Motivation
What is motivation? Why do we help others? Why do we go on a diet? Why do we eat whatever we want? Why do we get out of bed? Why do we get married? Why do we work? Why do we have kids? Why do we go to school?
Motivation and its sources Motivation: a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior For example: the first person who gives me a high five gets some candy. Sources of Motivation Physiological factors: food, water Emotional factors: fear, love, hate, anger Cognitive factors: arrogant, ignorant or shy (beliefs, perceptions, expectations) Social factors: parents, friends, teachers
Motivation Theories Instinct theory (the older, dated theory) Instinct: a complex behavior throughout a species, yet is unlearned. Early flaw was that it labeled behavior instead of describing it Instincts are flexible to experience Fear of snakes, an instinct, can t happen if you never see a snake
Motivation theories Drive-reduction theory A need creates arousal that drives an organism to reduce that need Example: Why do you go to the bathroom? Homeostasis: maintaining a balanced, stable, or constant internal state (equilibrium) Examples: blood glucose (sugar), temperature
Drive-reduction theory
Drive-reduction theory Why are people motivated to obtain money? Primary drives versus Secondary drives Primary drives stem from physiological needs: food, water, etc Secondary drives are learned through experience People learn to associate money with the ability to buy things that satisfy primary drives.
Arousal theory Arousal A state of being that prepares the body for action. Arousal theory: People are motivated to obtain their ideal levels of arousal Ex: some people like sky diving and extreme sports because they have higher thresholds for arousal
Incentive theory Believes that behavior is directed by obtaining positive stimuli and avoiding negative stimuli This relates directly with what we learned about operant conditioning in the learning section.
Maslow s Hierarchy of Needs
Hunger and Eating Hunger: state of wanting food Satiation: the satisfaction of a need Satiety: the state of no longer wanting to eat Signal cues from stomach play a minor role in controlling eating. Important mainly for extremes (starving, stuffed)
Hunger signals Hunger cues primarily come from blood. The brain monitors hormones and nutrients in the blood; this is the primary signal behind eating. Remember the hypothalamus?! Major roles in hunger, body temp, and endocrine system Endocrine system controls hormones
Hypothalamus Contains several nuclei Ventromedial nucleus: signals that you don t need to eat Lateral hypothalamus: stimulates eating Paraventricular nucleus: stimulation causes reduction in food intake; damage causes animals to become obese
Hunger terms Insulin: hormone secreted by pancreas, controls blood glucose Leptin: protein secreted by fat cells, many of these causes an increase in metabolism and decrease in hunger Orexin: hunger inducing hormone from hypothalamus Ghrelin: hormone from empty stomach (signals hunger) PYY: digestive tract hormone (signals not hungry) Basal metabolic rate: rate of energy needed to maintain basic body functions at rest
Flavor Flavor is the combination of taste and smell Influences in biology and cultural Many cultural influence can be adapted, based on experience with a food
Unhealthy eating Obesity: condition of severely overweight Body mass index greater than 30 Anorexia Nervosa Eating disorder: starvation and dramatic weight loss Bulimia Nervosa Eating disorder involving binging and then purging Typical initiation happens after a failed diet attempt
Other Motivations Achievement motivation Need to Belong Work Motivation
Achievement Motivation the degree of desire for significant accomplishment Affected by the amount of satisfaction achieved by reaching those goals Intrinsic motivation: desire to attain internal satisfaction Extrinsic motivation: a desire for external rewards Example: Money, Grades
Need to Belong Humans as the social animal Aristotle Social bonds boosted our ancestors survival rate. What was your most satisfying moment in the past week? Feeling loved, accepted boosts self-esteem. Resistance of breaking social bonds; we fear being alone. The socially excluded often exhibit self defeating or antisocial behavior
Motivation at Work The healthy life is filled by love and by work. Work lis life s biggest single waking activity. Work satisfies several levels of need in Maslow s hierarchy of needs. Many people change their jobs because they are not satisfied with their work.
Motivation at Work Terms Flow: state of consciousness where one is completely involved with a task, often diminishing sense of self and time Interviewer Illusion versus Structured Interviews Task leadership: setting standards, organizing work, organizing goals Social leadership: mediating conflicts, building high achieving teams