Motivation And Emotion

April 25, 2008

Motivation, what is it?

One of the challenges for modern psychology is to understand what

motivates people to act.

Motivation

An urge or a need that leads to goal oriented behaviour.

It directs our behaviours.

The urge is triggered by a stimulus, so stimulus is the one which initiates need,

and it results in behaviour.

Motivation is classified in 3 categories:

biological, psychological, and social.

Biological Motivators

• We don’t learn about it, we’re born with it.

• Biological Motivators over any other type of drive.

• The drive: homeostasis

Psychological Motivations

• The drives are related to mental well being.

• Psychological drive may come from a desire to obtain/gain a missing piece of information.

• In essence: information is the food of curiosity.

• Example: Rumors - Infotainment.

2 Psychological Drives

• Sex

• Aggression

Sex

• Biological or Psychological?

• The 2 reasons: Individual (not species) and arousal (not homeostasis).

Aggression

• Active Aggressive Manner (ex: confront)

• Passive Aggressive Manner (ex: rumor)

Social Motivators

• We’re not born with it, it is learned.• David McClelland (Achievement Motive,

1953): Type A and Type B person.• Final social motivator: Belongingness.• People engage in behaviors because

they feel a need to belong to a group.• Positive Negative impacts.

Emotion

• One behavior may be linked to a variety of emotions (I.e: crying - sad, fear, happy).

• The ability to read emotion may lead to an improved understanding to a person’s behavior.

James-Lange Theory, 1880s

• William James (US), Carl Lange (Denmark).

• Some stimulus in the environment results in a physiological change which is then interpreted as an emotion.

• The process is instantaneous.

Criticism To The Theory

• Walter Cannon And Philip Bard (Cannon-Bard Theory, 1927).

• Emotions and Physiological changes happen simultaneously, not one after another.

Expressions of Emotion

• Provide insight into the feelings of another.

• Non Verbal: facial expressions, gesture.

• Verbal: vocal expression – tone, rate of speech, pauses.

Paul Ekman Emotions

• Happiness

• Surprise,

• Sadness

• Fear

• Disgust

• Anger

• Contempt (dislike)

Motivation & Emotion

1 Week Assignment

• A4

• Pick 1 emotion from Ekman’s

• Divided into 3 parts: facial, gesture, verbal (written explanation)