Unit 9: Motivation and Emotion
Motivation
What are some things you are
“motivated” to do??
What is motivation?
• Fueled by a motive, which is:
–A specific need or desire that prompts
goal-directed behavior
• Primary: Hunger, Thirst, Sex
• Secondary:
–Stimulus (Contact, Comfort, Exploration)
–Social (Aggression, Achievement,
Motivation)
Where do “motives” come from?
1. Instincts
– Inborn, goal-directed behavior that is characteristic
of an entire species and unlearned
– Human behavior is not easily explained by instincts
because much what we do is learned and flexible
(we aren’t JUST governed by instincts)
– Human behavior is directed by both physiological
needs (instincts: to eat) by psychological wants (that
ice cream looks delicious but I’m not hungry)
Where do “motives” come from?
2. Drives
• A state of tension or arousal caused by bodily needs
• Drive Reduction Theory states that motivated behavior
is an attempt to reduce a drive and return the body to
homeostasis
– Sequence of events:
•
•
•
•
•
lack of homeostasis (I’m “empty”)
Need (I need food)
Drive (Tension caused by “hungry”)
Motivation to act (I’m going to eat)
Homeostasis
– Primary drive: Unlearned drive, such as hunger, based
on a physiological state – Similar to instincts
– Secondary drive: Learned drive, such as ambition
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Motives
•
•
•
•
•
Physiological needs (Primary)
Safety needs
Belongingness needs (Affiliation)
Esteem needs
Self-actualization needs
(Achievement)
_______________________
• Prompt goal-directed behavior.
• Can you engaged in goal-direct
self-actualization needs without
fulfilling physiological needs?
• Keep this hierarchy in mind as we
progress through the motives.
The Primary Drives
1. Hunger
2. Thirst
3. Sex
1. Hunger
Why do we eat?
When do we eat?
How much do we eat?
Biological Factors - Neurological
My PVN said
to do it
 Hunger appears to be regulated by
regions in the hypothalamus
 Lateral hypothalamus (LH) acts as a
hunger center, triggering the onset of
eating
 Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)
acts as a satiety center, stopping
eating behavior
 Paraventricular nucleus (PVN)
influences the drive to eat specific
foods (i.e. craving chocolate)
Consider our friend Mickey:
• With damage to the __________, Mickey
would turn away from cheese because he’d
never be hungry.
• With damage to the ________, Mickey would
never feel full and would eat to his death!
Biological Factors – Chemical
• Changes in blood glucose level, fats,
carbohydrates, and insulin signal need for food
– Partly regulated by what you eat
– Protein- longer satiety; Sugar spikes (candy) results in
drops that can later increase “hunger”
• Hormones
– Ghrelin turns on hunger; Leptin turns it off
– Triggered by food intake; Natural levels affect
sensitivity to impact of eating
– Cholecystokinin (released by intestine) signals brain
about satiety
• takes 20-30 minutes! EAT SLOWLY!
Biological Factors - Genetics
• OB-1/Chromosome 15
– 15th chromosome may carry a gene that predisposes some
people to obesity
• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
– How quickly you burn calories may be genetically influenced
• Set Point Theory
– Body has a “set” weight it wants to be.
– Body has a set number of fat cells which shrink with weight
loss and enlarge with weight gain, but the number does not
change.
– Efforts to go below this are seen by body as a threat, and
body will compensate by slowing metabolic rate
Psychological Factors
• Perceived portion size
– Are there “cues” to stop (bottom of the bag,
artificial “divider”)?
• Perception of others
– What will my eating habits say about me?
• Perception of time
– Is it “lunch time”?
– When did I last eat?
Socio-Cultural Factors
• Culture also influences what we choose to eat
and how much we consume
– Social facilitation – we eat when others are eating
• Our culture’s emphasis on food and drink?
– Unit bias – what is a “serving size?”
• Heart Attack Grill
– Society’s definition of “attractive”?
– Society’s priorities?
• Resistance to caloric content information
• Resistance to portion regulation
• Where else do we get hints about what a society
values? (or doesn’t?)
U.S. Subcultures and Consumption
• What makes certain states and countries healthier?
• Well being- Hawaii first, WVA last
• Obesity- Colorado lowest, WVA highest
Obesity
• Considered by U.S. Surgeon General to be the most
pressing health problem today
• An estimated 36% of Americans are obese
– 15-25% of children and adolescents
– 2/3 people are overweight
• Obesity can lead to increased risk for
–
–
–
–
Hypertension
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes
Sleep apnea
• Tendency may be inherited (OB-1)
A Culture of Extremes?
The Other End of the Spectrum
• Anorexia nervosa
–
–
–
–
Intense fear of weight gain
Distorted body image
Refusal to maintain minimal normal body weight
Absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles (for
women)
• About 1% of adolescents afflicted
– Approximately 90% of those are white upper- and middleclass females
Karen Carpenter (1950-1983)
Gaga, Mary-Kate, Victoria Beckham
Eating Disorders (cont.)
• Bulimia nervosa
– Recurrent episodes of binge eating
– Recurrent behaviors to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced
vomiting
– Behaviors must occur at least twice a week for three months
– Body shape and weight overly influence self-image
– Symptoms occur independent of anorexia
• About 1-2% of female adolescents afflicted
• Dying to be Thin Clip (“Ana” and “Mia”)
• Binge Eating Disorder – binging without purging
Summary of Hunger Motivation
2. Thirst
• Why do we drink?
• What does “thirst” mean?
• Do we drink simply to rehydrate fluids?
Thirst in a Nutshell
• Both internal and external cues can trigger the
thirst drive
– Internal cues include level of fluids inside body
cells and amount of fluids outside body cells
• If you are “thirsty”, you are already dehydrated
– External cues can include advertisements and
weather conditions
– Perception of liquid as less caloric than food?
• Snacking: Drinking vs. eating
3. Sexual Motivation
• What biological factors govern sexual
behavior?
• Is there a difference between males and
females?
• What determines sexual orientation?
Biological Factors
• Hypothalamus controls the release of luteinizing hormone from
the pituitary gland, which in turn controls the release of
androgens and estrogens.
• Testosterone
– Important in both men and women in early development
– Men and women seem to need some to be interested in sex, but as long
as it is there its role in regulating sexual activity is minimal
• Estrogens
– Female hormones that peak during ovulation
– Interestingly, when charting sexual activity, women are more receptive
to sex during ovulation
Human Pheromones?
• The psychological world is currently researching the
effects of pheromones on humans
– Results are mixed
– May influence mood, but not signal change in mood (i.e.
all of the sudden feeling sexually attracted)
– Context has an impact
– That’s enough evidence for perfume companies
We are Not Just Animals:
The Psychology of Sex
• Human sexual motivation is much more dependent on
experience and learning than on biology
• There are many reasons why people have sex
• External Stimuli
– Both men and women tend to become aroused when exposed to
sexually explicit material
– Repeated exposure to the same stimuli lessens arousal over time
(cheating????)
• Imagined Stimuli
– Sexual arousal while dreaming in both sexes
– Sexual fantasies are prevalent, but may not be indicative of desires in
real life
– Ugly Thoughts’ Defense Fails as Officer Is Convicted in Cannibal Plot
The Psychology of Sex: The First Study
• The Kinsey Reports
– Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
(1948)
– Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
(1953)
– Kinsey Scale and human sexuality (0 to 6
the “X” was added later for asexual)
– Controversial methods?
• Prison population
• Male prostitutes
– 10% ??
The Motivation Behind Sexual Behavior
Biological influences:
Psychological influences:
• sexual maturity
• sex hormones
• sexual orientation
• exposure to stimulating
conditions
• sexual fantasies
Sexual
motivation
Social-cultural influences:
• family and society values
• religious and personal values
• cultural expectations
• media
Difference between Men and Women?
Physical
Human Sexual Response Cycle
(Masters and Johnson, 1966)
• Excitement
• Plateau
• Orgasm
• Resolution
Difference between Men and Women?
Psychological
• We already know that men and women have
different response cycles (Masters and
Johnson)
• How do men and women differ in sexual
activity?
• Article: Does Sexuality Differ for Men and
Women?
• Age and sex
– Dr. Oz on the Health Benefits
Adolescent Sexuality
• Teen Pregnancy
– US has a relatively high rate of teen pregnancy and
abortion
– Some explanations include a lack of knowledge about sex
and birth control, substance use, and lack of media
reinforcement of protected sex
• Sexually Transmitted Infections/STDs
– For reasons listed above, STIs are also prevalent amongst
young people (2/3 of all new infections occur in population
under 25)
– Many people do not know the risks of certain sexual
practices and do not think about the number of partners
their partner has had
Sexual Orientation
• Refers to the direction of an individual’s sexual interest
– Heterosexual
• Sexual attraction to opposite sex
– Homosexual
• Sexual attraction to same sex
– Bisexual
• Sexual attraction to both sexes
• Approximately 3-4% of men and 1-2% of women are gay/lesbian.
• Sexuality is enduring over time and cannot be “changed”
• Women’s sexuality seems to be more “fluid” than men’s (“erotic
plasticity”)
• Nature and nurture explain human sexuality
Sexual Orientation
Secondary Drives: Stimulus Motives
• Stimulus motives push us to investigate
or to change our environment
• Example stimulus motives include:
– Exploration and curiosity
• E.g. Where does that path lead? How
does the internet work?
• Why? An emotion? An acceptable
expression of sex drive? Part of the
drive to find the meaning of life?
– Manipulation and contact
• E.g. DO NOT TOUCH signs – why are
they necessary?
• The need to touch, handle, or play with
objects to feel satisfied.
• How important is this to our
development?
Harlow’s Monkeys
• Harry Harlow (1958) wanted to
find out why infant monkeys
bonded with their mother.
• Was the bond driven by a need for
food (nursing) or something else?
– Harlow’s experiment
– Impact of denying infant monkeys
physical comfort from their mother
• Illustrates contact motive
• Consequence of deprivation of
social contact? (i.e. Orphanages)
Other Motives: Social Motives
• Social motives are those which involve how
we are driven to relate to others. They
include the following:
– Aggression
– Achievement
– Affiliation
Social Motives: Aggression
• Intent is a key element of aggression –
behavior is aimed at DOING HARM to
others
• Why are we aggressive?
– Aggressive behavior may be innate, although
learning clearly plays a role
– Frustration-Aggression Theory?
– Social Learning?
• Aggression and culture
– Collectivist cultures are less aggressive than
individualistic cultures
– Crime in the US?
• Gender and aggression
– Males are more physically aggressive
– Nature…or nurture?
Social Motives: Achievement
• Motivation to excel at a task
• Desire is for achievement for
its own sake
• Work and Family Orientation
Scale (WOFO)
– Work orientation, mastery,
competitiveness
– Highest GPA – high mastery and
work orientation, lower
competitiveness – WHY?
What do incentives do to our
behaviors?
• External stimuli that prompt
goal-directed behavior
• We are often unaware of the
incentive
• Examples
– Aroma of food may cause us to
eat even when not hungry
– Advertisements can lead us to
buy a product
– Return to classical
conditioning??
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
• Intrinsic motivation
– Motivation for a behavior is the behavior itself
– Children playing is an example
• Extrinsic motivation
– Behavior is performed in order to obtain a reward
(incentive) or to avoid punishment
– A bonus program is an example
– Dangers of providing extrinsic motivation for
intrinsically motivated activities?
– Overjustification
• Dan Pink on Motivation (Ted Talks)
Social Motives: Affiliation
• Motivation to be with
others
• Rats, monkeys and
humans in stressful
situations all feel a
reduction in anxiety and
fear when in the
presence of another
member of their species
• Evolutionary value?
Learned behavior?
Emotions
• Feeling, such as fear, joy, or surprise, that
underlies behavior
Defining Emotion
• Emotion includes the following:
– A subjective conscious experience or cognitive
component
– Bodily or physiological arousal
– Overt or behavioral expressions
• Emotional reactions are linked with the
Autonomic Nervous System
– Sympathetic/parasympathetic NS
– Autonomic responses accompanying emotion are
controlled by the brain
Measuring Emotional Responses
• Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)
– GSR measures increased electrical
conductivity of skin that occurs when
sweat glands increase activity
– GSR used to measure autonomic
arousal and therefore emotional
reactions
• Polygraph/Lie Detector
– Assumes there is a link between lying
and emotions
– Measures respiration, heart rate,
blood pressure, and GSR
– Does not detect lies, but rather
nervousness
– Only accurate about 2/3 of the time
– some people do not become
nervous when they lie!
Basic Emotions

Plutchik proposed that there are eight basic
emotions
•
•
•
•
Fear
Surprise
Sadness
Disgust
•
•
•
•
Anger
Anticipation
Joy
Acceptance
 Other
(secondary) emotions are the
composites of primary emotions
Surprise + Sadness = Disappointment
 Fear + Acceptance = Submission

Plutchik’s Basic Emotions
Plutchik
Basic Emotions
• Some have criticized Plutchik’s model as applying
only to English-speakers
– Other cultures have more socially “helpful” emotions,
i.e. more that describe empathy
• Revised model of basic emotions includes:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Happiness
Surprise
Sadness
Fear
Disgust
Anger
Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange theory
– Environmental stimuli bring on physiological
changes that we interpret as emotions
– EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley late
at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you
begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and
your breathing deepens. You notice these
physiological changes and interpret them as your
body's preparation for a fearful situation. You
then experience fear.
Theories of Emotion
• Cannon-Bard theory
– Environmental stimuli elicit emotions and bodily
responses simultaneously
– EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley
late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and
you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster,
and your breathing deepens. At the same time
as these physiological changes occur you also
experience the emotion of fear.
Contemporary Theories of Emotion
• Schachter-Singer Theory/2-Factor
– Environment gives us clues that help us interpret
physiological reaction
– EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley
late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and
you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster,
and your breathing deepens. Upon noticing this
arousal you realize that is comes from the fact
that you are walking down a dark alley by
yourself. This behavior is dangerous and
therefore you feel the emotion of fear.
Contemporary Theories of Emotion
• Izard’s Facial Feedback Theory
– Cognitive feedback is NOT necessary: emotion provoked
by the faces/body posture that results from an
environmental stimulus
– Based on five different “universal” facial expressions:
happiness, anger, disgust, sadness, and fear-surprise
– EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley late at
night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to
tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing
deepens. You make a shocked face and the movement of
these muscles sends signals to your brain to perceive this
as fear.
Theories of Emotion
Nonverbal Communication of Emotion
• Voice quality
• Facial expression and Ekman’s work
• Body language
– Posture
– The way we move communicates
information
• Personal space
• Explicit acts
– Slamming doors
– Destroying stuff
• Emblems
– i.e. the bird
Gestures Exercise
Gender, Culture and Emotion
Gender and Emotion
• Men and women feel emotions equally, but
express them differently (role of language)
• Men and women may experience different
emotions in the same situation
• Anger
– Men tend to direct their anger outward
– Women tend to direct their anger inward
• Women are more skilled at understanding
nonverbal components of emotion
Culture and Emotion
• Expression of emotion can be influenced by
cultural norms
• Some emotional displays are universal
• Display rules
– Culture-specific rules that govern how, when, and why
expressions of emotion are appropriate
– Etre et Avoir clip (1:11)
•
•
•
•
Intensification-emphasizing
deintensification – less intense display
masking- expressing one, feeling another
neutralizing- no display
Stress and Health
• Stress is the manner in which we respond to
events perceived as threatening or challenging
– Stress has an impact on our mood, our behavior
and our health
– Behavioral medicine integrates what we know of
human behavior and medicine to better
understand health and disease
– Health psychology involves the contribution of
psychology’s contribution to behaviorla medicine
Arousal Theory
• People are motivated to seek an optimal level
of arousal for a given moment
• Yerkes-Dodson law
– States that there is an optimal level or arousal for
best performance on any task
– The more complex the task, the lower the level of
arousal that can be tolerated without interfering
with performance
Yerkes-Dodson Law
Stress Response
• Stress Appraisal (Threat or Challenge)
• Cannon’s fight-or-flight response
– Epinephrine and norepinephrine released from adrenal glands
– Sympathetic nervous system kicks in
• Hypothalamus and pituitary control cortisols released from
adrenal cortex
• Withdrawal- pull back and become paralyzed
• “Tend and befriend” (Shelley Taylor).. Oxytocin?
• Gender and stress
– Women more likely to nurture and band together
– Men more likely to withdraw and turn to alcohol
• Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
– Phase 1: Alarm (prepare to cope)
– Phase 2: Resistance (actual coping)
– Phase 3: Exhaustion (resources depleted)
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
Sources of Stress: Stressors
•
•
•
•
•
Catastrophes and PTSD
Change and the SRRS
Pressure
Frustration
Conflict
– Approach-approach
– Approach-avoidance
– Avoidance-avoidance
Stress and Health
• “Type A” vs. “Type B” (Friedman and Rosenman)
– Type A: reactive, competitive, impatient, motivated, aggressive
and easily angered – susceptible to Coronary Heart Disease
– Type B: easy going, mellow – much less susceptible to CHD
• Pessimism makes you twice as likely to develop CHD
• Depression also increases CHD risk
• Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
– Studies relationship between nervous, endocrine and immune
systems
– Stress and AIDS
– Stress and cancer
Coping with Stress
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Perceived feelings of control
Optimism
Social support
Exercise
Relaxation/Meditation
Biofeedback
Spirituality
Do Now:
• Think of an example of something that you are
intrinsically motivated to do, then think of an
example of a behavior that you are
extrinsically motivated to do.
• Eating (potato chip article) (anorexia,bulemia), Working
Out, Success (careers) (wofo, control)
• Motivation ted talks
• Sexual motivation, Kinsey
• Stress (portrait of a killer)
• Happiness
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLKfTgG_9Ok
synthetic happines)
http://movies.netflix.com/WiSearch?v1=Happy&raw_q
uery=happy&ac_category_type=movie&ac_abs_posn=
1&ac_rel_posn=1&raw_query=happy happy
documentary