Unit 4

Introduction to Social Psychology

Social psychologists study how we think about, influence & relate to one another...

gender
race
ethnicity
religion

Attribution

process of explaining the causes of people’s behavior, including one’s own, either by crediting:
- the external situation (external factors) OR
- the person’s internal disposition (personality)

Attribution theory:

the theory we explain someone’s behavior by crediting the situation or the person’s disposition

You just got a 98% on a test!!! Woo hoo, go you! Under your definition of Attribution:

1. Attribute an external factor to this good grade.

2. Attribute an internal factor to this good grade.

Fundamental Attribution Error
tendency to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of situations when relating to other people

You call someone lazy for being late,

But when you are late, there’s a

reason.

Attitudes

beliefs and feelings that predispose our reactions to objects, people and events
- Social psychologists believe that attitudes are made up of three components:
  - Cognitive – set of beliefs about the attributes of an object
  - Affective – feelings about the object
  - Behavioral – way people act toward the object
- If someone is nice, we may feel kindness toward them and act in a friendly manner

Attitude examples

Cognitive- Gun owners shoot themselves more often than they shoot intruders

Affective- Guns make me sick

Behavior- I vote for gun control advocates whenever possible

Cognitive- Keanu Reeves has zero talent as an actor

Affective- His facial expressions and monotone voice make me angry

Behavior- I refuse to see his movies

Central Route Persuasion

Attitude change when people are focused on the argument/involved in the issue.

gets to the heart of the issue/problem
more direct
You listen because of the argument presented

Peripheral Route of Persuasion

Attitudes change is influenced by incidental cues, such as speaker’s attractiveness.

celebrity endorsement

Incredibly attractive people

You listen because of WHO is saying it

Celebrity endorsements

Foot-in-Door Phenomenon

To get people to agree to something, “start small & build”

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Similar to “low balling”- not stating the cost/time upfront

Have you used this in your life?

Door-in-the-Face Phenomenon

To get people to agree to something, start big & go backwards

-tendency for people who will never agree to a ridiculous request to comply later with a smaller request

I really want a puppy, so I bring up adopting a child.

That’s not all

Promise of free stuff gets people to comply/agree.
Car dealership offers a $100 gift card to everyone who test drives a car
The infomercial promises an extra product if you “call now”

Norm of Reciprocity

I gave you something, now you give me something. We like to reciprocate good deeds and bad ones.
You give me a free appetizer, I’ll leave you a positive review on Yelp.
Not necessarily “if you do this, I will do that”

Roles

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position (police officer, teacher, doctor) defining how those in the position ought to behave

Zimbardo on Roles

Stanford Prison Study, 1972
Found that roles and expectations can cloud judgement

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

LEON FESTINGER

When our attitudes and our actions don’t mesh we experience psychological tension.
We do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Because behavior is hard to change we typically change our attitude to create balance.

Justify our behavior

Examples:

fitness
addictions - smoking
Care for the environment, drive a gas guzzler
The US can have WMD’s but not our enemies

How to end Cognitive Dissonance

Attitudes-follow-behavior principle--change your behavior and your attitude will follow
Cruel acts shape the self, but so do good acts. Act like you like someone and you soon might actually like them.

Social Influence

What is Conformity?

Conformity--a change in behavior or belief as a result of real or “imagined” group pressure.

You act differently when with others vs. the way we would act alone.

What strengthens conformity?
–If you feel “dumb” amongst the group.

–3+ people in the group.

–The group agrees with each other.

–The group is “cool” or desired or popular.

–You don’t stand for something.

–Others will see us.

–Your culture respects authority and obedience.
How Do We Conform?

Social Norms

Normative Social Influence:

–Conforming to gain approval and avoid disapproval or rejection.

Informational Social Influence:

–Conforming to accept new ideas & gain new insights.

Social Influence Part II

Review

Write 2 examples of normative social influence.

wearing pink because everyone likes it

saying you like football even when you dont watch it

Write 2 examples of informational social influence.

jury changing original opinion

learning about the dangers of smoking a quitting

When in a crowd...we experience Social Facilitation

Improved performance of tasks in the presence of others {sometimes}.

Occurs with simple or well-learned tasks.

Not as true with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered (remember Yerkes-Dodson!?! - Emotion Unit - Study for AP test)

When in a group, we sometimes participate in… Social Loafing

•The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable.

–Group Projects

–Team goals

–Moving

Social Inhibition

Restraining or changing your behavior in the presence of others

Act differently at a friend’s party than Grandma’s birthday party
You attend an event where you know others have VERY different political views than you do, so you keep your mouth shut

When in a large group, we can experience…Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and (loss of) self-restraint occurring in group situations or when a person is anonymous that foster arousal and anonymity.

–Blogs, “Anonymous” letters, looting, Rate my teacher

-Sports Riots, Ferguson Riots, etc

–KKK, Black Panthers, uniforms

–Crowd behavior – would you ever yell that stuff if you were alone? can you find an example of this?

Group Polarization

The enhancement of a group’s already existing attitudes through discussion among the group to become more extreme.

•Like-minded thinkers tend to make a certain attitude STRONGER.

Politics (political conventions vs wishy-washy)
Social Media (links the like-minded)
Blogs, comments sections of news articles
Terrorist organizations

Groupthink

•The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides common sense.

•We feel pressure for a unanimous decision.

Examples:

Historical Examples
Vietnam, Iraq, Bay of Pigs
Homecoming themes
Politics
Social Relations
Where to go to lunch?

Social Relations

Stereotypes

Generalized thoughts about a group of people. Can be good, but usually bad.

Examples:

•Muslims are terrorists.

•Poor people are lazy.

•Cheerleaders are dumb.

Prejudice

Prejudices are judgements/attitudes about groups of people PRIOR to experience with that group.

Why do we have prejudices?

Cognitive Roots

Availability Heuristic (Bias) (vivid cases)
- other-race effect (recognize members of our own race more readily than others
Just World Phenomenon

Discrimination

Typically negative BEHAVIORS toward particular groups, typically based on stereotypes and prejudices
USUALLY based on race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or economic class

Just World Phenomenon

The idea that the world is “just” and that people often “get what they deserved.”

–Lung cancer

–Car accident

–phone stolen from gym locker

–Assault

Also known as “blaming the victim”

Ingroup vs Outgroup

WE and THEY

US and THEM

Ingroup – our “us” – who we belong to

Outgroup – our “them” – who we are NOT a part of

Ingroup Bias – we tend to like people from our “in group” more than from our “out group.”

Outgroup homogeneity bias

Our tendency to perceive those in the outgroup as all being the same, or sharing similar negative traits.

Scapegoat Theory

Freud said “Scapegoat” was a Defense Mechanism.

Our hatred, prejudice, and stereotypes of our “outgroups” give us SOMEONE ELSE to blame.

Consider:

Losing the game against a rival

Not getting a good grade in math

Research on racism

Doll Study: Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Psychological factors of aggression:

genetic influences - genetic markers for aggression

neural influences- amygdala, frontal lobe

biochemical- hormones, alcohol & other substances in the blood -- testosterone

Hostile Aggression

Intent is to harm another and cause physical or psychological pain
Actions are based on anger
Getting in a fight with someone at a football game because they are bothering you
Road rage
Also called emotional aggression

Instrumental Aggression

Intent is to harm another BUT to achieve some sort of goal
Playground bully who pushes people to get their lunch money
Terrorist who kills civilians to gain attention for their political cause
It is intentional and planned
Also called cognitive aggression

Frustration-Aggression Principle

the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger, which can generate aggression

This is why we need to take a step back if prone to violence when frustrated.

Catharsis Hypothesis

we feel better by blowing off steam... letting out our emotions

Media Models

Social scripts- culturally provided mental files for how to act
- After watching many action movies, a kid might have a script that plays in their head when faced with a new situation
- Song lyrics give a script for behavior as well
- Sexually explicit content provides scripts for behaviors

Video games and social scripts

Observing TV violence desensitizes us to cruelty and primes people to respond aggressively when provoked

Young teens who play a lot of violent games see the world as more hostile
Get into more arguments and fights than non-gaming peers
More than just “blowing off steam”

Connect the Video Clip...

While watching (after) the video clip connect it to as many Social Psych terms as possible... be able to define the connection...your notes will help you

Hot or Not? The Social Psychology of Attraction

Beauty is....

•Cultural

•Time dependent

•Influenced by the Halo Effect: beautiful people are more likely to be smart, successful, and kind. AND if someone does a good thing, we are more likely to think other positive things about that person

Types of Love

Passionate Love
- Unrealistic
- Aroused state of infatuation
- Emotional
- Fizzles (usually) pretty quickly
Companionate Love
- Deep
- Affectionate
- Long-lasting
- Friends & Lovers
- Committed

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Consummate Love
- Passion
- Intimacy
- Commitment
PIC… love is like an ice pic to the heart <3

Self-Disclosure

revealing intimate/personal information about ourselves

likes/dislikes
dreams/worries
proud/shameful moments

Factors that influence attractiveness in mates AND friends

Physical attractiveness-
- Matching Hypothesis- males and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select one another as partners
- Supported by evidence that dating and married couples tend to be similar in level of attractiveness.
- Some say it’s due to social forces beyond their control, like being rejected by more attractive others

Similarity

People sit closer to others who have similar simple physical traits (hair length, color, glasses, etc)
Married and dating couples tend to be similar in age, race, religion, social class, education, intelligence, attractiveness, and attitudes
This principle operates in friendships and romantic relationships
Similarity causes attraction: we assume that similar others will like us
Attraction can foster similarity because people who are close gradually align their attitudes...called attitude alignment

Reciprocity

We tend to like people who show us that they like us
We tend to see others as liking us more if we like them
Liking breeds liking; loving promotes loving

Proximity

Most important determinant of attraction is simple proximity
As long as you don’t initially dislike someone, you will like them more with repeated contact
You are likely to be more attracted to a stranger if you meet under pleasant conditions, if you are rewarded in that person’s presence
Mere exposure effect type stuff

Altruism

Learning Targets:

Identify important figures in social psychology (e.g., Solomon Asch, Leon Festinger, Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo).

Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction.

Altruism

The unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Bystander Effect

the idea that when in a crowd, a person is LESS LIKELY to help someone out, and MORE LIKELY to “ignore” the problem thinking someone else will help.

•Seeing someone fall

•A disabled car

•In the grocery store and dropping items

Why do we help?

social exchange theory: The idea that we balance costs and rewards of helping. We’re more likely to help if reward is high and cost is low.

Donating blood (high reward, low cost) vs. donating kidney (high reward, high cost)

Why do we help?

Reciprocity norms lead people to help others because they have helped or want help in the future.

for example: gifts, social invitations

Social Responsibility norms say that we should help out people who need us.

for example: kids, elderly, sick

Superordinate Goals

Superordinate goals are when a common goal is MORE important than the differences between two groups.

–“Real World” Examples:

•Teams

•Group Work

•Neighborhood Watch

Others?

Social Traps

When conflicting parties engage in mutually destructive behavior because they’re so focused on their own self-interest.

Rolling power outages in Texas
Water conservation efforts
Ugly divorces

Mirror-Image Perceptions

Each side views itself in the same way
we are the peaceful side & the other side is evil.

Obedience and Compliance

Obedience

Changing one’s behavior at the direct order of an authority figure
Must be someone who can enforce the directive
- Police officer, parent, teacher, work supervisor, etc

Actor-Observer Bias

When we attribute our own actions to external causes and the actions of others to internal causes
Similar to fundamental attribution error, but this is something we are more likely to do to ourselves.
You fail to realize that you were grossly unprepared for a test. In the testing environment, you notice that it’s really warm and stuffy in the room, your pencil keeps breaking and the person next to you is sniffling their nose like crazy. When you get your test back and you scored really low, you attribute it to the environment, not your lack of preparation

Compliance

Changing one’s behavior as a result of others’ directing or asking for the change
Person asking for the behavior change doesn’t have any real power or authority to command the change

Hostile Aggression

Intent is to harm another and cause physical or psychological pain
Actions are based on anger
Getting in a fight with someone at a football game because they are bothering you
Road rage
Also called emotional aggression

Instrumental Aggression

Intent is to harm another BUT to achieve some sort of goal
Playground bully who pushes people to get their lunch money
Terrorist who kills civilians to gain attention for their political cause
It is intentional and planned
Also called cognitive aggression

Welcome to Personality

What is Personality?

“Characteristic pattern of thinking,

feeling and acting.”

Psychologist who study personality focus on the enduring traits and qualities we demonstrate over time.

Types of Personality Perspectives

Psychoanalytic - unconscious drives & motivations

Trait - specific characteristics of personality

Humanistic - inner capacity for growth

Social-Cognitive - influence of environment and society

Sigmund Freud

Born May 6, 1856

Father of Psychoanalysis Perspective

You either LOVE him or HATE him

Defense Mechanisms

Why?

Our aggressive and sexual urges are not appropriate to act on.
If you are thirsty, you go get a drink. If you are hungry, you eat. If you find someone attractive, it’s not OK to just walk up to them and get physical. If a store clerk makes you angry, you can’t just punch them. (without consequences)
Defense mechanisms are the way that the conflicts between the id, ego, and superego can be resolved so that anxiety goes away

Definition

largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions like anxiety and guilt.

Sublimation

channeling unconscious, unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable or admirable activities

a sadist becomes a doctor or a dentist

an “old maid” becomes a famous artist

someone who has a hot temper becomes an MMA fighter

Compensation

striving to make up for unconscious impulses or fears

a business executive’s extreme competitiveness might be aimed at compensating for unconscious feelings of inferiority

Intellectualization

Taking a cold, clinical approach to an anxiety inducing stimulus

After being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, the patient does as much research as possible and prepares a powerpoint to help her family best understand her diagnosis

Humanistic Personality Perspective

Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow

Humanist Perspective psychologists

-sick of Freud’s negativity

-more to people than just behaviorists (They were too strict)

-Live your best life perspective

Humanistic Theory

Emphasizes idea that individuals control their own behavior

Views human nature in a positive way

believes we are innately good

very popular perspective at its time because it was person centered

Self-Actualizing Person

Maslow believed that we try to reach the state of self-actualization (fulfilling our unique potential)

We all have this desire but our environment challenges us in reaching full potential

Self-Actualizing Characteristics

accept the self unconditionally

spontaneous and natural

democratic nature

like privacy

focus on problems outside self

strong ethical & moral sense

close, yet limited number of friends

very realistic

Carl Rogers

Believed in personal growth & people

are naturally good

Central feature of person= self-concept

(our perception of our abilities, behaviors & characteristics if self-concept positive, we tend to act in positive ways)

answering the question “Who am I?”

Carl Rogers= Growth & Fulfillment

For an individual to grow, Rogers said must have:

1. Genuineness

-Be open with feelings & drop facades

2. Acceptance

-Get rid of conditions of worth

-Must have/offer unconditional positive regard

3. Empathy

-sharing & mirroring our feelings & reflecting the meanings

Self-Concept

Describe yourself as you would like to be (ideal) & how you think you really are (real)

Self-concept is all our thoughts & feelings we have in response to the question, “Who am I?”

If positive, we tend to act & see the world as positive. If negative, we feel we fall short of our ideal self and are dissatisfied and unhappy

Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective

-Humanist had pervasive impact on counseling, child rearing, education & management.

-Concepts are vague & lacked scientific evidence...also subjective.

-Individualism can lead to self-indulgence, selfishness & corruption... need to be careful of emphasis

-focus on self-esteem has created empty compliments

-also fails to appreciate the reality that people can be evil

-positive psychology movement grew out of humanistic

Trait Theorists

•Conscious motives (not UNCONSCIOUS like Psychoanalysts)

•Characteristic behaviors of people

•Identifiable behavioral traits

•18,000 identifiable traits

Factor Analysis

•a statistical way to describe variability by looking at clusters of test items. In personality, someone who says they are outgoing might say they like excitement and dislike quiet reading. Those reflect a basic factor, or trait...in this case, extraversion

Eysenck Personality Inventory

Eysenck Personality Inventory

–Extraversion-Introversion Scale

–Emotional Stability-Instability Scale

Biology & Personality

Eysenck believed that personality was genetically influenced. (1947 & 1976)

this was proven in 1999
- extroverts seek stimulation their normal brain arousal is relatively low
- dopamine & dopamine-related activity higher in extroverts

Other research has attributed a child’s shyness and inhibition to their autonomic nervous system reactivity
- if we have a reactive ANS, we respond to stress with greater anxiety and inhibition
Animals have similar traits as far as reactivity, affection, curious intelligence and you can carry that on through selecting for certain traits

Validity

Does it test what you want it to test?

Reliability

can it be replicated?

Personality Inventories

longer questionnaire- wide range of feelings & behaviors

•MMPI – Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

–Looks at the abnormal

–Has a “lie scale” – you can’t “fake” it

–Hundreds of questions – 567 to be exactIs

objective but not always valid

Myers-Briggs
•126 questions

•Based off of Jung’s theory of Personality

•Gives 16 personality types

–Thinker-Feeler

–Introvert-Extrovert

–Perceiver-Judger

–Senser-Intuitive

NOT EMPIRICALLY BASED

The Big 5

•McCrae and Costa developed another set of factors, working off Eysenck’s.

•This scale is dubbed “OCEAN” – the five dimensions are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

The Person-Situation Controversy

So, are people the same across time & place? Do they change?

•Traits, however, don’t really influence behaviors.

–Example – you might score high on an extroversion scale, but in certain company, you might be very introverted.

•SO MANY VARIABLES…so a trait is really just an average!

Exploring the Self

Terms

self- the center of personality, it’s the part of us that organizes our thoughts, feelings and actions.

possible selves- include your visions of the self you want to be, the self you fear becoming. These allow us to sort of plan our goals and work to achieve them. Provides motivation to achieve goals

spotlight effect- overestimating that others notice and evaluate our performance as we do to ourselves, assuming there is a spotlight and all attention is focused on you. In reality, the whole world is not watching you :)

being realistic about the spotlight effect can help you be more confident

self-esteem

your sense of self-worth, can be either high or low
people who feel good about themselves generally report higher levels of satisfaction with their lives
they are less likely to conform, are less shy, anxious and lonely
if something goes bad, they are more likely to do something to fix it next time.
those with low self-esteem tend to be more critical of others, overly sensitive and judgemental.
people who are down on themselves are likely down on others as well
self-esteem
those with low self-esteem tend to be more critical of others, overly sensitive and judgemental.
people who are down on themselves are likely down on others as well

Self-serving bias

our tendency to perceive ourselves favorably
people accept more responsibility for good deeds than for bad, and for successes rather than failures.
how often do you encounter people who blame someone/something else for their mistakes?
we assume we deserve good things and wonder “what did I do to deserve this?” when something goes wrong.
most people see themselves as better than average
we overestimate ourselves (and underestimate others) (sport rivalries, etc)
most people also believe they are immune to self-serving bias

for more examples, see p. 547

Narcissism

Jean Twenge (2006, 2010) tracked self-importance across the last several decades and determined that “Generation Me” shows more narcissism (excessive self-love and self-absorption) by agreeing more often with statements like “the world would be a better place if I ruled it.” and “I think I am a special person.” (it’s kind of been debunked)

agreeing to these types of statements correlates with consumption, materialism, the desire to be famous, inflated expectations, more hook ups with fewer committed relationships, more gambling...all on the rise as narcissism increases.

Hollywood actors, politicians and reality stars score higher on narcissism inventories.

subtle strategy:

some object to the concept of self-serving bias because it doesn’t explain people who have low self esteem and make disparaging remarks about themselves...BUT these comments:
- are subtly strategic: “no one likes me” would come back with “not everyone has met you.”
- prepare us for possible failure: if we know we have a worthy opponent in a competition, it makes it easier to accept a loss.
- allow us to learn from our mistakes: “How could I be so stupid?” that helps us not be stupid again.
- mostly pertain to one’s old self: when asked to recall bad behaviors, they recall things from long ago because the good things are more readily available. “Then I was a jerk, now I’m more sensitive.”

Social-Cognitive Perspective

Social Cognitive

Believe we learn behaviors from conditioning/observing/modeling and emphasize the importance of mental processing
Personalities are shaped by our interaction with others (self + environment)
- Combination of the behavioral & cognitive perspectives

Social-Cognitive Ideals

Emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations

BUT it underestimates the impact of enduring traits

Reciprocal Determinism

personality is shaped by an interaction of behavioral, cognitive & environmental factors.

Reciprocal Determinism

Environment: people choose different environments (within their circumstances)... your friends?
- friends influence your thoughts

Personalities shape how we interpret events
- anxious people see things as more threatening

We create situations by how we react
- if you expect someone to be angry at you

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy: the expectancy that your efforts will be successful, the belief you can do something

Locus of Control

amount people expect to have control over their lives.

Internal locus of control: they can control their own fate. Through hard work, skill & training.

External Locus of Control: do not believe they control their own fate. Instead they are convinced that chance, luck and the behavior of others determines their destiny and that they are helpless to change the course of their lives.

-learned helplessness

Learned Helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
- Martin Seligman

Can you think of examples of people who stop trying to help themselves?

◦Battered wives

◦Children who have things done for them

◦Prisoners

◦You when you get really far behind in a class or know you’re dropping at semester

Optimist vs. Pessimist

Optimist have high self-efficacy (belief in one’s abilities)

Pessimists have low self-efficacy

You may also see it referred to as “explanatory style”
Barnum (Forer) Effect

People readily accept items that are favorable to them or their personal belief system
explains why we believe horoscopes, fortune cookies, etc
- we will learn more about this in social psych
P.T. Barnum “there’s a sucker born every minute”

Introduction to Motivation

Motivation includes the influences that account for the initiation, direction, intensity & persistence of behavior

Goal-directed behavior

Instinct Theory

•An instinct is a behavior that is patterned throughout a species and is UNLEARNED.

•We are animals and we have instinctual behaviors, but not many.

Explains aggression, mating preferences, competition, and sexual behavior

PURELY biological. A mother will stay up all night with a crying baby, depriving herself of sleep, to calm the baby. She hasn’t LEARNED to do this, she just does. It’s universal in all species for the mother to soothe the young.

Drive-Reduction Theory

physiological (need) creates a psychological aroused state (drive) .... this is a push...

motivates us to reduce or satisfy needs
achieve internal homeostasis (internal balance)

Incentive Theory

A PULL

Positive or Negative stimulus that motivates behavior

*** Learned behaviors

***doing a task to get something or avoid something

Optimum Arousal: Arousal Theory

Human motivation does not want to eliminate arousal (alertness), but seeks optimum levels of arousal

Optimum level differs for each person

Yerkes-Dodson Law: we perform at our best when we are only moderately aroused

Bored=increase arousal

Stressed=decrease arousal

Difficult tasks can’t be done under extreme arousal.

Opponent Process Theory of Motivation

We perform an activity moving us from our baseline state that causes pleasure, but eventually we feel an opponent process (motivation to return to baseline, neutral state)

Explains addictions: smoke cigarette, feel buzz, return to “normal” but withdrawal moves us away from baseline, requiring use again to move back to normal

Types of motivation

achievement motivation- our desire to master complex tasks and knowledge and to reach personal goals
intrinsic motivation- enjoyment or satisfaction comes from within
extrinsic motivation- the rewards you get from the outside

When Motives Conflict

approach-approach- choose between two desirable outcomes. You can only do one.
avoidance-avoidance- choose between two unattractive outcomes.
approach-avoidance- one event/goal has attractive and unattractive features
multiple approach-avoidance conflicts-choose between two or more things, each having desirable and undesirable features

Practice

There are two pairs of sneakers you want to buy, but only have money for one.

You are choosing classes for next year and only have room for one more course. You love physics but are nervous about the workload. You know your top college wants you to take calculus, but you find it boring.

You are the last person on the plane and have to choose between a seat next to a smelly man and a middle seat in the back of the plane that doesn’t recline.

You have the money to buy a new car, but the one you want has really high insurance rates.

Motivation- Hunger

Learning target

Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to understand the behavior of humans and other animals (e.g., instincts, incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation).

2. Discuss the biological underpinnings of motivation, including needs, drives, and homeostasis.

3. Compare and contrast motivational theories (e.g., drive reduction theory, arousal theory, general adaptation theory), including the strengths and weaknesses of each.

4. Describe classic research findings in specific motivation systems (e.g., eating, sex, social)

Why does that video clip motivate us?

why do you think that video clip motivates us…

What other movie is motivating/inspiring?

Hypothalamus: 5Fs (Feeding)

The hypothalamus regulates several biological needs (including hunger and thirst)
“Investigators found that when they surgically destroyed animals’ lateral hypothalamus, the animals showed little or no interest in eating.” (Anand & Brobeck, 1951)

Hypothalamus: 5Fs (Feeding)

“When researchers destroyed animals’ ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, the animals ate excessively and gained weight rapidly.” (Brobeck, Teperman, & Long, 1943)

Hypothalamus Centers

LH=Large Hunger VMH= Very Minute Hunger

Food Motivates Us!

Glucose-the form of sugar that circulates in the blood

**provides the major source of energy for body tissues

Glucose Low = hunger

Glucose High = feel full

Hunger Hormones

Leptin- secreted by fat cells, increase in leptin causes an increase in metabolism, decreasing hunger (LOSER STOP EATING)

Ghrelin- secreted by empty stomach, sends signals to the brain saying “I’m hungry” (GRR I’M HANGRY)

Set Point & Metabolism

Set point= the point at which your weight is supposed to be... too thin you will be hungry & eat

basal metabolic rate= how fast can you burn calories while at rest

spend a day in bed over break & eat that amount of calories... you won’t gain weight.

Cultural Connection?

Discussion...

how is food a cultural “thing”?

Explain how the biopsychosocial approach could explain our motivation related to eating.

Emotion

Theories of Emotion

Emotions- mix of bodily arousal (heart pounding); expressive behaviors (quickened pace); conscious experience (is this a kidnapping?); and feelings (fear, panic, joy)

how do these all fit together?

Positive thoughts truly do fuel positive emotions, like happiness. (according to research)

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon – when we feel happy or are happy, we’re more likely to help others out.

Examples?

Helping mom or dad out around the house

Donating $ to charity

Volunteering

James-Lange Theory

Arousal comes before emotion
“We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble.”
You notice your heart racing, then you shake, and feel the woosh of emotion, the feeling comes last.

Cannon-Bard Theory

arousal and emotion occur at the same time
the body’s response like heart rate, temperature, sweating--are too similar and they change too slowly to CAUSE the different emotions
your heart begins to pound AS you experience fear
most researchers now agree that emotions require cognition

Schachter-Singer Two Factor Model

cognition can define emotion
emotions have two parts: physical arousal and cognitive appraisal
You have to experience physical arousal and cognitively label that arousal.
“arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it”

Zajonc, Lazarus, LeDoux: Neuroscience

we have many emotional reactions apart from and before our interpretation of a situation
“high road” long way through thalamus, then cortex and then to amygdala. It’s used for complex feelings like hatred and love
“low road” (neural shortcut) bypassing the cortex...a fear-producing stimulus goes straight to the amygdala, then the cortex can decide later. The amygdala sends more info TO the cortex than it receives back, so it’s easy for us to let our emotions “hijack” our thinking

Zajonc, Lazarus, LeDoux: Neuroscience

our brains process vast amounts of information without our conscious awareness
some emotional responses do not require conscious thinking

Relative Deprivation

Our happiness sometimes makes us compare ourselves with others, it’s a general feeling that we are worse off than others

Envy...Jealousy...

Being upset over other people’s (with your same job) salaries…

Colleges we’re going to…

High school reunion time?

May also work in reverse – you’re bummed that you have to be in school today, but you could be at a funeral…or in the hospital.

Totally not happiness…but the only important thing about “anger” that might show up on the AP Exam.

Catharsis: To vent...an emotional release

To let out your pent-up frustrations in a physically or verbally “de-stressing” manner. Clip

throwing your ex’s stuff in a fire pit

punching a pillow

singing & screaming

Example #1

Are expressions a cultural universal (part of every culture)?

Stress

the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called STRESSORS

distress= negative stress~ this is what we think of when someone says “I’m so stressed”

eustress= positive stress~ stress that benefits us, for example, exercise or when we do better under pressure (but not TOO much pressure!)

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

According to Selye stress response to any kind of

stimulation is similar.

The stressed individual goes through three phases

Describes our response to a stressful event.

Three stages

Alarm: stressor disrupts homeostasis by throwing in a revved up SNS (cortisol and adrenaline)

Resistance: body fights back by adjusting to the stress

Exhaustion: rest allows for enhanced adaptation, failure to rest causes risk for injury, illness, failure to adapt later

ARE you stressed???

Sexual Motivation

Physiology of Sex

Asexual- no attraction otherwise

Testosterone- male sex hormone

Estrogen- female sex hormone

During the prenatal period, hormones direct development as male or female

During puberty, sex hormones surges brings us into adolescence

After puberty, they facilitate sexual behavior

How hormones impact sexual behavior

Females have less testosterone than males, and when they hit menopause, their sexual interest typically decreases

Post-menopausal women can take testosterone replacement therapy to restore interest

Male testosterone levels are more constant and don’t respond to decreases in testosterone levels in the same way that women do

Large hormonal surges or declines happen:

The puberty surge in sex hormones triggers the development of sex characteristics and interest in sexual behavior

In later life, hormone levels fall. Women experience menopause, men experience a more gradual decline

For some, surgery or drugs may cause hormonal shifts

Hormone therapy for sex offenders

Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Scale

Groundbreaking at the time (1948) based on interviews with thousands of people about their sexual histories

The Kinsey Scale

Sexuality is more complex than homosexual and heterosexual, there’s a continuum

Impact now?

First to really research this

Controversial because non-heterosexual individuals were not out as they are now

Sexuality is fluid

Paved the way for further research into the field of sexual motivation

Assumes gender is binary (either male or female)

Doesn’t account for differences in sexual orientation and romantic orientation

Reduces people to a number on a scale

William Masters and Virginia Johnson (1966)

Studied sexual behavior, specifically intercourse

Had 382 females and 312 males all willing to allow observation of the display of excitement to orgasm

Through this research, they came up with 4 stages of sexual responding, called the sexual response cycle

Sexual Response Cycle

Excitement- arousal for both males and females

Plateau- breathing, pulse, blood pressure rates increase, male becomes fully erect, female’s vaginal secretions increase

Orgasm- muscle contractions all over the body, further increase in breathing, pulse, and blood pressure, no discernable difference in the descriptions by males and females, PET scans show the same brain regions are active in both sexes.

Resolution- body gradually return to unaroused state and blood goes back to normal

Males then enter the refractory period lasting from a few minutes to a day or so before they can have another orgasm. Females experience a much shorter refractory period

Psychology of Sex

External Stimuli

Biology plays a huge role, but the variations in psychological factors also greatly influence

Seeing, hearing, or reading erotic material

With repeated exposure to something, the emotional response decreases (habituation) in the 1920’s the rising hemlines (to the knees) were arousing. Now noone notices

Definitely biopsychosocial, as family and society values, religion, and media play a role in what we determine is attractive, appropriate, and arousing.

Adverse effects of exposure to explicit material

Believing rape is acceptable men who view women being coerced and appearing to like it, makes men think women enjoy being overpowered, etc and are more likely to be willing to hurt women or commit rape

Reducing satisfaction in partner’s appearance or with a relationship people judge their partner or relationship more harshly after viewing explicit material by creating unrealistic expectations

Desensitization extensive online content viewing desensitizes young men to normal sexuality, causing erectile dysfunction

Impact on relationships

Those who have their first sexual intercourse later in life report greater satisfaction in their marriage or partnership

Those who had a deep commitment prior to sexual intercourse reported greater satisfaction with the emotional and sexual parts of their relationship

Women find sex to be more satisfying while in a relationship than sex as a “hook up”