Motivation
Why do we do anything at all?
Thoughts About Motivation
Anything you have to acquire a taste for was not
meant to be eaten.
Eddie Murphy
Why does man kill? He kills for food. And not
only for food: Frequently there must be a
beverage.
Woody Allen
You can do more with a kind word and a gun than
with just a kind word.
Al Capone
What Motivates Us?
General Theories of Motivation
The Pyramid of Human Motivation
Definition of Motivation
The process that initiates, directs, and
sustains behavior to satisfy physiological or
psychological needs or wants; the
energizing and directing of behavior, the
force behind our yearning for food, our
longing for sexual intimacy, and our desire
to achieve.
Two Loci of Motivation
Intrinsic Extrinsic
Motivation - Motivation -
The desire to The desire to
perform an act perform an act
because it is to gain a
satisfying in reward or
its own right. avoid
undesirable
consequences.
General Theories of Motivation
Instinct Theory
– The notion that human behavior is motivated by certain innate
tendencies, or instincts, shared by all individuals.
Drive Theory
– The notion that physiological needs arouse tension that motivates
action.
Arousal Theory
– The notion that motivation comes from a need to achieve and
maintain an optimum level of arousal.
Incentive Theory
– The notion that we behave in ways that produce a valued
inducement.
Need Satisfaction Theory (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)
Instinct Theories
Instinct- An inborn, unlearned, fixed pattern
of behavior that is characteristic of an entire
species.
Under Darwin's influence, early theorists
came to view behavior as controlled by
biological forces, such as instincts. But
eventually it became clear that people were
naming, not explaining, various behaviors by
calling them instincts. This added nothing to
our understanding of behavior or emotions.
Drive Theories
Suggests that a need creates an unpleasant state of
arousal or tension which, in turn, creates a drive that
impels the organism to engage in behavior that will
satisfy the need, reduce tension, and establish
homeostasis.
The Internal Pushes (Biology)- Most physiological
needs create psychological drives that motivate need
satisfaction.
TheExternal Pulls (Culture) -- Not only are we
pushed by our internal drives, we are also pulled by
external incentives.
Arousal Theory
Unlike drive theory, arousal theory
states that we need to maintain arousal
(or, at least, an optimal state of arousal
-- which may vary from person to
person).
Sensory Deprivation
The effects of virtually complete
sensory deprivation have been shown
to be such things as irritability,
confusion, and a decreased ability to
concentrate; however, sensory
restriction (a milder form of sensory
deprivation) seem to potentially have
positive effects, such as increased
concentration.
Incentive Theory
What motivates people are external
rewards, or incentives. What desirable
consequences will my behavior produce?
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Needs arranged
hierarchy
Low-level needs must
be meet before trying
to satisfy higher-level
needs
Esteem: Status,
respect, power
Self-actualization:
Fulfill one’s potential
Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological needs: Need to satisfy hunger and thirst.
Safety needs: Need to feel that the world is organized and
predictable; need to feel safe, secure, and stable.
Belongingness and love needs: Need to love and be loved, to
belong and be accepted; need to avoid loneliness and
alienation.
Esteem needs: Need for self-esteem, achievement,
competence, and independence; need for recognition and
respect from others.
Self-actualization needs: Need to live up to one's fullest and
unique potential.
Basic Human Motives
Hunger, Eating and Thirst
Sexual Motivation
Primary Drives: Hunger and Thirst
Thirst - Two Kinds
Extracellularthirst - Occurs when fluid is lost from
body tissues, rather than from body cells (as from
exercising, working in hot weather, bleeding,
vomiting, etc).
thirst - Involves the loss of fluid from
Intracellular
inside the body cells; generally a result of an
imbalance in the sodium-potassium equilibrium.
Biological Basis of Hunger
Hunger's inner push originates not primarily from
the stomach's pangs, but from variations in body
chemistry. For example, we are likely to feel hungry
when our glucose levels are low and our insulin
levels are high.
Thisinformation is monitored by the hypothalamus,
which regulates the body's weight by influencing
our feelings of hunger and satiety. To maintain a set-
point weight, the body also adjusts its metabolic rate
of energy expenditure.
Cannon and Washburn's Hunger
Experiment
Washburn swallowed
a balloon to record
stomach contractions
Pushed button to
report hunger feelings
Hunger feelings came
at peak of contractions
– Contractions lead to
hunger, not vice-versa
External Incentives
Especially in "external" people, the
sight and smell of food can trigger
hunger and eating, partly by
stimulating a rise in insulin level.
The Hunger-Regulation Cycle
When blood glucose is low, people become hungry
Food raises glucose, reduces hunger and eating
Chemical Signals for Hunger
Glucose
– Most direct influence on hunger
– Glucostats signal hypothalamus
– Insulin
regulates glucose
indirectly affects hunger
Cholecystokinin
– Signals satiety
– Mechanism is uncertain
Understanding Body Weight
TheRole of Genetic Factors - About 25-
40%; Genes are especially likely to be
involved when obesity begins before age 10.
Metabolic Rate - Refers to the rate at which
physical and chemical processes sustain life
are carried out; varies by individual (and
activity level). Faster metabolic rates results
in larger energy consumption.
Fat-Cell Theory - Proposes that fatness is
related to the number of fat cells in the body.
Estimates range from 25-125 billion fat cells
in any one person, and are determined by
both genes and eating habits.
Set-Point Theory - Suggests that humans are
genetically programmed to carry a certain
amount of body weight (varies by
individual); affected by both the number of
fat cells and metabolic rate.
Body Weights of Twins
Identical twins are
more similar in body
weight than fraternal
– Same whether raised
together or apart
Genetic factors play a
large role in body
weight
Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa - An eating disorder in
which a normal-weight person (usually an
adolescent female) diets to become
significantly (15% or more) underweight,
yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve.
Bulimia Nervosa - An eating disorder
characterized by private, "binge-purge"
episodes of overeating, usually of highly
caloric foods, followed by vomiting or
laxative use.
Ideal Body Image
Which image is ideal for your sex?
Which comes closest to your own body?
Social Motives
Belongingness Motives
Esteem Motives
Belongingness Motives
Need for Affiliation
– Desire to establish and maintain social contacts
Need for Intimacy
– Desire for close relationships characterized by
open and intimate communication
Self-Disclosure
– Sharing of intimate details about oneself to
another person
Esteem Motives
Achievement Motivation
– A strong desire to accomplish difficult tasks,
outperform others, and excel. People with a high need
to achieve tend to prefer moderately challenging tasks
and to persist in accomplishing them.
Need for Power
– A strong desire to acquire prestige and influence over
other people
Sources of Achievement Motivation
Many achievement-oriented children have
parents and teachers who encourage and
affirm independent achievement rather than
overly controlling them with rewards and
threats. First-born children tend to be higher
achievers, but later-born children tend to
have greater social skills and to be more
accepting of new ideas.
Motivating People at Work
Reward-Based Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation
Equity Motivation
Reward-Based Motivation
Many companies use incentive programs:
– Individualized incentives, time off or extra pay
– Small-group incentive plans, offering bonuses
to work unit members for reaching goals
– Profit-sharing
– Recognition Programs
e.g., “Employee of the Month”
– Pay-for-knowledge plans
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation
– An inner drive that motivates people in the
absence of external reward or punishment
Extrinsic Motivation
– The desire to engage in an activity for money,
recognition, or other tangible benefits
Payment and Intrinsic Motivation
College students had 3
sessions with puzzles
Some were paid during the
second session, others
weren’t
Time spent on puzzles
during breaks was covertly
recorded
If people are paid for a task
they already enjoy, they
may lose interest in it
Equity Motivation at Work
Insurance workers
temporarily moved to
new offices
Those sent to higher-
status offices showed
increased performance
Those sent to lower-
status offices showed
decreased performance
Hawthorne Effect
The finding that when workers are placed in
a special experimental room they became
more productive regardless of what changes
were made.
Conclusions of I/O Psychologists
Industrial/organizationalpsychologists explore how
best to create a motivated, productive, and satisfied
workforce. Rewards may increase intrinsic
motivation if used not to control people but to boost
their sense of competence or to inform them of
improvement. It also helps to adjust one's
managerial style in response to workers' motives; to
set specific, challenging goals; and to combine goal-
oriented task leadership with group-oriented social
leadership.
Motivation in the Classroom
Third- and fourth-
grade students given
either
– Straightforward lesson
– Lesson embedded in
fantasy game
Learning was superior
for fantasy game
– Immediately and later
Sexual Motivation
The Physiology of Sex
The Sexual - Response Cycle
The Psychology of Sex
Sexual Orientation
The Physiology of Sex
Biologically, the human sexual response cycle normally
follows a pattern of excitement, plateau, orgasm, and
resolution, followed in males by a refractory period, during
which renewed arousal and orgasm are not possible. Sex
hormones help our bodies develop and function as either
male or female. In non-human animals, hormones also help
stimulate sexual activity. In human, they influence sexual
behavior more loosely, especially once sufficient hormone
levels are present.
The Sexual-Response Cycle
The Psychology of Sex
External stimuli can trigger sexual arousal
in both men and women. Sexually explicit
materials may also lead people to perceive
their partners as comparatively less
appealing and to devalue their relationships.
In combination with the internal hormonal
push and the external pull of sexual stimuli,
fantasies (imagined stimuli) influence
sexual arousal.
Sexual Orientation
One's heterosexual or homosexual
orientation seems neither willfully chosen
nor willfully changed. Although it is
beginning to look as though biological
factors are involved, we are still unsure why
one person becomes heterosexual.
Sexual Orientation: Genetic Links
Identical twins have
highest concordance
(similarity) rates for
sexual orientation
– Same pattern for males
and females
This suggests some
genetic link in sexual
orientation
LeVay’s Research
In his 1993 book, The Sexual Brain, he
discovered the size of a tiny nucleus in the
hypothalamus is about half the size in
women and male homosexuals as in male
heterosexuals. This shows correlation not
causality.
Sex Differences in Marriage Age
Men tend to marry
younger women
– This age difference
increases with man’s
age
Women tend to
marry men who are
slightly older
– This changes little
with age
Based on U.S. marriage statistics
for the 1980’s