Psychosocial Motives

This set of flashcards covers key vocabulary related to psychosocial motives, focusing on concepts such as relatedness, agency, attachment, intimacy, achievement, and their implications in behavior.

Relatedness

The motive to connect and bond with others, involving attachment, intimacy, and affiliation.

Universal goals that people pursue:

Relatedness

Agency

PSYCHOSOCIAL MOTIVES RELATEDNESS

Attachment

desire for physical & psychological proximity to another person 

→ comfort & pleasure

comfort (to feel safe) and pleasure (because we like the feeling).

➢infants, adult love

 

Intimacy

 closeness → characterised by :

• self-disclosure,

• warmth,

•  mutual caring

➢adult relationships, intimate friendships

• Involves seeking closeness with others.

• Close relationships enable self-disclosure.

• Produces warmth toward and from others and a sense of mutual caring.

• Common in adult relationships and intimate friendships.

 

affiliation / interaction with friends

broader than attachment and intimacy) 

interaction & communication with broader social networks 

→ obtain support, share experiences

➢friends, acquaintances

Important for physical & mental health

➢lack of social relationships/support

    → depression, sickness, mortality

Agency

The motive for power, competence, autonomy, self-esteem, and achievement.

PSYCHOSOCIAL MOTIVES AGENCY

●Power

●Competence

●Autonomy

●Self-esteem = they need to view oneself and a positive flight as a fundamental motivation of behaviour

●Achievement

➢Need for achievement = nAch

• Agency is a broad category with subcategories including power, competence, autonomy, self-esteem, and achievement.

PSYCHOSOCIAL MOTIVES need for ACHIEVEMENT

 

●To do well, to succeed, and to avoid failure

●Varies from person to person

Individual differences: some people have a high need for achievement (strong desire to master tasks), while others have a low need.

 ●People high in achievement motivation…

   … choose moderately difficult tasks

   … work hard/persistent to achieve goals

   … motivated to avoid failure

… enjoy feeling challenged

   … take internal pride in accomplishments (but are not boastful), not about reward from others

More likely to succeed than those with a low need for achievement.

 

Achievement goals reflect a blend of three motives

The triad of achievement goals (often overlapping and not mutually exclusive)

Can overlap

 Performance-approach goals

➢Motivation to attain a goal/meet a socially defined standard.

➢To meet a socially defined standard/ particular level

• Eg I want to get a pass in this course

 

Performance-avoidance goals

➢Motivation to avoid failure

➢Particularly when publicly observable

• I don’t want to fail this course

 

Mastery goals

➢Motivation to increase competence, mastery, or skill on a specific task

• I want to learn all if the content and get the maximum grade for this course

 

MOTIVATION

●Nearly all behaviours are multiply-caused (e.g., most behaviours represent the joint influence of several different motive-types)

 

●The same motivation may be manifested in many different behaviours

• Eg if you want to be healthy you can go gym and also eat healthy food

Attachment

The desire for physical and psychological proximity to another person, providing comfort and pleasure.

Intimacy

Closeness characterized by self-disclosure, warmth, and mutual caring in relationships.

Affiliation

Interaction and communication with broader social networks to obtain support and share experiences.

nAch

Need for achievement, reflecting an individual's desire to do well, succeed, and avoid failure.

Performance-approach goals

Motivation to attain a goal and meet a socially defined standard.

Performance-avoidance goals

Motivation to avoid failure, especially in observable situations.

Mastery goals

Motivation to increase competence or skill on a specific task.

Child rearing practices

Different cultural beliefs and assumptions that influence how achievement is encouraged in children.