Key Concepts in Motivation and Emotion

Motivation - A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

Instinct - A complex, unlearned behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species.

Physiological Need - A basic bodily requirement.

Drive-Reduction Theory - The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

Self-Determination Theory - All humans have three basic psychological needs - autonomy, competence, and relatedness - that underlie growth and development. Concerned with the beneficial effects of intrinsic motivation and the harmful effects of extrinsic motivation.

Sensation-Seeking Theory - A theory that proposes that one’s level of need for varied or novel experiences is the basis of motivation. Experience Seeking, Thrill (adventure) Seeking, Disinhibition, Boredom susceptibility.

Homeostasis - A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.

Incentive - A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

Yerkes-Dodson Law - The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases.

Hierarchy of Needs - Maslow’s pyramid of human needs, beginning at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied before higher-level safety needs and then psychological needs become active.

Glucose - The form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues. When its level is low, we feel hunger.

Hypothalamus - A neural structure lying below the thalamus; directs eating, drinking, body temperature.

Arcuate Nucleus - Area of the hypothalamus that secretes appetite-stimulating hormones.

Ghrelin - A hunger-arousing hormone secreted by an empty stomach.

Leptin - Protein hormone secreted by fat cells that causes the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger.

Neophobia - Fear of new things.

Obesity - A body mass index (BMI) measurement of 30 or higher.

Affiliation Need - The need to build relationships and to feel part of a group.

Anxiety - Constantly craving acceptance but remaining vigilant to signs of possible rejection.

Avoidance - Feeling such discomfort over getting close to others that avoidant strategies are used to maintain distance.

Ostracism - Deliberate social exclusion of individuals or groups.

Narcissism - Excessive self-love and self-absorption.

Achievement Motivation - A desire for significant accomplishment, for mastery of skills or ideas; for control, and for attaining a high standard.

Grit - Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of long-term goals.

Emotion - A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.

Historical Theory 1 - The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological response to an emotion-arousing stimulus.

Historical Theory 2 - The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion.

Two-Factor Theory - The Schachter-Singer theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

Modern Theory 2 - The theory that we have many emotional reactions apart from, or even before, our conscious interpretation of a situation.

Low road of emotional response - The theory that simple likes, dislikes, and fears bypass the cortex and follow a “low” road pathway to form an emotion.

Modern Theory 3 - The theory that emotions arise when we appraise an event as harmless or dangerous, whether we truly know it or not.

Broaden and build theory -Theory proposing that positive emotions predisposes us to think more openly.

Duchenne smile - Genuine smile

Facial feedback effect - The tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness.

Behavior feedback effect - The tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Display rules - Regulate the amount of emotion expressed among people from different genders, ages, or socioeconomic classes within a culture.