Motivation, Emotions, and Gender

Motivation

Forces that activate and direct behavior

Excuses

Make you feel better, support your action/thought

Gaslighting

Manipulative tactics to make someone question their reality

Guilt

One of the biggest motivators, changes mentality quickly

Change

Requires motivation, idea of belief systems

Mentality

Individual perspective that influences how ideas are viewed

Change the view

Perspective shift to alter perception

Life satisfaction

Subjective well-being, factors tied to motivation

Self-realization

Understanding oneself and reaching full potential

Activation

Starting and planning your goals

Persistence

Continuing with your plan despite struggles and hardships

Intensity

Working hard outside of planned activities

Four perspectives of motivation

Instinct theory, drive-reduction theory, incentives, arousal theory

Instinct theory

Complex unlearned behavior driven by genetic programming

Drive-reduction theory

Physiological needs create arousal state that drives behavior

Homeostasis

Maintenance of stable internal state, driven to reduce discomfort

Incentives

Positive or negative stimuli that motivate behavior

Arousal theory

Urge for optimum level of stimulation

Adaptation level phenomenon

Comparison of current experiences to past experiences

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's theory, some needs take priority over others

Self-transcendence

Need to find meaning and identity beyond oneself

Self-actualization

Need to live up to fullest potential

Esteem needs

Need for self-esteem, achievement, respect from others

Belongingness and love needs

Need to love and be loved

Safety needs

Basic needs for security and safety

Physiological needs

Basic needs for survival

Deci and Ryan's Self-determination Theory

Psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness

Autonomy

Need to determine and control one's own behavior and goals

Competence

Need to learn and master challenging tasks

Relatedness

Need to feel attached to others and experience belonging

Achievement motivation

Desire to excel and outperform others

Positive Incentive Value theory

Anticipation of pleasure in consuming specific food

Emotions

Complex psychological states involving arousal, behavior, and experience

Facial expressions

Believed to be innate and allow communication

Emotions vs Moods

Emotions are specific, moods are diffuse

Charles Darwin

First to study emotions, emotions help us adapt

James-Lange theory

Feelings follow body's response to emotional stimuli

Cannon-Bard theory

Physical arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously

Two-factor theory

Emotion requires physical arousal and cognitive labeling

Cognitive-appraisal theory

Emotional responses triggered by cognitive evaluation

Spillover effect

State influences emotion in the next situation

Autonomic nervous system

Controls arousal and stress response

Fight or Flight response - reaction

Physiological reaction to perceived stress or danger

Emotional intelligence

Understanding and managing own and others' emotions

Amygdala

Emotional control center of the brain

Culture and emotional expression

Facial expressions are universal, gestures vary

Facial feedback hypothesis

Expressions trigger or intensify subjective experience of emotion

Fear

Avoid potential danger, learned through observation

Anger

Defend oneself, catharsis hypothesis

Happiness

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon, adaptation-level phenomenon

Sex

Biological category of male or female

Gender

Cultural, social, and psychological meanings associated with masculinity and femininity

Sexual behavior

Behaviors related to sexual activity and attraction

Gender-role stereotypes

Beliefs and expectations about typical characteristics of men and women

Social learning theory

Gender roles acquired through learning processes

Gender schema theory

Gender-role development influenced by mental representations

Evolutionary theories

Gender differences influenced by evolution and mating strategies

Human sexuality

Sexual response cycle, sexual disorders and problems

Sexual orientation

Emotional and erotic attraction to opposite sex, same sex, or both

Gender identity

Sense of masculinity or femininity

Gender dysphoria

Discomfort due to mismatch between biological sex and gender identity

Paraphilias

Nontraditional sexual behaviors dependent on unusual experiences

Sexual dysfunction

Consistent disturbance in sexual desire, arousal, or release

Sexual disorders and problems

Various issues related to sexual functioning

Paraphillic Disorder

Considered only a disorder if one become psychologically dependant on the target of desire and are unable to experience sexual arousal unless this target is present in some form

Health Psychology

The branch of psychology that studies how biological, behavioral, and social factors influence health, illness, medical treatment, and health-related behaviors.

Stress

a negative emotional state occurring in response to events that are perceived as taxing or exceeding a person's resources or ability to cope

Stress Appraisal

how you see or appraise the stress or present situation

Appraisal Model

experience of stress is determined in part by our subjective evaluation of phenomenon as well as our resources for coping

Stressor

Events we see as threatening or challenging

Traumatic Events

Events or situations that are negative, severe, and far beyond our normal expectations for everyday life or life events

"Tend and befriend" phenomenon

where those around you quickly come to your aid whether a stranger or a friend during traumatic events

Walter Canon

Confirmed that the response to stress is a mind/body experience and results in a chain of internal physical reactions.

Canon's observations

stressors trigger an outpouring of stress hormones and is part of the sympathetic nervous system's response

Result of sympathetic nervous system's response

change in physical symptoms and a release of energy from the body's reservers.

flight or fight response

where levels of stress involve both the sympathetic nervous system and the endocrine system

Catecholamines

fight or flight stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline, release when the sympathetic nervous system activates the endocrine system.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

the body's adaptive response to stress in three phases - alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Alarm reaction

sympathetic nervous system is activated

Resistance

blood pressure, temperature, and breathing remains high and hormones flow. If stress continues, it can deplete the body's reserves during phase 3

Exhaustion

the body's energy reserves are depleted, leading to illness and possibly death.

Stress hormones

suppress the disease fighting lymphocytes and impair immune system functioning

Chronic stress

triggers the secretion of corticosteroids, which influence immune system functions and the immune system.

Psychoneuroimmunology

the interdisciplinary field that studies the interconnections among psychological processes, nervous, and endocrine system functioning.

Factors regarding stress and health

affect cardiovascular health, particularly those with Type A personalities (high in urgency, hostility, and competitiveness).

Studies show that daily moods effect people's immune systems.

Anger is an emotion that is closely linked to stress related illnesses esp. heart attacks.

Hostility levels are positively correlated to heart disease.

Hostility levels

Positively correlated to heart disease

Research on stressors

shows a link between the number of daily hassles one experiences and psychological distress and physical ailments

Individual stressors

may be unimportant, but effects of daily stressors can be cumalitive

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor.

Emotion-focused coping

managing the emotional impact of the situation

Social support

the resources provided by other people in times of need, including emotional, tangible, and informational support

Resilience

the ability to cope with stress and adversity, to adapt to negative or unforeseen circumstances and to rebound after negative experience

Personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behavior

Psychoanalytic theory

Freud, first theory of personality. Includes ideas about an unconscious region of the brain, psychosexual stages of development, and defense mechanisms for holding anxiety at bay

Unconsious

according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

3 levels of awareness

conscious, preconscious, unconscious

Psychoanalysis

the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Free association

in psychoanalysis, method of assessing the unconscious by asking patients to spontaneously report mental images, thoughts, and feelings as they come to mind

manifest content

believed to be a censored expression of the dreamer's unconscious wishes