V

Psychology Lecture Review: Motivation, Emotion, and Happiness

Motivation

  • Overview of topics from today: Motivation; Maslow and Humanistic Psychology; Emotions; Nonverbal Communication; Happiness

  • Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

  • Person Psychology framing: Mind, Body, Affect, Cognition, Behavior, Biology.

Motivation

  • Definition: Motivation = a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

  • Explicit Motivation: your stated goals, desires, or needs that may affect your behavior.

  • Implicit Motivation: needs or desires that are unstated or implied by your behavior.

  • Subcomponents of Motivation:

    • Activation

    • Persistence

    • Intensity

A Measure of Explicit Motivation (example items)

  • Example goals and methods:

    • (1) My goal is to: To do well in school. How? by: By studying harder

    • (2) My goal is to: How? by:

  • Importance scale (for each goal): 1 (Slightly important) through 10 (Among the most important).

    • Scale example: ___ 1 ___ 2 ___ 3 ___ 4 ___ 5 ___ 6 ___ 7 ___ 8 ___ 9 ___ 10

  • Page also includes a list of specific goals (e.g., Spend more time studying; Be more organized; Get more sleep; etc.) with an importance rating and a 0-4/0-4 kind of current-importance scheme.

  • Practical use: measure explicit motivation toward concrete life goals.

You callin' me a chicken?!?

  • Slide/prompt indicating introspection about hesitation and self-talk: "Where did I chicken out? Why?" – prompts reflection on fear, risk, and motivation.

Motivational Concepts

  • Evolutionary Psychology (Instinct Theory):

    • Humans have innate tendencies or instincts; complex behaviors that are rigidly patterned and unlearned.

    • Key figures: Charles Darwin; David Buss.

  • Drive-Reduction Theory (Dollard & Miller, 1950):

    • A physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need.

    • Drive-reducing behaviors reduce the drive: e.g., Need for food → Drive (hunger) → Eating.

    • Notation: ext{Need}
      ightarrow ext{Drive}
      ightarrow ext{Drive-reducing behavior}

  • Incentive:

    • A positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

  • Arousal Theory (Berlyne, 1960):

    • Even when biological needs are met, we seek stimulation and arousal; optimal arousal levels drive behavior.

Maslow’s Humanistic Perspective of Motivation

  • Maslow believed motivation is constant, fluctuating, and complex; almost universal across organisms.

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (topical summary):

    • Physiological needs (base level) must be satisfied first.

    • Safety needs become active after physiological needs are met.

    • Psychological needs (belonging, esteem, etc.) become active after safety needs are met.

  • Self-actualization:

    • The need to live up to one’s fullest and unique potential.

Self-Actualization (characteristics)

  • Reality-centered

  • Problem-centered

  • Different perception of means and ends

  • Enjoy solitude

  • Prefer fewer, deeper personal relationships

  • Autonomy

  • Resists enculturation

  • Unhostile sense of humor

  • Strong acceptance of others

  • Spontaneous and simple

  • Human kinship and strong ethic

  • Freshness of appreciation

  • More peak experiences

Self-Determinism Theory (2000)

  • Core needs for optimal functioning:

    • Competence

    • Autonomy

    • Relatedness

  • Intrinsic Motivation vs. Extrinsic Motivation

  • Proponents: Edward Deci; Richard Ryan

MEOW #4: Goals and Motivation (exercise overview)

  • Step-by-step interactive exercise to focus on motivation:
    1) Write Top-5 goals (most important right now).
    2) Write 50 words about the most important people in your life and why they matter.
    3) Update Top-5 goals after reflecting on important people.
    4) Write a 50-word personal eulogy (what you’d want said at your funeral) and what would be on your tombstone.
    5) Re-update Top-5 goals after considering death.
    6) Write a 100-word analysis on how your emotions guide your goals.
    7) List things you would be willing to die for; identify the most important thing you’d sacrifice your life for and what you’d give up everything for; write an additional 100 words on these questions.

  • Purpose: re-center motivation, clarify what’s most important, and promote gratitude.

Emotions

  • Definition: Emotion = a response of the whole organism with physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience.

  • Components:

    • Physiological arousal (e.g., heart racing)

    • Expressive behaviors (facial expressions, gestures)

    • Conscious experience (thoughts and feelings)

Theories of Emotions

  • Riddle question: Is your heart pounding because you are afraid, or are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

James-Lange Theory of Emotion (1890)

  • Core idea: Emotion is the awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.

  • Example: Fear arises from a pounding heart in response to the sight of an oncoming car.

  • Experimental note: Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) study with pencils in teeth vs lips suggested that facial posture can influence perceived funniness of cartoons.

  • Replication note: The Strack et al. replication has been questioned; some replications failed to replicate the effect.

Cannon-Bard Theory (1927)

  • Core idea: Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger physiological responses and subjective emotional experience.

  • Example: Sight of an oncoming car triggers both pounding heart and fear at the same time, independently.

Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion (1962)

  • Core idea: Emotion results from a combination of physiological arousal and a cognitive label.

  • Process: Arousal + Cognitive labeling = Emotion (e.g., I’m afraid).

  • Example: Sight of an oncoming car → pounding heart (arousal) + label as fear.

  • Key concept: To experience emotion, one must be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal.

  • Misattribution of Arousal:

    • Lingering physiological arousal can be misattributed to the wrong cause, intensifying subsequent emotional reactions.

    • Evidence: Schachter & Singer (1962) epinephrine injection study with varying information and confederates; uninformed participants reported greater happiness or anger depending on the confederate’s behavior.

    • Additional evidence: Dutton & Aron (1974) bridge crossing study showed more flirtation and phone-number requests when approached after crossing a fear-inducing bridge.

Notable Aside

  • AAAHHH!! SPIDER!!! – a playful cue illustrating fear/arousal contexts.

Nonverbal Communication

  • Genuine vs. false smiles: distinction between authentic expressions and deceptive ones.

  • Deception detection: Humans are not very good at detecting liars; trust in social interaction makes deception detection challenging.

  • Nonverbal cues: Several illustrated (a)-(f) cues, likely depicting different nonverbal signals.

Experienced Emotion

  • Izard’s Ten Basic Emotions (1977): Joy, Interest, Surprise, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Contempt, Fear, Shame, Guilt.

  • Ekman’s Expanded List (1990): Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise, Amusement, Contempt, Contentment, Embarrassment, Excitement, Guilt, Pride in Achievement, Relief, Satisfaction, Sensory Pleasure, Shame.

  • Dacher Keltner’s 27 Emotions (2017): Admiration, Adoration, Aesthetic Appreciation, Amusement, Anxiety, Awe, Awkwardness, Boredom, Calmness, Confusion, Craving, Disgust, Empathic Pain, Entrancement, Envy, Excitement, Fear, Horror, Interest, Joy, Nostalgia, Romance, Sadness, Satisfaction, Sexual Desire, Sympathy, Triumph.

  • Quick glance of the 27 emotions includes a wide range from positive to negative and socially nuanced states.

Happiness

  • William James quote on happiness as a driving motive for behavior.

  • Subjective Well-Being (SWB): Self-perceived happiness or life satisfaction; often paired with objective indicators of well-being.

  • Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS):

    • Five statements rated on a 7-point Likert scale:

    • In most ways my life is close to my ideal

    • The conditions of my life are excellent

    • I am satisfied with my life

    • So far I have gotten the important things I want in life

    • If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing

    • Scale: 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree

    • Let S = \sum{i=1}^{5} si, ext{ where } s_i \,\in{1,\dots,7}. Higher S indicates greater life satisfaction.

Does Money Buy Happiness?

  • Data framing: A graph showing percentage describing themselves as very happy at various income levels.

  • Observed pattern: Happiness levels do not increase linearly with income; happiness is influenced by multiple factors beyond income.

Values and Life Satisfaction

  • Relationship matrix (illustrated): Money, Love as drivers of life satisfaction with correlational values.

  • Qualitative takeaway: Money and love contribute to life satisfaction in different ways; not a simple one-to-one mapping.

Happiness Is… (research findings)

  • Summary of factors associated with happiness:

    • High self-esteem (often in individualistic cultures)

    • Optimism, sociability, and agreeableness

    • Close friendships or fulfilling marriage

    • Engaged work and leisure

    • Meaningful religious faith

    • Sleep and exercise

  • Non-factors: Happiness appears unrelated to age, gender, education, parenthood, or physical attractiveness in some studies, though patterns can vary across contexts.

TIME Magazine Feature (January 17, 2006) – Mind & Body Issue

  • Positive psychology framing: Happiness as a scientific approach to the life you want.

  • Sonja Lyubomirsky (author highlighted): Core question: How to increase happiness – practical, evidence-based strategies.

Positive Psychology: 10 Steps Towards a More Satisfying Existence (Lyubomirsky)

1) Count your blessings (express gratitude).
2) Cultivate optimism (think happy thoughts).
3) Avoid over-thinking and social comparison.
4) Practice acts of kindness.
5) Nurture social relationships.
6) Develop coping strategies for stress (be hardy).
7) Learn to forgive.
8) Increase Flow experiences (goal pursuit).
9) Savor life’s joys (stop and smell the roses).
10) Take care of yourself (exercise, meditation, and acting happy).

MEOW #5: How of Happiness (assignment outline)

  • Measure happiness using the Satisfaction With Life Scale.

  • Practice suggestions #1, #4, or #7 from Lyubomirsky’s 10 Steps.

  • Rate happiness immediately after activities and again at the end of the day using the SWLS.

  • Write a 300-word paper detailing what you did, how you felt, and the impact on happiness.

Additional SWLS (repeat of scale)

  • SWLS items (same five statements as above) with 1–7 response scale.

Closing Note

  • Make Everyday a Happy Day!

  • Final slide/quote: Encouragement to apply happiness research to daily life.

  • 1805 Cuiunie (likely a decorative or stray note).