CHAPTER FIVE

MOTIVATION AND EMOTIONS

5.1. Motivation

• 5.1.1. Definition and types of motivation

• The motivation comes from the Latin word “Mover”,
which means “to move”.
• Motivation is a factor by which activities are started,
directed and continued so that physical or psychological
needs or wants are met.
• Motivation is what “moves” people to do the things they
do.
• There are two types of motivation:

I. intrinsic II. extrinsic motivation

• Intrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which
a person acts because the act itself is rewarding or
satisfying in some internal manner.
• Extrinsic motivation is a type of motivation in which
individuals act because the action leads to an
outcome that is external to a person.
5.1.2. Approaches to motivation (theories of
motivation)

• The sources of motivation are different according to

the different theories of motivation.
• Some of these theories are :
• A) Instinct approaches to motivation

• One of the earliest theory of motivation that is

focused on the biologically determined and innate
patterns of both humans and animals behavior is
called instincts.
• Just as animals are governed by their instincts to do
things, human beings may also be governed by
similar instincts.
• The early theorists and psychologists listed
thousands of instincts in humans including curiosity,
flight (running away), pugnacity (aggressiveness),
and acquisition (gathering possessions).
• There was no attempt to explain why these instincts
exist in humans
• These approaches accomplished one important thing
by forcing psychologists to realize that some human
behavior is controlled by hereditary factors.
B) Drive-reduction approaches to motivation
• This approach involved the concepts of needs and drives.

• A need is a requirement of some material (such as food or

water) that is essential for the survival of the organism.
• When an organism has a need, it leads to a psychological
tension as well as physical arousal to fulfill the need and
reduce the tension. This tension is called drive.
• Drive-reduction theory proposes just this connection between
internal psychological states and outward behavior.
• In this theory, there are two kinds of drives;

• I. Primary II. Secondary (acquired)

• Primary drives are those that involve survival needs of the
body such as hunger and thirst.
• secondary drives are those that are learned through
experience or conditioning, such as the need for money,
social approval.
• This theory also includes the concept of
homeostasis, or the tendency of the body to
maintain a steady-state.
• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a
state of imbalance.
• This stimulates behavior that brings the body back
into balance or homeostasis.
• When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a
state of imbalance.
• This stimulates behavior that brings the body back
into balance or homeostasis.
• the drive-reduction theory works well to explain the
actions people take to reduce tension created by
needs,
• it does not explain all human motivation.
C) Arousal approaches: beyond drive reduction
• Arousal approaches seek to explain behavior in
which the goal is to maintain or increase excitement.
• According to arousal approaches to motivation,
each person tries to maintain a certain level of
stimulation and activity.
• As with the drive-reduction model, this approach
suggests that if our stimulation and activity levels
become too high, we try to reduce them.
• But, in contrast to the drive-reduction perspective,
the arousal approach also suggests that if levels of
stimulation and activity are too low, we will try to
increase them by seeking stimulation.
D) Incentive approaches: motivation’s pull
• Incentive approaches to motivation suggest that
motivation stems from the desire to attain external
rewards, known as incentives.
• Many psychologists believe that the internal drives
proposed by drive-reduction theory work in a cycle
with the external incentives of incentive theory to
“push” and “pull” behavior, respectively.
• at the same time that we seek to satisfy our
underlying hunger needs (the push of drive-
reduction theory), we are drawn to food that
appears very appetizing (the pull of incentive
theory).
• Rather than contradicting each other, then, drives
and incentives may work together in motivating
behavior.
E) Cognitive Approaches: the thoughts behind
motivation
• Cognitive approaches to motivation suggest that
motivation is a result of people‘s thoughts, beliefs,
expectations, and goals.
• Cognitive theories of motivation draw a key
difference between intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation causes us to
participate in an activity for our enjoyment rather
than for any actual or concrete reward that it will
bring us. In contrast, Extrinsic motivation causes us
to do something for money, a grade, or some other
actual, concrete reward.
F) Humanistic approaches to motivation
• The other approach to the study of motivation is the
humanistic approach which is based on the work of
Abraham Maslow.
• Maslow suggested that human behavior is influenced
by a hierarchy, or ranking, of five classes of needs, or
motives.
• He said that needs at the lowest level of the hierarchy
must be at least partially satisfied before people can be
motivated by the ones at higher levels.
• Maslow‘s five Hierarchies of needs for motives from the
bottom to the top are as follows:
• Physiological needs: these are biological requirements
for human survival,
• e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
• Safety needs: protection from elements, security, order,
law, stability, freedom from fear.
• Love and belongingness needs: after physiological and
safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human
needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness.
• Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and
acceptance, receiving and giving affection and love.
Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
• Esteem needs: the need to be respected as a useful,
honorable individual; which Maslow classified into
two categories:
• I. esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery,
and independence) and
• II. the desire for reputation or respect from others
(e.g., status, prestige).
• Self-actualization needs- realizing personal potential,
self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak
experiences.
• A desire “to become everything one is capable of
becoming”.
5.1.3. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
5.2. Emotions

5.2.1. Definition of emotion

• Emotion can be defined as the “feeling” aspect of
consciousness, characterized by certain physical
arousal, certain behavior that reveals the feeling to
the outside world, and an inner awareness of
feelings.
• Thus, from this short definition, we can understand
that there are three elements of emotion: the
physiology, behavior and subjective experience.
• 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
rapid, the pupils of the eye dilate, and the moth may
become dry.
• The behavior of emotion: tells us how people
behave in the grip of an emotion.
• There are facial expressions, body movements, and
actions that indicate to others how a person feels.
• Subjective experience it involves interpreting the
subjective feeling by giving it a label: anger, fear,
disgust, happiness, sadness, shame, interest, surprise
and so on.
• Another way of labeling this component is to call it the
“cognitive component,” because the labeling process is a
matter of retrieving memories of previous similar
experiences, perceiving the context of the emotion, and
coming up with a solution- a label.
5.2.2. Theories of emotion

I. James- Lang Theory of Emotion

• This theory of emotion is based on the work of
William James .
• In this theory, a stimulus of some sort (for example,
the large snarling dog) produces a physiological
reaction.
• This reaction, which is the arousal of the “fight-or-
flight” sympathetic nervous system (wanting to run),
produces bodily sensations such as increased heart
rate, dry mouth, and rapid breathing.
• James and Lang believed that physical arousal led to
the labeling of the emotion (fear).
• “I am afraid because I am aroused,”

• “I am embarrassed because my face is red,

• “I am nervous because my stomach is fluttering,

“and
• “I am in love because of my heart rate increases
when I look at her or him.”
• James Lang Theory of Emotion

Stimulus Physiological arousal

(e.g. snarling (High blood pressure,
dog) high heart rate,
sweating) Emotion (fear)
II. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
• The emotion and the physiological arousal occur
more or less at the same time.
• Cannon, an expert in sympathetic arousal
mechanisms, did not feel that the physical changes
aroused by different emotions were distinct enough
to allow them to be perceived as different emotions.
• Bard expanded on this idea by stating that the
sensory information that comes into the brain is sent
simultaneously (by the thalamus) to both the cortex
and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system.
• The fear and the bodily reactions are, therefore,
experienced at the same time-not one after the
other. “I am afraid and running and aroused!”
• Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
Physiological
arousal
(High blood
pressure, high
Stimulus Sub-cortical heart rate,
(e.g. snarling brain -activity sweating)
dog)

Emotion (fear)
• Schechter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal Theory

• The early theories talked about the emotion and the

physical reaction, but what about the mental
interpretation of those components?
• In their cognitive arousal theory, Schachter-Singer
(1962) proposed that two things have to happen
before emotion occurs:
 the physical arousal and

 labeling of the arousal base on cues from the

surrounding environment.
 These two things happen at the same time, resulting
in the labeling of the emotion.
• For example, if a person comes across a snarling dog
while taking a walk, the physical arousal (heart
racing, eyes opening wide) is accompanied by the
thought (cognition) that this must be fear.
• Then and only then will the person experience the
fear of emotion. In other words, “I am aroused in the
presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be afraid.”
• Schachter-Singer theory of emotion

Cognitive appraisal

Emotion
(fear)
Stimulus
(e.g. snarling dog)

Physiological arousal
(High blood pressure,
high heart rate,
sweating)