Motivation and Emotion

Key Learning Goal

• Compare drive, incentive, and evolutionary approaches to understanding motivation.

9.1 Motivational Theories

• Motives: Needs, wants, interests, and desires that propel people in specific directions.

• Motivation: Involves goal-directed behavior.

• Psychologists have developed various theoretical approaches to explain motivation.

9.1.1 Drive Theories

• Drive theories view motivational forces in terms of drives.

• Homeostasis: A state of physiological equilibrium or stability, observed by Walter Cannon (1932).

  • The body maintains homeostasis through various mechanisms.

  • Example: Body temperature regulation around 37 degrees Celsius.

    • If body temperature rises: perspiration occurs.

    • If body temperature drops: shivering occurs.

    • These reactions aim to restore equilibrium.

• Drive: A hypothetical, internal state of tension that motivates an organism to engage in activities to reduce this tension.

  • Unpleasant states of tension are viewed as disruptions of the preferred equilibrium.

  • Individuals experiencing a drive are motivated to pursue actions leading to drive reduction.

  • Example: Hunger motive.

    • Going without food leads to discomfort (internal tension/drive), motivating the individual to obtain food.

    • Eating reduces the drive and restores physiological equilibrium.

• Drive theories have been influential but cannot explain all motivation.

  • Homeostasis is irrelevant to some human motives (e.g., desire for knowledge or learning).

  • Drive theories do not adequately explain eating when not hungry.

9.1.2 Incentive Theories

• Incentive theories: External stimuli regulate motivational states.

• Incentive: An external goal that can motivate behavior.

  • Examples: ice cream, monetary prize, approval from friends, an A on an exam, a promotion at work.

  • Some incentives reduce drives, while others do not.

• Drive vs. Incentive Models:

  • Drive theories: Internal states of tension push people in certain directions (push).

  • Incentive theories: External stimuli pull people in certain directions (pull).

• Source of Motivation:

  • Drive theories: Source lies within the organism.

  • Incentive theories: Source lies outside the organism, in the environment.

• Incentive models emphasize the role of environmental factors rather than homeostasis.

9.1.3 Evolutionary Theories

• Evolutionary perspective: Motives of humans and other species are products of evolution, like anatomical characteristics.

• Natural selection favors behaviors that maximize reproductive success (passing on genes to the next generation).

• Motives are explained in terms of their adaptive value (e.g., affiliation, achievement, dominance, aggression, and sex drive).

• Evolutionary analyses: Motives are best understood in terms of the adaptive problems they have solved over human history.

  • Example: Need for dominance is thought to be greater in men than women because it could facilitate males’ reproductive success.

    • Females may prefer mating with dominant males.

    • Dominant males may lure females from subordinate males.

    • Dominant males may intimidate male rivals in competition for sexual access.

    • Dominant males may acquire more material resources that may increase mating opportunities.

  • Example: Affiliation motive (need for belongingness).

    • Adaptive benefits for ancestors: help with offspring, collaboration in hunting and gathering, mutual defense, and opportunities for sexual interaction.

    • Humans developed a strong need to belong and a strong aversion to rejection.

• Sibusiso Vilane's Motivation:

  • Climbing Mount Everest can be seen as demonstrating mastery over himself and his environment.

  • Incentive: To show that Africans can achieve their goals.

  • Need for mastery as an expression of his need to dominate (actions matched ambition) and affiliate (achieving his goal meant African citizens can collectively reach great heights).

• Diversity of Motives:

  • Motivational theorists agree that humans display an enormous diversity of motives.

  • Local conditions and experiences affect the way in which these theories manifest in practice.

  • Motivation results from the interaction between the individual and the environment, and some forms of motivation are learned through a person's own experiences (Locke & Schattke, 2019).

  • Context is vital in understanding why certain processes and outcomes are motivating.

  • Contextual factors include national culture, gender, age, or generation.

  • Different people and groups may be motivated to different degrees by different factors (no 'one size fits all').

• Unique South African findings may help change existing theories and give rise to completely new ways of explaining the world.

• Psychology needs to be seen as an evolving, ever-changing set of explanations about people and their experiences.

• Given the range and diversity of human motives, the text will focus on hunger, sex, and achievement.

• The text will then explore the elements of emotional experience and discuss various theories of emotion.