CHAPTER 2: MOTIVATION IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 2: MOTIVATION IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES first mtivatin textbk written in 1954 mtivatin has changed a lt since the 1950 s PHILOSOPHICAL ORGINS OF MOTIVATIONAL CONCEPTS curses in mtivatin have been arund less than a 100 years the intellectual rts f mtivatin study we their rigin t the ancient Greeks Scrates, Plat, and Aristtle Plat prpsed that mtivatin flwed frm a tripartite, hierarchically arranged sul: Appetitive aspect (primitive level): cntributed bdily appetites and desires (ex. hunger, sex) Cmpetitive aspect: cntributed scially referenced standards (feeling hnured r shamed) Calculating aspect (highest level): cntributed decisin-making capacities (reasn, chsing) Plat s prtrayal f mtivatin similar t Freud (appetite id, cmpetitive supereg, calculating eg) Aristtle s prpsal endrsed Plat s but with different terminlgy: Nutritive: mst impulsive, irratinal and animal-like; cntributed bdily urges needed fr maintenance f life Sensitive: bdy related but it regulated pleasure and pain Ratinal: (unique t humans) its idea related, intellectual, and featured the will the will perated as the sul s highest level as it utilized intentin, chice, and that which is divine and immrtal The Greek s tripartite was reduced t dualism; passin f bdy vs. reasn f the mind the tw part sul distinguished irratinal, impulsive, and bilgical (the bdy) vs. ratinal, intelligent, and spiritual (the mind) René, Descartes: he distinguished between the passive and active aspect f mtivatin the bdy was a mechanical and passive agent vs. the will which was immaterial and mtivatinally active agent the bdy was a physical entity that pssessed nutritive needs and respnded t the envirnment in mechanistic ways thrugh its senses, reflexes, and physilgy the mind was spiritual, thinking entity that pssess a purpsive will the mind culd cntrl the bdy and gvern its desires what was needed t understand the reactive mtives was a mechanistic analysis f the bdy the study f physilgy what was needed t understand the purpsive mtives was an intellectual analysis f the will the study f philsphy he reasned if he culd understand the will (ultimate mtivatinal frce) he culd understand mtivatin the will initiated and directed actin; it chse whether t act and what t d when acting; it chse whether t act and what t d when acting

2 bdily needs, passins, pleasures, and pains created impulses t actin, but these impulses nly exited in the will the will was a faculty (a pwer) f the mind that cntrlled the bdily appetites and passins in the interests f virtue and salvatin by exercising its pwer f chice GRAND THEORIES used here t mean an all-encmpassing thery that seeks t explain the full range f mtivated actin (why we eat, play, read, fall in lve, etc) histry f mtivatin embraced 3 grand theries: Will, Instinct and Drive Will Descartes hpe was understand the will then can understand mtivatin the acts f will was identified t be chsing (act r nt), striving (creating impulse t act), and resisting (resist temptatin) philsphers fund ut will was as mysterius t explain as mtivatin cntemprary psychlgist recgnize the mind (will) des think, plan, and frm intentins that precede actin but say psychlgical prcess (i.e. strategies, gals), nt abstract willpwer paves the way t explain peple s behaviur and effective functining Instinct Darwin s bilgical determinism had tw majr effects n scientific thinking ne, by giving bi its mst imprtant thery evlutin; turned the md f scientists away frm mentalistic mtivatinal cncepts (i.e. will) tward mechanistic and genetic nes tw, it ended the man-animal dualism because the will was a uniquely human mental pwer, and breaking dwn the distinctin between mtivatin f humans and mtivatins f animals was anther reasn t drp the will as a grand explanatin f mtivatin fr Darwin, much f animal behaviur seemed t be unlearned, autmated and mechanistic with r withut experience animals adapted t their envirnment the explanatin f this apparently pre-wired adaptive behaviur Darwin prpsed the Instinct it explained what the will culd nt, where the mtivatinal frce came frm genes genes led the animal t act in a specific way apprpriate stimulus present, instincts expressed themselves thrugh inherited bdily reflexes (i.e. bird built a nest, dg hunted, etc) b/c each had a genetically endwed, bilgically arused impulse t d s first psychlgist t ppularize instinct thery was William James he endwed humans with a generus number f physical (ex. lcmtin) and mental (ex. sciability) instincts what was needed t translate an instinct int gal-directed behaviur was the presence f an apprpriate stimulus (ex. cat chase muse b/c a muse brings ut the cats impulse t chase) thrugh the instinct, animals inherited a nature that endwed them with adaptive impulses t act and the reflexes they needed t prduce purpsive actin William McDugall regarded instincts as irratinal and impulsive mtivatinal frces that riented the persn tward ne particular gal the instinct determines its pssessr t perceive, and t pay attentin t, bjects f a certain class, t experience an emtinal excitement f a particular quality upn

3 perceiving such an bject, and t act in regard t it in a particular manner, r at least, t experience an impulse t such actin instincts and their assciated emtins explained the gal directed quality apparent in human behaviur the diff between James and McDugall, was that McDugall asserted that withut instincts human beings wuld initiate n actin, be lumps human mtivatin wes its rigin t cllectin f genetically endwed instincts (grand thery f mtivatin) the prblem with instincts, was hw many instincts were there, and 2) there was a circular reasning prblem with using naming fr explaining (i.e. twiddles his thumbs thumbtwiddling-instinct r reasn peple aggressive b/c have an instinct t be aggressive) circular explanatin is ne that attempts t explain an bservatin in terms f itself the instinct was abandned by psychlgy nw alng with the will Drive drive aruse frm a functinal bilgy, ne that understd that the functin f behaviur was t service bdily needs as bilgical imbalances ccurred (ex. lack f sleep, water) animals psychlgically experienced these bdily deficits as drive drive mtivated whatever behaviur was instrumental t servicing the bdy s needs (ex.eating) Freud s Drive Thery all behaviur was mtivated and that the purpse f the behaviur was t satisfy needs bilgical urges cnstantly and inevitably recurring cnditins that prduced energy build-ups in the nervus system energy build-up prduced psychlgical discmfrt (anxiety) Drive was a warning system that actin needed t be taken behaviur served bdily needs, and anxiety (drive) acted as a srt f middleman fr ensuring that behaviur ccurred as and when need t ensure bdily cmfrt Freud summarized drive thery with 4 cmpnents Surce: a bdily deficit (ex. hunger) Impetus: the intensity f the bdily deficit grws and emerges int cnsciusness as psychlgical discmfrt, which is anxiety Object: seeking t reduce anxiety and satisfy the bdily deficit, the persn searches ut and cnsumes a need-satisfying envirnmental bjected (ex. fd) Aim: if the envirnmental bject successfully satisfies the bdily deficit, satisfactin ccurs and quiets anxiety, at least fr a perid f time Freud s drive thery suffered 3 criticism 1. verestimatin f the cntributin f bilgical frces t mtivatin (hence, an underestimatin f the factrs related t learning/experience) 2. ver-reliance n data taken frm case studies f disturbed individuals (hence, underreliance n data taken frm experimental research with representative samples) 3. ideas that were nt scientifically (i.e. experimentally) testable (ex. hw t empirically test whether r nt peple pssess a drive t be aggressive) Clark Hull s Drive Thery drive was a pled energy surce cmpsed f all current bdily deficits/disturbances mtivatin (i.e. drive) had a purely physilgical basis and bdily need was the ultimate surce f mtivatin (i.e. grand thery f mtivatin) distinct element f his thery vs. all previus mtivatin theries was that mtivatin culd be predicted befre it ccurred

4 (deprive animal f fd drive will increase in prprtin) marked the beginning f a scientific study f mtivatin if yu knew which envirnmental cnditins created mtivatin, then yu culd manipulate (and predict) mtivatinal states in a lab drive aruse frm a range f bdily disturbances (hunger, sex, pain, care fr ne s yung) nce arused it energized behaviur (but did nt direct it) habit directed the behaviur behaviur-guiding habits came frm learning, and learning ccurred as a cnsequence f reinfrcement if a respnse was fllwed quickly be a reductin in drive, learning ccurred and habit was reinfrced Hull develped a frmula t shw hw habit and drive (i.e. learning and mtivatin) prduced behaviur: s E r = s H r x D se r - strength f behaviur (E stands fr excitatry ptential) in the presence f a particular stimulus sh r - habit strength (i.e. prbability f a particular drive-reducing respnse in the presence f a particular stimulus) D drive the multiplicatin was imprtant b/c withut drive (D=0) r withut habit, there is n behaviural activity (E=0) Hull updated the frmula t: s E r = s H r x D x K K incentive value f a gal bject (quality, quantity r bth) (eg. peple wrk harder fr $50 than $1) (D) was f internal surces via bdily stimulatin and (K) was f external surces via the quality f the incentive summarize drive thery, Drive, cue, respnse, reward means that drive energized actin in the directin f a stimulus (cue) that, when attained (by respnse), reinfrced (reward) that pattern f drive-cue-respnse-actin (i.e. thirst-water funtain-drink-reinfrcement) Hull s drive thery was as ppular as any thery in the histry f psychlgy Decline f Drive Thery bth Freud s and Hull s versin f drive thery rested n 3 fundamental assumptins: (1) drive emerged frm bdily needs (2) drive energized behaviur (3) drive reductin was reinfrcing and prduced learning thrughut the 1950 s empirical test revealed sme supprt and limitatins 1. Sme mtives emerged withut any crrespnding bilgical need thus mtivatin emerged frm surces ther than ne s bdily disturbances 2. researchers recgnized that eternal surces f mtivatin energized behaviur 3. learning ften ccurred withut any crrespnding experience f drive reductin Pst-Drive Thery Years 1950 s was prevalent with grand theries f mtivatin and drive thery was the dminant perspective in mtivatin but realizatin ccurred that if prgress was t be made in mtivatin, the field was ging t have t step utside the bundaries f its grand theries tw mtivatinal principles frm the 1960 s were ffered as pssible pst-drive thery replacements fr a (furth) grand thery f mtivatin: incentive and arusal

5 Incentive: an incentive is an external event (stimulus) that energizes and directs apprach r avidance behaviur drive pushed peple tward particular gal bjects (hunger pushed smene t find fd in the envirnment) vs. incentive mtivatinal theries that peple were pulled by the incentive value f varius bjects in the envirnment (sigh f cheesecake pulled smene t the desert table) primary mtivatin was nt t reduce drive but, rather, t increase and maintain cntact with a stimuli incentive mtivatin theries sught t explain why peple apprached psitive incentives and why they avid negative nes they adpted the cncept f hednism essentiality pstulates that rganisms apprach signals f pleasure and avid signals f pain it was thrugh learning that peple frm assciatins (r expectancies) f which envirnmental bjects were gratifying and thus deserved apprach respnses, and which ther bjects were pain-inflicting and thus deserved avidance respnses incentive theries ffered 3 new features 1. new mtivatinal cncepts, such as incentives and expectancies 2. the idea that mtivatinal states culd be acquired thrugh experience rather than just thrugh bilgy 3. a prtrayal f mtivatin that highlighted mment-t-mment changes (b/c envirnmental incentives can change frm ne mment t the next) Arusal, the fundatin was in the neur-physilgical finding f an arusal system f the brain stem - the central ideas f arusal were the fllwing: 1. aspects f the envirnment (hw stimulating, nvel, stressful) affected hw arused the brain was 2. variatins in level f arusal had a curvilinear (the inverted-u shape) relatinship f behaviur that is, unstimulating envirnments generated lw arusal, emtins like bredm, and little in the way f apprach r avidance mtivatins; smewhat stimulating envirnments generated ptimal arusal, emtins like interest, and apprach mtivatin; and verly stimulating envirnments generated high arusal, emtins like fear, and avidance mtivatin drive thery had been reinterpreted away frm its bilgical rts and brught int the age f neurphysilgy and cgnitin with the grwing dissatisfactin f drive thery, it was apparent that any ne grand thery was simply unable t carry the whle burden f explaining mtivatin MINI-THEORIES unlike grand theries t explain the full range f mtivatin, mini-theries limit their attentin t specific mtivatinal phenmenn Mini-theries seek t understand r investigate ne particular: mtivatinal phenmenn (ex. the flw f experience) particular circumstances that affect mtivatin (ex. failure feedback) grups f peple (ex. extraverts, children, wrkers)

6 theretical questins (ex. what is the relatinship between cgnitin and emtin?) mtivatinal theries arse t explain sme but nt all mtivated behaviur ex. achievement mtivatin thery arse t explain hw peple respnd t standards f excellence, and hence why sme peple shw enthusiasm and apprach, whereas thers shw anxiety and avidance when facing a stand f excellence achievement mtivatin thery leaves a great deal f mtivated actin unexplained, but it des a very gd jb f explain an interesting slice f mtivated actin 3 histrical trends explain why mtivatin study left behind its traditin f grand theries t embrace the mini-theries f mtivatin Active Nature f the Persn cmmn mid-century definitin f mtivatin was defined as the study f energizing the passive mvere is Latin means t mve animals and humans were naturally inactive and the rle f mtivatin was t aruse the passive t becme active psychlgist f the secnd half f the century saw it as peple are inherently active, always mtivated passive-riented prtrayals utnumbered active-riented prtrayals f mtivatin but active theries started t emerge Tday s ideas abut mtivatin and emtin accept the premise f the active rganism, and they deal little with deficit mtivatins (i.e. tensin reductin, hmestasis, equilibrium) and mre with grwth mtivatins (i.e. creativity, pssible selves, self-actualizatin) Cntemprary mtivatin study cncerns itself with the study f purpse and vlitin in inherently active peple Cgnitive Revlutin early mtivatinal cncepts (drive, hmestasis, arusal) were grunded in bilgy/physilgy in the 1970 s (while cntemprary mtivatin still keeps alliance with the life sciences) the tide shifted t a cgnitive revlutin it was a time when researchers fcused n the pwer f thught, beliefs, and judgments as the primary causes f behaviur mtivatin researchers emphasized the imprtance f internal mental prcesses the mentalistic mtivatinal cnstructs included plans, gals, expectatins, attributins, and the self-cncept the cgnitive revlutin had tw effects n thinking and mtivatin 1. intellectual discussins abut mtivatin emphasized cgnitive cnstructs (ex. expectancies, gals) and deemphasized bilgical and envirnmental cnstructs it was an idelgical shift frm mechanical t dynamic (experimental testing shifted frm animals t humans) 2. the cgnitive revlutin cmplemented the emerging mvement f humanism humanist resist the machine metaphr that prtrays mtivatin in a deterministic fashin in respnse t unyielding bilgical frces, develpmental fates, r cntrls in the envirnment r sciety (it was seen as unhuman) the ideas expressed psychlgy s new understanding f humans as inherently active, cgnitively flexible, and grwth mtivated Applied, Scially Relevant Research

7 a 3 rd imprtant change ccurred in mini-theries era: researched turned their attentins t questins that were relevant t slving mtivatinal prblems peple faced in their lives (ex. in schl, cping with stress, relieving depressin) mtivatin researchers began fcusing increasingly n scially relevant, applied questins and prblems mtivatin psychlgist started having mre frequent cntact with psychlgist in ther areas, such as scial, industrial/rganizatin, clinical/cunselling psychlgy curses in scial, persnality and educatin psychlgy will have cntent that is mtivatinal lk at fig 2.2 it is smetimes difficult t say where the study f cgnitin ends and where the study f mtivatin begins the absence f sharp bundaries facilitated the exchange f ideas and fstered an expsure t different perspectives and methdlgies, including thse utside f psychlgy (eg. scilgy) Cntemprary mtivatin research reflects the search fr bth a deeper scientific understanding f mtivatinal prcesses as well as practical and useful applicatins f mtivatinal principles that can be used t imprve peples lives CONTEMPORARY ERA Thmas Kuhn described the histry f mst sciences, emphasizing that a discipline makes bth cntinuus and discntinuus prgress. cntinuus prgress: participants make slw, incremental, and cumulative prgress as new data add t and supplant ld data and new ideas add t and supplant utwrn ideas discntinuus prgress: radical ideas appear and rival (rather than add t) ld ideas, and if accepted replace lder mdels and researchers ways f thinking drastically change Kuhn s develpmental view f the histry f a field: Preparadigmatic: a budding science emerges. it cnsist f participants wh d nt share the same language r the same knwledge base. debates are frequent abut what shuld be the discipline s methds, prblems, and slutins Paradigmatic: preparadigmatic factinalism merges int a shared cnsensus abut what cnstitutes the discipline s methds, prblems, and slutins. This shared cnsensus is called a paradigm. Participants wh share this paradigm accumulate knwledge and make incremental advances. Crisis and Revlutin: an anmaly emerges that cannt be explained by the existing cnsensus/paradigm. A clash erupts between the ld way f thinking (that cannt explain the anmaly) and the new way f thinking (that can explain the anmaly). New Paradigm: the new way brings discipline-changing prgress. Embracing the new cnsensus, participants settle back int the new paradigm (a new Paradigmatic stage). Prgress returns t making incremental advances. as a discipline mtivatin study has participated in the rise and fall f three majr ways f thinking: will, instinct, and drive. Mtivatin currently is in its mini-theries era. the crisis stage transitin frm drive thery t the current mini-theries has prduced cnsequences gd and bad bad: mtivatin was dethrned as the psychlgies mst imprtant discipline t a secnd class standing mtivatinal cncepts were set aside as the discipline was dminated by behaviurists wh saw mtivatin as smething that tk place utside the persn (in the frm f incentives and reinfrces)

8 when frces inside the persn were acknwledged, they were either physilgical r uncnscius/subcnscius studying mtivatin was an ut-fbunds thing t d gd: mtivatin didn t disappear, mtivatin specialists dispersed themselves int virtually all areas f psychlgy learning therist, persnality psychlgists, scial psychlgists, clinicians, and thers were unable t explain all the behaviur they sught t explain withut using mtivatin cncepts ex. amng neurscientists, mtivatinal cncepts (e.g. hunger, pleasure) are vital t understanding why the brain evlved the way it did neurscience needs t ally itself with the study f mtivatin what emerged were theries f scial, physilgical, cgnitive, develpmental mtivatin and s n furthermre, mtivatin theries specific t particular dmains f applicatin emerged: theries t explain the mtivatin underlying dieting and bingeing, wrk, sprts, educatin, and s n The 1990 s Re-emergence f Mtivatin Study starting in 1952, the University f Nebraska invited the mst prminent mtivatin therists f the day t gather annually fr a sympsium n mtivatin this happened fr 25 years until in 1979 (these years crrespnd t mtivatin s dethrnement as perhaps psychlgy s mst imprtant field t a secnd class status) the sympsium discntinued its mtivatin theme and, instead, cnsidered tpics such as gender, addictive behaviurs, and aging in recgnitin f mtivatin s revival and its advances and accmplishments during the minitheries era, the rganizers f the 1990 Nebraska Sympsium nce again invited prminent mtivatin researchers t gather fr a sympsium devted exclusively t the cncept f mtivatin the rganizers asked the prminent psychlgist during the cnference if they thught mtivatin was nce again strng/mature enugh t as field t supprt an exclusive return t mtivatin tpics they said yes, and the rganizers agreed, and ever since the sympsium has cntinued it fcus n mtivatin when mtivatin was n the brinks f extinctin it survived by allying itself with ther fields f study, and meanwhile advances in neurscience, evlutinary psychlgy and even statistical methdlgies were shwing the limits f a purely cgnitive analysis f behaviur cgnitins were imprtant t the initiatin and regulatin f behaviur, but cgnitins were inherently imbedded within the nging flw f mtivatins and emtins that guide, cnstrain, r at times even verwhelm cgnitive prcesses in the new millennium, mtivatin study is clearly back at the frntier f psychlgy mtivatinal questins and prblems are just t interesting and imprtant t ignre every issue f majr psychlgy jurnals will cntain at least ne article f mtivatin A New Paradigm the paradigm that emerged during the 21 st century fr mtivatin study is ne ppulated by multiple perspectives (mini-theries) and multiple vices, all f whm cntribute a different piece t the puzzle f mtivatin and emtin study the subject matter f mtivatin is fairly well defined needs, cgnitins, emtins, and external events but the field is increasingly infrmed and enriched by a multidisciplinary

9 rientatin that draws ideas and methdlgies frm the many different fields that speak t the questins and prblems f mtivatin thrugh this it has becme evident that human mtivatin and emtin perate in a multilevel way each mtivatin agent (needs, cgnitins, emtins and external events) interact/influence n anther as cmplex and multilevel frces shape, guide, and influence behaviur rather than cause it directly mtivatin s new paradigm is ne in which behaviur is energized and directed nt by a single grand cause but, instead, by a multitude f multilevel and c-acting influence mst mtivatin states can be (and indeed need be) understd at multiple levels frm a neurlgical, cgnitive, scial level and s n the days are gne where yu study a single mtivatin agent in relative islatin f the thers