Darwin’s theory of natural selection caused many psychologists
to try and explain all human behaviors through instincts, most
agree that our behavior is motivated by other biological and
psychological factors.
Drive reduction theory – behavior is motivated by biological
needs. A need is one of our requirements for survival, a drive is
our impulse to act in a way that satisfies this need
- Homeostasis- balanced internal state
- Drives are primary and secondary-
- Primary- biological needs like thirst and hunger
- Secondary – learned drives like money
- Drive reduction theory cannot explain all our motivations.
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Arousal Theory- states that we seek an optimum level of
excitement or arousal, most of us perform best with an optimum
level of arousal.
Yerkes-Dobson law –high level of arousal may cause us to perform
well at easy tasks but poorly on difficult tasks.
Incentive Theory – sometimes behavior is pulled by a desire,
incentives are stimuli that we are drawn to due to learning
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Abraham Maslow pointed out that not
all needs are created equal
Hunger Motivation – Why do we become hungry
Biological Basis – There are several biological factors
- Stomach sensation of being full
- Hypothalamus, specifically the lateral and ventomedial parts if
destroyed or stimulated determine hunger
- Set-point theory, says hypothalamus wants to maintain a certain
optimum body weight
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Psychological factors
- external cues, attractiveness or availability of food
- Garcia effect, learned taste aversions
- Culture and background
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Eating Disorders – different cultures have drastically different
rates of eating disorders, rates are highest in the U.S. The three
most common are:
- Bulimia – Bulimics eat large amounts of food in a short period
of time and then get rid of the food by vomiting, excessive
exercise, or the use of laxatives. (Binge then Purge) Bulimics are
obsessed with food and their weight, the majority of bulimics are
women
- Anorexia Nervosa - Anorexics starve themselves to
below 85 percent of their normal body weight and refuse to eat due
to their obsession with weight, the vast majority are women
- Obesity – People with diagnosed obesity are severely
overweight, often over 100 pounds, and the excess weight threatens
their health. Obese people typically have unhealthy eating habits
rather than the food obsessions of the other two disorders. Some
people may also be genetically predisposed to obesity
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Social Motivation –
Achievement Motivation – Humans seem to be motivated to figure
out our world and master skills, sometimes regardless of the
benefits of the skills or knowledge. Studies involve looking at
differences in how people set and meet personal goals and go about
acquiring new knowledge or skills.
Extrinsic/Intrinsic Motivation-
- Extrinsic motivators are rewards that we get for
accomplishments from outside ourselves Ex. Grades, salary,
etc.
- Intrinsic motivators are rewards we get internally, such as
enjoyment or satisfaction
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Knowing what type of motivation an individual responds best to
can give managers insight into what strategies will be most
effective. Extrinsic motivators are effective for a short period of
time but studies show that if we want a behavior to continue,
intrinsic motivation is most effective.
Management Theory – studies of management styles show two basic
attitudes that affect how managers do their jobs:
- Theory X – managers believe that employees will work only if
rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment
- Theory Y – managers believe that employees are internally
motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this
internal motive.
- Theory J --
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THEORIES ABOUT EMOTION –
- James-Lange – They theorized that we feel emotion because of
biological changes, physiological change causes emotion
- Cannon-Bard – They doubted this order, they demonstrated that
similar physiological changes correspond with drastically different
emotional states. Biological change and the cognitive awareness of
the emotional state occur simultaneously
- Two Factor Theory – Stanley Schacter explains emotional
experiences in a more complete way than either previous. He pointed
out that both our physical responses and our cognitive labels
combine to cause any particular emotional response. Emotion depends
on the interaction between two factors, biology and cognition.
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STRESS – stress and emotion are intimately connected concepts.
The term stress can refer to either certain life events (stressors)
or how we react to these changes in the environment (stress
reactions)
Measuring stress – Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe designed one
of the first instruments to measure stress. Their social
readjustment rating scale (SRRS) measured stress using life-change
units (LCUs). Any major life change increases the score on the
SRRS, a person who scored very high on the SRRS is more likely to
have stress-related diseases than a person with a low score.
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) – Hans Seyle describes the
general response in humans and animals to stressful events. There
are three stages:
- Alarm reaction – Heart rate increases, blood is diverted away
from other body functions to muscles needed to react. The organism
readies itself to meet the challenge through activation of the
sympathetic nervous system.
- Resistance – The body remains physiologically ready. Hormones
are released to maintain this state of readiness. If the resistance
stage lasts too long, te body can deplete its resources.
- Exhaustion – The parasympathetic nervous system returns our
physiological state to normal. We can be more vulnerable to disease
in this stage especially if our resources were depleted by an
extended resistance stage.
- Various studies show that a perceived lack of control over
events exacerbates the harmful effects of stress, control over
events tends to lessen stress.