7.1 - Theories of Motivation

Basic Motivational Concepts

• Motivation

• Primary needs

• Secondary needs

• Incentive

• Extrinsic motivation

• Intrinsic motivation

• Overjustification effect

• Self-efficacy

• Achievement motivation

• Law of effect

Motivation

need/desire that energizes/directs behavior

Primary needs

innate/unlearned (hunger, thirst, need for warmth)

Secondary needs

psychological (social approval, belongingness, love)

Incentive

any stimuli that motivates a behavior

Extrinsic motivation

performing a behavior for a desired outcome

Intrinsic motivation

performing behavior for a desired outcome (reading a book for getting good grades)

Overjustification effect

extrinsic incentives decreases intrinsic motivation to perform a task

Self - efficacy

belief one can execute a task successfully

Achievement motivation

desire for significant accomplishment for mastery/high standard/control

Law of effect

Edward Thorndike believed behaviors leading to desirable outcome more likely to occur (eating, drinking, exercising, taking a drug reaches homeostasis, so it will be repeated)

Motivational Theories

• Drive- reduction theory

• Drive

• Drive reducing behaviors

• Arousal theory

• Yerkes - Dodson Law

• Evolutionary theory of motivation

• instinct theory

• incentive theory

Drive - reduction theory

people are motivated to reduce our drives

Drive

tension of arousal caused by biological/psychological needs

Drive reducing behaviors

we are motivated to engage in behaviors that reduce drives in order to maintain homeostasis (balanced internal state)

• Need: food → drive: hunger → drive reducing behavior: eating → homeostasis: not hungry

Examples of Drive reducing behaviors

• Banana bread makes you stand by the oven

• Good grades make you study

• Reading a book for enjoyment

Arousal theory

we are motivated to behave to reach on optimal level of arousal

• High optimal level - AICE and AP

• Low optimal level - regular and honors

Yerkes - Dodson Law

little arousal → no motivation

high arousal → anxiety hurts performance

• Brilliant Student takes easy classes and then is not motivated to try in them, since so easy

• Dumb student takes classes to challenging for her, and skips school because stress to hgh

Evolutionary Theory of Motivation

individuals are motivated to engage in behaviors that increase their genetic fitness

Instinct theory

we are biologically wired with innate patterns of behavior

Incentive theory

motivation caused by incentives promising award/avoidance of punishment

Classic Research Findings

• Ancel Keys

• Virginia Johnson and William Masters

• Individuals are socially motivated to avoid ostracism and criticism from society

Ancel Keys

discovered men that semi-starved for 6 months became sluggish and very focused on food

Virginia Johnson and William Masters

developed the sexual response cycle

• excitement → plateau → organsm → resolution

Major Research Contributors

• William James - James - Lang Theory

• Alfred Kinsey - studied sexual psychology of both sexes

• Abraham Maslow - hierarchy of needs pyramid

• Stanley Schacter

• Hans Selye

James-Lange Theory (7.1)

• William James and Carl Lange

• We feel emotions because of biological (physiological) changes caused by stress

• FIRST body changes → THEN recognize the feeling after

Studied Sexual Psychology of Both Sexes

• Alfred Kinsey

  • Began study of sex in 1938 by collecting confidential interviews of sex histories

    • By 1950s, interviewed 18,000

  • Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948)

  • Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953)

  • 0 is exclusively heterosexual, 6 exclusively homosexual, and 7 is asexual

Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid

• Abraham Maslow

• We are motivated by needs but all needs aren’t equal

• Driven to satisfy lower level needs first

The levels lower to highest of the Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid

1. Physiological Needs

2. Safety Needs

3. Belongingness and Love Needs

4. Esteem Needs

5. Self-Actualization

Schacter-Singer Theory (7.1)

• “Two Factor Theory”

• Stanley Schachter explains emotions more completely than James- Lange Theory

• How we INTERPRET our experience also matters

  • Emotional experience requires a conscious label or interpretation of the arousal

• Biology and cognition INTERACT with each other to increase the experience

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) (7.1)

• Hans Selye

  • Describes our response to a stressful event

  • 3 Stages

3 Stages of GAS

1. Alarm

2. Resistance

3. Exhaustion