Motivation and Emotion Notes

Motivation and Emotion

Learning Outcomes

  • Illustrate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
  • Describe the basic theories of motivation.
  • Explain the basic concepts associated with Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Motivation

  • Motivation describes the wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal.
  • Motivations can be:
    • Intrinsic: Arising from internal factors.
    • Extrinsic: Arising from external factors.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

  • Intrinsic Motivation (from within):
    • Autonomy
    • Mastery
    • Purpose
  • Extrinsic Motivation (from outside):
    • Compensation
    • Punishment
    • Reward
Example
  • Intrinsic: Enjoying learning and pursuing education to become a well-rounded individual.
  • Extrinsic: Pursuing a college degree to become more marketable for a high-paying career or to satisfy parental demands.

Motivation Theories

  • Evolutionary
  • Arousal
  • Incentive
  • Humanistic

Evolutionary Theory

Instinct Theory of Motivation
  • Early instinct theories: Fixed, genetically programmed patterns of behavior.
    • William James' (1890) Principles of Psychology:
      • Instincts are habits stemming from innate tendencies.
      • People inherit social behavior instincts (love, sympathy, modesty, etc.) and "survival instincts."
Ethology
  • Relating behavior to features of the environment.
    1. Instincts are inherited dispositions that generate specific fixed-action patterns (e.g., Konrad Lorenz, nest building, bird songs).
    2. Instincts reflect adaptation to a particular part of the habitat, or niche.
    3. Development and expression of instincts can vary (e.g., with seasons, abundance of food or mates).
    4. Sign stimuli, such as coloration or shape, trigger behavior.
Charles Darwin's Evolutionary Theory
  1. Instincts are a product of natural selection:
    • Instinctual behaviors that increase reproductive success (fitness) become more frequent; others die out.
  2. Basic emotions are included among instincts.

Arousal Theory

Drive-Reduction Theory (Clark Hull)
  1. Behavior originates from physiological needs for food, water, air.
    • These needs create tension (irritation) away from homeostasis.
    • When needs are met (homeostasis), arousal is low; needs give rise to drives.
    • Biological needs or tissue deficits lead to a drive state.
  2. Animals are motivated to reduce the drive.
    • Behaviors such as eating, drinking, and breathing reduce the need by restoring homeostasis.
    • Behaviors are reinforced and strengthened through drive reduction.
    • Acquired motivation: Stimuli associated with drives become motivators; stimuli associated with drive reduction become rewarding.
Hull's Drive-Reduction Theory
  • Homeostasis -> Drive -> Motivation to fulfill needs
Optimal Arousal Theory
  1. Some nonzero level of arousal is optimal.
    • Arousal below optimal level motivates behavior to increase arousal.
    • Arousal above optimal level motivates behavior to decrease arousal.
  2. Individual differences: People vary in the degree to which they seek lower or higher levels of arousal.
    • Zuckerman (1984, 2007): sensation seeking as an aspect of personality, related to risky behavior
Yerkes-Dodson Law
  1. Yerkes-Dodson law relates arousal level to task performance.
    • Arousal level for optimal performance depends on task difficulty.
    • Optimal level of arousal is lower for harder tasks.
    • High arousal can improve performance on easy tasks and impair performance on difficult tasks.
Yerkes-Dodson Law: Inverted U-Model
  • Performance vs. Arousal:
    • Low Arousal: Fatigue, sleepiness, unproductive - not enough stress
    • Increasing Arousal: Increasing attention and interest.
    • Optimal Arousal: Peak performance.
    • High Arousal: Strong stress, anxiety, impaired performance, Decreasing performance due to increasing stress and anxiety, Unproductive - too much stress

Incentive Theory

  • Motivation is produced by need for goal attainment.
    • Need for goal attainment or achievement may be either intrinsic or extrinsic.
      1. Intrinsic motivation is based on internal need for achievement and internal reinforcers, such as positive feelings of accomplishment.
      2. Extrinsic motivation is based on external, often tangible reinforcers.
Effect of External Reward on Intrinsic Motivation
  1. Providing an extrinsic reward for intrinsically motivated behavior can decrease interest in the task (overjustification effect).
  2. Extrinsic reward can decrease, increase, or have no effect on intrinsic motivation depending on many factors, e.g., whether performance standards are vague or clear (Eisenberger, Pierce, & Cameron, 1999).

Humanistic Theory

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
  1. Needs are ordered from basic survival to psychological needs: physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization.
  2. Each successive level of the hierarchy is addressed only after the preceding level's needs have been met (concept of prepotency).
  3. Criticism: elitist, ordering of hierarchy, e.g., political or religious fasting (Wahba & Bridgewell, 1976).
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Bottom to Top)
  • Physiological needs: air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, reproduction
  • Safety needs: personal security, employment, resources, health, property
  • Love and belonging: friendship, intimacy, family, sense of connection
  • Esteem: respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength, freedom
  • Self-actualization: desire to become the most that one can be