2/19/2013
1
Motivation and Emotion
Chapter 6
2
Motivation
 Human motivation is a complex issue
 Some motives are biological
i.e. hunger
 Others are more complex and are either not biological or only partly biological
The drive toward a career
3
Motivation
 We are going to study motivation from three perspectives:
Biological
Social
Emotional
4
The Physiology of Motivation
 Homeostasis – the tendency of organisms to correct imbalances and deviations from their
normal state.
 Many drives of humans and other animals are homeostatic i.e. hunger
5
Hunger – Why do we eat?
 Habit – it’s time to eat!
 Sight or smell
 To be social
 We sometimes skip a meal for a variety of reasons i.e. too busy.
 Eventually our body will start to demand food.
6
Hunger – Why do we eat?
The physiology of hunger
 If we miss a meal the liver will release sugar into the blood stream to help keep us going.
Sugar supply eventually runs out
 The level of sugar in the blood, contraction or expansion of the stomach muscles or
changes in temperature send signals to the hypothalamus
The hypothalamus regulates food intake
7
Hunger – Why do we eat?
The physiology of hunger
 If the lateral hypothalamus is stimulated we are motivated to eat.
 If the ventromedial hypothalamus is stimulated we are motivated to stop eating.
8
Drive Reduction Theory
 Drive Reduction Theory states physiological needs drive an organism to act in either
random or habitual ways until it needs are met.
 Work of Clark Hull et. al. in the 1940’s & 50’s
 Contend that all human motives are extensions of basic biological needs.
9
Drive Reduction Theory
 Has been discredited as being too simplistic
 There seems to be a drive to be stimulated as well as to reduce stimulation
i.e. cannot explain risk-taking
1
2/19/2013
 Many drives such as hunger, thirst, and curiosity seem to be unlearned/innate.
10
Social Motives
 Social motives differ from biological motives because they are learned from our
interactions with other people.
 Henry Murray identified 16 basic needs.
See list on page 139.
 Of the needs he listed the need for achievement has been well researched.
11
The Need for Achievement
 Based on work by David McClelland and others in the 1950’s
 Showed subjects a series of pictures and asked them to make up a story about the picture.
 Stories reveal unconscious desires.
 Tester looks for themes to determine psychological needs such as achievement
12
The Need for Achievement
 McClelland found high correlation between high achievers and occupations
Developed a program to train people to be high achievers.
Virtually all of his subjects were males.
13
Fear of Success
 Women (at least in the 1970’s) seemed to have a motive to avoid success.
 Women fear social isolation if compete with men.
 Harder to define success for women.
Some researchers show a bias against the stay-at-home moms.
 Defining success for anyone can be a problem.
14
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Abraham Maslow was a pioneer in humanistic psychology
Saw the need for achievement in the context of a hierarchy of needs all people share
He believed that people have to satisfy fundamental needs before they are able to
function at higher levels
15
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Fundamental Needs
Physiological needs: hunger, thirst, sex drives.
Safety needs: security, safety, out of danger.
 Psychological Needs
Belongingness & love: affiliation with other, acceptance, belonging.
Esteem Needs: achievement, competency, gaining approval, recognition
 Self-Actualization Needs – the need to fulfill one’s unique potential
16
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
17
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Maslow believed that needs at a lower level must be met before needs at a higher level
can be addressed
 Believed that everyone has self-actualization needs but that very few people achieve that
level
18
Emotion
 Hard to distinguish between emotion and motive.
2
2/19/2013
Motivation describes the source of our behavior
Emotion describes the feeling associated with our behavior
 Emotion and motivation are intertwined and often hard to distinguish
Emotion
 Emotions can function like biological drives
May energize us to pursue a goal
 Anticipation of an emotion may be an incentive for our actions
The consequences of striving for a goal may evoke emotions
19
20
1
2
Emotion
 Anger
 Contempt
 Disgust
 Fear
 Happiness
 Sadness
 Surprise

21
Physiological Theories
 The Cannon-Bard Theory
Believed that emotion was a result of the thalamus being activated in response to
certain experiences.
Cannon was the first to describe the “fight or flight” reaction
Later research found the seat of emotion to be the hypothalamus and not the thalamus
22
Cognitive Theories
 Believe that bodily changes and thinking work together to produce emotions.
 What we feel does not only depend on physiological arousal but on how we interpret our
symptoms.
Affected by what is going on in our mind and in our environment
23
Cognitive Theories
 Schachter-Singer Experiment (see pp. 151-152 of text)
Concluded that perception and arousal interact to create emotions.
24
Cognitive Theories
 Arnold’s Theory
Everyday emotions can be analyzed into a series of stages
Perception
Appraisal
Bodily change
Emotion
Action
25
Conclusion
 Emotions and physical changes are intertwined.
3