Understanding the Complexities of Human Motivation
Psychologists have made significant progress in understanding motivated behaviors, but many human motivations remain puzzling. This exploration delves into general principles of motivation, focusing on hunger, the sex drive, and achievement. Motivated behaviors are goal-directed and vary among individuals. Different views and theories, such as drive theories, shed light on the energy and unrest behind motivations. Understanding motivation involves exploring various frameworks and perspectives to grasp the intricate nature of human drive and behavior.
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Presentation Transcript
Motivation Psychologists have made strides in understanding complicated motivated behaviors. But many human motivations are still puzzling or seem illogical when scrutinized. We will begin with some general principles of motivation, and then examine three areas of interest: hunger, the sex drive, and achievement.
Properties of Motivated Behavior Characteristics of motivated behavior: They are goal directed behaviors motivated individuals keep working until they reach their goal. They vary from time to time and one individual to the next. If an individual varies the behavior and persists until reaching a goal, it is a motivated behavior.
Views of Motivation It is hard to develop a satisfactory definition of motivation There are several frameworks that are used in psychology to understand what motivation is.
Motivation as an energy The word motivation is derived from the same root as motion something that moves an organism. Lorenz and others proposed that animals behave in instinctive ways when certain energies reach a critical level. It is as if a specific kind of energy builds up and needs to be released, if it is not released through the preferred outlet, it will spill through a less preferred one. Motivation as energy building up in reservoirs This view is based upon an obsolete conception of how the nervous system works. We now understand that individuals can inhibit impulses towards a disadvantageous behavior; there is no spilling of unreleased energy.
Drive theories A drive is a state of unrest or irritation that energizes one behavior after another until one of them removes the irritation. (e.g., splinter) Drive-reduction theory proposes that animals strive to reduce their drives as much as possible. Can you use drive reduction theory to explain the following needs? Rest Exercise Money Power Self expression Can you use drive reduction theory to explain your top 5 needs?
Drive theories By extension, drive-reduction theory would predict that once all needs have been met, the organism would become inactive. People seek variety and activity in life, not a condition of non-stimulation. The theory ignores the role of external stimulation. Interest in food depends not only on hunger but also on what foods are available.
Homeostasis--an important advance on drive-reduction theories Homeostasis is the maintenance of an optimum level of biological conditions within an organism. Conditions such as temperature, hydration, nutrition, and weight are maintained at a state of equilibrium. Unlike drive-reduction theory, in homeostasis it is necessary for the organism to expend energy to maintain the optimum state.
Homeostasis The homeostasis framework overlooks the power of new stimuli to arouse behavior. Humans also will adjust current behavior or consumption in anticipation of future needs. A person may eat one large meal in anticipation of skipping the next one, for example.
Incentive theories Incentives are external stimuli that pull us toward certain actions. Most motivated behaviors are controlled by a combination of drives (internal behaviors that push us from within) and incentives (external stimuli that pull us toward certain actions). You eat because you are hungry and also because you are standing in front of a restaurant offering appealing sights and smells of food. Can you use push and pull principles to explain the following needs? Rest Exercise Money Power Self expression
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations An intrinsic motivation is a motivation to do an act for its own sake. An extrinsic motivation is based on the reinforcements and punishments that may follow an action. Most motivated behaviors result from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations Sometimes providing extrinsic motivations for a behavior that are already intrinsically motivated may result in a reduction of the performance of that behavior. This effect is known as overjustification. Overjustification predicts that if people are given more extrinsic motivation than needed to perform a task, the intrinsic motivation declines.
