Chapter 11 - Motivation and Work Flashcards
What is motivation?
A need or desire that energizes behavior and directs it toward a goal - why we do something.
What is an instinct?
A fixed pattern of behavior that is not acquired by learning and is likely to be rooted in genes and the body.
This is seen more in animals than humans - evolutionary perspective. Human babies show certain reflexes but in general our behaviors are less prescribed by genetics. We may, however, have genetic predispositions for some behaviors. Human behaviors are usually more environmentally influenced than inborn, like in animals.
What is a drive?
A drive is an aroused / tense state related to a physical need. Ex. hunger and thirst.
Drives push from inside of us.
What is drive reduction?
Drives are usually uncomfortable and humans are motivated to reduce these drives. Drive reduction restores homeostasis - constant internal state.
What is an incentive?
Incentives are external stimuli that can “pull” us in our actions. Ex. We have a drive to have food or money we can exchange for food. Employers can use the prospect of a raise as an incentive to follow employer rules.
Talk about seeking optimum arousal.
Some behavior is not directly linked to a biological need. Human motivation aims not to eliminate arousal but to seek optimum levels of arousal.
What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Humans strive to ensure that basic needs are satisfied before they find motivation to pursue goals that are higher up on the hierarchy. We must have food and water before safety before belonging and love before esteem before self-actualization before transcendence.
Define self-actualization.
Living up to one’s full potential.
Define transcendance.
Overcoming the limits of the human self / finding meaning beyond yourself. Not everyone reaches this level.
Talk about hunger and motivation.
Research studies using semi-starvation show that when we are hungry, thought about food dominate our consciousness. The stomach contracts when hungry - hunger pangs. Receptors throughout the digestive system monitor levels of glucose and send signals to the hypothalamus in the brain. The hypothalamus can send out appetite stimulating / suppressing hormones to increase / decrease appetite.
Talk about regulating weight.
Most mammals have a stable weight to which they keep returning - their set point.
When a person’s weight drops / increases, the body adjusts their hunger level and energy usage.
Basal metabolic rate - the rate of energy expenditure when the body is at rest.
What determines how much we eat?
Unit bias - we may only eat one serving of food, but will eat more is the serving size is larger.
Buffet effect - we eat more if more options are available.
What causes variations from our normal body weight?
Body fat is our long-term energy source.
The biological tendency to store fat can be dysfunctional when food is abundantly available an can lead to obesity. In the United States the adult obesity rate has more than doubled in the last 40 years. This has been linked to diabetes, heart problems, and certain cancers.
BMI - body mass index - higher BMI, greater risk of death, especially in men (2%).
Why is obesity hard to change?
Once we become fat we require less food to maintain our weight than we did to attain it.
Eating less slow the metabolism.
A formerly obese person who lost weight will have to eat less than an average person just to prevent weight gain.
Talk about the social psychology of obesity.
Weight discrimination is stronger than race and gender discrimination.
People who are obese are more likely to be depressed or isolated.
