Lecture 5b_Motivation

Motivation in Psychology

• Motivation: Study of determinants of thoughts and actions.

• Key aspects: Why certain behaviors are chosen; initiation, persistence, cessation; intensity of desire.

• Modern focus: Goal-directed behaviors involving intentionality versus habits/unintended behaviors.

• Example: Motivation behind daily behaviors like brushing teeth.

• Importance of unconscious motivation.

Measuring Motivation

• Motivation as an abstract, inferred force directing behavior—hard to measure.

• Focus on observable aspects of motivation across four dimensions:

  • Choice of Tasks: Why choose one task over another?

  • Effort: Willingness to exert effort.

  • Persistence: Duration of engagement in tasks.

  • Achievement: Desire to accomplish tasks.

Hunger: Motivation to Eat

• Question: Why do we eat?

• Biological Factors:

  • Hypothalamus controls hunger through signals for hunger and satiety.

  • Blood glucose levels are crucial; decrease increases hunger, increase leads to satiety.

• Digestive System:

  • Signals from stomach cells inhibit eating after consumption based on nutrient richness.

• Hormonal Regulation:

  • Insulin: Encourages glucose consumption.

  • Ghrelin: Promotes hunger; CCK and Leptin: Suppress hunger.

Environmental Factors Influencing Hunger

• Palatability: Tastier food increases consumption.

• Quantity Available: More food leads to increased intake.

• Variety: More options can encourage eating more.

• Presence of Others: Social contexts can change eating behaviors.

  • Example: Women's eating habits in unfamiliar company.

• Learned Preferences:

  • Acquired through exposure; advertisements can enhance hunger and intake.

Motivational Theories: Three Perspectives

• A. Needs Theories:

  • Focuses on instinctive drives, homeostasis, and needs fulfillment.

• B. Goal Theories:

  • Looks at higher-order incentives and decision-making.

• C. In-Between Theories:

  • Theories that encompass elements from A and B.

Needs Theories: A Deeper Look

• The concept of need reduction: needs accumulate, engage in behaviors to fulfill them, and needs emerge again.

• Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory:

  • Two forces of psychic energy: Eros (life instinct) and Thanatos (death instinct).

  • Balance between satisfying needs and managing unpleasant psychic energy.

Humanistic Theories

• Intersection between needs and goals.

• Emphasis on holistic study of humans, challenging deterministic views of motivation.

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

  • Physiological/Hunger needs, Safety, Belongingness, Esteem, and Self-Actualization.

• Roger’s Person-Centered Approach:

  • Humans innately strive for self-actualization, requiring positive regard and unconditional acceptance.

Goal Theories

• Cognitive Theories:

  • Emphasis on rational decision-making in motivation.

  • Klinger’s Cognitive Incentive Theory:

    • Incentives shape desirability and emotional value of goals.

  • Atkinson’s Expectancy-Value Model:

    • Motivation based on the relationship between expectancy of success and value of goals.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• People strive for consistency among beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

• Types of relations: Consonant, Irrelevant, and Dissonant.

• Motivation to reduce dissonance through changes in beliefs or by mitigating discrepancies.

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

• Intrinsic Motivation:

  • Engaging in activities for their inherent interest and satisfaction.

• Extrinsic Motivation:

  • Engagement in activities for external rewards or outcomes.

• Overjustification Effect:

  • Excessive external rewards may undermine intrinsic motivation.

Self-Determination Theory

• Proposed by Deci & Ryan, emphasizing three necessary organismic needs:

  • Autonomy: Feeling self-determined.

  • Competence: Feeling capable.

  • Relatedness: Feeling supported.

• Mechanisms of internalizing extrinsic motivation into one's sense of self.

  • Ranges from externally regulated to integrated behaviors, affecting autonomy and cognitive flexibility.