Motivation

Introduction to Psychology, 7th Edition, James W. Kalat
Chapter 11: Motivation
Chapter 11
Motivation

Motivation
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.

Module 11.1
General Principles of Motivation
What are you most highly motivated for? Create a top-five
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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.

Views of Motivation
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 ...

Views of Motivation
Motivation as an energy
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.

Views of Motivation
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?

Views of Motivation
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.

Views of Motivation
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.

Views of Motivation
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.

Views of Motivation
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.
Views of Motivation

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.
Views of Motivation

Figure 11.2 Monkeys learned to remove the pin, hook, and hasp in that order to
open this device. When they started receiving a raisin instead of opening it just for
fun, their performance deteriorated.

Table 11.1 Four views of motivation

Concept Check:
You enjoy taking guitar lessons. Would it increase or decrease
your interest if your parents offered to pay you for practicing?
According to overjustification, it would decrease your interest.

Types of Motivation
Primary and secondary motivation
Primary motivations are automatic, built-in processes
(e.g., food and water)
Secondary motivations develop as a result of specific
learning experiences. You learn to perform these
behaviors because they bring you closer to satisfying
primary motivations.
These motivations are analogous to the conditioned and
unconditioned reinforcers that we discussed in the
chapter on learning

Concept Check:
Is your interest in getting in “A” in this class an example of a
primary or secondary motivation?
A secondary motivation

Many Types of Motivation
We understand some motivations that are directly related to
survival, but still puzzle over those that seem to have
nothing to do with staying alive.
Unusual behaviors are most likely driven by a combination
of motivating factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic in origin.

Module 11.3
Sexual Motivation

What Do People Do, and How Often?
There are many academic and scientific reasons to
research the habits and attitudes of human beings
regarding sexuality.
Most of us also are just plain curious and wonder “Am I
normal?”

What Do People Do, and How Often?
The answer to that question depends on what we mean by
“normal.”
“A nymphomaniac is someone who wants more sex than
you do.” -- Alfred Kinsey

The Kinsey Survey
Alfred C. Kinsey conducted the first major survey of human
sexual behavior.
He had a large sample, but it was not randomly gathered
and since it was from only one area of the United States,
cannot be considered representative.
His results are still useful in that they are indicative of the
wide variation in human sexual habits and attitudes.

Contemporary Surveys
Surveys from the 1980s and 1990s have been more
successful in obtaining random and representative samples
Results suggest that the most popular sexual activities
are vaginal sex, oral sex, and watching one’s partner
undress.
Men indicate stronger preferences for activities such as
masturbation and casual sex than do women.
The number of partners reported in the past year tends
to be greatest in young adulthood.

Figure 11.12 The percentage of U.S. adults who rate various sexual activities as
“very appealing,” as opposed to “somewhat appealing,” “not appealing,” or “not at
all appealing.” (Based on data of Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, & Michaels, 1994)

Sexual Behavior in the Era of AIDS
AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome is a
sexually transmitted disease that gradually destroys the
body’s immune system.
The virus does not survive long outside of body fluids
and must enter a person’s blood.

Sexual Behavior in the Era of AIDS
The three most common modes of transmission are blood
transfusion, sharing needles for IV drug use, and sexual
contact.
Information campaigns have had limited success in
promoting condom use, abstinence and other “safe sex”
strategies even in places where the disease affects a large
proportion of the population.

Sexual Identity and Orientation
People vary in their sexual preferences.
Gender identity is the sex that a person regards him- or
herself as being.
Sexual orientation is a person’s preference for male
partners, female partners, both, or neither.
People who prefer partners of their own sex are referred
to as homosexual; those who like partners of both
sexes are called bisexual.

Influences on Sexual Anatomy
The human fetus starts off with a “unisex” body structure.
Hormonal influences starting in the seventh or eighth
week of prenatal development determine whether a fetus
becomes anatomically male or female.
Male fetuses generally secrete higher levels of the
hormone testosterone than do females. Testosterone
causes the development of a penis and scrotum in
males.
Lower levels of testosterone in female fetuses are
responsible for the development of the clitoris and labia.

Figure 11.16 The human genitals look the same in male and female fetuses for
about the first 6 or 7 weeks after conception (a).

Figure 11.16 (cont.) Differences begin to emerge over the next couple of months
(b) and are well developed at birth (c)

Figure 11.16 (cont.) Differences begin to emerge over the next couple of months (b)
and are well developed at birth (c)

Influences on Sexual Anatomy
Levels of estrogen increase in females at this time and
influence internal female development.
Some fetuses develop into individuals who have an
intermediate appearance between male and female. These
individuals are referred to as intersexes.
These individuals used to be surgically altered to create
either a distinct male or female appearance, but this
practice is no longer common because of the many
problems it created for intersex individuals when they
matured

Concept Check:
In order for a fetus to develop a male appearance, which
hormone must be present in sufficient quantity?
Testosterone

Influences on Sexual Orientation
Sexual preference is most accurately viewed as falling
along a continuum.
A small number of people who identify as gay or lesbian
have had heterosexual experiences.
A small number of people who identify as straight have
had at least one homosexual experience as adults, and
about 9% of males have had a homosexual contact as
adolescents.

Figure 11.18 The percentages of U.S. adults who report sexual activity or interest
in sexual activity with people of their own sex. (Based on data of Laumann et al.,
1994)

Attitudes towards homosexuality are culturally determined
and have changed repeatedly over the course of human
history.
In ancient Greece and Rome it was considered normal
for men to engage in occasional sexual activities with
each other.
In more recent times in Western Europe, homosexuality
has been viewed as a criminal activity, a sin, or to the
more enlightened person, a sign of mental illness.
The idea that homosexuality was a sign of mental illness
has persisted up until very recently.

Figure 11.19 Comparisons of the results of surveys conducted in five countries, in
which people were asked whether they had had homosexual experiences. (Based on
data of Izazola-Licea, Gortmaker, Tolbert, De Gruttola, & Mann, 2000; Laumann,
Gagnon, Michael, & Michaels, 1994; Sandfort, de Graaf, Bijl, & Schnabel, 2001; Spira
et al., 1993; Wellings, Field, Johnson, & Wadsworth, 1994)

This impression was perpetuated by the fact that mental
health practitioners only encountered emotionally troubled
gay and lesbian individuals; those without serious issues
did not seek mental health treatment.
Recent studies suggest that homosexual people may
experience a fair amount of depression and alcohol abuse,
but most are mentally healthy and well adjusted.
Psychologists and psychiatrists now view homosexuality as
a normal variation in sexual motivation.

Some researchers are inquiring about what causes people
to develop their sexual preference.
Most available research has been done using samples
of gay males.
Twin studies suggest that genetic factors contribute to
sexual orientation.
Hormone levels in adults do NOT play a role in sexual
preference although prenatal hormone levels may play a
role.

Figure 11.20 The probability of a homosexual orientation is higher among
monozygotic twins of adult homosexuals than among their dizygotic twins. The
probability is higher among dizygotic twins than among adopted brothers or sisters
who grew up in the same family. These data suggest a possible genetic role in the
development of sexual orientation. (Based on results of Bailey & Pillard, 1991; Bailey,
Pillard, Neale, & Agyei, 1993)

The research of Simon LeVay has provided evidence that
the INAH3 section of the anterior hypothalamus is larger in
straight men than in gay men or women. This may also
relate to sexual orientation.
The research of LeVay and others is new and requires
replication. It is likely that sexual orientation is formed
through a combination of biological predispositions and
experiences. All conclusions in this area at this time are
tentative at best.

Biology, Society and Sexual Motivation
Human sexual motivation and behavior reflects interplay of
biology, experience and context.
The development of sexual interest and preference is most
likely the end result of biology and experience.
Research on the psychology of sex and sexuality is very
new and much remains to be learned.

Module 11.4
Achievement Motivation

The Need for Achievement
The need for achievement is a striving for accomplishment
and excellence.
People tend to describe this in themselves in terms of
the extrinsic motivation involved – the attainment of
rewards.
There is also an intrinsic need for achievement, the
accomplishment of goals for their own sake.

The Need for Achievement and Setting Goals
Individuals who are experiencing a strong fear of failure,
the concern with avoiding defeat rather than achieving
success, may choose either very easy or almost impossible
goals.
In low-pressure situations, those with fear of failure tend to
put forth a good effort, but if told that the task is of crucial
importance, they exert less effort.

High and Low Goals
Very high goals tend to promote good performance, as long
as the goals seem realistic.
Students and workers must have enough ability to attain
the goals.
They must take the goals seriously.
They need to receive specific and frequent feedback.
Challenging goals require intrinsic motivation, rewards
are less motivating for difficult goals than they are for
easy goals.

Figure 11.22 Conditions for high activity toward achieving goals.

Job Design
Should jobs be designed to be challenging and interesting,
or simple and foolproof?
According to the scientific-management approach, or
Theory X, most employees are lazy, indifferent and not
creative. Work should be easy to perform and strictly
supervised.
According to the human-relations approach, or Theory
Y, employees crave a sense of responsibility, variety of
tasks, and a feeling of accomplishment.

Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is influenced by a variety of factors.
Some factors are related to the job – interest level,
pay, coworkers and management.
The employee’s personality is also a factor.
Job satisfaction appears to be heritable – if other
people in your family are happy with their work,
chances are you will be also.

Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction
In general job satisfaction is strongly related to overall
life satisfaction.
Most adults say they are satisfied with their work, but
also say that they would choose a different job if they
could “start over.”
Younger workers generally report being less satisfied
than older workers.
Few people change jobs once they have reached
middle age.

Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction
What about the influence of pay on job satisfaction?
It appears to be very important, although probably not
the most important consideration.
The perception that the pay level is fair is crucial.
People will work at a lower-paying job that offers a
deep sense of accomplishment.

Figure 11.24 Psychologists propose several reasons why most older workers report
higher job satisfaction than younger workers do.

Leadership
How hard one works at a job is also influenced by
perceptions of how your organization is led.
It is hard to measure the qualities of an effective leader.
In describing the characteristics of an effective leader,
an interesting distinction has been made between two
main types.
Transformational leaders articulate a vision for the
future, and challenge and motivate subordinates to be
creative in improving the organization.
Transactional leaders try to make the organization
more efficient at what it already does, usually through
the use of incentives.

Leadership
The types are not mutually exclusive. Some leaders have
features of both types, and some have none.
Transformational leaders tend to be viewed as effective
across a variety of contexts.
Transactional leaders are described as more effective
in stable organizations where activities tend not to vary
in the long run.

Unlike hunger, the motivation for achievement is
complicated by the fact that there rarely is a point of satiety.
People who achieve major goals tend to set new ones and
begin striving for them.
We would probably be distressed if we had no further goals.

“(People) like the process of attaining, but do not quite like to
have attained.”
-- Fyodor Dostoevsky

Module 11.2
Hunger Motivation
Food selection depends on a combination of
physiological, social, and cognitive factors.

Motives in Food Selection
Food selection based on taste
Some taste preferences are present at birth.
E.g., infants like sweet, and reject bitter and sour
Humans and mammals prefer the taste of fat.
Temporary taste cravings are reported by most people
on occasion, and most are difficult to explain.

Preference for familiar foods
The human taste sense is uniform among all people, but
people from different parts of the world exhibit different
taste preferences.
People’s food preferences are heavily influenced by
familiarity.
Cuisine is one of the most stable and defining features of
any culture.
People are cautious about eating things that are
unfamiliar.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Learned association with food
Animals and people associate foods with the
gastrointestinal consequences of consumption.
Feeling full and satiated > want more next time
Feeling nausea > a strong aversion to the food may
be formed
Humans also develop preferences by associating one
food with another food that they already enjoy.
Often foods are rejected because of its origins (i.e., a cat
is a standard type of pet in this country and that makes
the idea of eating cat distasteful to most Americans).

The Physiological Mechanisms of Hunger
Hunger is a homeostatic drive (remember “homeostasis”?)
that makes fuel available to the body.
Glucose is the most abundant sugar in the blood, and is
an important source of energy, especially for the brain.
One way to think of hunger is as a homeostatic
mechanism that motivates you to provide your body with
the optimal amount of glucose
A drop in glucose entering the body’s cells is a major
factor in initiating hunger
Excess glucose is converted into fat and stored for later
use.

Two hormones secreted by the pancreas work in
complimentary fashion to regulate hunger and nutrition:
Insulin increases the flow of glucose and other nutrients
into body cells.
Insulin production usually surges at the beginning of a
meal and falls off after the meal is over.
Glucagon converts stored nutrients into blood glucose.
Glucagon is released between meals when energy is
needed.

Figure 11.5 A feedback system between eating and insulin levels maintains
homeostatic control of nutrition

If insulin is consistently in short supply, as in those
individual afflicted with diabetes, the body will absorb little
nutrition.
If insulin is consistently present in excessive amounts (e.g.,
hypoglycemia), most of the nutrients that are consumed are
stored as fat.
In both of these instances, appetite is increased, though low
insulin levels usually lead to weight loss (eat and excrete),
and high insulin levels lead to weight gain (eat and stored
as fat).

The Long-Term Regulation of Hunger
In the short run, food intake does not always match the
individual’s nutritional needs
Weight tends to fluctuate in the short-term, but is very
stable in the long-term.
Most individuals’ weights are very close to a set point, a
level that the brain and body work to maintain.
Part of the mechanism for regulating weight in the long
term is the hormone leptin, which is secreted by the fat
cells themselves.

Figure 11.6 For most people, weight fluctuates around a set point, the way a diving
board bounces up and down from a central position.

The Long-Term Regulation of Hunger
Leptin works in the hypothalamus to alert the brain that no
more fat cells are needed.
Extra leptin causes meals to satisfy hunger faster.
Some cases of obesity are linked to a lack of leptin. Many
other obese individuals have the hormone but are relatively
insensitive to its effects.

The hypothalamus is the location of several areas critical to
regulation of food intake
E.g., lateral hypothalamus appears to be critical for
starting eating. Damage to this area will cause starvation
through lack of interest in food.
Brain Mechanisms of Hunger and Satiety

Eating Too Much or Too Little
Obesity is the excessive accumulation of body fat
Obesity is a serious health risk because it increases the
individual’s risk of:
Diabetes
Coronary diseases
Some types of cancer
Sleep apnea

Obesity is usually due to the individual’s taking in more
calories than he or she is using.
There is no reliable connection between emotional
disturbances and obesity. It neither causes obesity nor
necessarily results from it, despite the acceptability of
“fat prejudice” in our culture.
Emotional disturbance can cause temporary fluctuations
in food intake and weight.

Obesity tends to run in families. Genes play a role but they
are not the only cause.
The dramatic increase in obesity in the United States over
the past 50 years has been linked to lifestyle factors.
We have sophisticated technology to do most of the heavy work that
was done as part of day-to-day life a century ago.
We also have a diet rich in fat, salt and sugar (due to the success of
“fast-food”) and a food industry that uses advertising and
persuasion to encourage the over-consumption of food.
Many overweight individuals are eating more than is needed, but
there are some who are eating normal-sized meals and are
hampered by low energy output, or low metabolism.

Losing Weight
Although losing weight can seem to be extraordinarily
difficult, there are a number of strategies available to the
motivated individual.
A certain amount of exercise must be a part of any long-
term weight loss strategy.
Surgery should only be utilized for those with life-
threatening levels of obesity.
Twelve-step programs such as OA can be useful for
those who are comfortable with the spiritual focus of
such groups.
Private counseling can be utilized for those overweight
individuals who are also struggling with psychological
problems.

Losing Weight
What about medications?
The use of medications for weight loss remains
controversial.
The variety of drugs available has increased.
Medications act by weakening hunger signals to the
brain, blocking absorption of fat in the intestines, or
increasing metabolism.

The Effect of Intentional Weight Loss on
Appetite
In present-day American society it is common for everyone,
and particularly women, to be unhappy with their physiques.
Americans tend to worry more about what they eat.
Americans express more interest in obtaining low-fat,
low-salt, “health foods.”
A slender ideal figure is presented in the media and
there is a great deal of social pressure to be very thin.
Even normal weight people are frequently dieting.

Figure 11.10 In a study by Fallon and Rozin (1985), women and men were asked
which figure they considered most attractive and which figure they believed the
opposite sex considered most attractive. Each sex misestimated the other’s
preferences.

The Effect of Intentional Weight Loss on
Appetite
Dieting can be extremely difficult.
Dieting requires a great deal of mental energy.
Vohs & Heatherton (2000) Does the stress of dieting
can make the dieter more vulnerable to temptation?
Task 1: Watch video and answer questions
Task 2: Sample and rate ice cream. “Help yourself
to any ice cream you want; we have tons in the
freezer.”

Who ate the most ice cream?

Results:
The dieters who were seated close to snacks and been told
“help yourself” ate the most ice crem
Interpretation:
People have limited resources for self-regulation
After you resist for a while your ability weakens, leaving you
more vulnerable to the next temptation
Implication:
Avoid putting yourself into one tempting situation after
another (especially within a short time)
Applies to any habit (smoking, drinking, etc. etc.)

Anorexia Nervosa
Dieting can contribute to the development of eating
disorders.
Anorexia nervosa is a condition in which a person refuses
to eat an adequate amount of food and steadily loses
weight.
Anorexia usually begins at puberty.
It is uncommon in cultures where a plump female body
is considered acceptable or desirable.
It tends to occur more in middle-class or upper-middle-
class women, regardless of ethnicity.
It seems to be related to social pressure and media
influence.

Anorexia Nervosa
There is an intense “fear of fatness” involved in anorexia, so
it is more likely that a tendency to perfectionism, coupled
with the constant social pressures around body image,
contribute to the development of this disorder.

Bulimia
Alternation between self-starvation and bingeing is called
bulimia
It is highly likely that dieting causes the feeling of
starvation that brings on the bingeing behavior.
People with bulimia tend to have low self-esteem, great
dissatisfaction with their bodies, and histories of family
dysfunction.
Many bulimics fluctuate around normal to high body
weight; a few are very thin.

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders have increased in prevalence in the United
States over the past two decades. At the same time, the
number of women who are unhappy with their bodies is
also increasing.
The lifestyle changes that make it easy to become
overweight, coupled with the high pressure on women to
look very thin, have probably both contributed to this
disturbing trend.

The Complexities of Hunger
Eating, hunger and dieting are topics that underscore the
message of this chapter.
Our motivations are diverse and interact with each other.
How much and what we eat depends not only on our need
for sustenance, but on social and psychological forces as
well.

Job Satisfaction and Job “Fit”
What did you want to be when you were in Kindergarten?
What is the overlap between your skills and interests?
Skills Interests
strengths

Motivation

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