Motivation and Emotion in Psychology

Motivation

the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met.

Extrinsic motivation

type of motivation in which a person performs an action because it leads to an outcome that is separate from or external to the person.

Instincts

the biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior that exist in both people and animals.

Instinct approach

approach to motivation that assumes people are governed by instincts similar to those of animals.

Need

a requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential for survival of the organism.

Drive

a psychological tension and physical arousal arising when there is a need that motivates the organism to act in order to fulfill the need and reduce the tension.

Drive-reduction theory

approach to motivation that assumes behavior arises from physiological needs that cause internal drives to push the organism to satisfy the need and reduce tension and arousal.

Primary drives

those drives that involve needs of the body such as hunger and thirst.

Acquired (secondary) drives

those drives that are learned through experience or conditioning, such as the need for money or social approval.

Homeostasis

the tendency of the body to maintain a steady state.

Need for achievement (nAch)

a need that involves a strong desire to succeed in attaining goals, not only realistic ones but also challenging ones.

Need for affiliation (nAff)

the need for friendly social interactions and relationships with others.

Need for power (nPow)

the need to have control or influence over others.

Stimulus motive

a motive that appears to be unlearned but causes an increase in stimulation, such as curiosity.

Arousal theory

theory of motivation in which people are said to have an optimal (best or ideal) level of tension that they seek to maintain by increasing or decreasing stimulation.

Yerkes-Dodson law

law stating performance is related to arousal; moderate levels of arousal lead to better performance than do levels of arousal that are too low or too high.

Sensation seeker

someone who needs more arousal than the average person.

Arousal

The level of alertness or activation that influences performance on tasks.

Incentives

Things that attract or lure people into action.

Incentive approaches

Theories of motivation in which behavior is explained as a response to the external stimulus and its rewarding properties.

Expectancy-value theories

Incentive theories that assume the actions of humans cannot be predicted or fully understood without understanding the beliefs, values, and the importance that a person attaches to those beliefs and values at any given moment in time.

Self-actualization

According to Maslow, the point that is seldom reached at which people have sufficiently satisfied the lower needs and achieved their full human potential.

Peak experiences

According to Maslow, times in a person's life during which self-actualization is temporarily achieved.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow proposed that human beings must fulfill the more basic needs, such as physical and security needs, before being able to fulfill the higher needs of self-actualization and transcendence.

Self-determination theory (SDT)

Theory of human motivation in which the social context of an action has an effect on the type of motivation existing for the action.

Intrinsic motivation

Type of motivation in which a person performs an action because the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner.

Insulin

A hormone secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the body by reducing the level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Glucagons

Hormones that are secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the body by increasing the level of glucose in the bloodstream.

Weight set point

The particular level of weight that the body tries to maintain.

Basal metabolic rate (BMR)

The rate at which the body burns energy when the organism is resting.

Social cues for meals

Social cues for when meals are to be eaten, including cultural customs and food preferences.

Insulin response anticipation

Some people may respond to the anticipation of eating by producing an insulin response, increasing the risk of obesity.

Obesity

A condition in which the body weight of a person is 20 percent or more over the ideal body weight for that person's height.

Anorexia nervosa

A condition in which a person reduces eating to the point that a weight loss of 15 percent below the ideal body weight or more occurs.

Bulimia

A condition in which a person develops a cycle of 'binging' or overeating enormous amounts of food at one sitting, and 'purging' or deliberately vomiting after eating.

Leptin

A hormone that, when released into the bloodstream, signals the hypothalamus that the body has had enough food and reduces the appetite while increasing the feeling of being full.

Role of leptin in obesity

Leptin plays a role in signaling satiety and may be involved in obesity.

Genetics and obesity

Genetics may play a part in anorexia and bulimia, as well as insensitivity to leptin.

Emotion

the 'feeling' aspect of consciousness, characterized by a certain physical arousal, a certain behavior that reveals the emotion to the outside world, and an inner awareness of feelings.

Display rules

learned ways of controlling displays of emotion in social settings.

Common Sense Theory of Emotion

a stimulus leads to an emotion, which then leads to bodily arousal.

James-Lange theory of emotion

theory in which a physiological reaction leads to the labeling of an emotion.

Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

theory in which the physiological reaction and the emotion are assumed to occur at the same time.

Cognitive arousal theory

theory of emotion in which both the physical arousal and the labeling of that arousal based on cues from the environment must occur before the emotion is experienced.

Facial feedback hypothesis

theory of emotion that assumes that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being expressed, which in turn causes and intensifies the emotion.

Cognitive-mediational theory

theory of emotion in which a stimulus must be interpreted (appraised) by a person in order to result in a physical response and an emotional reaction.

Schachter and Singer's cognitive arousal theory

a theory that adds the element of cognitive labeling of the arousal to the James-Lange theory.

Cognitive appraisal

an immediate appraisal (e.g., 'The dog is snarling and not behind a fence, so this is dangerous') that results in an emotional response.

Bodily arousal

the physical response that occurs as a result of an emotional reaction.

Facial expression

a universal indicator of emotion, interpreted similarly across various cultures.

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)

the part of the nervous system that controls bodily arousal in response to emotional stimuli.

Stimulus

an event or object that triggers an emotional response.

Emotional reaction

the subjective experience of emotion following a stimulus.

Feedback to the brain

the process by which facial expressions influence emotional experience.

Interpretation of emotion

the cognitive process of understanding and labeling an emotional experience.

Physical response

the bodily reaction that follows an emotional response.

Danger appraisal

the cognitive assessment of a situation as threatening, leading to an emotional response.

Emotion intensification

the process by which the brain enhances the experience of an emotion based on feedback.

Universal facial expressions

facial expressions that are recognized similarly across different cultures, such as anger, fear, disgust, happiness, surprise, and sadness.

Cues from the environment

external signals that influence the labeling of physical arousal.

Simultaneous response

the occurrence of both physiological reaction and emotional experience at the same time.