Ch. 9: Motivation and Emotion

Motivation

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

Extrinisic 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

Intrinsic motivation

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

Instincts

The biologically determined and innate patterns of behavior that exist in both people and nonhuman animals

Need

A requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential for survival or 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 internal drives to push the organism to satisfy physiological needs 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

Homeostatis

The tendency of the body to maintain a steady state

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

Need for achievement (nAch)

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

Locus of control

The tendency for people to assume that they either have control or do not have control over events and consequences in their lives

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

Sensation seeker

Someone who needs more arousal than the average person

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

Self-actualization

According to Maslow, the point that is seldom reached at which people have sufficiently satisified lower needs and ahcieved their full personal potential

Peak experiences

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

Self-determination theory (SDT)

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

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

Glucagon

Hormone that is secreted by the pancreas to control the levels of fats, proteins, carbohydrates in the body by increasing the level of glucose int he bloodstream

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

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

Obesity

The condition of being overweight and having excess body fat, often defined by an individual’s actual weight or calculation of their body mass index (BMI)