MOTIVATION:
 When we discussed learning in Psych 101 - we talked primarily about
classical conditioning, operant learning and observational learning as
ways that behaviour can change through experience and practice
 the study of learning is concerned with how changes in behaviour
take place (this is largely a descriptive approach to explaining
behaviour)
 Motivation, on the other hand, is concerned with why behaviour takes
place (explanations of behaviour)
 Motivation is defined as: a need or desire that energizes and directs
behaviour
 Three part definition
 Need/ desire
 Energy
 Direction
 Motivation can be studied from several interrelated perspectives:
Biological
Social personality
Cognitive
 The biological perspective is concerned with the physiological basis
of motivation e.g. hunger, thirst, reproduction, emotional states
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 The social personality perspective examines the influence of
disposition and effects which occur when dispositions and group
interaction combine. This includes cultural influences.
 The cognitive perspective examines motivation in terms of how we
learn, process and interpret information, and how we make causal
inferences.
 Early views of motivation stressed the concept of instincts:
 Ethology: Konrad Lorenz, Karl Von Frisch, Nicholas
Tinbergen
 Fixed action patterns: invariant sequences of behaviour
unique to an entire species - produced by releasers
 E.g. red belly of Stickleback (male) produces
aggression in females
 E.g. ducklings following single file
 Imprinting – rapid learning of important bonds for survival
– ducklings imprint the concept of “mother” on the first
moving thing they see.
Other perspectives on motivation:
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Freud’s sexual drive reduction theory
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Arousal theory
Drive reduction theory
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See text for Freud and Maslow
Arousal theory:
 Yerkes Dodson inverted U shaped relationship between
performance and Arousal
 We all need some degree of stimulation (sensory deprivation studies,
max 3 days)
 Individuals differ in terms of arousal requirements (i.e. thrill seekers)
 Environmental experience - the more stimulation one gets the more
one requires to obtain optimal arousal
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Drive Reduction Theory:
 Drive reduction theory uses the concepts of need, drive and
incentive to explain why behaviour takes place
Need:
 An internal biological state that requires correction
Drive:
 Motivational push given to a behaviour as a result of the organism
being in or developing a need
 Drive usually results from deprivation, which leads to an energized
or aroused state, where the organism directs its behaviour towards
satisfying the deprived state
note: drive theory has problems with explaining curiosity, as well as
with why animals will eat saccharine, which has no nutritional value–
Incentive:
 This motivational concept focuses on the goal objects themselves
 Incentive is viewed as a pulling force, and is closely related to the
concept of reinforcement in learning
(positive/negative/primary/secondary)
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Types of motivation:
 The main types of motivation are:
 Biological: hunger, thirst, safety, reproduction
 Achievement
 Belonging
I. Biological motivation:
 The activity of biological systems for maintaining survival are
explained in terms of homeostasis
 Homeostatic systems are designed to maintain a steady state
through feedback regulatory mechanisms (e.g. body temperature)
Hunger:
 Triggered by variations in blood chemistry – low glucose, high
insulin
Some sensors in liver and stomach
 Body weight maintained at a set point (see the fat rat)
 Set point maintained by the hypothalamus (also controls thirst and
regulates metabolism and hydration)
 Lateral hypothalamic lesions produce aphasia (weight loss)
 Ventramedial hypothalamic lesions produce hyperaphagia (weight
gain)
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 Damage to hypothalamus can produce adipsia (no drinking) or
poly dipsia (excessive drinking)
Dieting – cycles of weight loss and weight gain
Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia
 Nervosa refers to this being a nervous system disorder
 Anorexia is defined as body weight 15% below the normal
 Condition characterized by emaciated body, depression, negative
body image
 9/10 cases occur in females and surfaces during adolescence
 Bulimia (binging and purging behaviour) is far more common that
Anorexia (Princes Dianna)
 Half of Anorexics are also Bulimic
 Bulimia is easier to hide than Bulimia
Causal factors
 Anorexic – often families are competition, high achieving,
protective
 Bulimia – often families are alcoholic, obese, depressive
 There is a genetic contribution but it is considered small
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 Cultural influences are considerable
o Fat is ugly (other less affluent cultures often think of fat a s
beautiful)
o Stereotypes of beauty - Barbie adjusted to life scale would
have dimensions of 32 – 16 – 29 which represents
approximately 1/1,000,000 females
 Desire for control in one’s life
 Causal Summary – polygenic etiology – cultural, low self esteem,
negative emotions, stressful life experiences
Sexual Motivation:
 Human sexual response cycle: excitement, plateau, orgasm,
resolution, refractory period (males)
 Body chemistry: hormones estrogen and testosterone
 If hormone levels already high, cognitive and contextual factors
become determinants of arousal: values, expectations, fantasies,
beliefs
 3 - 4% of males and 1% of females are homosexual
 Increasing evidence that homosexuality is influenced by prenatal
hormones and correlated with the size of certain brain structures
(Hypothalamus -Gunter Doner 1976, 1988)
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II. Achievement motivation:
 Desire for significant accomplishment
 Mastery of things, skills, ideas, people - involves control, high
standards
 First born children often high achievers
 Later born children often have better social skills and are more
accepting of new ideas
III. Need to Belong:
 Attachment – Harlow’s monkeys
 Cast Away with Tom Hanks - Wilson
 Need to feel connected with others - enduring close relations likely
evolutionarily advantageous
 Need to belong fosters deep attachments – family, tribal, etc, but also
poses menacing threats – teen gangs, ethnic hostilities, fanatic
nationalism
 Good social support is positively correlated with better health (low
risk of psychological disorders and premature death)
 When social ties dissolve, negative emotions can be overwhelming
 Fear of being alone can keep people in abusive relationships
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Motivational conflicts:
 Motivated behaviour usually stems from a combination of several
factors that could be considered as positive, negative or neutral, and
which can change over time in a dynamic way.
APPROACH APPROACH
 Go to a hockey game or go to a favorite movie
AVOID AVOID
 Study psychology or study history
APPROACH AVOID
 The goal or incentive has both negative and positive dimensions
 At greater temporal distances negative aspects don't seem to be as
important as positive - but this changes with proximity to goal
 There are 2 possibilities
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Some Motivational issues relevant to Business:
Intrinsic motivation: desire to be effective and to perform behaviour
for its own sake
Extrinsic motivation: seeking external rewards and avoiding
punishment
 Rewards that inform people they are doing well can boost feelings of
competence and intrinsic motivation
 Attempts to control people through extrinsic pressures, rewards and
competition undermine intrinsic motivation and increase extrinsic
motivation
 Managers can create and maintain a motivated, productive and
satisfied workforce by cultivating intrinsic motivation and by utilizing
task and social leadership
 Task leadership: managers who set goals, organize work, keeps
employee attention on specific goals. Task leaders are directive and
successful if bright
 Social leadership: Managers who build team work, mediate conflict,
support their employees, delegate work.
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