Motivation and Emotion

Week 9- Motivation and Emotion

• Motivation activates goal-directed behavior, such as hunger, thirst, sex, escape, money, or power
• Emotion represents the subjective experience of a physiological reaction to a stimulus like anxiety, excitement, disgust, or love

What is Motivation?

• Motivation is a psychological process that directs and maintains behavior toward a goal
• It is the driving force that impels individuals to take action
• Motivation arises from a state of arousal or tension due to an unfulfilled need
• Individuals consciously or subconsciously reduce tension by behaving in ways that fulfill needs
• The hypothalamus regulates basic biological needs and motivational systems

Motives

• Needs, wants, interests, and desires drive people in specific directions
• A motive is a stimulus that prompts behavior designed to achieve a specific goal
• Psychological states aren't directly observable or measurable

Types of Motives

• Motives can be either conscious or unconscious
• Motives vary in urgency, from high to low
• Motives can be positive or negative
• Motives can be intrinsic or extrinsic
• Motives can be rational or emotional

Drive Reduction Theory

• Internal tension arises when individuals experience a need or drive, motivating them to reduce it
• Certain drives motivate actions that minimize aversive states
• Drives include hunger, thirst, and sexual frustration
• The strength of drives is affected by arousal
• Individuals attempt to maintain psychological homeostasis or equilibrium
• The source of motivation resides within the individual, not the environment

Homeostasis

• Homeostasis involves maintaining relatively stable internal states, balance, or equilibrium
• A drive emerges when equilibrium is disturbed, such as feeling thirsty and needing water
• Individuals act to satisfy the need, reducing the drive and restoring equilibrium

Incentive Theories

• Individuals are often motivated by positive goals
• Incentives can motivate behavior
• Intrinsic motivation stems from internal goals (e.g., passion)
• Extrinsic motivation stems from external goals (e.g., a job)
• Motivation comes from the environment, according to incentive theories

Push vs Pull Theory

• Internal tension pushes people in certain directions
• External stimuli pull people in certain directions

The Difference Between Drive Reduction Theory and Incentive Theory

• Drive theory involves internal biological motivation linked to homeostasis
• Incentive theory involves external environmental motivation, less focused on homeostasis

Arousal Theory

• Arousal is a level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation in the Central Nervous System
• The optimal level of arousal varies with the person and the activity
• The Yerkes-Dodson Law posits that performance is best when moderately aroused
• Challenging activities are best with moderately low arousal
• Easy activities are best with moderately high arousal
• Performance worsens when arousal is too low or too high

Primary Motivation

• A fundamental need drives much of motivation
• This need is sometimes known as affiliation motivation
• The motivation exists to maintain relationships and promote feelings
• There is a need to be with friends, family, and a spouse
• Arousal occurs when feeling threatened, anxious, or celebratory
• Social bonds hold import for survival and reproduction

Evolutionary Perspective

• Social connectedness predicts overall health
• Loneliness elevates risks for hypertension, a weaker immune system, and high stress hormones
• Loneliness poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily.

Loneliness – World Health Organization

• High rates of social isolation and loneliness exist
• An estimated 1 in 4 older people experience social isolation
• Between 5% and 15% of adolescents experience loneliness

Humanistic Theory – Maslow's Theory of Hierarchy of Needs

• Instinct and drive-reduction theories are too mechanical
• People are motivated by personal growth and artistic fulfillment
• Fulfilling social/personal desires sometimes outweighs meeting basic needs
• Some will tolerate pain and hunger to achieve artistic, political, or personal goals

Hierarchy of Needs

• Needs are arranged by urgency and explain the range of human motivations
• Lower-level motives satisfied before higher ones
• Physiological needs are lowest
• Self-actualization needs are highest
• Striving for meaning is essential for humans

Love - A Motivational System

• The pursuit facilitates preferred mates
• Love can be a goal-oriented state like hunger and sex drives
• There are different theories of love

Hatfield and Rapson’s theory

• Passionate love involves longing for a partner
• Companionate love features deep friendship and fondness

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

• Intimacy leads to liking
• Intimacy and commitment lead to companionate love
• Commitment leads to empty love
• Commitment and passion lead to fatuous love
• Passion leads to infatuation
• Passion and intimacy lead to romantic love
• Intimacy, commitment, and passion lead to consummate love

Achievement Motivation

• Achievement entails performing at high levels and accomplishing significant goals
• Approach goals exist
• Avoidance goals lead to inaction
• Self-determination theory: ability to achieve goals and well-being is tied to control over behaviors
• Self-efficacy is the confidence to plan and execute actions
• Self-determined motivations include internal and external motivations
• Amotivation is non-self-determination

Emotions

• Subjective perceptions and energy form emotions
• Emotions are brain/body reactions
• Expression varies due to cultural and personal influences, the ability to choose a response through emotional awareness
• Subjective thought, neural activity, and behavioral expression make up the three components

Emotional Responses

• Emotional states determine if they can be long-lasting or brief, specific to situations
• Cultural beliefs impact emotion and expression
• Emotional states are transitory, depending on the situation instead of each person
• Emotional traits are patterns of emotional reactions consist across life situations
• Brain-body reaction can be conscious as well as unconscious
• The brain executes an unconscious reaction to fear
• The response is designed for safety, the person acts it out unconsciously

Fear Processing Pathways

• Low road (unconscious processing)
• High road (conscious processing)

The Autonomic Response

• A.N.S. involved in emotional responding
• The sympathetic division readies the body for stress
• The parasympathetic division restores normal conditions

Contemporary Model of Emotion

• Psychologists generally agree that emotions have physiological, behavioral, and cognitive components
• They disagree over interactions

Cognitive Theories of Emotion

• It incudes James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and the Two-Factor Theories

James-Lange Theory of Emotions

• Subjective experience follows physiological response
• A racing heart makes someone nervous about a noise
• Physiological reactions precede and create emotional experience

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotions

• Feeling emotion occurs simultaneously with physiological arousal
• The brain interprets and generates subjective emotional feelings
• An emotion-provoking event leads simultaneously to an emotional and bodily reaction
• One does not cause the other

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

• Many emotions elicit physiological arousal
• Schachter and Singer say interpretation of arousal creates experience
• Cognitive aspects play a role
• Emotions are undifferentiated and attributed as arousal
• Cultural similarities and differences in emotions

Culture and Emotions

• Emotions expressed differently across cultures
• Appropriateness of expression varies by culture
• Cultures differ in display rules for emotions

Emotional Displays

• Expression rather than emotion itself is impacted
• Western societies show emotion
• Expression controlled more within Eastern Societies

Health & the Biopsychosocial Model

• Health: Complete physical, mental, and social well-being (WHO, 2007)
• Illness: Presence of disease or impairment
• Health psychology includes positive and negative impacts on survival and well-being
• Premature deaths are attributable to lifestyle
• Inactivity, obesity, alcohol and tobacco use, are factors in disease and death

Biopsychosocial Model

• Includes biological, psychological, and social factors
• Most endorse the biopsychosocial model
• Used with the Biopsychosocial-cultural model

Acute and Chronic Conditions

• Acute Disease is temporary
• Chronic lasts at least three months and may require additional support like physio or therapy.

Health Issues- Cancer

• Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada
• Cancer risk factors include unhealthy diet, smoking, excessive alcohol, and promiscuity
• Medical treatment and quality of life make up life coping

Health Issues- AIDS

• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
• HIV causes aids
• HIV attacks the immune system until non-functional
• No cure or vaccine
• Treatment included antiretroviral therapy, education, psychotherapy, and antidepressants

Lifestyle and Health - Smoking

• Substance leads to addiction
• Smoking delivers to the nervous system and stimulates reward circuitry
• It also reduces uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms
• Lung cancer and heart disease

Lifestyle and Health-Obesity

• "Freshman 15" is an average gain of 6 pounds
• 27% of canadians are obese
• High BMI

Lifestyle and Health- Alcohol

• Genetic factors and disease
• Liver Cirrhosis
• Harm to developing fetus
• Genetics and environment
• Access to quality healthcare is a given

Biases and Influences on Health

• Biases and social-economic factors effect health
• Access to Healthcare, Lack of Control, Diet, and Magnified Stress effect Healthcare
• Marraige a source of stress
• Resilience is the ability to endure and recover from isolation

Stress and Stressors

• Stress physiological responses that adjust adaptiveness
• Stressors includes events with physical or emotional stress
• David Elkind described it as wear and tear

General Adaption Syndrome

• Alarm Stage, Resistance Stage and Exhaustion Stage
• Requires adjustment and is negative/positive
• Eustress is positive
• Distress is damaging and unpleasant

Stress Response

• Freeze, Fawn, Fight, Flight

Personal Factors and Stress

• Lazarus and Folkman found stress models depend perceptions and appraisal

Personal Factors

• Hardiness, Optimism and Social Support
• Social support gives helpful information
• Lowers anxiety and is calmly associative

Paradigms During Difficult Times

• Problem-focused coping: tackle directly
• Emotion-focused: deals changing emotional responses and feelings

Lifestyle and Health- Exercise

• Aerobic Exercise is a min of 2.5 hours a week min
• Only half do that amount
• The amount is beneficial
• Reduce loss or muscle

Health

• Relaxation and reduction of stress

Cultural Factors

• Individuality
• Protective influences and promote development

Emotional Factors

• Awareness and internal locus control
• Support, Optimism, Humour, Perseverance and Spirituality

Mental illness/disorders

• Mental illness is a failure of adaptation
• Abnormal Psychology

Statistics and Labels

• The number of world's population with mental illness, affecting relationships
• Stems medical models

Diagnosing

• Helps access the system and appropriate needs.
• Should use effective treatment
• Can be harmful

Facts about Diagnosing

• Many experience mental disorder
• Some are overdiagnoses
• Acknowledge the relationship of mental disorder that influence narrative
• Stresses family and can project society views
• The DSM a text influenced by diagnostic

Characteristics in Diagnosis

• The cognition and behavior that effect the biological functioning
• Causes functional disability

Cultural factors

• Language, social-economic
• Indigenous and minority distrust
• In and out of medical situations
• Over diagnosed in classrooms, legal system

Treatment in Legal Issues

• Court may commit but need consent
• 21% are estimated that have disorder
• Insanity may be present.

Mental Health Services.

• Culture. communities are significant to health.

Anxiety Disorders

• The early onsets are common disorders
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• More common with women

Mood and disorders

• There are many and can involve extreme emotion
• Can derive from biology
• Life impacting and create suicide

Main Disorder

• Bipolar, seasonal disorders and premenstrual

Suicide Notes

• Suicide is prevalent and have factors
• The suicide signs exist if someone is having difficulty in the legal system, medical

Disorders and what can make it

• Genetics factors, false perceptions social withdrawal is associated with different causes and disorders

Schizophrenia and Treatment in Systems

• To treat, change thoughts a behavior pattern and in systems
• Counsel is present, but clinical help is needed
• Support through community with is emphasized for individuals