Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Drive reduction theory

behavior is motivated by the need to reduce drives such as hunger, thirst, or sex.

Incentive

positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior, pulling us toward a goal

Arousal

is the level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system

Yerkes–Dodson Law

states that we usually perform most activities best when moderately aroused, and efficiency of performance is usually lower when arousal is either low or high

Achievement motive

the desire to perform well and be successful

Affiliation motive

the need to be with others

Intrinsic motivation

is a desire to perform an activity for its own sake rather than an external reward

Extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform an activity to obtain a reward from outside the individual

Avoidance-Avoidance conflicts

making a decision between 2 equally undesirable choices

ex: choosing between a lower salary at work or unemployment

Approach-Avoidance conflicts

involved making decisions about situations that has both a positive and negative consequence

ex: investment in a business

Emotion

a state that involves an experience, physiological, and biological/expressive response to an external stimuli

Stress

is the process by which we appraise and respond to environmental threats.

Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

three-stage theory of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion describes our body's reaction to stress.

id

unconscious & impulsive parts of our personality mainly driven by instincts

Ego

mediator between the id & superego

Superego

series of socially trained drives & factors (morals)

Repression

is the pushing away of threatening thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind

Regression

the retreat to a behavior pattern of an earlier level of development

Rationalization

self-justifying our actions with socially acceptable explanations

Projection

is attributing our own undesirable thoughts, feelings, or actions to others

Displacement

shifting unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or actions from a more threatening person or object to another, less threatening person or object

Reaction formation

is acting in a manner exactly opposite to our true feelings

Sublimation

is the redirection of unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulses into more socially acceptable behaviors

ex: agressive person becomes MMA fighter

Archetypes

universally recognized concepts that are found in the collective unconscious

Reciprocal determinism

interaction of behavior, cognitions, and environment make up you

Self-efficacy

a belief in one’s ability to succeed n specific situations or accomplish a task (confidence)

Collective efficacy

our perception that with collaborative effort, our group will obtain its desired outcome

Self-concept

is our overall view of our abilities, behavior, and personality or what we know about ourselves.

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. self actualization

2. esteem needs

3. love/belonging needs

4. safety needs

5. physiological needs

James Lange Theory (of emotion)

our experience of emotion arise from the perception of body changes

1. Physiological

2. Emotion

Cannon-Bard Theory (of emotion)

argues that an emotional-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers both physiological responses and the experience of emotion

1. Physiological & Emotion @ the same time

Two-Factor Theory

emotion is the interaction of physiological arousal and the cognitive label we put to it

1. Body

2. Feeling

Cognitive Appraisal Theory

the theory that our emotional experience is determined by how we interpret, rather than the situation itself

ex: in response to an angry or rude customer, two customer service employees may have completely different emotional responses, depending on their appraisals of that situation

Muscle Feedback Effect

tendency of facial muscle to trigger the emotional response corresponding to that feeling

• ex: smiling when you’re sad will trick you into feeling happy

Alarm Reaction Stage (GAT)

activation of our fight or flight response

Resistance Stage (GAT)

copes with stressor by attempting to return to a normal state

Exhaustion Stage (GAT)

body has failed to cope with the stressor as it has depleted from its natural resource

Approach-Approach Conflict Theory

when there is a conflict where a person must decide between 2 appealing outcomes

Problem-Focused Coping

coping efforts primarily aimed at directly changing a stressor

Emotion-Focused Coping

coping efforts primarily aimed at relieving/avoiding the emotional impact of a stressful situation

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

at each stage the child is faced with a developmental conflict that needs to be resolved to gain that development

• if failed, could resurface later on

Oral Stage (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

fixation on the mouth, sucking, biting, and chewing

Anal Stage (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

fixation on bowel & bladder control

Phallic Stage (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

stage where children focus on pleasure from genitals; sexual curiosity & attraction

Latency Stage (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

phase of dormant sexual feelings (focuses on friendships & activities)

Genital Stage (Freud’s Psychosexual Stages)

maturation of sexual feelings; person seeks romantic relationships

Internal Locus of Control

those who believe we can control our own fate & have power in our lives

External Locus of Control

those who believe their lives are largely out of their control

Fixation

pleasure seeking from the childhood in an adult personality

Over justification Effect

our tendency to become less intrinsically motivated to partake in an activity that we used to enjoy when offered an external incentive

ex: If we enjoy playing volleyball, our motivation to play is reduced if we're offered money to do so

Collective Unconscious (Carl Jung)

concepts shared by all people across all cultures due to ancestral inheritance

Person-Centered Perspective

a therapeutic technique centered around the patient & their own self assessment

What were the 3 requirements of Carl Roger’s practices?

1. Genuineness

2. Unconditional positive regard

3. Empathy

What does the big five test measure?

1. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability: is someone calm or anxious, secure or insecure?

2. Extraversion: how outgoing someone is

3. Openness: openness or practicality?

4. Agreeableness: how soft hearted or ruthless, trusting or suspicious of others

5. Conscientiousness: how organized/careful we are?

Projective Test

personality tests with ambiguous stimuli designed to reveal hidden emotions/conflicts projected by the person on the test

• Ink Blot Test

Self-Report Inventory

psychological test in which a person fills out a survey/questionnaire about personal interests, values, behaviors, or traits

Positive Self-Concept

viewing oneself as generally good and capable of improvement

Negative Self-Concept

dissatisfied and unhappy with life, assuming the their flawed and incapable of improvement

Eysenck Questionnaire

added temperament to personality tests

1. Phlegmatic: Peaceful & Relaxed

2. Sanguine: Optimistic & Active

3. Choleric: Short tempered or Irritable

4. Melancholic: analytic & quiet

Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory

assesses one’s physcopathy

• scores are compared to the average person’s

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies factors, or clusters of related items, that seem to define a common ability

• asks the same questions in different ways/wording to reveal a similar message

Person-Situation Controversy

when the traits we show are impacted by our surroundings