Motivation and Emotion

Motivation

internal processes that activate, guide, and maintain our behavior

Drive-Reduction Theory

Theories of Motivation

Drive-Reduction TheoryHumans sometimes engage in behaviors that

increase rather than reduce drives Arousal Theory

Motivated to be at optimal level of arousal

Yerkes-Dodson Law There is an optimal level of arousal for the

best performance of any task. The more complex the task, the lower the level of

arousal that can be tolerated before performance deteriorates.

Theories of Motivation

Incentive theoriesMotivation incentives/pay offs

Cognitive approaches thoughts, expectations, and goals Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivationA desire to perform a behavior originates

within the individual

Extrinsic motivationA desire to perform a behavior to obtain an

external reward or avoid punishment

Maslow’s Hierarchy

Identify the motive… Have I got a terrible headache. It’s really

splitting. It gets lonely in my apartment on the

weekends. My roommate goes to visit her parents and most of my neighbors are away too.

I feel really bored by this course. It’s a lot like the one I took last year. I was hoping it would be more challenging.

Identify the motive…

He really makes me furious. I’m tired of his put-downs! Who does he think he is anyway?

Uh, listen, do you mind if we don’t go into that nightclub? I hear that some tough types hang out there and that someone got beaten up there last week.

Hey, guess what? I just got an A+ on my term paper. Pretty good, eh?

Human Needs & Motivation

Hunger and Thirststimulated by internal and external cues

Hypothalamus (lateral and ventromedial) Blood levels

Glucose, fats, carbohydrates, insulin, leptin

Cells in stomach and small intestine

Insulin: secreted by pancreas; controls blood glucose

Leptin: protein secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes brain to increase metabolism and

decrease hunger Orexin: hunger-triggering

hormone secreted by hypothalamus Ghrelin: hormone secreted by empty

stomach; sends “I’m hungry” signals to brain

PYY: digestive tract hormone; sends “I’m not hungry” signals to brain

Human Needs & Motivation

Hunger & ThirstSights and smellsBody Mass Index (BMI)Stress

Motivations-to-Eat (Jackson et al., 2003)

Suggests that there are four specific motivations for eating beyond the “need” for nourishmentTo cope with negative affectTo be socialTo comply with others’ expectationsTo enhance pleasure

Means

Females 1.78 coping 2.74 social 1.60 compliance 2.33 pleasure

Males 1.40 coping 2.66 social 1.54 compliance 2.28 pleasure

Eating Disorders

Anorexia nervosaA serious eating disorder that is associated

with an intense fear of weight gain and a distorted body image

Bulimia nervosaAn eating disorder characterized by binges of

eating followed by self-induced purging

Eating Disorders

Increased incidence in relatives Serotonin Perfectionism Dissatisfaction with body

Ladies Home Journal poll (2003)

On a scale from 1-10, 43% rated bodies between 6-9. 1% rated perfect, 20% ranked themselves at 5

One out of three said they were currently on a diet

When given a choice between a facelift or a refurbished kitchen, 78% chose the kitchen

52% would rather have smaller hips or thighs than a two-week vacation “to get away from it all”

87% said it’s more acceptable for men to go gray and get out of shape than it is for women

75% said they would rather have a root canal than wear a thong bikini

Need for Affiliation

Interest in establishing and maintaining relationships with others

Ostracism

Emotions Body Response (arousal)

Expressive Reaction

ConsciousExperience

Emotions

Primary emotions Secondary emotions

James-Lange Theory

Certain stimuli in the environment can bring on physiological changes.Emotions arise from our awareness of those

changes. Facial feedback hypothesis

Neuroscience of Emotions

Specific patterns of biological arousal associated with specific emotions

PET scans Amygdale link between perception of

stimulus and recall of stimulus later

Communicating Emotions

Voice Quality and Facial Expression Body language Personal space Explicit Acts

Gender and Emotion Research findings

Men and women may feel emotions similarly, but differ in how they are expressed.

Same situation may provoke different emotions.

Women are better at reading emotional cues than men.

Anger

Response to perceived misdeeds Common when acts are seen as willful,

unjustified, and avoidable Can promote prejudice and heart disease

Catharsis hypothesis

Happiness

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

Subjective well-beingSelf-perceived happiness/satisfaction with life