Chapter 13

SUMMARY

13.1 Distinguish among the different theoretical perspectives on motivation.

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Motivation refers to the moving force that energises behaviour. It includes two components: what people want to do (the direction in which activity is motivated) and how strongly they want to do it (the strength of the motivation). Although some motives (e.g., eating and sex) are more clearly biologically based and others (e.g., relatedness to others and achievement) are more psychogenic or psychosocial, both types of motives have roots in biology and are shaped by culture and experience.

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Evolutionary psychologists argue that basic human motives derive from the tasks of survival and reproduction. They have expanded the concept of reproductive success to include inclusive fitness, which means that natural selection favours organisms that survive, reproduce and foster the survival and reproduction of their kin. Natural selection has endowed humans and other animals with motivational mechanisms that lead them to maximise their inclusive fitness.

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Freud believed that humans, like other animals, are motivated by internal tension states, or drives, for sex and aggression. Contemporary psychodynamic theorists focus less on drives than on wishes and fears. They emphasise motives for relatedness and self-esteem, as well as sex and aggression, and contend that many human motives are unconscious.

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Behavioural theorists use the term drive to refer to motivation activated by a need state (such as hunger). According to drive-reduction theories, deprivation of basic needs creates an unpleasant state of tension that leads the animal to act. If an action happens to reduce the tension, the behaviour is reinforced. Innate drives such as hunger, thirst and sex are primary drives; with secondary drives, an originally neutral stimulus becomes associated with drive reduction and hence itself becomes a motivator.

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Cognitive theorists often speak of goals, valued outcomes established through social learning. Expectancy–value theories assert that motivation is a joint function of the value people place on an outcome and the extent to which they believe they can attain it. Goal-setting theory proposes that conscious goals regulate much of human action, particularly in work tasks. Self-determination theory suggests that people are most likely to develop intrinsic motivation (i.e., a genuine interest in the activity for its own sake) in a task or domain when learning is accompanied by feelings of competence, autonomy (i.e., control over their own actions, rather than control by others) and relatedness to others (i.e., a supportive, non-controlling interpersonal environment). Cognitive researchers have begun to apply experimental methods to study implicit motives, which occur outside awareness.

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According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, basic needs must be met before higher-level needs become active. Maslow's hierarchy includes physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation needs.

13.2 Describe how eating behaviours are regulated.

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Many motives, particularly biological motives related to survival, involve homoeostasis, the body’s tendency to maintain a relatively constant state, or internal equilibrium, that permits cells to live and function. Homoeostatic systems such as hunger and thirst share a number of common features, including a set point (a biologically optimal level the system strives to maintain); feedback mechanisms (which provide the system with information regarding the state of the system with respect to the variables being regulated); and corrective mechanisms (mechanisms that restore the system to its set point when needed).

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Metabolism refers to the processes by which the body transforms food into energy. It includes an absorptive phase, in which the body is absorbing nutrients and a fasting phase, in which the body is converting short- and long-term fuel stores into energy useful for the brain and body.

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Eating is regulated both by hunger and by satiety mechanisms (mechanisms for turning off eating). Hunger increases as glucose (and, to some extent, lipid) levels fall in the bloodstream. These falling levels signal the brain that short- and long-term fuels stores are diminishing. Hunger also reflects external cues, such as the palatability of food, learned meal times and the presence of other people. The body relies on multiple mechanisms to signal satiety (fullness), although the most important are receptors in the intestines that let the body know that the ‘fuel tanks’ will soon be full.

13.3 Describe how sexual motivation involves hormones and social and cultural factors.

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Sexual motivation is driven by both fantasies and hormones and is shaped by culture. Hormones control sexual behaviour in humans and other animals through organisational effects (influencing the structure of neural circuitry) and activational effects (activating physiological changes that depend on this circuitry).

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Sex refers to one's biological status at birth, either male or female. Intersex refers to people born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the two ‘binary’ sexes of male or female.

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Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours and activities attributed by society as being appropriate for men and women, boys and girls. Gender identity is a person’s internal sense of their gender. They may feel inherently female, male, gender fluid (their gender changes over time), agender (do not identify as having a specific gender) or non-binary (gender that does not fall into male or female).

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Sexual identity or sexual orientation, refers to the direction and degree of a person's enduring emotional, romantic or sexual attraction.

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Attitudes towards homosexuality and the LGBTIQ+ community differ substantially across cultures.

13.4 Distinguish between the two clusters of psychosocial motives: relatedness and agency needs.

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Psychosocial needs are personal and interpersonal motives for such ends as mastery, achievement, power, self-esteem, affiliation and intimacy. Across cultures, the two major clusters of motives are agency (self-oriented goals, such as mastery or power) and relatedness (interpersonal motives for connection, or communion, with others).

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The need for achievement refers to a motive to succeed and to avoid failure, which is heavily influenced by cultural and economic conditions. Underlying achievement motivation are performance goals (to approach or achieve a socially visible standard) or mastery goals (to master the skill).

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Even for needs undeniably rooted in biology, such as hunger and sex, the strength of a motive depends in part on whether appropriate stimuli impinge on the organism. Motives also often reflect a subtle blend of innate factors (nature) and learning and culture (nurture). Motivation usually requires both cognition (representations that provide the direction of motivation) and emotional energy or arousal (providing the ‘fuel’, or strength, of motivation).

13.5 Distinguish between the different theories of emotion.

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Emotion is an evaluative response (a positive or negative feeling state) that typically includes subjective experience, physiological arousal and behavioural expression.

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The James–Lange theory asserts that the subjective experience of emotion results from bodily experience induced by an emotion-eliciting stimulus. According to this theory, we do not run because we are afraid; we become afraid because we run (and our hearts pound). In contrast, the Cannon–Bard theory proposes that emotion-inducing stimuli simultaneously elicit both emotional experience and bodily responses. Although both theories have their strengths and limitations, more recent research suggests that different emotions are, as James believed, associated with distinct, innate patterns of autonomic nervous system arousal.

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Emotional expression refers to facial and other outward indications of emotion, such as body language and tone of voice. Many aspects of emotional expression, particularly facial expression, are innate and cross-culturally universal. Culturally variable patterns of regulating and displaying emotion are called display rules.

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Psychologists have attempted to produce a list of basic emotions, emotions common to the human species from which all other emotions and emotional blends can be derived. Anger, fear, happiness, sadness and disgust are listed by all theorists as basic. An even more fundamental distinction is that between positive affect and negative affect.

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Emotions are controlled by neural pathways distributed throughout the nervous system. The hypothalamus activates sympathetic and endocrine responses related to emotion. The limbic system, and particularly the amygdala, is part of an emotional circuit that includes the hypothalamus. The cortex plays several roles with respect to emotion, particularly in the appraisal of events.

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The behaviourist perspective on emotion points to approach and avoidance systems associated with positive and negative affect, respectively. According to the psychodynamic perspective, people can be unconscious of their own emotional reactions, which can nonetheless influence thought, behaviour and health.

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From a cognitive perspective, the way people respond emotionally depends on the attributions they make — that is, their inferences about causes of the emotion and their own bodily sensations. According to the Schachter–Singer theory, emotion involves two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of the arousal. Emotion and mood (relatively extended emotional states that, unlike emotions, typically do not disrupt ongoing activities) have an impact on encoding, retrieval, judgement and decision making.

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The evolutionary perspective on emotion derives from Charles Darwin’s view that emotions serve an adaptive purpose. Emotion has both communicative and motivational functions.

KEY TERMS

absorptive phase The phase of metabolism during which a person is ingesting food.

activational effects Effects of hormones activating brain circuitry to produce psychobiological changes.

affect The pattern of observable behaviours that express an individual’s emotions.

affiliation Interaction with friends or acquaintances.

agency Motives for achievement, mastery, power, autonomy and other self-oriented goals.

agender A person that does not identify as having a specific gender, has no gender identity or no gender to express (gender neutral).

aggression Verbal or physical behaviour aimed at harming another person or living being.

attachment motivation The desire for physical and psychological proximity to an attachment figure.

attribution The process of making inferences about the causes of one’s own and others’ thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

basic emotions Feeling states common to the human species from which other feeling states are derived.

behaviourist perspective The perspective pioneered by John Watson and B. F. Skinner, which focuses on the relationship between observable behaviours and environmental events or stimuli; also called behaviourism.

Cannon–Bard theory A theory of emotion that asserts that emotion-inducing stimuli elicit both emotional experience and bodily response.

cognitive perspective A psychological perspective that focuses on the way people perceive, process and retrieve information.

corrective mechanisms Processes that restore a homoeostatic system to its set point.

discrimination The behavioural component of prejudiced attitudes.

display rules Patterns of emotional expression that are considered acceptable in a given culture.

drive According to Freud, an internal tension state that builds up until satisfied; according to behaviourist theory, an unpleasant tension state that motivates behaviour, classified as either primary or secondary (acquired).

drive-reduction theories Mid-twentieth century behaviourist theories which proposed that motivation stems from a combination of drive and reinforcement, in which stimuli become reinforcing because they are associated with reduction of a state of biological deficit.

emotion A positive or negative feeling state that typically includes arousal, subjective experience and behavioural expression.

emotion regulation Efforts to control emotional states; also called affect regulation.

emotional expression The overt behavioural signs of emotion.

ERG theory A theory of worker motivation distinguishing existence, relatedness and growth needs.

evolutionary perspective The viewpoint built on Darwin’s principle of natural selection that argues that human behavioural proclivities must be understood in the context of their evolutionary and adaptive significance.

expectancies Expectations relevant to desired outcomes.

fasting phase The second stage of metabolism, when the body converts glucose and fat into energy.

feedback mechanisms Processes that provide information regarding the state of a homoeostatic system with regard to its set point or steady state.

Gender The socially constructed roles, behaviours and norms attributed by society that are associated with being a man or a women.

gender fluid Identifying at any time as male, female, agender or any other non-binary identity or some combination of identities.

gender identity A person’s internal sense of their gender. They may feel inherently female, male, gender fluid (their gender changes over time), agender (do not identify as having a specific gender) or non-binary (gender that does not fall into male or female).

goal-setting theory The theory of motivation that suggests that conscious goals regulate much of human action, particularly performance tasks.

goals Desired outcomes established through social learning.

hierarchy of needs Maslow’s theory that needs are arranged hierarchically, from physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs and esteem needs, through to self-actualisation needs.

homoeostasis The body’s tendency to maintain a relatively constant state that permits cells to live and function.

humanistic perspective An approach to personality that focuses on aspects of personality that are distinctly human, not shared by other animals.

implicit motives Motives that can be activated and expressed outside of awareness.

incentive An external motivating stimulus (as opposed to an internal need state).

instincts A relatively fixed pattern of behaviour that animals produce without learning.

intersex People born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the two 'binary' sexes (male, female).

intimacy A kind of closeness characterised by self-disclosure, warmth and mutual caring.

intrinsic motivation The motivation to perform a behaviour for its own sake, rather than for some kind of external (or extrinsic) reward.

James–Lange theory A theory of emotion that asserts that emotion originates with peripheral arousal, which people then label as an emotional state.

learning Any relatively permanent change in the way an organism responds based on its experience.

LGBTIQA+ One inclusive acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, asexual and questioning.

mastery goals Motives to increase one’s competence, mastery or skill.

metabolism The processes by which the body transforms food into energy.

moods Relatively extended emotional states that do not shift attention or disrupt ongoing activities.

motivation The moving force that energises behaviour.

need for achievement A motive to do well, to succeed and to avoid failure.

negative affect A general category of emotions related to feeling bad.

negative reinforcement The process whereby a behaviour is made more likely because it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus.

non-binary Someone who does not identify exclusively as male or female. They may identify as having a mix of genders or no gender at all.

obesity A condition characterised by a body weight over 15 percent above the ideal for a person’s height and age.

organisational effects Effects of hormones that influence the structure of the brain.

performance goals Motives to achieve at a particular level, usually one that meets a socially defined standard.

performance-approach goals Goals that centre on approaching or attaining a standard.

performance-avoidance goals Goals that centre on avoiding failure, particularly publicly observable failure.

personality The enduring patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour that are expressed by individuals in different circumstances.

positive affect A general category of emotions related to feeling good.

positive reinforcement The process by which a behaviour is made more likely because of the presentation of a rewarding stimulus.

primary drive An innate drive such as hunger, thirst or sex.

psychodynamic perspective The perspective initiated by Sigmund Freud that focuses on the dynamic interplay of mental forces.

psychosocial needs Personal and interpersonal motives that lead people to strive for such ends as mastery, achievement, power, self-esteem, affiliation and intimacy with other people.

punishment A conditioning process that decreases the probability that a behaviour will occur.

relatedness Interpersonal motives for connectedness with other people; also called communion motives.

satiety mechanisms Processes that turn off ingestive behaviour.

Schachter–Singer theory The theory that asserts that emotion involves cognitive interpretation of general physiological arousal.

secondary drive A motive learned through classical conditioning and other learning mechanisms such as modelling; also called acquired drive.

self-actualisation needs In Maslow’s theory, the needs to express oneself, grow and actualise, or attain one’s potential.

self-determination theory A theory of motivation that proposes that people have three innate needs — competence, autonomy and relatedness to others — and that intrinsic motivation flourishes when these needs are fulfilled rather than compromised.

set point The value of some variable that the body is trying to maintain, such as temperature.

sex One’s biological status at birth (male or female)

sexual identity The way in which an individual defines their own sexuality. This can include, but is not limited to, heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual and asexual. Some people may identify as sexually fluid; their sexuality is not fixed to any one identity.

sexual orientation The direction of a person’s enduring sexual attraction to members of the same sex, the opposite sex or both.

sexual response cycle The pattern of physiological changes during sexual stimulation, consisting of four phases: excitement, plateau, orgasm and resolution.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) A projective test consisting of a series of ambiguous pictures about which participants are asked to make up a story.