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 In psychology, the factors that direct and energize the

behavior of humans and other organisms.


 Motivation has biological, cognitive, and social aspects,
and the complexity of the concept has led psychologists to
develop a variety of approaches. All seek to explain the
energy that guides people’s behavior in specific directions.
 Three perspectives have particularly influenced
psychologists’ study of motivation: instinct theory, drive
reduction theory, and arousal (incentive).
 A fourth perspective Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
addresses the question of why some motives are more
compelling than others at certain points in our lives.
 A Motivation is a need of desire that serves to energize behavior
and to direct it toward a goal.
 Instincts are inborn patterns of behavior that are biologically
determined rather than learned.

 Extrinsic Motivation: type of motivation in which a person


performs an action because it leads to an outcome that is
separate from or external to the person. Example: Going to
work for money.
 Intrinsic Motivation: type of motivation in which a person
performs an action because the act itself is rewarding or
satisfying in some internal manner. Example: Creating a web
site for fun
 Freud’s theory of motivation was based on instincts.
 EROS (Life or Erotic Instinct)
 Sometimes referred to as sexual instincts, the life
instincts are those that deal with basic survival,
pleasure, and reproduction. These instincts are
important for sustaining the life of the individual as
well as the continuation of the species. While they are
often called sexual instincts, these drives also include
such things as thirst, hunger, and pain avoidance. The
energy created by the life instincts is known as libido.
 Thanatos (Death Instincts)
 Freud concluded that people hold on unconscious
desire by die, but that this wish is largely tempered by
the life instincts.
 In Freud’s view, self destruction behavior is an
expression of the energy created by the death
instincts. When this energy is directed outward on to
others, it is expressed as aggression and violence.
 Adler didn’t agree with Freud and broke with Freud in 1912
AD.
 He advocated that human beings are motivated primarily
by social urges. He believed basic motivation was
compensation (striving to overcome).
 It is the desire to fulfill our potentials and to come closer
and closer to our idea.
 In order not to feel inferior a person strives and struggles
for superiority.
 In a nutshell, he said that human behavior may be
endorsed through a single basic drive known as security
drive.
 The need for security to maintain one’s social self.
 Goal oriented theory introduced by William James.
 Explains the role of cognitive factors in producing
human motivation.
 Focuses on individual characteristics and how those
characteristics relate to motivation.
 The achievement of the goal satisfies the individual
which in turn reinforces the maintained behavior.
 Cognitive dissonance (imbalance between what we
believe in (cognitive) and what we do (conation)).
 May create psychological discomfort.
 The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused
tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy
the need.
 Basic purpose is to reduce internal tension caused by
unmet biological needs.
 They work by “negative” feed-back, that is one experiences
an unpleasant feeling (hunger, thirst) until you meet the
need.
 Homeostasis: a tendency to maintain a balanced or
constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body
chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level.
 The brain makes sure that body is kept in balance (body
temperature, fluid levels, energy supplies, need for rest).
 Some motivated behaviors increase arousal.
 tries to maintain a certain level of stimulation and
activity.
 In contrast to 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.
 Daredevil sports, high-stake gamblers, criminals, risky
activities.
 Theories suggesting that motivation seems from the
desire to attain external rewards, known as incentives.
 Incentive theory states that behavior is motivated by
the pull of external (outside) goals such as rewards.
 Jobs for money, workout for compliments, attend class
for A or attendance.
 Motivation’s Pull.
 Abraham Maslow believed that people strive for a
positive view of the self to realize their own
potentials fully.
 Believed these needs were innate but without a
supportive, nurturing environment, this essential
striving for full potential could not take place.
 In other words, he believed we all strive to work at
our fullest potential. We all want to become “self
actualized” that is reaching and using our full
potential in our vocational and personal life.
 He believed a person must satisfy the needs at the
lower levels before moving on to tackle the ones at
the top.
 For example, if you don’t have enough to eat, or
scared you may lose your house, you probably
won’t strive as much for personal accomplishment.
 This is very difficult to test. Also some of the most
creative people have lived in poverty. Edgar Allen
Poe for example
 Need for Achievement (McClelland)
 A stable, learned characteristic in which a person
obtains satisfaction by striving for and achieving
challenging goals.
 Need for Power (Winter, Zians, & Pratto)
 A tendency to seek, impact, control, or influence over
others and to be seen as a powerful individual.
 Need for Affiliation (Catnwell, Andrews, Johnson,
Semykina, & Linz)
 An interest in establishing and maintaining
relationships with other people.

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