Human Motivation and Emotion

Transcription

1 Human Motivation and Emotion Dr. Fuschia Sirois Lecture 12 Oct. 19, 2006 Lecture 13 Oct. 24, 2006 Personal Control Expectancies about Can I do it? Will it work? If both are high then behaviour becomes energized, directed, motivated Is perceiving that you can control outcomes always beneficial? When is perceived control helpful? When is perceived control harmful? What are the different types of control beliefs?

2 Control-related constructs Self-efficacy: individuals will tend to pursue tasks that they believe they can accomplish & avoid those that are perceived as exceeding their capabilities self-efficacy can increase with successful completion of tasks, and decrease with failure also termed mastery or competence based on social learning theory - reinforcement plays a sig. role in its acquisition Bandura s Reciprocal Determinism

3 Sources of Self-Efficacy Experience - A person's past record of success and failure influences their belief in future success and failure (i.e., past success creating the belief of future success. Vicarious experience - People's belief in their ability to perform a behavior is influence by watching others succeed or fail at the same behavior, especially when the observer sees themselves as being similar to the model. Persuasion - A person's belief in themselves may be momentarily influenced by words of encouragement (a "pep" talk). Physiology - A person's physiological responses, such as nervousness, headaches, nausea, and sweating, may give a person feedback on their belief of future success or failure. Effects of Self-Efficacy on Behaviour Choice - People tend to chose activities at which they will succeed, and tend to avoid activities at which they believe they will fail. Effort & Persistence - People will tend to put forth greater effort and persist longer if they believe that they will be successful. Decision making People remain effective in analytical thinking & problem solving during times of stress if they have strong efficacy Emotionality - People that believe that they are likely to be successful, react to challenges and feedback with enthusiasm, optimism and interest

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5 Locus of Control Locus of Control (LOC) beliefs are attributions about whether events are contingent upon internal or external forces Rotter suggests that internal and external LOC beliefs are dichotomous Rotter s test (forced choice) a. In the case of the well prepared student there is rarely if ever such a thing as an unfair test. b. Many times exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying in really useless. Internal LOC Internal LOC: self as responsible for outcomes/events Positive: takes credit for successes in life learns from mistakes doesn t blame others, circumstances able to engage in self- directed, independent behaviors Negative: believe they can control things they can t may be a control- freak failures may have more neg. impact - pessimism, shame, linked to high internality may resist the help of others if too internal

6 External LOC External LOC: others, chance, seen as responsible for outcomes/events Positive: failure doesn t impact as much (not their fault) protects from depression, blows to self-esteem will turn to others for help when needed Negative: may repeat behaviors that were responsible for poor outcomes because self not seen as responsible sees self as powerless, at the mercy of others, fate active coping skills, mastery not developed as much less likely to engage in self-directed, independent behaviors Control Beyond LOC LOC is an expectancy for control based on attributions formed about the causes of events this is not the same as a desire for control (motivation), or a sense of self- determination Desire for control: general control motivation interacts with situational variables to explain behavioral differences individuals high in desire for control display belief in personal control in situation where outcomes are governed by chance - controlled vs. chance odds game those low in desire for control did not

7 Desire for Control Desire for control (Burger & Cooper, 1979) distinct from beliefs and expectations about controllability of a situation Moderates the effects of perceived control Dental patients who had a high desire for control but perceived that they had little control over pain, reported greater fear and distress higher levels of expected pain (Logan et al., 1991) Discrepancies between control desire & beliefs can lead to lowered SWB mismatch between desire for control and perceived control in an elderly population predicted depression (Wallace & Bergeman, 1997) Negative side of perceived control Thompson, Cheek, & Graham (1988) control may not always reduce stress and arousal depends upon the meaning of control in a situation distress may increase when control over an event is not possible, or when control attempts fail high levels of control may be more detrimental than moderate levels Absolute control beliefs vs. adaptive control beliefs High levels of control often correlated with selfblame

8 Learned Helplessness Involves outcome expectancies Like external/chance LOC Lack of relation between behaviour and outcome causes "learned helplessness Results of animals studies were paralleled in human studies 3 Components Contingency control along a continuum Cognition biases, attributions, expectancies Behaviour coping along a continuum 13 of 15

9 Learned Helplessness Effects: Motivational deficits Learning deficits Emotional deficits Depression & learned helplessness Illusions of control? Positive Illusions Positive Illusions (Taylor & Brown, 1988) 1) self-enhancement 2) unrealistic optimism 3) exaggerated sense of personal control Taylor suggests these illusions are essential to normal cognitive functioning and psychological wellbeing Depression and positive illusions Illusions of control?

10 Positive Illusions Illusory glow: Lewinsohn, Mischel, Chaplin & Barton (1980) Performance evaluation Self ratings Observer Non-depressed Depressed Explanatory Styles Three qualities of explanatory style that determine optimism or pessimism are: 1) Permanence - stable vs. unstable 2) Pervasiveness - global vs. specific 3) Personalization - internal vs. external How would someone who is depressed explain an event in terms of these dimensions?..how would an optimist explain them?

11 Learned Optimism Optimism (Seligman) : The belief that bad events are temporary, are not one's own fault, and are confined to present circumstances Seligman (1998) warns that too much optimism can erode a sense of responsibility 7 of 13

12 Optimism and Hope Scheier & Carver suggest that positive expectancies cause a person to continue to work towards attaining their goals Optimists report higher QoL than pessimists Optimism predicts lower distress following surgery Optimists have an optimistic advantage Snyder suggests that hope provides 1) a way of thinking about multiple routes to a desired goal 2) agentic thinking - i.e., thoughts about initiating action HOPE THEORY Successful people have high hope. Hope can be nurtured. Rick Snyder, The Psychology of Hope HOPE results from having willpower (desire) and way power (a plan) for goals.