Motivation

You can be the smallest, you can be the weakest, you can be the worst player on the field, but when people tell you youre no good, and say you should give it up, you know what you do? You just keep on swinging. Everyones Hero, 2006 Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. From the Latin word MOVERE or to move When you are motivated, you usually show three characteristics: 1. You are energized to engage in some activity 2. You direct your energies toward a specific goal 3. You have differing intensities of feelings about reaching that goal Biological needs are physiological requirements that are critical to our survival and physical well-being. (food, water, oxygen, sleep, etc) Social needs are needs that are acquired through learning and experience (need to excel, for social bonds, to nourish and protect others, for independence, for fun and relaxation, etc) THEORIES OF MOTIVATION A. Instinct Approaches Human beings are born with specific innate knowledge about how to survive. These innate tendencies are preprogrammed at birth. INSTINCTS: innate tendencies or biological forces that determine behavior that exist in both people and animals Does not explain WHY the person engages in a particular behavior Biologists who study animal behavior later redefined instincts as fixed action patterns FIXED ACTION PATTERN: innate biological force that predisposes an organism to behave in a fixed way in the presence of a specific environmental condition B. Drive-reduction Approaches Behavior arises from physiological needs that cause internal drives to push the organism to satisfy the need and reduce tension and arousal NEED: biological state in which the organism lacks something essential for survival, such as food, water or oxygen DRIVE: state of tension that motivates the organism to act to reduce that tension HOMEOSTASIS: tendency of the body to return to, and remain in, a more balanced state A need results in a drive, which is a state of tension that motivates the organism to act to reduce the tension and return the body to homeostasis

Drive motivates us to engage in a variety of behaviors to satisfy biological needs. Over a period of time, the strength of the drive would continually increase as long as it is not satisfied. C. Incentive Approaches All creatures are motivated by gaining incentives. INCENTIVES: environmental factors, such as external stimuli, reinforcers, or rewards, that motivate or behavior, things that attract or lure people into action Incentives pull us to obtain them, drives push us to reduce needs. This push-pull difference between drives and incentives explains some otherwise perplexing and seemingly unexplainable behaviors. D. Cognitive Evaluation Theory Human beings are motivated intrinsically and extrinsically to satisfy needs. Extrinsic Motivation results from external rewards Engaging in certain activities or behaviors that either reduce biological needs or help us obtain incentives or external rewards Intrinsic Motivation comes from within the person Engaging in certain activities or behaviors because the behaviors themselves are personally rewarding or because engaging in these activities fulfils our beliefs or expectations E. Humanistic Approaches Human beings seek to satisfy successively 'higher needs' that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper, A Theory of Human Motivation. The Hierarchy of Needs was conceptualized by Maslows observation of monkeys. If monkeys were given a choice between play and food, they would most likely choose food. If monkeys were given a choice between food and water, they would most likely choose water. Needs include deficiency needs (needs of the body) and growth needs (having friends, feeling good about oneself) Physiological Needs Consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature The strongest needs that must be satisfied. Once the physiological needs are met in sufficient detail, people move on to address these more complex needs. Safety Needs Consist of needs for safe family environment (children) or economic stability (adults) Psychological in nature Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe
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Belongingness and Love Needs Consist of need to belong on a social level, includes desire for a romantic partner and close friends For example: Children: approval from parents; Teens: acceptance in peer groups; Adults: desire to build relationships Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging Esteem Needs These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless. Cognitive Needs These involve the need to know and understand the world Human beings are naturally curious Aesthetic Needs Human beings have the need to appreciate symmetry, order and beauty To be able to express oneself artistically in any way possible Self-actualization Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do Getting to know oneself, while being okay and unconditionally accepting of whatever it is that he or she discovers People who are self-actualizers are focused on what matters most in defining who they are A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." Transcendence To help others achieve self-actualization, reach their full potentials and capabilities as a human being FACTORS AFFECTING MOTIVATION A. Rotters Locus of Control People develop preconceived expectations about what will happen to them in the future. INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL: believing that they can influence what will happen to them EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL: believing that what happens to them is a result of outside influences or events Locus of control has a DYNAMIC nature and can shift. It can range from STRONGLY internal to STRONGLY external. B. Banduras Self-efficacy Self-efficacy is belief in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments Belief in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments Level of self-efficacy is influenced by the persons: Successful Performance: The difficulty of the task can be increased as the simpler tasks are mastered

Vicarious Experiences/Modelling: This may be provided by the instructor, a skilled classmate or a video of a skilled performer Verbal Persuasion: Form of encouragement from the parents or peers Emotional arousal: Human beings must be emotionally ready and optimally aroused in order to be attentive Perceived self-efficacy is a strong and consistent predictor of individual performance. Individuals with high level of self-efficacy work harder, persist in tasks longer and achieve at a higher level.

C. Self-esteem Self-esteem describes how individuals feel about themselves. D. Social Support Involves interaction between at least two people which can enhance well-being. Shows people that they are loved, cared about, and valued.

EVERYONES HERO (2006, IDT Entertainment, Inc) Yankee: If I dont swing, how are you gonna know I can hit? ** Stanley: Here are guys who make a living playing baseball. They play every day, and even on the day after they lose a game, theyre still standing at that plate swinging that bat. And you know how they got to be so good? Yankee: They just keep swinging? ** Yankee: My dad says you should never give up something you love. ** Yankee: I should have just quit. Screwie: Thats it? Youre laying down your bat? You know, when I landed in that sandlot, I thought, Thats it. Theres nothing left to do but rot. But then you came along. You made a believer out of me. ** Babe: Its not really the bat. Its the batter. ** Louie: Theres always another game tomorrow. Jack: And the Babe, the Babe always bounces back. Andy: Oh come on, son. Babes got a big old heart. He wont let us down. Look, when Babe was a kid, he had nothing. Then he picks up a bat, he starts swinging, look where it got him. Jack: If Babe can do it, so can we.

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Emotion

Theories of Emotions Common Sense Theory Im shaking because Im afraid Stimulus Conscious fear ANS arousal

AFFECT Covers all types of feelings including emotions and moods In contrast with cognition (refers to aspects of thinking) In general, positive and negative affect means positive and negative feelings MOOD More diffused feeling state that does not always have a clear trigger Longer lasting than emotions, but not enduring enough to be traits More pervasive, and about things in general, rather than specific incidents

James-Lange Theory Im afraid because Im shaking Stimulus ANS arousal Conscious fear

EMOTION Relatively specific, high-intensity, immediate, yet short-term reaction following the appraisal of an event or stimulus Latin: e + movere (to move or to migrate) Elements of Emotion 1. Physical Arousal Sympathetic nervous system: heart rate increases, breathing becomes more rapid, pupils dilate, mouth becomes dry Emotions are difficult to distinguish from one another on the basis of outward bodily reactions alone Amygdala: associated with fear, involved in the facial expressions of human emotions Damage to the amygdala is associated with the impairment of ability to determine emotions from looking at the facial expressions of others 2. Behavior Facial expressions, body movements and other actions that indicate how a person feels CHARLES DARWIN: emotions are a product of evolution and therefore universal 3. Subjective Feeling Labeling emotion: Anger, fear, disgust, happiness, ssadness, and so on A matter of retrieving memories of previous similar experiences, perceiving the context of the emotion and coming up with a solution: a label

Cannon-Bard Theory Im shaking and feeling afraid at the same time ANS arousal Conscious fear

Stimulus

Brain activity

Schachters Cognitive Arousal Theory This bear is dangerous and that makes me feel afraid. Cognitive Appraisal ANS arousal Facial Feedback Theory

Stimulus

Conscious fear

Facial feedback hypothesis: facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being expressed, which in turn not only intensifies the emotion but also actually causes the emotion

Stimulus

ANS arousal in face

Facial expression

Cognitive interpretat ion of face emotions

Fear

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Lazarus Cognitive-Mediational Theory The appraisal or interpretation of the situation would come before both the physical arousal and the experience of emotion Stimulus
Appraisal of threat

Fear

Bodily response

Universal Facial Expressions Refer to a number of specific inherited facial patterns or expressions that signal specific feelings or emotional states, such as a smile signalling a happy state 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Anger Disgust Fear Sadness Surprise Happiness

Did you know that

At 4-6 weeks of age, infants begin to smile? Newborns show facial expressions signalling disgust in
response to foul tastes or odors?

Infants 5-7 months old show fear? Infants 3-4 months old show angry and sad facial
expressions?
References: Ciccarelli, S. & White, J. (2009). Psychology. NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Plotnik, R. (2005). Introduction to Psychology. (7th ed.). Ca: Wadsworth Publishing Company

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