Week 4 - Motive Perspective

Need

• an internal state that is less than satisfactory a lack of something necessary for well-being

• the stronger it is, the more intense the action

• concerns something in particular (hunger, thirst, sleep, etc)

directive

create movement towards or away from a need

motive

clusters of cognitions with affective overtones organized around preferred experience and goals

press

an external influence or condition that creates a desire to get or avoid something

disposition

the natural component of your motives that are unique to you and help form your personality

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

picture test where needs and implicit motives are projected into a person’s fantasy through apperceptions

4 Needs

• need for achievement

• need for affiliation

• need for power

• need for intimacy

need for achievement

the desire to do things well, to feel pleasure in overcoming obstacles

need for achievement in women

pursue achievement in ways that fit their views of themselves in the world they live in, invested energy in activities leading to marriage and family (family oriented), putting of marriage and family (career oriented)

high need for achievement

• prefer tasks with moderate difficulty

• greater persistence in the face of failure

• better task performance

• higher grades

• greater educational achievement

low need for achievement

prefer tasks that are either very easy or very hard

need for affiliation

the motive to spend time with others and form friendly social ties; agreeable, warm, and sensitive

high need for affiliation

matches best with a partner who also has a high need

low need for affiliation

matches best with a partner who also has a low need

need for power

the motive to have impact on others, to have prestige, to feel strong in comparison to others

need for power men vs women

• men: want a wife who is dependent, and more likely to be abusive

• women: more power related job satisfaction than women with this need but are more dissatisfied, higher level of estradiol (like testosterone) at baseline

high need for power

active, assertive, controlling interactions with peers; rewarded by low dominance expressions from others; increase in stress hormone cortisol after failure; large increase in testosterone after a success and greater reduction after failure

low need for power

increase in cortisol after success

need for intimacy

the desire to experience warm, close, and communicative exchange with another person, to feel close to another person

need for intimacy in men vs women

• men: higher marital and job satisfaction

• women: happiness and gratification

diagnosticity

how much tasks tell about your ability

inhibited power motivation

low need for affiliation with a high need for power, good for leadership roles

incentive value

the degree to which a given action can satisfy a need for you, relate to choices within the domain

implicit motive

motive that a person may or may not be aware

explicit motive

refers to what is measured in reports, self-attributed motive

optimal balance of motives

when both motives are congruent and acting in a way that satisfies both motives

approach and avoidance

people who avoid failure report less emotional well being and less satisfaction with their performance than those who try to approach success

Relationship between implicit/explicit and approach/avoidance

interact to produce behavior and relate poorly to the five factor model

personology

the study of individual lives and the factors that influence their course

Problems in behavior

need for power plays a role in drinking and drug problems, alcohol leads to temporary feelings of power

narcissistic personality disorder

a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and a lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of context, as indicated by five or more the following

associated features of narcissistic personality disorder

• sensitive to injury or self defeat

• interpersonally strained relationships

• unwillingness to risks, professional

• common to have depression

• associated with eating disorders and substance use disorder

• also common with other personality disorders

prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder

• ranges from 0% to 6.2% in community samples

• 50-75% are male

changing motivations

motives change, values don’t