different Theories

Fear of Success
Will cause people to do all in their power to
avoid success
 Women tend to suffer more so than men

 Raised
to believe that to succeed was not
acceptable for women

Example: A woman in college may feel it is ok
to do well on her finals, but it would not be ok
for her to be at the top of her class, above all
the men.
Different theories

Expectancy-Value
Explains goal-directed behavior
 Estimated likelihood of success to what the
goal is worth

 How
likely is it that a student barely passing high
school will become a doctor when that goal means
little to them?
 How about a straight B student who wants to be a
lawyer, and who really works toward that?
Different theories

Competency
Also explains goal-directed behavior
 How good at something we are determines
how difficult or achievable tasks we choose

 Too
easy and we don’t learn anything
 Too hard and we can’t learn anything
We choose moderately difficult tasks so we
learn from both failure and success
 Example: A C-average student won’t take 5
AP classes just for fun

Different theories

Intrinsic
The knowledge you gain and fun you have is
enough reward for doing a task
 Example: Reading a Harry Potter book
because you enjoy that activity


Extrinsic
Getting some form of external reward for an
activity
 Example: Getting paid to deliver phone books
in the summer

Tidbits


Social motives can be learned from interactions
with others
Can be measured

One of the main tools for this is a TAT (Thematic
Apperception Test)




Was a series of pictures
The person taking the test had to come up with a story to
explain each one
There were no “correct” answers
David McClelland, the man who developed the TAT, came up
with a scoring system to determine the highest motivator for
that person

Similar to personality aptitude tests
Stats from TATs




McClelland tested college students in 1947
He found that 11 years after graduation, 83% of
the entrepreneurs (business people, salesmen,
real estate, etc.) scored high on the TAT
Only 21% of non entrepreneurs scored high
Decided not all of us should aim to be high
achievers

Such people are not always interesting

Aren’t usually artistically sensitive, and are less likely to value
intimacy in a relationship; they prefer to associate
themselves with successful people rather than friendly
people
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Image found at
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs.svg/80
0px-Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs.svg.png
Maslow’s Fundamental Needs
Bottom of the hierarchy; biological needs
that must be satisfied in order to maintain
life
 Examples

Food
 Water
 Safety/Security
 Breathing
 Sleep

Maslow’s Psychological Needs
Next level in the hierarchy; if these are
shorted, it will be difficult for a person to
achieve fulfillment in the top level
 Examples include

Belonging/giving and receiving love
 Friendship and family
 Self-respect
 Confidence
 Respect for and from others

Maslow’s Self-Actualization Needs
Top level of the hierarchy; whatever may
be required to sustain the realization of
one’s unique potential
 Examples

Morality
 Creativity
 Pursuit of knowledge and beauty
 Prejudices or the lack thereof
 Accepting or rejecting facts

The Monkey Wrench…
Other, more recent studies have shown
that the lower level of needs do not
necessarily have to be met before the
higher levels
 Any particular need may dominate at any
time, depending on the person, situation,
and time
 Example: Christopher Columbus risked
safety, but may quite possibly have
achieved self-actualization

So which hierarchy level is dominate?

A bum in the Park hasn’t had food for 5
days, has been drinking out of the River,
and has to worry about where he’s going
to sleep safely each night. However, he
has a girlfriend who loves him, and whom
he loves in return.

Psychological (Second)
So which hierarchy level is dominate?

Vincent Vangough cut off his own ear, was
dirt poor, and lived in what could scarcely
be called a shack, but he was a
phenomenal painter and was very pleased
with his work.

Self-Actualization (Third)
So which hierarchy level is dominate?

A CEO has all of his physical needs met,
and finds his job very fulfilling. He has
reached his current job level by his sheer
determination, hard work, and creativity.
But he lives by himself, has never been
able to date anyone for longer than a
couple months, and has no living family.

Self-Actualization (Third)
So that was all as clear
as mud, right?
Well,
hopefully you caught
some of that because here
comes the evil, much
dreaded POP QUIZ!!!!