Week 8 Psy10007 Lecture - Motivation
Concise Version
What is Motivation?
Motivation is an intervening variable between environment and behavior.
Example: Feeling motivated to run faster to get home when it starts to drizzle.
Closely tied to emotion.
Example: Waking up feeling flat might motivate you to stay on the couch, while feeling energetic motivates you to go for a run.
We can be motivated to feel a certain way, chasing an emotion.
Example: Wanting the feeling of achievement after a race drives you to perform your best.
Only a motive if it has enough power to guide, change, or influence behavior.
Thirst is a motive that drives you to get a drink.
Sources of Motivation
Four categories:
Physiological Factors: the body's needs to function (food, water, air).
Example: thirst driving you to get water.
Emotional Factors: emotions drive behavior, or behaving to feel a certain emotion.
Example: Feeling fear might make you run away, love might make you act a certain way.
Cognitive Factors: thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.
Example: Believing success requires money might motivate you to get a high-paying job.
Social Factors: social world influences behavior.
Example: Adolescents behaving in a certain way to gain peer acceptance.
Theories of Motivation
Instinct Theory
Early theorists believed behavior was driven by instincts.
Involuntary behavior patterns consistently triggered by stimuli.
Motivation is primarily biologically based.
Aids in survival and is hardwired.
Called fixed action patterns.
Criticism: Humans are individuals and don't all respond the same way.
Modal Action Patterns:
Typical or most common behavioral responses expressed in response to a particular situation.
Evolutionary Theory
Suggests partner choice is based on ancestors' decisions and has evolved from there.
Behaviors motivated by survival and reproduction.
Women and men have different behaviors for choosing partners based on reproduction.
Criticism: preferences are culturally based, not genetically based.
Drive Reduction Theory
We need to be in a state of homeostasis (feeling balanced).
Unbalanced equilibrium drives behavior to meet needs.
Example: Hunger
Not eating leads to feeling hungry causes an unbalanced equilibrium.
Creates a physiological need.
Need creates a drive to satisfy the need.
Motivation leads to grabbing food from the cupboard and eating it.
Equilibrium is restored, and homeostasis is achieved.
Primary Drives:
Innate physiological needs (food, water).
Secondary Drives:
Learned through cultural experience.
Driven to meet primary drives.
Example: Primary drive is the need to eat and being driven by hunger, secondary drive would be the the need to have money to get food.
Criticisms:
Doesn't explain how secondary drives directly help to restore equilibrium.
Doesn't explain why we seek new experiences when comfortable.
Incentive Theory
Suggests we are motivated by external stimuli.
Behaving to receive a reward.
Example: Child cleaning room to avoid punishment.
Considers individual differences and values.
Incentives can influence physiological, cognitive, and social needs.
Two types of incentive-related systems:
Wanting: attracted to what the reward means for us.
Liking: immediate evaluation of how pleasurable something is.
Wanting system produces a stronger drive than liking.
Hunger and the Brain
Biological processes tell us when we're hungry.
Signals from the small intestine and bloodstream.
Hypothalamus plays a primary role in detecting nutrients/hormones in bloodstream.
Ventromedial Nucleus:
Indicates when we don't need to eat anymore, the feeling of satiety is produced when stimulated.
If damaged, the body wouldn't know when full.
Lateral Hypothalamus:
Receives signals that make you want to eat.
If damaged, you don't want to eat.
Multiple brain regions and neurotransmitters influence hunger.
Influenced by flavor, appetite, specific hunger, learning, and social/cultural influences.
Flavor, if exposed to multiple and different flavors, that triggers you to eat more even when you're full or satisfied.
Appetite, such as smelling different foods or seeing foods that we've had before can trigger our appetite.
Specific hunger, so our body craves certain foods to meet nutritional needs.
Learning, such as feeling hungry when we're exposed to to a situation of a place where we usually eat.
Social and cultural influences, there is just this expectation that you'll eat in certain social situations, such as eating popcorn at the movies or even eating pies at a sporting event.
Eating Disorders
Obesity: body mass index greater than 30, significant impact on health and mortality.
In 2014, 28% of adults were classified as obese.
Anorexia Nervosa: hunger doesn't always motivate people to eat.
More young females are impacted than males.
Restricting eating, starving themselves.
Low body mass index.
May involve purging, vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercise.
There are psychological factors and genetic factors involved.
Around 20% die from starvation.
Treatments: drugs, hospitalization, and psychotherapy.
Bulimia: binge eat a lot of food then purge cycle.
Weight range can be in the average range.
Also impacts young females than males.
Drive to be thin.
Complications for physical health: nutritional and intestinal problems, and dental issues.
Individual group therapy and antidepressants can be effective.
Sexual Behavior
Drive for sexual behavior allows us to reproduce.
Influenced by biological factors, learned behavior, physical and social environment.
Achievement Motivation
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic:
Motivated to achieve something to get a reward.
Intrinsic:
Desire to get internal satisfaction.
Feeling of pride and satisfaction.
Related to the feeling of flow.
Drive to receive approval, admiration, or sense of achievement.
Desire for Mastery
Achievement Motivation:
Value the feeling of satisfaction that they get from meeting a goal.
Low achievement motivation:
More motivated to perform a task because they don't want to fail.
Impacted by emotions such as worry and anticipation.
Learning Goals vs. Performance Goals:
Learning, motivated by the process, wants to learn.
Performance, wanting to show people that they can perform at a certain level.
Control in the workplace impacts motivation.
Goals need to be personally meaningful, specific, concrete, and supported.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Hierarchy of needs that need to be achieved.
Physiological needs before safety needs.
Safety needs and once they're met then want a sense of love and belongingness.
Self-actualization isn't reached by many people.
Criticisms:
People can be driven to meet needs across different levels.
Priorities differ across cultures.
Good reminder that physiological/safety needs must be met before psychological needs.
ERG Theory
Existence, Relatedness, Growth Theory:
Existence, it's the needs that were needed to survive, such as air water and food.
Relatedness, such as the social needs to have a human connection with other social gatherings.
Growth, such as the developmental needs to grow as a human.
Do not need to meet needs in any particular order.
Flexible approach to motivation.
Driven to meet needs based on the time, situation, and importance.
Detailed Version
What is Motivation?
Motivation is an intervening variable between environment and behavior, influencing the intensity, direction, and persistence of actions.
Example: Feeling motivated to run faster to get home when it starts to drizzle. This illustrates how an environmental factor (rain) influences behavior (running faster).
Closely tied to emotion, with emotions often serving as a catalyst or consequence of motivation.
Example: Waking up feeling flat might motivate you to stay on the couch, while feeling energetic motivates you to go for a run. This demonstrates bidirectional influence.
We can be motivated to feel a certain way, actively chasing emotional states or experiences.
Example: Wanting the feeling of achievement after a race drives you to perform your best. The anticipation of a positive emotion (achievement) motivates behavior (training and performance).
Only a motive if it has enough power to guide, change, or influence behavior. A passing thought or fleeting desire does not qualify until it translates into action.
Thirst is a motive that drives you to get a drink. The physiological need (thirst) has the power to compel behavior (getting a drink).
Sources of Motivation
Four primary categories that interact to drive behavior:
Physiological Factors: the body's needs to function (food, water, air, sleep, thermoregulation). These are basic survival requirements.
Example: thirst driving you to get water. The body's need for hydration motivates the act of seeking and consuming water.
Emotional Factors: emotions drive behavior, or behaving to feel a certain emotion. Emotions can serve as both motivators and goals.
Example: Feeling fear might make you run away (avoidance behavior), love might make you act a certain way (seeking closeness and connection).
Cognitive Factors: thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and attitudes. These mental processes influence how we interpret and respond to situations.
Example: Believing success requires money might motivate you to get a high-paying job. The belief about the pathway to success (money) influences career choices and work ethic.
Social Factors: social world influences behavior, including cultural norms, peer influence, and societal expectations. Humans are social beings, and their behavior is often shaped by their social environment.
Example: Adolescents behaving in a certain way to gain peer acceptance. The desire for social inclusion and approval motivates conformity to group norms.
Theories of Motivation
Instinct Theory
Early theorists believed behavior was driven by instincts, innate tendencies that determine behavior.
Involuntary behavior patterns consistently triggered by stimuli. These patterns are automatic and unlearned.
Motivation is primarily biologically based, emphasizing the role of genetics and physiology.
Aids in survival and is hardwired, promoting behaviors essential for survival and reproduction.
Called fixed action patterns, a sequence of unlearned acts directly linked to a simple stimulus.
Criticism: Humans are individuals and don't all respond the same way. The theory doesn't account for individual differences and the role of learning and experience.
Modal Action Patterns:
Typical or most common behavioral responses expressed in response to a particular situation. These are more flexible than fixed action patterns but still have a strong genetic component.
Evolutionary Theory
Suggests partner choice is based on ancestors' decisions and has evolved from there. Behaviors are selected over time based on their contribution to survival and reproduction.
Behaviors motivated by survival and reproduction, ensuring the continuation of the species.
Women and men have different behaviors for choosing partners based on reproduction, reflecting different reproductive strategies and challenges.
Criticism: preferences are culturally based, not genetically based. The theory doesn't fully account for the influence of culture, learning, and individual choice.
Drive Reduction Theory
We need to be in a state of homeostasis (feeling balanced), a state of equilibrium in the body's internal environment.
Unbalanced equilibrium drives behavior to meet needs, creating a motivation to restore balance.
Example: Hunger
Not eating leads to feeling hungry causes an unbalanced equilibrium, disrupting the body's optimal state.
Creates a physiological need, a basic requirement for survival and well-being.
Need creates a drive to satisfy the need, an internal state of tension that motivates behavior.
Motivation leads to grabbing food from the cupboard and eating it, reducing the drive and restoring balance.
Equilibrium is restored, and homeostasis is achieved, satisfying the need and relieving the drive.
Primary Drives:
Innate physiological needs (food, water), essential for survival and not learned.
Secondary Drives:
Learned through cultural experience, acquired through association with primary drives.
Driven to meet primary drives, serving as a means to satisfy fundamental needs.
Example: Primary drive is the need to eat and being driven by hunger, secondary drive would be the the need to have money to get food. Money is not inherently needed, but it helps to satisfy hunger.
Criticisms:
Doesn't explain how secondary drives directly help to restore equilibrium. It's not clear how things like achievement or social connection directly address physiological imbalances.
Doesn't explain why we seek new experiences when comfortable. The theory doesn't account for exploratory behavior and the pursuit of novelty.
Incentive Theory
Suggests we are motivated by external stimuli, rewards, and consequences in the environment.
Behaving to receive a reward, engaging in behavior to gain something desirable.
Example: Child cleaning room to avoid punishment. The avoidance of an aversive stimulus (punishment) motivates behavior (cleaning).
Considers individual differences and values, recognizing that incentives are subjective and vary from person to person.
Incentives can influence physiological, cognitive, and social needs, highlighting the broad impact of external motivators.
Two types of incentive-related systems:
Wanting: attracted to what the reward means for us, the anticipation and desire associated with a reward.
Liking: immediate evaluation of how pleasurable something is, the immediate enjoyment or satisfaction derived from a reward.
Wanting system produces a stronger drive than liking, suggesting that anticipation is a more powerful motivator than immediate pleasure.
Hunger and the Brain
Biological processes tell us when we're hungry, involving complex interactions between the brain, hormones, and digestive system.
Signals from the small intestine and bloodstream, providing information about nutrient levels and digestive activity.
Hypothalamus plays a primary role in detecting nutrients/hormones in bloodstream, serving as the control center for hunger and satiety.
Ventromedial Nucleus:(VMN)
Indicates when we don't need to eat anymore, the feeling of satiety is produced when stimulated. It helps regulate energy balance and body weight.
If damaged, the body wouldn't know when full, leading to overeating and weight gain.
Lateral Hypothalamus:(LH)
Receives signals that make you want to eat, stimulating appetite and food-seeking behavior.
If damaged, you don't want to eat, resulting in loss of appetite and weight loss.
Multiple brain regions and neurotransmitters influence hunger, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and various neurotransmitters like neuropeptide Y and ghrelin.
Influenced by flavor, appetite, specific hunger, learning, and social/cultural influences, highlighting the complex interplay of factors that shape eating behavior.
Flavor, if exposed to multiple and different flavors, that triggers you to eat more even when you're full or satisfied. Flavor variety can increase food intake.
Appetite, such as smelling different foods or seeing foods that we've had before can trigger our appetite. Sensory cues can stimulate hunger and cravings.
Specific hunger, so our body craves certain foods to meet nutritional needs. The body may crave certain nutrients when deficient.
Learning, such as feeling hungry when we're exposed to to a situation of a place where we usually eat. Conditioned associations can trigger hunger.
Social and cultural influences, there is just this expectation that you'll eat in certain social situations, such as eating popcorn at the movies or even eating pies at a sporting event. Social context and cultural norms can influence eating behavior.
Eating Disorders
Obesity: body mass index (BMI) greater than 30, significant impact on health and mortality. It increases the risk of various health problems.
In 2014, 28% of adults were classified as obese. Obesity rates have been increasing in recent decades.
Anorexia Nervosa: hunger doesn't always motivate people to eat, highlighting the complex interplay of psychological and physiological factors.
More young females are impacted than males, although it can affect individuals of any gender or age.
Restricting eating, starving themselves, resulting in severe weight loss and malnutrition.
Low body mass index, indicating a dangerously low weight.
May involve purging, vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercise, to control weight.
There are psychological factors and genetic factors involved, including body image distortion, perfectionism, and family history of eating disorders.
Around 20% die from starvation, highlighting the severity and potentially fatal nature of the disorder.
Treatments: drugs, hospitalization, and psychotherapy, addressing both the psychological and physical aspects of the disorder.
Bulimia: binge eat a lot of food then purge cycle, characterized by episodes of overeating followed by compensatory behaviors.
Weight range can be in the average range, making it difficult to detect.
Also impacts young females than males, although it can affect individuals of any gender or age.
Drive to be thin, reflecting a distorted body image and fear of weight gain.
Complications for physical health: nutritional and intestinal problems, and dental issues, resulting from the binge-purge cycle.
Individual group therapy and antidepressants can be effective, addressing the underlying psychological issues.
Sexual Behavior
Drive for sexual behavior allows us to reproduce, ensuring the continuation of the species.
Influenced by biological factors, learned behavior, physical and social environment, highlighting the complex interplay of factors that shape sexual behavior.
Achievement Motivation
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic:
Motivated to achieve something to get a reward, driven by external incentives such as money, praise, or recognition.
Intrinsic:
Desire to get internal satisfaction, driven by internal rewards such as enjoyment, satisfaction, or a sense of accomplishment.
Feeling of pride and satisfaction, experiencing positive emotions as a result of achieving a goal.
Related to the feeling of flow, a state of deep immersion and enjoyment in an activity.
Drive to receive approval, admiration, or sense of achievement, highlighting the social and psychological motivators of achievement.
Desire for Mastery
Achievement Motivation:
Value the feeling of satisfaction that they get from meeting a goal, placing a high value on accomplishment and success.
Low achievement motivation:
More motivated to perform a task because they don't want to fail, driven by fear of failure rather than desire for success.
Impacted by emotions such as worry and anticipation, experiencing anxiety and apprehension about potential failure.
Learning Goals vs. Performance Goals:
Learning, motivated by the process, wants to learn, focused on acquiring new knowledge and skills.
Performance, wanting to show people that they can perform at a certain level, focused on demonstrating competence and achieving external validation.
Control in the workplace impacts motivation, autonomy and empowerment can increase motivation and job satisfaction.
Goals need to be personally meaningful, specific, concrete, and supported, increasing the likelihood of goal attainment.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Hierarchy of needs that need to be achieved, a pyramid-shaped model of human needs, with basic needs at the bottom and self-actualization at the top.
Physiological needs before safety needs, basic survival requirements must be met before higher-level needs can be addressed.
Safety needs and once they're met then want a sense of love and belongingness, feeling secure and connected to others.
Self-actualization isn't reached by many people, representing the fulfillment of one's potential and the pursuit of personal growth.
Criticisms:
People can be driven to meet needs across different levels, individuals may pursue multiple needs simultaneously.
Priorities differ across cultures, the hierarchy may not be universally applicable.
Good reminder that physiological/safety needs must be met before psychological needs, emphasizing the importance of basic needs for well-being.
ERG Theory
Existence, Relatedness, Growth Theory:
Existence, it's the needs that were needed to survive, such as air water and food, corresponding to Maslow's physiological and safety needs.
Relatedness, such as the social needs to have a human connection with other social gatherings, involving social interaction and belongingness.
Growth, such as the developmental needs to grow as
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