AP PSYCH 7.1 Theories of Motivation

Motivation

Motivation is a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior toward a goal
We have primary and secondary needs
- Primary needs are innate or unlearned, like biological necessities, food, water, need for warmth, etc.
- Secondary needs are not tangible and psychological, like social approval, belongingness, and love
Motivations can be very different and can be deconstructed very far
You may want to go for a jog to reduce stress, get active, or look better
- And behind all of those reasons are more motivations
No single theory can explain why we are motivated to engage in any particular behavior
- Different emotions and scenarios may fit better into other theories

Drive is a state of tension or arousal caused by biological/psychological needs
- This is an unpleasant state
Drive-reducing behaviors are the way we seek to resolve that drive
- We aim to return the body to homeostasis, or chemical balance
Clark Hull, the author of this theory, was a behaviorist
A lack of homeostasis induces a need, which creates a drive
- The drive makes a motivation to reduce the drive, prompting behavior that returns to homeostasis
- The cycle then repeats once there is a disruption to the established balance

Thorndike’s law of effect states that any behavior that leads to a desirable outcome will be repeated
If homeostasis is achieved by eating, drinking, exercising, or taking a drug, that behavior will be repeated

This theory proposes that we are pulled by incentives to behave in a certain matter
- This can be contracted with the way drives push us to behave in Drive-Reduction Theory
Motivation originates from incentives that promise some values outcome (reward) or the avoidance of an aversive stimulus (punishment)
Incentives are either positive or negative stimuli that motivate or pull us toward a behavior
Motivations can be intrinsic, within, or extrinsic, from outside
- Intrinsic motivations include feeling good, fulfilling personal preferences, or doing something just because you enjoy it, and have been shown to contribute more to well-being
- Extrinsic motivators may be money, bodily changes, and grades— these are often conditioned or biological
The overjustification effect occurs when an expected external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a task
- Experiments relating to this phenomenon prove that people who do things for intrinsic reasons like enjoyment are much more productive in that behavior
- Whereas too large of a reward can actually decrease performance
- When something becomes an obligation, most people will do the bare minimum to reach the expected reward

Recall the law of effect from above
Biologically speaking, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released in a neural reward circuit when we feel pleasure
We are motivated to then engage in that pleasure-inducing behavior repeatedly

People are motivated to take actions to either increase or decrease their arousal levels in order to achieve and maintain a personal optimum level of arousal
Some people seek high arousal levels and spend their weekends chasing adrenaline
Others seek low arousal levels and may spend the weekend at home, calming down from the week
The behavior may change depending on what kind of equilibrium/optimal arousal a person is seeking, like biological, emotional, or intellectual

This law describes the relationship between arousal and performance
It proposes that too much or too little arousal is detrimental to performance
Having too little arousal means the motivation for the behavior is not there
Having too much creates anxiety or overcompensation, also harming performance
This relates to optimal arousal as it suggests we prepare ourselves to be optimally aroused for certain events
- People may be yelling and running around before a highly anticipated football game
- Whereas they are silent and calm before a major exam

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