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Motivation
Chapter 12
Motivation
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Defining motivation
The hungry animal: Motives to eat
The social animal: Motives to love
The erotic animal: Motives for sex
The competent animal: Motives to achieve
Motives, values, and well-being
Defining Motivation
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A inferred process within a person or
animal that causes movement either toward
a goal or away from an unpleasant
situation.
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Intrinsic motivation
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The pursuit of activity for its own sake.
Extrinsic motivation
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The pursuit of an activity for external rewards
such as money or fame.
The Hungry Animal: Motives to Eat
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The genetics of weight
Culture, psychology, and weight
Weight and health: Body versus culture
The Genetics of Weight
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Research suggests that heavy people are no more
and no less emotionally disturbed than average
weight people.
Heaviness is not always caused by overeating.
Set point
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The genetically influenced weight range for an
individual, maintained by biological mechanisms that
regulate food intake, fat reserves and metabolism.
Identical twins weigh and gain weight similarly.
The complexity of mechanisms governing appetite
and weight explains why “appetite suppressing”
drugs fail in the long run.
Body Weights of Twins
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Identical twins are
more similar in body
weight than fraternal
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Same whether raised
together or apart
Genetic factors play a
large role in body
weight
Culture, Psychology, and Weight
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The environment and obesity
Cultural attitudes
The Environment and Obesity
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Environmental factors related to weight gain:
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Increased abundance of low-cost, varied high fat
meals.
The habit of eating high calorie food on the run
instead of leisurely meals.
The rise in energy saving devices such as remote
controls.
The speed and conveniences of driving rather than
walking or biking.
The preference for watching television or videos
instead of exercising.
Cultural Attitudes
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In many cultures, where food is a rarer
commodity, fat is viewed as a sign of health and
affluence in men, sexual desirability in women.
While people of all ethnicities and social classes
have been getting heavier, the cultural ideal for
white women has been getting thinner.
The cultural ideal for men has also changed.
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Muscles used to mean a working class, now muscular
bodies symbolize affluence.
Cultural Attitudes
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Although more Canadian men than women are
overweight or obese, more Canadian women are
currently dieting, even when their weight is in the
healthy range.
Regardless of actual weight, research has shown
that Canadian teenage girls wanted to lose
weight, while most boys wanted to gain weight.
Cultural norms appear in the teens and persist
into adulthood.
Weight and Health: Biology versus
Culture
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People from cultures that regard overweight as a
sign of health and sexiness are more likely to be
obese.
People from cultures emphasizing thinness are
more likely to have eating disorders.
Many with eating disorders reflect an irrational
terror of being “too fat.”
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Bulimia
Anorexia nervosa
Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa
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Bulimia
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An eating disorder characterized by episodes
of excessive eating (binges) followed by
forced vomiting or use of laxatives (purging).
Anorexia Nervosa
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An eating disorder characterized by fear of
being fat, a distorted body image, radically
reduced consumption of food, and
emaciation.
Ideal Body Image
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Which image is ideal for your sex?
Which comes closest to your own body?
Influences on Eating Disorders
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Presence of extremely slim television stars.
Genes or set points which conflict with cultural
standard.
Conflict between desire to achieve and perception
of parent’s messages about a “woman’s place.”
Increase in male responsiveness to cultural
expectations may be related to their desire to be
more “manly.”
The Social Animal: Motives to
Love
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The psychology of love
The ingredients of love
Attachment theory of love
Gender, culture, and love
The Psychology of Love
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The need for affiliation
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The motive to associate with other people, by
seeking friends, companionship, or love.
Predictors of love
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Proximity
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Choosing friends and lovers from the set of people
who are closest to us.
Similarity
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Choosing friends and lovers who are like us in
looks, attitudes, beliefs, personality, and interests.
The Ingredients of Love
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Sternberg’s Triangular theory of love
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Passion
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Intimacy
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Being free to talk about things, feeling close to and
understood by loved ones.
Commitment
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Euphoria and sexual excitement.
Needing to be with the other person; being loyal.
Ideal love involves all three.
The Attachment Theory of Love
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Like infants have attachment styles to their
caregivers, adults have attachment styles to
their partners.
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Secure or rarely jealous or worried about
being abandoned.
Avoidant or distrustful and avoids intimate
attachments.
Anxious ambivalent or agitated and worried
that partner will leave.
Adult style is related to infant style.
Distribution of attachment style
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A representative survey of adults indicated:
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Securely attached 33%
Avoidant
25%
Anxious
11%
Gender, Culture, and Love
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Males and females respond similarly to:
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Love at first sight
Passionate love
Companionate love
Unrequited love
Being the break-up recipient
Gender, Culture, and Love
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Men and women different in
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How they express love
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How they define intimacy
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Men-doing; women-saying.
Men-hanging out; women-sharing feelings.
Men and women used to have different goals in
choices of partners
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Men-more romantic; Women-more pragmatic.
As more women have become economically selfsufficient, differences have decreased.
Sex Differences in Marriage Age
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Men tend to marry
younger women
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This age difference
increases with
man’s age
Women tend to
marry men who are
slightly older
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This changes little
with age
Based on U.S. marriage statistics
for the 1980’s
The Erotic Animal: Motives for Sex
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The Biology of Desire
The Psychology of Desire
The Culture of Desire
The Riddle of Sexual Orientation
The Biology of Desire
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Hormones and sexual response
Arousal and orgasm
Hormones and Sexual Response
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Testosterone appears to promote sexual desire in
both sexes.
Documentation included several studies of men and
women.
However, this is not a simple relationship.
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Sexual behaviour also increases testosterone.
Psychological factors are usually more important than
hormones.
Sexual offenders who are chemically castrated don’t
always lose sexual desires.
Arousal and Orgasm
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Freud differentiated between “immature” clitoral
orgasms and “mature” vaginal orgasms in
women.
Kinsey suggested that males and females had
similar orgasms but that females were less sexual.
Masters and Johnson asserted that women’s
capacity for sexual responses surpassed men’s.
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Didn’t examine differences based on developmental,
experiential or cultural factors.
Arousal and Orgasm
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What we know now
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Physiological responses don’t always
correlate with subjective experiences.
Psychologists still disagree on whether there
are sex differences in sex drive.
Social psychologists suggest that males
sexual behaviour is more biologically
determined while females sexual desires and
responsiveness are more affected by
circumstances, the specific relationship and
cultural norms.
The Sexual-Response Cycle
The Psychology of Desire
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Motives for sex include:
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Enhancement
Intimacy
Coping
Self-Affirmation
Partner Approval
Peer Approval
Sexual Coercion and Rape
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Persistent gender differences occur in perceptions
of, and experiences with, sexual coercion.
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29% of female undergraduates reported having
experienced at least one incident of sexual assault.
Only 6% of all sexual assaults in Canada are reported
to police, due possibly to the fact that most women
know their male attackers.
Men are far more likely than women to admit coercing
a partner into sex - using alcohol, drugs, threats, or
actual physical force.
Possible Motivations for Rape
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Peer approval
General anger
Revenge
The desire to dominate
Anger at women or the world
The Culture of Desire
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Sexual Scripts
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Sets of implicit rules that specify proper
sexual behaviour for a person in a given
situation, varying with the person’s age,
culture, and gender.
The Riddle of Sexual Orientation
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Factors which do not explain homosexuality:
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A smothering mother.
An absent father.
Emotional problems.
Same sex play in childhood and adolescence.
Parental practices.
Role models.
Seduction by an older adult.
Biological Explanations for
Homosexuality
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Studies demonstrating brain differences
have not been replicated.
Prenatal exposure to androgens.
May be moderately heritable.
Sexual Orientation: Genetic Links
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Identical twins have
highest concordance
(similarity) rates for
sexual orientation
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Same pattern for
males and females
This suggests some
genetic link in sexual
orientation
Difficulty in finding origin of
homosexuality
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Sexual identity and behaviour are different
and can occur in different combinations.
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Some are sexually attracted to both men and
women.
Some are heterosexual in behaviour but have
homosexual fantasies.
Sexual behaviours can differ in different
cultures.
The Competent Animal: Motives to
Achieve
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The Effects of Motivation on Work
The Effects of Work on Motivation
The Competent Animal: Motives to
Achieve
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Need for achievement
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A learned motive to meet personal standards
of success and excellence in a chosen area.
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a
projective test that asks people to invent
stories about ambiguous pictures which are
then scored for unconscious motives such as
the need for achievement, power, or
affiliation.
The Importance of Goals
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Goals improve motivation when:
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The goal is specific
The goal is challenging but achievable
The goal is framed in terms of approach
goals instead of avoidance goals
Approach goals are framed as getting what is
wanted.
 Avoidance goals are framed in terms of avoiding
unpleasant experiences.
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Types of Goals
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Performance Goals
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Goals framed in terms of performing well in
front of others, being judged favourably, and
avoiding criticism.
Mastery (Learning) Goals
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Goals framed in terms of increasing one’s
competence and skills.
Expectations and Self efficacy
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Self-fulfilling prophecy
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A expectation that comes
true because of the
tendency of the person
holding it to act in ways
that bring it about.
Self-Efficacy
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A person’s belief that he or
she is capable of producing
desired results, such as
mastering new skills and
reaching goals.
The Effects of Work on Motivation
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Working conditions
Opportunities to achieve
Working Conditions
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Working conditions that increase job
involvement, motivation, and satisfaction include:
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Work provides a sense of meaningfulness.
Employees have control over part of work.
Tasks are varied.
Company maintains clear and consistent rules.
Employees have supportive relationships with
superiors and co-workers.
Employees receive useful feedback.
Company offers opportunities for growth.
Opportunities to Achieve
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When person lacks
fair chance to make
it, he or she may be
less than
successful.
Motives, Values and Well-Being
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Motivational conflicts
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Universal psychological needs
Motivational Conflicts
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Approach-Approach Conflict
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Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict
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Equally attracted to two activities or goals.
Choosing between the “lesser of the evils.”
Approach-Avoidance Conflict
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One activity or goal has both positive and negative
elements.
Maslow's Pyramid of Needs
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Needs arranged in a
hierarchy
Low-level needs must be
met before trying to
satisfy higher-level needs
Esteem: Status, respect,
power
Self-actualization: Fulfill
one’s potential
Universal Psychological Needs
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Autonomy
 Feeling that choices are based on true interests
and values.
Competence
 Feeling able to master hard challenges.
Relatedness
 Feeling close to others who are important to
you.
Self-esteem
 Self-respect.
Universal Psychological Needs