Essentials of Psychology by Saul Kassin CHAPTER 10

Motivation and Emotion Motivation What Motivates Us? Basic Human Motives Social Motives Emotion The Physiological Component The Expressive Component The Cognitive Componet Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

What Motivates Us? General Theories of Motivation • Drive Theory – The notion that physiological needs arouse tension that motivates action • Arousal Theory – The notion that motivation comes from a need to achieve and maintain an optimum level of arousal • Incentive Theory – The notion that we behave in ways that produce a valued inducement Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

What Motivates Us? The Pyramid of Human Motivations • Heirarchy of Needs Maslow's Pyramid of Needs – Maslow’s list of basic needs that have to be satisfied before people can become selfactualized • Low-level needs must be met before trying to satisfy higher-level needs • Self-actualization is to fulfill one’s potential Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Hunger and Eating Cannon and Washburn's Hunger Experiment • Participants swallowed a balloon to record stomach contractions and pushed button to report hunger feelings. • Hunger feelings came at peak of contractions. • This theory has been discredited. • Stomach contractions do not cause hunger. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Hunger and Eating The Hunger-Regulation Cycle • When blood glucose is low, people become hungry. • Food raises glucose, reduces hunger and eating. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Hunger and Eating Obesity – The state of having a surplus of body fat that causes a person to exceed his or her optimum weight by 20 percent • According to U. S. health trends, 1983 -2002, Americans are increasingly overweight. • However, Americans are more health conscious in other areas. U. S. Health Trends, 1983 -2002 Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Hunger and Eating Body Weights of Twins • Identical twins are more similar in body weight than are fraternal twins. • Genetic factors play a large role in body weight. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Hunger and Eating: Eating Disorders • Anorexia Nervosa – An eating disorder in which the person, usually an adolescent girl or young woman, limits her eating and becomes emaciated • Bulimia Nervosa – An eating disorder that is marked by cycles of binge eating followed by purging – This disorder is twice as common as anorexia Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Basic Human Motives Sexual Motivation • Surveys of Sexual Practices – Men and women respond differently to surveys about their sexual motivations. • Men report more sexual permissiveness and promiscuity • The Evolution of Desire – Evolutionary psychology offers an explanation for gender differences in sexual motivation. – Others adopt a more psychological versus biological approach when explaining these differences. – It is difficult to differentiate between the influences of evolution and those of culture. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Social Motives Belongingness Motives • Need for Affiliation – Desire to establish and maintain social contacts • Need for Intimacy – Desire for close relationships characterized by open and intimate communication • Self-Disclosure – Sharing of intimate details about oneself to another person Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Social Motives Esteem Motives • Achievement Motivation – A strong desire to accomplish difficult tasks, outperform others, and excel – People who score high in the need for achievement work harder and are more persistent, innovative, and future-oriented. – They also set challenging but realistic goals. – And, they are more interested in mastering a task than they are afraid of failing at it. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Emotion The Physiological Component The Expressive Component The Cognitive Component Human Emotion: Putting the

Emotion Three Components of Emotion feeling state characterized by physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and a cognitive interpretation. r. A Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Physiological Component A Historical Perspective James-Lange Theory of Emotion • Emotion arises from physiological arousal – Happiness comes from smiling – Sadness comes from crying Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Physiological Component A Historical Perspective Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion • Emotion originates in the thalamus • “Body” (physiological systems) and “Mind” (emotional experience) are independently activated at the same time. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Physiological Component Brain Centers of Emotion • Limbic System – This system, which includes the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala regulates emotion. • The amygdala is highly involved in fear responses • Cerebral Cortex – No single region of the cortex regulates all human emotions. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Physiological Component Generalized Autonomic Arousal The Autonomic Nervous System “Fight or Flight” Restore

The Expressive Component Nonverbal Communication How Well do People Identify Emotions? Kassin, Essentials of

The Expressive Component Nonverbal Communication The Facial Electromyograph EMG – An electronic instrument used by emotion researchers to record activity in the facial muscles • Electrodes placed on the face record activity in various muscles. – Positive emotions increase activity in cheeks. – Negative emotions increase activity in forehead and brow areas. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Expressive Component Sensory Feedback • Facial-Feedback Hypothesis – The hypothesis that changes in facial expression can produce corresponding changes in emotion – Zajonc, et al. had subjects repeat vowel sounds. – Making some sounds - “ah” and “e” - caused smiling and elevated mood. – Making other sounds - “u” and “ü” - caused frowning and lowered mood. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Cognitive Component Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion • Physiological arousal – Sweaty palms – Increased heart rate – Rapid breathing • Cognitive Label – Attribute source of arousal to a cause. • To have an emotion, both factors are required. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Cognitive Component Counterfactual Thinking – Imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened but did not – Wondering “What if…? ” – More likely in response to negative events – More likely when one is close to the other outcome (e. g. , a lottery ticket with 4/5 winning numbers, a silver medalist, etc. ) Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Cognitive Component Is Cognition Necessary? Pathway of Fear Without “Thought” • Sensation of threat can reach the amygdala via direct path from thalamus – The fast “low road” • Sensation of threat also travels from the thalamus to the cortex – The slow “high road” • Cortical judgment can override direct path Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

The Cognitive Component Can People Predict Their Emotional States? • Affective Forecasting – The process by which people predict how they would feel in the future, after various positive and negative events – People have difficulty predicting their emotions in response to future events. – People overestimate the duration of their emotional reactions (durability bias). Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together Russell's Circumplex Model • Which emotions are universal, felt in all cultures? – Fear, anger, joy, disgust, surprise, and sadness • Russell identified two main dimensions of emotion. • Emotions can be sorted according to these dimensions in several cultures. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together • Are There Cultural Differences in Emotion? – Some aspects of emotion seem universal. – However, cultures affect the categorization of emotions and the display rules that govern when and where emotions can be expressed. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together • Pleasure and the Pursuit of Happiness – Three predictive indicators of happiness are: • Social relationships • Employment • Physical health Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together National Wealth and Subjective Well-Being • Over a 40 -year period, Americans became over twice as wealthy, but no happier. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Human Emotion: Putting the Pieces Together • Pleasure and the Pursuit of Happiness – Does Money Buy Happiness? • After basic needs are met, increased wealth does not result in a significant rise in levels of happiness. • One explanation is that people have a set baseline level of happiness toward which they gravitate. – Identical twins are more similar in levels of happiness compared to fraternal twins. – Happiness levels seem to be relatively stable over time and situations. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing