Motivation

Our motivations (needs or desires that energizes and directs behavior) arise from the interplay between nature (the bodily “push”) and nurture (the “pulls” from our personal experiences, thoughts, and culture). Our motives drive our behavior. 

Theories of Motivation:

• Instinct

• Drive-reduction

• Arousal

• Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological needs (such as for food or water) create an aroused, motivated state—a drive (such as hunger or thirst)—that pushes us to reduce the need. Drive-reduction theory explains that, with few exceptions, when a physiological need increases, so does our psychological drive to reduce it. Drive reduction is one way our bodies strive for homeostasis —the maintenance of a steady internal state. For example, our body regulates its temperature in a way similar to a room’s thermostat - too hot and you start to sweat to cool down, too cold and you start to shiver to warm up. 

Arousal theory states that we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal - if bored, we go do something and if overstimulated, we relax. Furthermore, the Yerkes-Dodson Law states that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

If so, you might be motivated by the desire for a particular feeling or sensation. Sensation-seeking theory states that such behavior is a personality trait defined by the search for experiences and feelings that are varied, novel, complex, and intense, and by the readiness to take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experiences. 

Self-determination theory argues that people are motivated to learn, grow and change their lives, if their three basic psychological needs are satisfied: competence, connection, and autonomy. Intrinsic motivation is when we find participation in an activity personally rewarding and fulfilling, while extrinsic motivation is when we participate in an activity to gain a reward or avoid punishment. 

An instinct is a complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and not acquired by learning. This suggests instincts are likely to be rooted in genes and the body. Examples of instincts include things like imprinting and migration patterns. Instinct theory views our instincts as the source of motivation, but humans have few instincts, thus this cannot explain all behavior. 

Conflict is perceived as an incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas. 

• Approach-approach conflict: occurs when you must choose between two desirable outcomes.

• Avoidance-avoidance conflict: occurs when you must choose between two unattractive outcomes.

• Approach-avoidance conflict: exists when one event or goal has both attractive and unattractive features. 

• Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts: here you must choose between two or more things, each of which has both desirable and undesirable features.

What physiological factors induce feelings of hunger? Hunger is a chief source of motivation as it is associated with our survival. Multiple areas of the body and brain are associated with regulating hunger:

• Hormonal Regulation:

  • Ghrelin – causes stomach contractions to promote hunger

  • Leptin – produced by fat cells and eliminates hunger

• Brain Regulation

  • Hypothalamus: maintains homeostasis and controls the pituitary gland

  • Pituitary gland: controls endocrine glands

• Stomach Contractions Theory

  • Working with Walter Cannon, A. L. Washburn agreed to swallow a balloon attached to a recording device. When inflated to fill his stomach, the balloon transmitted his stomach contractions. Washburn supplied information about his feelings of hunger by pressing a key each time he felt a hunger pang. The discovery: Whenever Washburn felt hungry, he was indeed having stomach contractions.

• Glucose Theory

  • The body is keeping tabs on its available resources. One such resource is the blood sugar glucose. Increases in the hormone insulin (secreted by the pancreas) diminish blood glucose, partly by converting it to stored fat. If your blood glucose level drops, you won’t consciously feel the lower blood sugar. But your brain, which is automatically monitoring your blood chemistry and your body’s internal state, will trigger hunger. Signals from your stomach, intestines, and liver (indicating whether glucose is being deposited or withdrawn) all signal your brain to motivate eating or not.

• Set Point Theory

  • This stable weight toward which semi-starved rats return is their set point. In rats and humans, heredity influences body type and approximate set point. This explains why people struggle to gain or lose weight, because our bodies are resistant to change from their set point. Our bodies regulate weight through the control of food intake, energy output, and basal metabolic rate—the resting rate of energy expenditure for maintaining basic body functions. 

Our internal hunger is pushed by our physiology—our body chemistry and hypothalamic activity. Yet there is more to hunger than meets the stomach. The following environmental factors can determine what you eat and how much:

• Taste Preferences

  • Carbs boost serotonin and makes us feel better.

  • The hotter the climate, the spicier the food.

• Culture

  • Some cultures believe a dish is a delicacy when to others it is an abomination → guinea pigs, reindeer meat, caviar, peanut butter, cheese, snails, etc. 

• Arousal

  • Engrossed in a movie and you’ll eat a tub of popcorn. 

• Presence of Others

  • We tend to eat more around others.

• Serving Size & Selection

  • Buffets and menus too many options encourage overeating.