Motivation and Emotion

1. Motivation and Emotion 8A: Motivation

2. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION • Motivation – a need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it toward a goal

3. Instinct theory • Based on instincts – fixed action patterns that are not learned and occur in most members of a species • Bird migration, mating rituals • Failed to explain motives – named rather than described behavior • Today psychologists taking the evolutionary perspective focus on evolutionary history on eating, selection of mates, expression of emotions, etc.

4. Drive-reduction theory • 1930s: replaced instinct theory • Based on biological concept of homeostasis – body seeks to maintain a stable internal state • If any need is unmet, body creates drive or a state of tension • Still used to explain motivated behaviors that have a clear biological basis • Can’t account for many behaviors – buying newest cell phone, giving to charity, skydiving

5. Arousal theory • Motivation serves to achieve and maintain a certain level of arousal • Yerkes-Dodson law – an optimal level of psychological arousal helps performances • Too low = boredom; too high = anxiety

6. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs • Needs are ordered from basic survival to psychological needs • Safety, belongingness, esteem, self-actualization, and transcendence • Each level of the hierarchy is addressed only after the preceding level’s needs have been met • Has been criticized for its vague definition of self-actualization

7. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

8. Self-determination theory • We have three basic organismic (psychological needs that are innate and exist in every person) needs: • Competence – we can bring about desired outcomes • Relatedness – forming positive relationships with others • Autonomy – being in control of our own life • Provide intrinsic motivation • Emphasizes we do things because we have freely chosen to – not a drive-reduction theory

9. Hunger motivation

11. Biological bases of hunger • Glucose – form of sugar that circulates in the blood and provides the major source of energy for body tissues • Blood glucose drops = hunger • Hypothalamus is involved in hunger • Stimulation of the lateral hypothalamus causes an animal to eat • Stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamuscauses an animal to stop eating • Set-point theory – humans and other animals have a natural/optimal body-fat level • Criticism: slow, sustained changes in body weight can alter one’s set point • Psychological factors sometimes drive feelings of hunger • Now use term settling point

13. Psychology of hunger • Eating disorders • Anorexia nervosa – eating disorder with diagnosis based on • Significantly underweight (usually below 85% of “normal” body weight) • Distorted view of body size or shape • Intense fear of gaining weight • Cessation of menstruation (amenorrhea)

14. Bullimianervosia – eating disorder with diagnosis based on • Repeated episodes of overeating followed by vomiting, laxative use and/or exercise • Undue concern with body size or shape • Family influences on eating disorders • Mothers of girls w/eating disorders tend to focus on their own weight and on their daughters’ weight • Families of bulimia patients have a higher-than -usual incidence of childhood obesity and negative self-evaluation • Families of anorexia patients tend to be competitive, high achieving and protective

15. Obesity • 2/3 of adult Americans are officially overweight and about half of them are obese • 1/6 Americans aged 6-19 are overweight • Contributes to heart disease, diabetes, kidney failure and many forms of cancer • Causes: • Abundant, easily obtainable high-fat, high-calorie food • Sedentary lifestyle • Lack of adequate sleep • Genetic predisposition

16. Physiology of obesity • Once we gain a fat cell, we keep the fat cell • Once we become fat we require less food to maintain our weight than we did to attain it • Lean people naturally fidget more than overweight people • Sleep deprivation increases vulnerability to obesity • People are more likely to become obese when a friend becomes obese

17. Weight loss tips • Chew cinnamon gum • Factor out 100-200 calories of “fluff” from your diet • Be creative with your snack foods • Don’t eat while you read, watch TV, talk on the phone or work at your desk • Wait 20 minutes before eating after getting home from school/work • Schedule snacks every 2 hours and plan out what you’re going to have

18. Physiology of sex • Sexual response cycle – four stages of sexual responding described by William Masters and Virginia Johnson • Excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution • Refractory period – resting period after orgasm, during which a man can’t achieve another orgasm • Hormones and sexual behavior • Estrogens – female sex hormones • Testosterone – male sex hormone

19. Psychology of sex • Sexually explicit materials can increase male willingness to hurt women and may lead people to devalue their own partners and relationships

20. Adolescent sexuality • Teen pregnancy – causes: • Ignorance • Minimal communication about birth control • Guilt related to sexual activity • Alcohol use • Mass media norms of unprotected promiscuity • Predictors of teenage sexual restraint • High intelligence • Religious engagement • Father presence • Participation in service learning programs

21. Sexual orientation • 3-4% of men and 1-2% of women are exclusively homosexual • Homosexuality is more fixed for men than women • Psychologists view homosexuality as neither willfully chosen nor willfully changed • Not linked to • Problems in a child’s relationships with parents • Fear of hatred of people of the other gender • Levels of sex hormones in the blood • Childhood molestation by an adult homosexual • Genetic influence: • Gay men and straight women: brain hemispheres are the same size • Lesbian women and straight men: right brain hemisphere is larger

23. Motivation and Emotion 8B – Emotions, Stress and Health

24. Emotions are a mix of • Physiological arousal • Expressive behaviors • Consciously experienced thoughts and feelings • Psychologists agree that emotions include physiological, cognitive and behavioral components but disagree on how we become emotional and which component of emotion received the most emphasis

25. James-Lange theory of emotion • Named after William James and Carl Lange • Argues that emotions follow a three-part sequence • Perceive a stimulus (see a shadowy figure in your yard) • Stimulus triggers physiological arousal (heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble) • You interpret the bodily changes as a specific emotion (I’m afraid!) • Arousal immediately precedes emotion

26. James-Lange Theory:“I’m afraid because I am shaking”

27. Cannon-Bard theory • Named after Walter Cannon and Philip Bard • States that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers • Physiological responses and • The subjective experience of emotion

28. Cannon-Bard Theory“The spider makes me shake and feel afraid.”

29. Schacter-Singer two-factor theory • Stanley Schachter and James Singer agreed that physiological arousal is a key element in emotion but pointed out that physiological arousal is similar for different emotions • Proposes that our emotions depend on physical arousal and the cognitive labeling of that arousal • You perceive a stimulus • The stimulus triggers both physiological arousal and a cognitive label that makes the best sense of the arousal

30. Two-Factor Theory“I label my shaking as fear because I appraised the situation as dangerous.”

32. Opponent-process theory • Every emotion triggers an opposing emotion that fights it • We will feel a negative emotion after we feel a positive emotion

34. Physiological differences among emotions • Fear and joy increase heart rate but stimulate different facial muscles • Watching a fearful face activates the amygdala • Some tendency for negative emotions to be linked to the right hemisphere and positive emotions linked to the left • Left frontal lobe has more dopamine receptors

35. Lie detectors • Problems with lie detectors: • Our physiological arousal is similar from one emotion to another (anxiety, irritation, guilt) • Tests are wrong at least 33% of the time • Guilty knowledge test – assesses a suspect’s physiological responses to crime-scene details known only to the police and the guilty person

36. Cognition and emotion • Spillover effect – our arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event • Some emotions (especially simple likes, dislikes and fears) require no conscious thought • Some emotions bypass the cortex and go straight to the amygdala • Results in a speedy emotional response before our intellect has time to process

37. Expressed emotion • We aren’t very good at detecting deceiving expressions (for example, detecting truth over lies) • Women generally surpass men at • reading emotional cues • spotting lies • emotional literacy • emotional responsiveness • Happiness and anger translate across cultures but cultures differ in how much emotion they express

38. Effects of facial expression • Facial feedback – effect of facial expressions on experienced emotions • People induced to smile tend to feel happier and recall happier memories

39. Fear • We learn fear from experience and observation • Identical twins have similar levels of fearfulness, even when raised apart • Amygdala is involved in human fear

40. Anger • Catharsis – emotional release • Catharsis hypothesis – “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges • Is temporarily calming if it does not produce guilt or anxiety • In general, expressing anger breeds more anger • How to handle anger: • Wait • Channel energy into something productive

41. Happiness • Feel-good, do-good phenomenon: tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood • We overestimate the duration of our emotions and underestimate our capacity to adapt • Once one has enough money for comfort and security, money matters less and less • Today’s happiness predicts tomorrow’s income better than today’s income predicts tomorrow’s happiness

42. Happiness -cont- • Adaptation-level phenomenon - tendency to judge stimuli relative to those we have previously experienced • We feel an initial surge of pleasure w/pay increase, but then adapt to it • Relative deprivation - perception that we are worse off than those we compare ourselves to • Lebron’s salary makes other players disappointed w/their own

43. Happiness -cont- • Happy people tend to • Have high self-esteem • Be optimistic, outgoing and agreeable • Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage • Have work and leisure that engage their skills • Have meaningful religious faith • Sleep well and exercise • Happiness is not much related to • Age • Gender • Parenthood • Physical attractiveness

44. How to be happier • Realize that lasting happiness may not come from money • Take control of your time • Act happy • Seek work and leisure that engage your skills • Exercise • Get enough sleep • Give priority to close relationships • Focus beyond self • Count your blessings and record gratitudes • Nurture your spiritual self

45. Stress • Stress: process by which we perceive and respond to certain events (stressors) that we appraise as threatening or challenging • General adaptation syndrome (GAS): • Alarm - sudden activation of sympathetic nervous system • Resistance - temperature, blood pressure and respiration stay high and if persistent, stress may deplete body’s reserves • Exhaustion - more vulnerable to illness

46. Friedman and Rosenman’s study • Type A: people who are reactive, competitive, driven, impatient, time conscious, supermotivated, verbally aggressive and easily angered • Type B: more easy going and relaxed • Type A people are more susceptible to stress related disease

47. Effects of stress • Surgical wounds heal more slowly • Makes body more susceptible to cold virus • Stress does not make us sick but it does alter our immune functioning