MOTIVATION AND EMOTION

MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS

MOTIVATION

Definition of motivation

Motivation is not just a simple topic it is a broad science that is why different scholars have had
tried to give motivation different definitions some of them are

 "Motivation is an ongoing process" (Goudas, Biddle, & Fox, 2011).

 "Motivation is defined as a cognitive process" (Osborn, Irwin, Skogsberg, &Feltz, 2012).
 "Motivation is a desire for change" (Hong, Cheng, Hwang, Lee, & Chang, 2009).
 "Motivation is a desire to do something" (Kim, & Lee, 2008).
 "Motivation is an abstract concept" (Sass, 1989).
 "Motivation is dependent upon the individual and the situation" (Strombeck, &
Wakefield, 2008).

The commonly argued definition of Motivation is commonly defined as what explains why
people or animals initiate, continue or terminate a certain behavior at a particular time.
Motivational states come in various degrees of strength. The higher the degree, the more likely it
is that the state has an influence on behavior. This is often linked to forces acting from within the
agent that result in goal-directed behavior. 

One problem with defining motivation in terms of internal forces is that it is very difficult to
measure them, which is why empirically-minded theorists often prefer definitions that are more
closely linked to observable behavior. One approach is to define motivation in terms of the
flexibility of the animal's behavior. This flexibility involves goal-directed behavior that changes
as the animal learns through new experiences. Rats, for example, can learn to traverse through
complicated mazes in order to satisfy their hunger. The feeding behavior of flies, on the other
hand, is not flexible in this sense. On this view, we are justified to ascribe motivational states to
rats but not to flies. But it has been argued that there are cases of motivation without flexible
behavior. A totally paralyzed person, for example, could still have motivation despite being
unable to engage in behavior. This means that flexibility may still be a sufficient but not a
necessary mark of motivation. Some definitions stress the continuity between human and animal
motivation but others draw a clear distinction between the two.

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Types of motivation
Motivation can be further divided into two different types.

Intrinsic Motivation

Definition
The act of being motivated by internal factors to perform certain actions and behavior is called
intrinsic motivation. In other words, intrinsic motivation means doing something just because
you want to. There is neither pressure nor any sort of reward for your actions, but you still do
them because you want to or you believe it’s the right thing to do.The concept of intrinsic
motivation was first acknowledged when conducting experimental studies of animal behavior. It
was seen that animals engaged in playful activities even without any presence of reward.
Intrinsic motivation has now been found to be a fundamental natural motivational tendency in
cognitive, social and physical development of an organism. It is an important factor that helps a
person to learn and improve themselves to be better.

The needs or causes that lead to intrinsic motivation are:

 Autonomy: the need to have complete control over one’s own life.
 Relatedness: the need to maintain companionship or connection with others.
 Competence: the need to do be the best and/or succeed.
Example 1: Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective, never solved cases for money or
fame. Curiosity always got the best of him and he solved them because he wanted to, he needed
to for self-satisfaction of knowing.
Advantages
 Hobbies and passion are mostly the result of intrinsic motivation.
 This form of motivation is long-lasting and self-sustaining.
 In case of a student, intrinsic motivation focuses more on the subject rather than
punishments or rewards. This helps the student to learn better.
 Successful people in work places are often intrinsically motivated. Also, if an individual
can be made to believe in an idea, he/she can be intrinsically motivated.
Disadvantages
 Fostering intrinsic motivation can be a lengthy process, requiring special treatment.
 In a class or workplace, different individuals will/might require different approaches.

Extrinsic Motivation
Definition

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Whenever an individual performs an action or behavior because the individual is affected by the
eternal factors such as rewards or punishments, such form of motivation is called extrinsic
motivation. Whenever a person is motivated by external factors, whether to avoid negative
consequences or to achieve positive outcomes, it is wholly considered to be extrinsic motivation.

Example 1: From the example of the Sherlock Holmes in the Intrinsic Motivation, if Sherlock
Holmes solved cases for money and/or fame; that would be an example of extrinsic motivation.

Advantages
 Extrinsic incentives can be used to motivate a whole group, thus increasing productivity in
workplace or creating a better learning environment in classrooms.
 Extrinsic incentives lead to individual benefits. These motivations can lead to behavior,
which would have never been possible otherwise. Example: A student might never feel the
intrinsic motivation to study, but external factors like medals or other forms of prize might
motivate the student to study harder.

Disadvantages
 Some extrinsic motivations have been known to down the intrinsic motivation in an
individual. This could interfere with a person’s happiness.
 Folks who spend their whole life chasing rewards at work often retire only to regret the
things they missed in life.
Approaches to motivation (theories of motivation)

Instinct Theory of Motivation

According to instinct theories, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are
evolutionarily programmed to do so. An example of this in the animal world is seasonal
migration. Animals do not learn to migrate to certain places at certain times each year; it is
instead an inborn pattern of behavior. Instincts motivate some species to do this.

William James identified a list of human instincts that he believed were essential to survival,
including fear, anger, love, shame, and modesty.1 The main problem with this theory is that it did
not really explain behavior, it just described it.  James presumed that we act on impulse, but that
leaves out all the learning/conditioning that informs behavior.

By the 1920s, instinct theories were pushed aside in favor of other motivational theories, but
contemporary evolutionary psychologists still study the influence of genetics and heredity on
human behavior.

Drive Theory

According to the drive theory of motivation, people are motivated to take certain actions in order
to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs. For example, you might be
motivated to drink a glass of water in order to reduce the internal state of thirst.

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The drive theory is based on the concept of homeostasis, or the idea that the body actively works
to maintain a certain state of balance or equilibrium.

This theory is useful in explaining behaviors that have a strong biological or physiological
component, such as hunger or thirst. The problem with the drive theory of motivation is that
these behaviors are not always motivated purely by drive, or the state of tension or arousal
caused by biological or physiological needs. For example, people often eat even when they are
not really hungry.

Arousal Theory

The arousal theory of motivation suggests that people take certain actions to either decrease or
increase levels of arousal.

When arousal levels get too low, for example, a person might watch an exciting movie or go for
a jog. When arousal levels get too high, on the other hand, a person would probably look for
ways to relax, such as meditating or reading a book.

According to this theory, we are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal, although this
level can vary based on the individual or the situation.

Humanistic Theory

Humanistic theories of motivation are based on the idea that people also have strong cognitive
reasons to perform various actions. This is famously illustrated in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy
of needs, which describes various levels of needs and motivations.

Maslow's hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to
other, more advanced needs. For example, people are first motivated to fulfill basic biological
needs for food and shelter, then to progress through higher needs like safety, love, and esteem.
Once these needs have been met, the primary motivator becomes the need for self-actualization,
or the desire to fulfill one's individual potential.

Maslow was interested in learning about what makes people happy and the things that they do to
achieve that aim, rather than focusing on problematic behaviors.

Incentive Theory

The incentive theory suggests that people are motivated to do things because of external rewards.
For example, you might be motivated to go to work each day for the monetary reward of being
paid.

Behavioral learning concepts such as association and reinforcement play an important role in this

theory of motivation. This theory shares some similarities with the behaviorist concept of operant
conditioning. In operant conditioning, behaviors are learned by forming associations with
outcomes. Reinforcement strengthens a behavior while punishment weakens it.

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While incentive theory is similar, it instead proposes that people intentionally pursue certain
courses of action in order to gain rewards. The greater the perceived rewards, the more strongly
people are motivated to pursue those reinforcements.

Incentives can arise from outside (extrinsic) or inside (intrinsic) an individual. Intrinsic
motivation is when you engage in a behavior because you find it rewarding for your own sake,
rather than from the desire for an external reward.

Conflict of motives and frustration

Based on the sources of motivation and the importance of the decision, people usually face
difficulty choosing among the motives. These are just a few of the motives that may shape a
trivial decision. When the decision is more important, the number and strength of motivational
pushes and pulls are often greater, creating far more internal conflict and indecision. There are
four basic types of motivational conflicts.

Approach-approach conflicts - exist when we must choose only one of the two desirable
activities. Example, going to a movie or a concert.

Avoidance-avoidance conflicts - arise when we must select one of two undesirable alternatives.
Someone forced either to sell the family home or to declare bankruptcy.

Approach-avoidance conflicts - happen when a particular event or activity has both attractive
and unattractive features, for example, a freshman student wants to start dating but she, at the
same time, is worried that this may unduly consume her study time.

Multiple approach-avoidance conflicts - exist when two or more alternatives each have both
positive and negative features. Suppose you must choose between two jobs. One offers a high
salary with a well-known company but requires long working hours and relocation to a miserable
climate. The other boasts advancement opportunities, fringe benefits, and a better climate, but it
doesn‘t pay as much and involves an unpredictable work schedule

Emotion
Emotions are biologically-based psychological states brought on by neurophysiological changes,
variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree
of pleasure or displeasure.
From a mechanistic perspective, emotions can be defined as "a positive or negative experience
that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity." Emotions produce different
physiological, behavioral and cognitive changes. The original role of emotions was to motivate
adaptive behaviors that in the past would have contributed to the passing on of genes through
survival, reproduction, and kin selection.
The physiology of emotion - when a person experiences an emotion, there is physical arousal
created by the sympathetic nervous system. The heart rate increases, breathing becomes more

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rapid, the pupils of the eye dilate, and the moth may become dry. Think about the last time you
were angry and then about the last time you were frightened. Weren‘t the physical symptoms
pretty similar? Although facial expressions do differ between various emotional responses,
emotions are difficult to distinguish from one another based on outward bodily reactions alone.

The behavior of emotion- tells us how people behave in the grip of an emotion.

Subjective experience or labeling emotion is the component of emotion and it involves

interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness,
shame, interest, surprise and so on.

Theory of emotion

1.The James-Lange Theory of Emotion

One of the early theories proposed by researchers was known as the James-Lange theory of emotion.1
Proposed independently by psychologist William James and physiologist Carl Lange, the James-Lange theory of
emotion suggested that emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to events. In other words, this theory
proposes that people have a physiological response to environmental stimuli and that their interpretation of that
physical response then results in an emotional experience.
How Does the James-Lange Theory Work?
According to this theory, witnessing an external stimulus leads to a physiological response. Your emotional reaction
depends on how you interpret those physical reactions.2
Example Suppose you are walking in the woods, and you see a grizzly bear. You begin to tremble, and your
heart begins to race. The James-Lange theory proposes that you will interpret your physical reactions and
conclude that you are frightened ("I am trembling. Therefore I am afraid.")

William James explained, "My thesis, on the contrary, is that the bodily changes follow directly the PERCEPTION
of the exciting fact and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion."

For another example, imagine that you are walking through a dark parking garage toward your car. You notice a
dark figure trailing behind you and your heart begins to race. According to the James-Lange theory, you then
interpret your physical reactions to the stimulus as fear. Therefore, you feel frightened and rush to your car as
quickly as you can.

2.The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur
at the same time.For example, seeing a snake might prompt both the feeling of fear (an emotional response) and a
racing heartbeat (a physical reaction). Cannon-Bard suggests that both of these reactions occur simultaneously and
independently. In other words, the physical reaction isn’t dependent on the emotional reaction, and vice versa.

Cannon-Bard proposes that both of these reactions originate simultaneously in the thalamus. This is a small brain
structure responsible for receiving sensory information. It relays it to the appropriate area of the brain for processing.

When a triggering event occurs, the thalamus might send signals to the amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for
processing strong emotions, such as fear, pleasure, or anger. It might also send signals to the cerebral cortex, which

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controls conscious thought. Signals sent from the thalamus to the autonomic nervous system and skeletal muscles
control physical reactions. These include sweating, shaking, or tense muscles. Sometimes the Cannon-Bard theory is
referred to as the thalamic theory of emotion.The theory was developed in 1927 by Walter B. Cannon and his
graduate student, Philip Bard. It was established as an alternative to the James-Lange theory of emotion. This theory
states of physical reactions to a stimulating event.

Examples of Cannon-Bard Cannon-Bard can be applied to any event or experience that causes an emotional
reaction. The emotion can be positive or negative. The scenarios described below show how this theory is applied to
real-life situations. In all these scenarios, the Cannon-Bard theory states the physical and emotional reactions happen
simultaneously, rather than one causing the other.

3.Schachter and Singer’s Experiment

In a 1962 experiment, Schachter and Singer put their theory to the test. A group of 184 male participants was
injected with epinephrine, a hormone that produces arousal including increased heartbeat, trembling, and rapid
breathing.

All of the participants were told that they were being injected with a new drug to test their eyesight. However, one
group of participants was informed of the possible side-effects that the injection might cause while the other group
of participants was not. Participants were then placed in a room with another participant who was actually a
confederate in the experiment.

The confederate either acted in one of two ways: euphoric or angry. Participants who had not been informed about
the effects of the injection were more likely to feel either happier or angrier than those who had been informed.

Those who were in a room with the euphoric confederate were more likely to interpret the side effects of the drug as
happiness, while those exposed to the angry confederate were more likely to interpret their feelings as anger.

Schacter and Singer had hypothesized that if people experienced an emotion for which they had no explanation, they
would then label these feelings using their feelings at the moment.