The purpose of this section is to give you an introduction to principles of motivation and emotion. Motivational theories explain the “itch” or “drive” or “reason” behind our behaviors – voluntary and involuntary. Theories of emotion explain how we experience and interpret emotion on a physiological, cognitive, and social level.
Motivation Generally
Motivation is essentially a force which acts upon you, causing you to behave a certain way or perform a certain action. It can’t be observed directly, but it can be inferred by assuming that a behavior satisfies a certain need or drive. Motivational theorists look at motivation in terms of three variables: activation, persistence, and intensity. Activation is basically initiative. Persistence is really about the durability of a behavior – more highly motivated behaviors persist, even if they are not immediately successful. Intensity is really about energy or vigor – more highly motivated behaviors deserve (and get) more of your time, energy, and effort.
Motivational Theories
Motivational theories are really just ways of interpreting behaviors by suggesting some sort of cause, purpose, or rationale behind the behavior.
- Instinct theories of motivation take an evolutionary perspective. James and McDougall came up with a list of instinctual fixed action patterns such as attachment, curiosity, sociability, and play. Inspired by Darwin’s theory of natural selection, they suggested that we engage in these behaviors because they are adaptive and enhance our odds of survival and reproduction.
- Drive theories suggest that biological needs trigger a “drive” (an internal state of tension) which motivates behaviors which restore an internal state of balance – homeostasis. Generally, drives are useful for explaining biological needs such as hunger, sleep, and sexual drives. Drives may also explain certain psychological needs, such as reducing cognitive dissonance by engaging in rationalizations – the rationalizations are a response to a drive to reduce dissonance, a psychological state of tension. The key term is homeostasis, or balance.
- Arousal theories suggest that optimal arousal is the goal, rather than homeostasis. This is useful for explaining personality differences, such as the difference between extroverts (who require more stimulation) and introverts (who may require less). Arousal theories explain emotional phenomena such as stress, boredom, and depression. They also help to explain reckless, sensation-seeking kinds of behaviors.
- Incentive theories are useful for explaining behaviors which are motivated by extrinsic, rather than intrinsic forces. Extrinsic motivators are motivators which come from “outside” of you; things like being motivated to do your job well not because you care about the work, but because someone else who cares about the work is paying you to do the work.
- In contrast to incentive theories, humanistic theory focuses on the importance of intrinsic (internal) psychological and emotional needs. For example, you may do your job well not because you are paid to do it (extrinsic) but because you enjoy the work (a goal) or because it means something to do good work (a value).
Biological Motivation – Eating and Energy Homeostasis
Our biological drives are good demonstrations of motivated behavior and the impact that motivation can have on your bodily and psychological function. Energy homeostasis is the process of maintaining body weight and mass by balancing the amount of energy in and energy out – stabilizing the relationship between blood glucose, insulin, and basal metabolic rate (resting energy use). Energy balance exists when your ingestion of calories (energy) matches your use of calories through exercise and activity. This will maintain weight, whereas a positive energy balance (more energy in than out) will result in an increase of fat cells (stored energy) in the adipose tissue. Negative energy balance (more out than in) will result in energy being drained from the reserves in adipose tissue, leading to weight loss.
In order to maintain this balance, eating has to happen in response to a biological need. Slight drops in glucose and increases in insulin are pretty good predictors of eating behavior – when eating takes place, glucose and insulin levels return to normal. The same is true for ghrelin, which is secreted by cells in the stomach lining and increases sharply just prior to eating. After eating, ghrelin levels return to baseline. During eating, stretch receptors in the stomach send signals to the hypothalamus which signal satiety – the satisfaction of the hunger drive. This is aided by the secretion of cholecystokinin in the small intestines, which is also released in response to eating, and is responsible for you feeling “done.” Naturally, disruptions in the function of these hormones and neurotransmitters can cause abnormalities in eating behavior – either being full too quickly, or not feeling full at all (for example, individuals with Prader Willi Syndrome).
There are also internal signals which regulate long term eating behaviors, rather than single-instance eating behaviors. These long-term signals have more to do with regulation and maintenance of body weight, and they include leptin, insulin, and neuropeptide Y. In general, secretion of neuropeptide Y triggers eating and promotes fat storage, whereas secretion of leptin and insulin decrease eating behaviors.
Obesity and Weight Maintenance
Obesity is a substantial problem in the U.S. – as many as two-thirds of americans are heavier than the ideal body weight (medically, not socially), and half of them are medically obese (having a BMI over 30). Factors implicated in obesity range from hormonal disruptions due to dyssomnias, genetic issues, hypothyroidism, and psychological issues to behavioral problems such as impulse control, a sedentary lifestyle, and the cafeteria diet effect. Social issues can also create a propensity toward obesity; most of us learn our eating and exercise habits from our parents and immediate families, which may also reduce social incentives to lose weight. Researchers generally conclude that there are behavioral and social causes which may or may not also have an underlying genetic influence; for example, leptin resistance creates a physiological predisposition toward obesity if it is not managed through diet and exercise.
One of the most significant problems for individuals who are seeking a healthy body weight is the existence of a set point. Basically, if a dieter reduces caloric intake, the body will slow metabolic processes down to maintain the body’s weight balance. This is because we are actually programmed with a prejudice in favor of weight gain, rather than loss – for our hunter-gatherer ancestors, surviving a famine promoted survival. Although this biological predisposition remains, the ready availability of food makes this artifact of our evolution a problem, rather than an advantage. This is why individuals who lose a few pounds find that their weight loss ceases after a few weeks, despite continued dieting.
Sexual Motivation
The drive for sex is another example of a behavior that can be explained in terms of balance and homeostasis. Human sexuality is often described in terms of four stages: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. More or less, sexual thoughts or the presence of an attractive person cause hormonal changes, creating an internal state of tension which is not resolved until orgasm is achieved. That’s not to say that sex is necessary – it is just the fastest path to resolving a sexual drive. The sex drive appears to be motivated by the secretion of testosterone, which is eventually metabolised whether or not you have sex. It results in increasing levels of excitement and CNS arousal, culminating in orgasm – the rapid contraction of pelvic muscles resulting in a feeling of release and satisfaction.
The sexual drive doesn’t necessarily explain monogamy, which is the tendency to have only one sexual partner at a time. Obviously, monogamy is not universal. However, the majority of people engage in relationships one-at-a-time, and most people will eventually commit to a for-life monogamous relationship. This is possibly a relic of our evolutionary past, where pair-bonds ensured survival for your mate and your offspring. Oxytocin, a hormone released during sex, intimate contact, and childbirth, promotes feelings of closeness, bonding, and attachment. So there may also be a physiological basis for the tendency toward monogamy – although there is also evidence that the release of oxytocin is highest with a new partner, and that this effect might be stronger in some individuals than it is in others.
Psychological Motivators
Humanistic psychologists focus on psychological needs as the motivators for behaviors, suggesting that our goals, ideals, values, beliefs, and expectations motivate us just as much as our biological drives.
The Hierarchy of Needs, created by Abraham Maslow, is a model of motivation which incorporates both physiological needs and psychological drives, culminating with self-actualization. Self-actualization can be defined loosely as a high degree of synchrony between your goals, values, self-concept, dreams, and actions. Individuals who are self-actualized are dynamic, genuine, real, autonomous, open, and appreciative. However, to get to this point all of the other needs in the hierarchy must be satisfied – you cannot ignore your physical drives to achieve self-actualization.
Deci and Ryan more recently developed self-determination theory, which emphasizes that we are motivated to grow toward greater levels of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Autonomy here means behaving in a way which is intrinsically, rather than extrinsically motivated. People who are autonomous do what they do because it matters to them, not to others. This produces a higher degree of personal fulfilment and satisfaction. Competence is the ability to respond to challenging situations by using your unique skills and abilities. Relatedness is the opportunity to share your values and accomplishments with others.
Components of Emotions
Emotions are complex physiological and psychological experiences which can be strong motivators in and of themselves. They involve three components: physiological arousal, the subjective experience, and some behavioral “expression.” Emotions can function as motivators (for example, fear motivating you to run away from a bear), as goals (getting married because you want to be happy and in love), and as information (decision-making based on how you feel about your options). Use of emotions as information requires emotional intelligence and practice interpreting the non-verbal experience of emotions.
Although the purpose of emotions is not exactly clear, most scientists agree that we evolved the capacity for emotions because they provide information and allow us to share information with other members of our family and community. The basic emotions (fear, happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, and sadness) reinforce this idea, because they are universally recognized regardless of culture, language, or race. This underscores the notion that emotions are about sharing information.
The Subjective Experience
The trickiest component of emotions is the subjective experience. Roughly speaking, this is your interpretation of emotional information, which you then label as “sadness” or “guilt” or “grief” or “elation” depending on your experiences, awareness, expectations, and social or cultural expectations. Emotions can be analysed and organized based on activation (the intensity of the arousal), valence (whether it is positive or negative), and interpersonal engagement (whether the emotion is social, or personal). The interpersonal engagement piece is particularly important when we talk about cultural differences in the expression and experience of emotion; for example, americans of european heritage tend to be less aware of the social context of their emotions, so their awareness of interpersonal engagement is lower than individuals of east-asian heritage.
Physiological Arousal and Activation
The experience of emotion depends on the activation of physical systems such as the autonomic nervous system and the limbic system. Although research has demonstrated subtle differences in the kind of physiological activation we associate with different emotions, the general rule is that emotions require activation of the sympathetic nervous system and activation of the amygdala – the portion of the brain responsible for interpreting emotional experiences.
The activation of the amygdala is based on sensory input – for example, seeing a bear in the woods results in signals eventually reaching the amygdala, which then communicates with the hypothalamus and medulla to begin activation of the sympathetic nervous system. There are two pathways – direct and indirect – which can be thought of as pre-process and post-process. For example, the image of a bear is routed to the thalamus, then to the visual cortex, then to the temporal lobe (for identification), and then to the amygdala. This is the indirect pathway, which yields slower but more accurate responses. There is also direct communication between the thalamus and amygdala, resulting in a more unconscious response to the stimulus before it has been fully processed. This allows us to respond (and possibly escape) while we are determining the level of danger, rather than having to wait around for the processing to be completed.
Behavioral Expression of Emotions
Behavioral expression can be divided up into two broad classes. The expressions for basic emotions appear to be pre-programmed based on evolution. On the other hand, expressions for more complex “blended” or “hybrid” emotions are learned by interacting with other members of our family, community, and culture. These are governed by external rules called display rules, and these rules determine not just how emotions are expressed, but who can express them and when. Display rules are really a collection of norms and expectations that help us to understand, filter, and interpret the complex emotions of other people. When people violate these norms we feel confused, awkward, or alienated. So understanding display rules and being able to express emotions appropriately is a function of our participating in society at large, not just a personal experience.
Theories of Emotional Interpretation
Having looked at the components of emotional experience, the only remaining question is the sequence in which these components are experienced and how that sequence affects our interpretation of emotions. William James and Carl Lange’s James-Lange theory of emotion suggests, counter-intuitively, that we base our subjective experience of emotion on our physiological state – basically, recognizing that you are afraid because you are running. More or less, the brain recognizes a particular physiological state as being associated with a familiar emotion.
This feedback-based theory has some support, including the facial-feedback hypothesis, which indicates that we do evaluate our physiological states when interpreting our emotions. However, the work of Walter Cannon suggests that many emotions have similar patterns of physiological arousal (meaning that we shouldn’t be able to distinguish between them based on arousal alone), and that often the physiological response doesn’t occur until after we have already reacted to the stimulus (such as in the case of shame or embarrassment). Gregorio Maranon demonstrated that individuals who were injected with epinephrine (producing a fight-or-flight response) did not identify their emotion as “fear” because, even though their body said “fear,” they were aware of the experiment and knew they were not in danger.
Maranon’s experiment highlights that there is a cognitive element to our emotional experience, later expanded upon by Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion. They suggested that it is the interaction of physiological arousal and a cognitive evaluation of both the arousal and the context of the arousal that leads to the use of a particular label; for example, someone who is experiencing arousal of the sympathetic nervous system while on a ferris wheel may evaluate their emotions as “excitement” if they view the context of their arousal as “fun at the carnival,” or as “fear” if they view the context of their arousal as “people die on these kinds of rides.”
On the other hand, cognitive-appraisal theory suggests that our experience of emotion depends almost exclusively on our cognitive appraisal of the situation, without much regard to our physiological arousal at all. This represents an almost complete reversal compared to James-Lange. Cognitive-appraisal theory is useful for understanding the interaction of personal and cognitive factors, such as self-efficacy or locus of control, and our experience of emotions.
More information on the subtle yet critical importance of understanding our emotions.
General Psychology 