Motivations and Attitudes

Positive feedback

Process that increases production of product

• one product stimulates the production of another product

Negative feedback

Rate or process that needs to be controlled to decrease product

• is put into place to inhibit production of product

Evolutionary approach to motivation

Role instincts play in motivation

• What do humans do to survive? What is not learned and just instinct

• Babies cry, sleep, eat, basic instincts all humans have

Drive reduction theory of motivation

Focuses on drives vs. needs

need: lack or deprivation that will energize the drive, or aroused state

Need-drive balance maintains homeostasis

ex: at the gym and there is a need for water, need to do more exercise so there is a need for water with a drive of thirst

Optimum arousal theory of motivation

People want to reach full arousal/alertness

• drive to get full arousal and natural high

• why we go to amusement parks

Cognitive theory of motivation

Though process driving behavior

• light bulb going off in one's head

Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory for motivation

We want to satisfy needs in a particular order

Id

Innate, the reservoir of all psychic energy

• seeks to discharge tension arising from internal needs or external stimulation

• makes up all instincts and wants to get rid of all uncomfortable feelings

• "pleasure principle": to gain or avoid pain using reflex actions, primary processes, and wish fulfillment

• The devil on your shoulder

Ego

"the reality principle"

• operates on secondary processes (reality testing)

• mediates the demand of reality vs. the desires of the ID

• this is who we identify with/believe ourselves to be

Superego

Internalization of cultural ideals and parental sanctions "morals"

• inhibits sexual and aggressive impulses and trues to replace reality with morality. striving for perfection

• Subsystems:

  • Conscious: what you should not be

  • -Ego: what you want to be right

• The angel on ur shoulder

Extrinsic motivation

Associated w/ rewards or obligated behavior

• motivation to do something based on an external reward

Intrinsic motivation

internal motivation

Drive-reduction motivation

Motivation based on the need to fulfill a certain drive, like hunger or thirst

5 needs discussed in Maslow’s Hierarchy (bottom up)

1. Physiological: Food, water, sleep, basic needs

2. Safety: Safety of employment, health, resources, basic need

   1. Associated with stability, security, freedom from threats

3. Love: need to belong, acceptance from friends/family, intimacy, Social needs/belonging

4. Self-esteem: feel confident and a sense of achievement, recognition, competence of skill, Respect

5. Self-actualization: One reaching their maximum potential, achieving the most one can be, differs from person to person

Incentive Theory

Reward, intangible or tangible is presented after the occurrence of an action w/ intention of causing the behavior to occur again

• positive association and meaning toward a behavior

• focuses on conditioning/incentive to make a person happier

• argues that individuals are motivated to engage in behaviors that produce rewards and incentives

Biological factors that regulate food intake

• Lateral Hypothalamus: sends positive signal to us to start eating

• Ventromedial hypothalamus: When functioning properly, it signals us to stop eating, lectin present in high amounts in blood when full (appetite suppressing hormone)

• Brain can detect insulin level; high insulin level=lots of sugar/fat store

• Metabolism rate: Diet causes a slow down of metabolism

• Weight set point is influenced by parents

Socialcultural factors that influence food consumption

We eat for different occasions, times, desire, appeal, availability

Biological factors that influence sexual response

Response cycle

1. Excitement phase: increased HR, BP

2. Plateau

3. Orgasm

4. Resolution/refractory period

Hormones:

• Prolactin is related to sexual gratification and is associated w/ relieving sexual arousal after orgasm

• Endorphins produce feeling of euphoria and pleasure, released post-orgasm

• Oxytocin is released after an orgasm to facilitate bonds and feelings of connectedness between partners

Sociocultural factors related to sex

Varied response due to age, cultural background, stimulus, emotions, and desires to procreate or not

Biological factors related to drug use

• Genetic predisposition

• Withdrawl and cravings

• Biochemical factors

• Some drugs mimic neurotransmitters, constantly stimulate the brain (reinforcing effect)

Sociocultural factors that influence drug use

• Curiosity

• Novelty of drug

• Rebellion

• Poor self-discipline

• Stress relief

• Low-self esteem

Attitude

A learned tendency to evaluate things a certain way

• evaluate people, issues, events, objects

• Components:

  • Affective

  • Behavioral

  • Cognitive

Affective component of attitude

We may feel or have emotions about a certain object, topic, subject

• ex: I am scared (an emotion) of spiders; this fear shapes our attitude towards spiders

Behavioral component of attitude

How we act or behave towards an object/subject

• I will avoid (action) spiders and scream (action) if I see one

Cognitive component of attitude

Form thoughts/belief, and have knowledge about subject/topic that will influence and shape our attitude

• I believe spiders are dangerous, which forms our attitude

Theory of planned behavior

1. Answers to the question: How do our attitudes influence behavior

1. Consider implications of our actions before we decide how to have

   1. Best predictor of our behavior is the strength of intentions and implications

2. Intentions are based on:

   1. Attitudes towards a certain behavior

   2. Subjective norms: what we think others will think about our behavior

   3. Perceived behavioral control (how easy/hard we thunk it is to control our behavior)

Attitude to behavior process model (attitude → behavior)

1. Answers to the question: How do our attitudes influence behavior

An event triggers our attitude and attitude + some outside knowledge together determines behavior

ex: Tommy has the attitude that junk food is unhealthy because he knows many family members have diseases related to poor eating habits, so he abstains from eating unhealthy food no matter where he is

• unhealthy attitude (triggered by an event) + knowledge leads to behavior

Prototype Willingness Model

1. Answers to the question: How do our attitudes influence behavior

Behavior is a function of 6 components

1. Bast behavior

2. Attitudes

3. Subjective norms

4. Our intentions

5. Our willingness to engage in specific types of behaviors

6. Models/prototypes: s lot of our behavior is carried out from prototyping/modeling

Elaboration Likelihood Model for Persuasion

1. Answers to the question: How do our attitudes influence behavior

Cognitive approach: the why/how of persuasion

• Info is processed in 2 ways

  • Central Route of Persuasion: The degree of attitude change depends on quality of arguments by the persuader. How much we are persuaded depends the quality of persuasion. WORDS MATTER

  • Peripheral Route of Persuasion: looks at superficial/;expertise/non-verba; persuasion cues like status of persuader

Foot in the door phenomenon (explains how our behaviors shape our attitudes)

• We have a tendency to agree to small actions first and overtime comply with much larger actions

• Basic concept of how people are brainwashed

• Society behaviors strongly feed into ur attitude

Role-playing (explains how our behaviors influence our attitudes)

Everyone plays many roles in life, and while a new role may feel weird at the beginning, overtime it feels less like acting and more like you and begins to fit ur attitude

• change attitude as a result of our bahvior and carrying out that role

Cognitive dissonance

The discomfort experienced when holding 2 or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, believes, values, and emotional reactions)

• want to alleviate the discomfort through alterations in our beliefs and behaviors; minimizing contradictions

Ways to modify our discomfort

• Modify our cognitions

• Trivialize: change the importance of our cognition

• Add more cognitions to make contradictions more comfortable

• Deny the facts

Situational approach to behavior

We are placed in new situations every day that affect our behavior, under social psychology

• Social psychology: analyzes the situational approach to behavior and emphasizes influence of social phenomena and people interactions with each other

• focuses on interactions between individual and their environment

Attribution: Process of inferring causes of events/behaviors

• external attributions are divided by consistency, distinctiveness, consensus

  • Consistency: does person normally behave this was

  • Distinctiveness: Does person behave differently in different situations

  • Consensus: Do others behave similarly in situations