CHAPTER 3: MOTIVATION AND EMOTION

MOTIVATION: DEFINITION:

Motivation refers to the factors that direct and energize the behaviour of humans and other
organisms. it is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that
physical or psychological needs or wants are met (Petri, 1996). The word itself comes from the
Latin word movere, which means “to move.” Motivation is what “moves” people to do the
things they do.
For example, when a person is relaxing in front of the television and begins to feel hungry,
the physical need for food might cause the person to get up, go into the kitchen, and search for
something to eat. If the hunger is great enough, the person might even cook something. The
physical need of hunger caused the action (getting up), directed it (going to the kitchen), and
sustained the search (finding or preparing something to eat). Hunger is only one example, of
course. Loneliness may lead to calling a friend or going to a place where there are people. The
desire to get ahead in life motivates many people to go to college. Just getting out of bed in the
morning is motivated by the need to keep a roof over one’s head and food on the table by going
to work.
There are two major types of motivation:
Extrinsic motivation is the type of motivation in which a person performs an action because
it leads to an outcome that is separate from or external to the person. For example, giving a
child money for every A grade received on a report card, offering a bonus to an employee for
increased performance, or tipping a server in a restaurant for good service. The child, employee,
and server are motivated to work for the external or extrinsic rewards.
Intrinsic motivation is the type of motivation in which a person performs an action because
the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in some internal manner. For example, participating in
a sport because you enjoy it rather than to win awards or competitions

CONCEPT OF HOMEOSTASIS:

Drive-reduction theory approach to motivation assumes behaviour arises from physiological

needs that cause internal drives to push the organism to satisfy the need so as to reduce tension
and arousal.
Primary drives are those drives that involve needs of the body such as hunger and thirst.
Acquired (secondary) drives are those drives that are learned through experience or
conditioning, such as the need for money or social approval.
Instincts are the biologically determined and innate patterns of behaviour that exist in both
people and animals. Instinct approach is the approach to motivation that assumes people are
governed by instincts similar to those of animals.
Need is a requirement of some material (such as food or water) that is essential for survival of
the organism.
Drive is a psychological tension and physical arousal arising when there is a need that
motivates the organism to act in order to fulfil the need and reduce the tension.
Homeostasis is the tendency of the body to maintain a steady state. When there is a primary
drive need, the body is in a state of imbalance. This stimulates behaviour that brings the body
back into balance, or homeostasis. For example, if a person’s body needs food, he feels hunger
and the state of tension/arousal associated with that need. He will then seek to restore his
homeostasis by eating something, which is the behaviour stimulated to reduce the hunger drive.

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEED:

Maslow’s model places motivational needs in a hierarchy and suggests that before more
sophisticated, higher-order needs can be met, certain primary needs must be satisfied. A
pyramid can represent the model with the more basic needs at the bottom and the higher-level
needs at the top. To activate a specific higher-order need, thereby guiding behavior, a person
must first fulfil the more basic needs in the hierarchy.
 i. Physiological needs: The basic needs are primary drives of needs for water, food, sleep,
sex, and the like. To move up the hierarchy, a person must first meet these basic
physiological needs.
ii. Safety needs come next in the hierarchy; Maslow suggests that people need a safe,
secure environment in order to function effectively. Physiological and safety needs
compose the lower-order needs.

Only after meeting the basic lower-order needs can a person consider fulfilling higher-order
needs, such as the needs for love and a sense of belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

iii. Love and belongingness needs include the needs to obtain and give affection and to
be a contributing member of some group or society. After fulfilling these needs, a
person strives for esteem.
iv. Esteem needs refer to the need to develop a sense of self-worth by recognizing that
others know and value one’s competence.
v. cognitive needs, or the need to know and understand the world are next in hierarchy.
This need is represented in people who learn for the sake of gathering knowledge, and
all people who pursue their natural curiosity.
vi. Aesthetic needs, which include the need for order and beauty and are typical of artistic
people.
vii. Self-actualization needs: Once the above needs are met, it is possible to be concerned
about self-actualization needs which are the needs that help a person reach his or her
full potential and capabilities as a human being.
viii. Transcendence, involves helping others to achieve their full potential.
People move up the pyramid as they go through life, gaining wisdom and the knowledge of
how to handle many different situations. But a shift in life’s circumstances can result in a shift
down to a lower need. Moving up and down and then back up can occur frequently—even from
one hour to the next. Times in a person’s life in which self-actualization is achieved, at least
temporarily, are called peak experiences. For Maslow, the process of growth and self-
actualization is the striving to make peak experiences happen again and again.

TYPES OF MOTIVATION: PHYSIOLOGICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL

1) PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS:
Physiological needs are biological requirements for human survival, e.g., hunger, thirst, sleep,
shelter, air etc. they are the most basic needs for physical survival, and it is the first thing that
motivates human behaviour. Once that level is fulfilled, the individual can move towards
fulfilling the other needs.
i. Mechanism of hunger:
metabolism refers to the rate at which food is converted to energy and expended by the body.
People with a high metabolic rate can eat virtually as much as they want without gaining
weight, whereas others with low metabolism may eat literally half as much yet gain weight
readily. There are different factors which influence hunger, they are as follows:
one important factor is changes in the chemical composition of the blood. For instance,
changes in levels of glucose, a kind of sugar, regulate feelings of hunger. In addition, the
hormone insulin leads the body to store excess sugar in the blood as fats and carbohydrates.
Finally, the hormone ghrelin communicates to the brain feelings of hunger. The production of
ghrelin increases according to meal schedules as well as the sight or smell of food, producing
the feeling that tells us we’re hungry and should eat.
Role of hypothalamus: The brain’s hypothalamus monitors glucose levels. hypothalamus
carries the primary responsibility for monitoring food intake. Injury to the hypothalamus has
radical consequences for eating behaviour, depending on the site of the injury. For example,
rats whose lateral hypothalamus is damaged may literally starve to death. They refuse food
when it is offered; unless they are force-fed, they eventually die. Rats with an injury to the
ventromedial hypothalamus display the opposite problem: extreme overeating. Rats with this
injury can increase in weight by as much as 400%. Similar phenomena occur in humans who
have tumours of the hypothalamus
ii. Mechanism of thirst:
Double depletion hypothesis: Thirst motivation and drinking are mainly triggered by two
conditions of the body which are, cellular dehydration and hypovolemia, it can be explained as
follows:
▪ When water is lost from bodily fluids, water leaves the interior of the cells, thus leading
to the dehydration of the cells. Nerve cells called osmoreceptors, situated in the anterior
hypothalamus generate a nerve impulse when dehydrated. These nerve impulses act as
a signal for thirst and drinking. Thirst triggered by the loss of water from
the osmoreceptors is called cellular-dehydration thirst.
▪ Loss of water from the body also leads to hypovolemia (decrease in the volume of
blood).When the volume of blood reduces, the blood pressure also goes down. This
drop in blood pressure stimulates the kidneys to release an enzyme called renin. After
several intermediate steps, renin leads to the production of angiotensin II, that
circulates in the blood and leads to drinking behavior.
The idea that cellular dehydration and hypovolemia contribute to thirst and drinking behavior
is called the double depletion hypothesis.
iii. Mechanism of sleep:
Measures of electrical activity in the brain show that the brain is quite active during the night.
It produces electrical discharges with systematic, wave like patterns that change in height (or
amplitude) and speed (or frequency) in regular sequences. There is also significant physical
activity in muscle and eye movements. People progress through a series of distinct stages of
sleep during a night’s rest— known as stage 1 through stage 4 and REM sleep —moving
through the stages in cycles lasting about 90 minutes. Each of these sleep stages is associated
with a unique pattern of brain waves,
Stage 1: When people first go to sleep, they move from a waking state in which they are relaxed
with their eyes closed into stage 1 sleep, which is characterized by relatively rapid, low-
amplitude brain waves. This is actually a stage of transition between wakefulness and sleep
and lasts only a few minutes. During stage 1, images sometimes appear, as if we were viewing
still photos, although this is not true dreaming, which occurs later in the night.
Stage 2: As sleep becomes deeper, people enter stage 2 sleep, which makes up about half of
the total sleep of those in their early 20s and is characterized by a slower, more regular wave
pattern. However, there are also momentary interruptions of sharply pointed, spiky waves that
are called, because of their configuration, sleep spindles. It becomes increasingly difficult to
awaken a person from sleep as stage 2 progresses.
Stage 3: As people drift into stage 3 sleep, the brain waves become slower, with higher peaks
and lower valleys in the wave pattern.
Stage 4: By the time sleepers arrive at stage 4 sleep, the pattern is even slower and more
regular, and people are least responsive to outside stimulation.
REM sleep: Several times a night, when sleepers have cycled back to a shallower state of
sleep, their heart rate increases and becomes irregular, their blood pressure rises, and their
breathing rate increases. Most characteristic of this period is the back-and-forth movement of
their eyes, as if they were watching an action-filled movie. This period of sleep is called rapid
eye movement, or REM sleep, REM sleep occupies a little more than 20% of adults’ total
sleeping time. the major muscles of the body appear to be paralyzed. In addition, and most
important, REM sleep is usually accompanied by dreams, which—whether or not people
remember them—are experienced by everyone during some part of their night’s sleep.
Although some dreaming occurs in non-REM stages of sleep, dreams are most likely to occur
in the REM period, where they are the most vivid and easily remembered.
Why do people sleep: One explanation, based on an evolutionary perspective, suggests that
sleep permitted our ancestors to conserve energy at night, a time when food was relatively hard
to come by. Consequently, they were better able to forage for food when the sun is up. A second
explanation for why we sleep is that sleep restores and replenishes our brains and bodies. For
instance, the reduced activity of the brain during non-REM sleep may give neurons in the brain
a chance to repair themselves. Furthermore, the onset of REM sleep stops the release of
neurotransmitters called monoamines and so permits receptor cells to get some necessary rest
and to increase their sensitivity during periods of wakefulness Finally, sleep may be essential,
because it assists physical growth and brain development in children. For example, the release
of growth hormones is associated with deep sleep.

2) PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS:
Edward Deci and Richard Ryan (2008) have considered human needs in terms of psychological
well-being. They suggest in their self-determination theory that people have the three basic
needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Competence is the need to produce desired
outcomes, while autonomy is the perception that we have control over our own lives. Finally,
relatedness is the need to be involved in close, warm relationships with others. In the view of
self-determination theory, these three psychological needs are innate and universal across
cultures, and they are essential as basic biological needs. Other approaches under psychological
needs are:

i. Arousal approach: People seek an optimal level of stimulation. If the level of

stimulation is too high, they act to reduce it; if it is too low, they act to increase it. If
our arousal levels drop too low, we might seek stimulation by going out for hiking,
engage in any thrill seeking behaviour or simply hang out with friends. If our arousal
levels become too elevated and we become overstimulated, we might be motivated to
select a relaxing activity such as going for a walk or taking a nap.
ii. Incentive approach: External stimuli directs and energizes the behaviour. The
incentive theory proposes that people behave in a way they believe will result in a
reward and avoid actions that would entail punishment. Examples of the incentive
theory include: studying for an exam in order to get a good grade, running a marathon
to receive a ribbon, or taking a new position at work to get a raise. All of these actions
involve being influenced by an incentive to gain something in return for the efforts. A
behaviour can also be motivated to avoid punishment, for example: submitting a big
assignment to avoid failing the class, eating a salad instead of a burger to not gain more
weight
iii. Cognitive approach: Thoughts, expectations, and understanding of the world directs
motivation. Cognitive theories of motivation assume that behaviour is directed as a
result of the active processing and interpretation of information. Motivation is not seen
as a mechanical or innate set of processes but as a purposive and persistent set of
behaviours based on the information available. Expectations, based on past
experiences, serve to direct behaviour toward particular goals.

3) SOCIAL NEEDS
David McClelland is well known for his work in the area of social needs. These needs are felt
because of and in the presence of other people. They are as follows –
i. Need for achievement (nAch) a need that involves a strong desire to succeed in
attaining goals, not only realistic ones but also challenging ones. This need involves a
strong desire to succeed in attaining goals, not only realistic ones but also challenging
ones. People who are high in nAch look for careers and hobbies that allow others to
evaluate them because these high achievers also need to have feedback about their
performance in addition to the achievement of reaching the goal. Although many of
these people do become wealthy, famous, and publicly successful, others fulfill their
need to achieve in ways that lead only to their own personal success, not material riches
— they just want the challenge. Achievement motivation is strongly related to success
in school, occupational success, and the quality and amount of how productive a person
is.
ii. Need for affiliation (nAff) the need for friendly social interactions and relationships
with others. People high in this need seek to be liked by others and to be held in high
regard by those around them. This makes high affiliation people good team players.
iii. Need for power (nPow) the need to have control or influence over others. Power is not
about reaching a goal but about having control over other people. People high in this
need would want to have influence over others and make an impact on them. They want
their ideas to be the ones that are used, regardless of whether or not their ideas will lead
to success. Status and prestige are important, so these people wear expensive clothes,
live in expensive houses, drive fancy cars, and dine in the best restaurants. Whereas
someone who is a high achiever may not need a lot of money to validate the
achievement, someone who is high in the need for power typically sees the money (and
cars, houses, jewellery, and other “toys”) as the achievement.

FRUSTRATION AND CONFLICT:

FRUSTRATION occurs when people are blocked or prevented from achieving a desired goal
or fulfilling a perceived need. As a stressor, frustration can be external, such as when a car
breaks down, a desired job offer doesn’t come through after all, or experiencing a theft of one’s
belongings. Losses, rejections, failures, and delays are all sources of external frustration. some
frustrations are minor and others are more serious. The seriousness of a frustration is affected
by how important the goal or need actually is. A person who is delayed in traffic while driving
to the mall to do some shopping just for fun will be less frustrated than a person who is trying
to get to the mall before it closes to get that last-minute forgotten and important anniversary
gift.

Internal frustrations, also known as personal frustrations, occur when the goal or need
cannot be attained because of internal or personal characteristics. For example, someone who
wants to be an astronaut might find that severe motion sickness prevents him or her from such
a goal. If a man wants to be a professional basketball player but is only 5 feet tall and weighs
only 85 pounds, he may find that he cannot achieve that goal because of his physical
characteristics. A person wanting to be an engineer but who has no math skills would find it
difficult to attain that goal.
CONFLICT: A conflict is a struggle and a clash of interest, opinion, or even principles. There
are different types of conflicts which are as follows:

i. Approach–Approach Conflict. In an approach–approach conflict, a person

experiences desire for two goals, each of which is attractive. Typically, this type of
conflict, often called a “win-win situation,” is relatively easy to resolve and does not
involve a great deal of stress. Because both goals are desirable, the only stress
involved is having to choose between them, acquiring one and losing the other. An
example of this might be the need to choose between the chocolate cake or key lime pie
for dessert.
ii. Avoidance–Avoidance Conflict. Avoidance–avoidance conflicts are much more
stressful. In this conflict, the choice is between two or more goals or events that are
unpleasant. It is a “lose-lose situation.” People who are fearful of dental procedures
might face the conflict of suffering the pain of a toothache or going to the dentist.
Because neither alternative is pleasant, many people avoid making a choice by delaying
decisions. For example, given the choice of risky back surgery or living with the pain,
some people would wait, hoping that the pain would go away on its own and relieve
them of the need to make a choice.
iii. Approach–Avoidance Conflict. Approach–avoidance conflicts are a bit different in
that they only involve one goal or event which may have both positive and negative
aspects that make the goal appealing and yet unappealing at the same time. For
example, marriage is a big decision to make for anyone and usually has both its
attractive features, such as togetherness, sharing good times, and companionship, and
also its negative aspects, such as disagreements, money issues, and mortgages. This is
perhaps the most stressful of all of the types of conflict, causing many people to be
unable to decide for or against the goal or event. Another example is the offer of a
promotion that would require a person to move to a city he or she doesn’t like—more
money and higher status but all the hassles of moving and living in a less than perfect
place
iv. Multiple approach–avoidance conflict/ Double approach–avoidance conflict: it is
a conflict in which the person must decide between more than two goals, with each goal
possessing both positive and negative aspects. For example, what if a person had the
choice of buying a house out in the country or in the city? The house in the country has
its attractions: privacy, fresh air, and quiet. But there would be a long commute to one’s
job in the city. A house in the city would make getting to work a lot easier, but then
there are the negative aspects of pollution, noise, and crowded city streets. Each choice
has both good and bad points. This type of conflict also tends to lead to vacillation (to
go back and forth between one decision and another).

EMOTIONS: DEFINITION:

Emotion is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness, characterized by three elements: certain

physical arousal, a certain behaviour that reveals the emotion to the outside world and an inner
awareness of feelings.
ELEMENTS OF EMOTIONS:
 i. Emotions have a physiological aspect - Physically, when a person experiences an
emotion, an arousal is created by the sympathetic nervous system. The heart rate
increases, breathing becomes more rapid, the pupils dilate, and the mouth may become
dry. Sadness, anger, and fear are associated with greater increases in heart rate than is
disgust; higher increases in skin conductance occur during disgust as compared to
happiness; and anger is more often associated with vascular measures, such as higher
diastolic blood pressure, as compared to fear. Certain parts of the brain like the
amygdala, other subcortical and cortical areas of the brain are involved in the
processing of emotional information.
ii. Emotions also have a behavioural aspect – There are facial expressions, body
movements, and actions that indicate to others how a person feels. Frowns, smiles, and
sad expressions combine with hand gestures, the turning of one’s body, and spoken
words to produce an understanding of emotion. Basic emotions: In their research,
Ekman and Friesen found that people of many different cultures (including Japanese,
European, American, and the Fore tribe of New Guinea) can consistently recognize at
least seven facial expressions: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, surprise, sadness, and
contempt. Although these emotions and the related facial expressions appear to be
universal, exactly when, where, and how an emotion is expressed may be determined
by the culture. Display rules that can vary from culture to culture, are learned ways of
controlling displays of emotion in social settings. Display rules are different between
cultures that are individualistic (placing the importance of the individual above the
social group) and those that are collectivistic (placing the importance of the social group
above that of the individual).. Display rules are also different for males and females.
Researchers looking at the display rules of boys and girls found that boys are reluctant
to talk about feelings in a social setting, whereas girls are expected and encouraged to
do so. With adults, researchers looking at the expression of anger in the workplace
found that women are generally less willing than men to express negative emotions.
iii. Emotions are subjective, that means, they are a highly personal experience and change
from person to person. This includes labelling the emotion. Each person perceives his
or her own emotion differently, the intensity and interprets the overall experience
differently too. The label a person applies to a subjective feeling is at least in part a
learned response influenced by their language and culture. Such labels may differ in
people of different cultural backgrounds.
BASIC EMOTIONS: In their research, Ekman and Friesen found that people of many
different cultures (including Japanese, European, American, and the Fore tribe of New Guinea)
can consistently recognize at least seven facial expressions: anger, fear, disgust, happiness,
surprise, sadness, and contempt. Although these emotions and the related facial expressions
appear to be universal, exactly when, where, and how an emotion is expressed may be
determined by the culture.