Chapter 12

Motivation comes from…

…the interplay between nature and nurture (the bodily

push/the pull from thought and processes from culture)
Four Perspectives on Motivation
• Instinct theory

• Drive reduction theory

• Arousal theory

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Instinct Theory (Evolutionary
perspective)
• Instinct – complex behaviour with a fixed pattern
throughout a species and is unlearned

▫ Innate/inborn biological forces

▫ Imprinting in birds, infant rooting and sucking

• Instinct theory failed to explain most human

motives
▫ Used instinct to name behaviors, rather than to
explain them
 5759 supposed instincts
Instinct Theory and Evolutionary
Psychology
• Our genes do predispose species-typical
behaviours
• Evolutionary psychologists search for reasons for
our behaviour in our genetic code

• Evolutionary theories – natural selection

favors behaviors that maximize survival and
reproductive success
▫ Why are we motivated to belong to groups?
▫ Why are we motivated to eat?
▫ Why are we motivated to find a romantic partner?
Drive-Reduction Theory

• the idea that a physiological need creates an

aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates
an organism to satisfy the need

____________________ __________________ _______________

Need
Drive Drive-reducing
(e.g., for
(hunger, thirst) behaviors
food, water)
(eating, drinking)
Drive-Reduction Theory
• Behaviour is motivated by necessity to
reduce need
▫ The physiological aim of drive reduction
▫ A state of homeostasis; to maintain a steady
internal state (think thermostat)
▫ Staying the same
 E.g., blood glucose levels (hunger or satiation), body
temperature (too hot, too cold)
Need Drive-reducing
Drive
(e.g., for behaviors
(hunger, thirst)
food, water) (eating, drinking)

Rest
Incentive Theory
• We are pushed by our internal needs to reduce
drives
• We are also pulled by incentives
▫ Incentives are positive or negative stimuli that
motivate behaviour

• For each motivation:

▫ “How is this driven by my inborn physiological needs and
pulled by the environment?”
▫ An internal drive and an external stimulus leads us to be
strongly driven in our behaviour
 Optimal Arousal
• Not all motivated behaviours reduce arousal; Some
motivated behaviours increase arousal

• Optimal Arousal theory:

▫ Even when our biological needs have been met, we feel
driven to experience stimulation (“infovores”)
▫ We are seeking balance in stimulation

 E.g., curiosity
 Too little stimulation = Boredom
 Too much stimulation = Stress
Yerkes-Dodson law
Maslow
• Maslow said we have a hierarchy of needs:
▫ Physiological
▫ Safety
▫ Belongingness and love
▫ Esteem
▫ Self-actualization
▫ Self-transcendence
• Issue - How does this
explain why people go
on hunger strikes?

• Implication - May not be

quite so hierarchical????
Hunger and Eating
•What starts you eating?
▫ Is hunger triggered by stomach sensations? People begin to
feel hungry when stomach 60% empty
▫ But even when stomach removed (cancer) still get hungry

• Physiological factors
 Hunger pangs accompany contractions of the stomach
 Detectors of levels of glucose and fat
 Glucostatic hypothesis
 Hypothalamus

• Brain controls food intake

▫ Lateral hypothalamus increases hunger
 Destroy lateral hypothalamus – animals won’t
eat
▫ Ventromedial hypothalamus reduces hunger
 Destroy ventromedial hypothalamus – animals
will not stop eating
The Hunger-Regulation Cycle
Homeostasis: The physiological aim of drive reduction. It is a state
of equilibrium or stability; to maintain a constant internal state.

• Hypothalamus monitors blood glucose.

• When blood glucose is low, people become hungry.
• Food raises glucose, reduces hunger and eating.
Hunger and Eating
• What stops you eating?
▫ Nutrients are not absorbed fully until an hour after
a meal stops
▫ Injecting food into stomach stops hunger
▫ Removing food from stomach restores hunger
▫ Water can reduce hunger
▫ Memory
• those with amnesia can be made to eat repeated meals

• Hunger also changes with

▫ Changes in food type
▫ Changes in exercise
How much do we eat?
Eating depends in part on
situational influences.
 Social facilitation: the
presence of others
accentuates our typical
eating habits
 Unit bias: we may eat only
one serving/unit (scoop,
plateful, bun-full) of food,
but will eat more if the
serving size is larger
 Buffet effect: we eat
more if more options are
available
Hunger and Eating –
Environmental effects on eating
• People all over the world seek out sweet and salty foods
▫ Even young infants
• Stressed students eat more snacks – less ‘meal’ food
• People like familiar food but preferences can be
learned/unlearned
▫ China: soy, rice wine & ginger
▫ Greece: olive oil, lemon, oregano
▫ Mexico: tomato, hot chillies
• Learned food associations:
▫ movie  popcorn
▫ baseball park  hot dog.
Hormones and Sexual Motivation
Sexual motivation may have evolved to enable
creatures to pass on their genes. Sexual desire
and response is not as tied to hormone levels
in humans as it is in animals.

During ovulation, women show a rise in

estrogen and also in testosterone.

As this happens, sexual desire rises in women

and also in the men around them (whose
testosterone level rises).
Low levels of testosterone can reduce sexual
motivation.
The Effect of External Stimuli
The short-term effect of exposure to
images of nudity and sexuality increases
sexual arousal and desire.
Possible dangers include:
the distortion of our ideas of what is
appropriate and effective for mutual
sexual satisfaction.
the habit of finding sexual response
through idealized images may lead to
decreased sexual response to real-life
sexual partners.
Imagined Stimuli
The brain is involved in
sexuality; people with no
genital sensation (e.g.
spinal cord injuries) can feel
sexual desire.
The brain also contains
dreams, memories, and
fantasies that stimulate
sexual desire.
Fantasies are not just a
replacement for sexual
activity; they often
accompany sex.
Why do we have Keeping
children
a need to close to
belong? caregivers

Emotional
support to Mutual
get Evolutionary protection
through psychology in a group
crises perspective:
seeking bonds
with others aids
survival in many
ways
Division of Cooperatio
labor to n in
allow hunting
growing and
food sharing
food
Balancing Bonding with Other Needs
 The need to bond with others is so
strong that we can feel lost without
close relationships.
 However, we also seem to need
autonomy and a sense of personal
competence/efficacy.

There a tension between “me” and

“us,” but these goals can work
together.
 Belonging builds self-esteem, and
prepares us for confident autonomy.
The Need to Belong Leads to:
loyalty to friends,
teams, groups, and
families.
However, the need to belong also
leads to:
• changing our appearance to win
acceptance.
• staying in abusive relationships.
• joining gangs, nationalist groups,
and violent organizations.
Conflict

• Conflict is the feeling of being pulled in two or

more directions by opposing motives.
• Conflict is frustrating and stressful.
• There are four types of conflicts:
▫ Approach-approach
▫ Avoidance-avoidance
▫ Approach-avoidance
▫ Multiple approach-avoidance
Types of Conflict
• Approach-approach conflict.
▫ The least stressful type.
▫ Each of two goals is desirable and both are within
reach.
▫ For example:
two equally good summer jobs
Prom date with your best friend or that “hottie” in
Psyc class
choosing between a new BMW or Mercedes
Types of Conflict
• Avoidance-avoidance conflict.
▫ More stressful.
▫ A person is motivated to avoid each of two
negative goals. Avoiding one of them requires
approaching the other. Not choosing may be
impossible or undesirable.
For example:
Choosing between going to the dentist or suffering
with a toothache.
Lie to your favorite teacher about cheating on
your English project and risk her finding out or
telling the truth and risk losing your stature as a
respected and upstanding citizen.
Types of Conflict
• Approach-avoidance conflict.
▫ The same goal produces both approach and
avoidance motives.
 It has a positive and negative aspect
For example:
Eating ice cream – it tastes yummy but is not a
healthy choice
Go to the beach – you enjoy basking in the sun but
you can get a super sun-burned back
Types of Conflict
• Multiple approach-avoidance conflict.
▫ Each of several alternative courses of action
has pluses and minuses.
▫ Decision making can also be stressful especially
when there is no clear correct choice.
 Example – which university should I go to?
 Queens, McGill, UVic, SFU or UBC
Three basic forms of conflict. For this woman, choosing between pie and ice
cream is a minor ____________________conflict; deciding whether to take a job
that will require weekend work is an _____________________ conflict; and
choosing between paying higher rent and moving is an
_______________________ conflict.
Three basic forms of conflict. For this woman, choosing between pie and ice
cream is a minor approach-approach conflict; deciding whether to take a job that
will require weekend work is an approach-avoidance conflict; and choosing
between paying higher rent and moving is an avoidance-avoidance conflict.
 38

Expectancy • Value
Theory
and
Theory X vs Theory
Y Managers
`
• Motivation is so much more than…
 40

EXPECTANCY THEORIES

People will be motivated

to work hard and do
activities that they value
and that they feel they
can be successful in.
 41

Expectancy Theories
• “People will do what they can do when they want
to do it.” The question is ‘what makes them want
to do it?’
• Expectancies refer to beliefs about how we will
fare if we engage in a certain behaviour
 So if we expect to do well then we will be
more likely to engage in the behaviour
 If we feel that the chance of succeeding is
poor we will be less likely to become involved
 (Sounds a little like learned helplessness,
doesn’t it?)
Expectancy Theory
42

• Victor H. Vroom suggests that the motivation to work

depends on the relationships between three factors:
▫ Expectancy: How much a person believes that
working hard will result in a desired level of task
performance.
▫ Instrumentality: How much a person believes that
successful task performance will be followed by
rewards.
▫ Valence: The value a person assigns to the rewards.
Expectancy Theory 43

Multiplier Effect
• Implies that for motivation to be high, Expectancy,
Instrumentality and Valence must be high.
Motivation =
Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence
Belief working hard will lead to desired performance
X Belief that success will bring rewards X the
value people assign to the possible rewards
A zero at any location on the right side of the
equation will result in zero motivation.
 Expectancy x Value Theory 44

• So the more complicated formula is

Motivation = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence

And the simplified formula is

Motivation = Expectancy x Value
 Expectancy x Value Theory
Example
Math Test Bonus Question (1 mark)
very hard question

What is the expectancy?

- how likely is it that you could solve the problem?
- do you expect that you could do it if you tried?

What is the value?

- 1 mark
- is 1 mark worth all the work you have to do?

So how motivated are you to do the question?

 46

Cognitive x Value Theory

• The cognitive x value theory states that goal-
directed behaviour is motivated by two cognitive
judgements:

▫ Firstly, the strength of an individual’s expectation that

engagement in a particular behaviour will lead to goal
obtainment (expectation value)

▫ Secondly, the amount that an individual believes that

their performance will be rewarded combined with the
perceived value of that reward
How could we apply this to motivating
students to study for a particular test?
• How do you help students see that studying will
lead to success on the test?

• How do you help students to see that their

success on the test is valuable?
Put it into practice
• Create a rationale that will convince people to
complete their grad transitions assignments
Classical Approaches to Management
• McGregor’s Theory X and
Theory Y
▫ According to Theory X,
managers believe workers
 dislike work
 lack ambition
 are irresponsible
 are resistant to change
 prefer to be led
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

▫ According to Theory Y,
managers believe workers
 are willing to work
 are capable of self control
 accept responsibility
 are imaginative and creative
 self-directed
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
▫ Managers create self-fulfilling
prophesies
▫ Theory X managers create dependent
and reluctant workers
▫ Theory Y managers create workers
who perform as expected with
initiative and enthusiasm
 central to notions of empowerment
 Organizational Psychology
Goals of Organizational
Psychology Research
Organizational Maximizing worker motivation,
psychology: satisfaction, and productivity
studying and
consulting about
how worker Understanding organizational
productivity and structures and dynamics
motivation is
affected by
different patterns Facilitating organizational change
of worker-
management
engagement,
leadership, and Improving teamwork and leadership
teamwork
What is your ideal workplace?
• Describe the characteristics or qualities that
your ideal workspace (classroom) would have.
Satisfaction & Engagement
Employees who are more
Employees who are engaged (connected,
satisfied in an organization
passionate, and energetic) get
are likely to stay longer. more work done.

Because a happy worker is a productive worker,

organizational psychologists study factors related to
employee satisfaction, such as whether a worker:
feels that they personally matter to the organization
and to other people.
feels a sense that effort pays off in the quality of the
work and in rewards such as salary and benefits.
 Employee Engagement: Three Levels
Many employees are engaged
(connected, passionate, and
energetic about the
companies/organizations they
work for).
Some are not engaged; they
show up and get tasks done
but show little passion or
energy.
Others are actively
disengaged; they are
unhappy, alienated, and not
invested, even undermining
what people are trying to
accomplish.
Organizational
psychologists find that
people are most engaged in
work when they:
know what is expected of
them.
have the materials they
need to do the work.
have opportunities to
excel.
feel fulfilled.
feel part of something
important.
have opportunities to
grow/develop in the job.
What are the implications for
management?
Theory X managers tend to blame
problems on __________________
(like some instructors blame problems
on students!)
Theory Y managers _______________
for problems “no bad troops, only bad
officers”)
What are the implications for
management?
Theory X managers tend to blame
problems on employees (like some
instructors blame problems on
students!)
Theory Y managers take responsibility
for problems “no bad troops, only bad
officers”)