Motivation & Emotion – Comprehensive Study Notes

Motivation – Core Definition & Dual Components

• Motivation = driving force behind behaviour that leads us to pursue some things & avoid others.
  • Contains two separable components:
  • Direction/Goals (“What do I want?”)
  • Intensity (“How much do I want it?”)

Classes of Motives

• Biological motives (primary/physiological)
  • Essential for survival (e.g.
  • Hunger
  • Thirst)
  • Universal across humans.
• Social motives (secondary/learned)
  • Originate in social experience (e.g.
  • Need for achievement, dominance, affiliation).
  • Vary across individuals depending on past learning.

Major Theoretical Perspectives on Motivation

1. Psychodynamic Perspective

• Rooted in biology; emphasises innate drives (Triebe).
  • Freud: \text{Sex (libido)} & \text{Aggression} are core drives.
  • Modern extensions add:
  • Need for relatedness (non-sexual connectedness)
  • Need for self-esteem (positive self-regard).
• Motives can operate at three simultaneous levels:
  • Unconscious/implicit
  • Pre-conscious
  • Conscious/explicit.
• Assessment: Projective tests
  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) – ambiguous pictures  participants create stories; coded for themes of achievement, power, affiliation.
  • TAT scores predict long-term behavioural patterns.

2. Behaviourist / Drive-Reduction Theory (Hull)

• Deprivation of a biological need → drive state → behaviour to reduce drive → homeostasis.
  • Primary drives: eating, sleeping, thermoregulation.
  • Secondary (conditioned) drives: stimuli repeatedly paired with primary-drive reduction (e.g. \text{Money}).
• Problems/limitations:
  • Many behaviours contradict drive reduction (e.g. binge-watching Netflix until 3 a.m. despite fatigue) → explains rise of incentive theories (external rewards).

3. Cognitive Perspectives

• Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT)
  • \text{Motivation} = \text{Expectancy (*Can I succeed?*)} \times \text{Value (*Do I care?*)}.
  • We pursue goals that matter and we believe achievable.
• Goal-Setting Theory
  • Conscious, self-selected goals regulate behaviour (e.g. aiming to beat previous exam score).
  • Goals more effective when:
  • Self-chosen
  • Valued
  • Specific & challenging yet attainable.
• Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan)
  • Three innate psychological needs:
  • Competence (effectance)
  • Autonomy (self-choice)
  • Relatedness (connection)
  • Fulfilment → intrinsic motivation ↑, persistence ↑.
  • External rewards, threats, strict deadlines → undermine autonomy → intrinsic motivation ↓.
• Implicit Motives (Bargh et al.)
  • Learned, automatically activated goal associations (e.g. “look smart” cue in classroom → behaviour without conscious intent).

4. Humanistic Perspective

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (bottom → top):
  1. Physiological (food, water)
  2. Safety (security, protection)
  3. Belongingness/Love (closeness, affiliation)
  4. Esteem (self-esteem & esteem of others)
  5. Self-Actualisation (growth, fulfilment)
  • Growth-oriented, not deficiency-oriented.
• ERG Theory (Alderfer) – condensed, non-hierarchical; needs can co-occur.
  • Existence ↔ Relatedness ↔ Growth

5. Evolutionary Perspective

• Motivational systems are adaptive solutions selected for inclusive fitness (survival + reproduction).
• Instinct-like tendencies (e.g. parental care, mate seeking) rooted in evolved neural circuits.

Specific Motives

A. Eating & Hunger Regulation

• Metabolism: conversion of food → energy.
  • Absorptive phase: energy extracted & stored as glycogen/fat.
  • Fasting phase: stored glycogen → glucose.
• Homeostatic loop
  • Set-points: optimal levels (blood glucose, lipids).
  • Sensors: liver & brain detect drops → hunger signal.
  • Corrective mechanisms: eating behaviour.
  • Satiety mechanisms: stretch & nutrient receptors in stomach/intestine send “stop” signals.
• Hypothalamic control
  • Lateral Hypothalamus (LH) – initiates eating (“on-switch”).
  • Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH) – terminates eating (“off-switch”).
  • Lesion studies: LH damage → aphagia; VMH damage → hyperphagia/obesity, yet also affect other motivated behaviours.
• External (non-homeostatic) cues
  • Palatability – tasty desserts override fullness.
  • Variety – sensory-specific satiety reduces intake of repeated foods.
  • Time-of-day conditioning – habitual meal times trigger hunger.
  • Social facilitation – eating with others ↑ intake.

B. Sexual Motivation

• Masters & Johnson: Sexual Response Cycle
  1. Excitement – vasocongestion, myotonia, skin flush.
  2. Plateau – max HR, BP, respiration, tension.
  3. Orgasm – rhythmic contractions (vagina) / ejaculation (penis).
  4. Resolution – return to baseline; refractory period (male).
• Hormonal influences
  • Organisational effects – prenatal/puberty; build circuitry.
  • Activational effects – acute; testosterone & oestrogen trigger desire/arousal.
• Critiques of cycle: overly linear, underplays psychosocial/cultural factors.
• Cultural variability
  • Western view: males need sex more; some cultures opposite.
  • Norms for permissible acts, initiation, satisfaction differ widely.

C. Psychosocial Motives

• Two broad clusters:
  1. Relatedness Motives (connection-focused)
  • Attachment – desire proximity for comfort/pleasure.
  • Intimacy – self-disclosure, warmth, mutual care (deep friendships, romantic bonds).
  • Affiliation – interaction, contact, socialising.
  1. Agency Motives (self-oriented)
  • Achievement – do well, succeed, avoid failure.
    • High-nAch individuals choose moderate difficulty, persist, enjoy challenge.
    • Domain-specific & hierarchically organised (science vs cooking example).
  • Power, Autonomy, Self-esteem.
• Goal Types
  • Performance-approach goals – aim for success; often good grades, may not spark interest.
  • Performance-avoidance goals – fear of failure; low grades & low enjoyment.
  • Mastery goals – focus on learning; good grades + intrinsic interest.

Emotion: Definition & Components

• Emotion = evaluative response involving:
  1. Physiological arousal (ANS & endocrine changes)
  2. Subjective experience (feeling state)
  3. Behavioural/external expression (facial, posture, vocal).

Classical Theories of Emotion

• James-Lange – \text{Stimulus} \rightarrow \text{Bodily response} \rightarrow \text{Emotion} “I’m scared because I’m running.”
  • Issues: visceral responses slow, similar across emotions; emotions can precede ANS.
• Cannon-Bard – stimulus → simultaneous physiological arousal & subjective experience.
  “I’m running because I’m scared.”
  Emphasises fast thalamic-cortical appraisal.
• Schachter-Singer (Two-Factor)
  • Emotion = \text{Physiological arousal} + \text{Cognitive attribution}.
  • Arousal is nonspecific; context labels it (fear, joy, anger).
• Psychodynamic view – unconscious emotional processes shape thoughts & health; self-deception (illusory mental health) can elevate physiological stress.
• Evolutionary view – emotions are adaptive signals (communication & motivation); basic expressions are universal.

Basic & Complex Emotions

• Cross-cultural agreement on six “basic” facial expressions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, surprise.
• Factor analyses → Positive Affect vs Negative Affect superordinate dimensions; emotions within each highly correlated.

Expression & Display Rules

• Facial expressions communicate emotion; whole-face vs mouth-only distinguishes genuine vs fake.
• Display rules = culturally learned norms governing when/how emotions are expressed; vary by gender & subculture.

Neural Substrates of Emotion

• Thalamus – sensory relay to emotion circuits.
• Amygdala – links sensory input to emotional salience; rapid “low road” for quick reactions & decoding others’ faces.
• Hypothalamus – triggers autonomic & endocrine responses (attack, flight, etc.).
• Cortex (esp. prefrontal) – evaluates stimulus, interprets bodily feedback, regulates expression.
• Dual-pathway model
  • Fast “low road”: Thalamus → Amygdala → Hypothalamus (instant response)
  • Slow “high road”: Thalamus → Cortex → Amygdala/Hypothalamus (evaluated response)
  • Feedback from body returns to cortex for conscious feeling.

Emotion Regulation

• Strategies: situation selection, cognitive re-appraisal (positive spin), suppression, social sharing.
• People pursue positive states & avoid negative; disclosure (verbal/written) improves mental & physical health, though online sharing may skew toward façade.

Review / Self-Test Items (with Answers)

1. Force behind behaviour that leads us to pursue some things & avoid others = Motivation.
2. Freud’s internal tension states that build up until satisfied = Drives.
3. Correct Maslow order = Physiological → Safety → Belongingness → Esteem → Self-Actualisation.
4. Body transforms food into energy = Metabolism.
5. Desire for physical & psychological closeness = Attachment motivation.
6. Need to succeed & avoid failure = Achievement.
7. Cultural norms governing emotional expression = Display rules.
8. Neuro-areas implicated in emotion = Thalamus, Amygdala, Cortex (all of the above).
9. Theory linking physiological arousal + cognitive interpretation = Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory.

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Implications

• Intrinsic vs Extrinsic control: Over-reliance on external rewards undermines autonomy → implications for education & workplace policy.
• Projective assessment validity: Ethical use requires awareness of cultural bias & interpretive subjectivity.
• Display rule differences: Misinterpretation across cultures may affect diplomacy, business, therapy.
• Emotion regulation strategies: Chronic suppression linked to hypertension; training in re-appraisal could enhance public health.