Emotion and Motivation Flashcards
Define Emotion
• a complex experience of: • consciousness, • bodily sensation, and • behavior • that reflects the personal significance of a thing, an event, or a state of affairs.
What does the word emotion mean?
The word ‘emotion’ means : ‘to move’ Emotions move us: - Physically arousing the body - Driving factor to take actions - Moving towards goals - Avoiding activities or situations
• adaptive behaviors
Adaptive behavior is behavior that enables a person (usually used in the context of children) to get along in their environment with greatest success and least conflict with others. This is a term used in the areas of psychology and special education. Adaptive behavior relates to everyday skills or tasks that the “average” person is able to complete, similar to the term life skills.
• physiological changes
A physiological change is a change in the normal function of a living organism. An example of a physiological change is the everyday shedding of dead skin.
• emotional expressions
Emotional expressions include facial movements like smiling or scowling, simple behaviors like crying, laughing, or saying “thank you,” and more complex behaviors like writing a letter or giving a gift.
• emotional feelings
If it has anything to do with feelings like happiness or anger, then consider it emotional. … When you’re emotional, you’re feeling lots of feelings, or emotions: happy, sad, afraid, lonely, mad. An emotional speech makes you stand up and cheer.
Components of Emotion
- Physiological component
2. Cognitive-Perceptual component
Physiological component of emotion.
• Physiological component:
• Physiological arousal associated with emotions occurs through the activity in
the sympathetic nervous system and by the hormone adrenalin released by
the adrenal glands.
• Parasympathetic NS is the body’s counterbalancing mechanism, which can
reverse the effects of emotional arousal (heart rate slows, pupil size normal,
blood pressure drops)
The Polygraph
Lie detector tests (polygraph) measure the bodily changes that
accompany emotion.
• Questionable accuracy
• Records general emotional arousal — it can’t tell the difference
between lying and fear, anxiety or excitement.
Cognitive-Perceptual component:
Cognitive-Perceptual component:
• Emotional experience depends on how you as an individual interpret a
situation.
• Cognitive processes are therefore key determinants in emotional experience.
• The emotion experienced will depend on thoughts, past experience, present
needs as well as perception of the current context
Robert Plutchik has identified eight primary
emotions
- Anger
- Fear
- Antipitation
- Surprise
- Joy
- Sadness
- Trust
- Disgust
New emotions are produced when the primary emotions are combined. make example
Annoyance + Anger = Rage
Trust + Acceptance = Admiration
Anticipation+ Interest = Vigilance
What is a mood?
• Mildest form of emotion • Low intensity emotional states that can last for many hours, or even days. • Affect day-to-day behavior • Power of positive mood • Closely tied to circadian rhythms.
What is meant by facial expressions?
-Basic expressions appear to be fairly universal
• Facial expressions of fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, and happiness
(enjoyment) are recognized around the world
• A smile is the most universal and easily recognized facial expression
Cultural Differences [in terms of facial expressions]
• Some facial expressions are shaped by learning and may be found only in specific cultures.
• Anger is a common emotion in Western cultures. Anger in Asia is less common, at odds with a culture that values cooperation.
• America: positive emotions associated with individuality. Japan,
the positive feeling associated with membership of the group
Gender Differences
- Private experiences
- No reason to believe any differences
• Outward experiences
Western cultures
• Women: guilt, sadness, fear
• Men: hostility and anger
Western upbringing
• Women: focus on nurturing
• Men: power
What is body language?
-The use of body movement, posture, gestures, and facial expressions
• Warning against ‘interpretations’ of body language: meanings are not
rigidly fixed
• Crossed arms
• Defensiveness
• Really cold
Body language [facial expressions]
Facial expressions
• Most expressive part of one’s body
• Believed to be the doorway to what other is feeling
3 basic dimensions:
• Pleasantness-unpleasantness
• Attention-rejection
• Activation (arousal)
Mixed messages
• Cutting words said with a smile
• Smile while arms crossed, shoulders hunched
The body telegraphs other feelings
Relaxation
• Arms and legs casually positioned and spread, leaning back
Tension- Closed posture
• Liking/disliking - Leaning toward / away
• Body positioning can reveal feelings that would normally be
concealed.
The “chameleon effect”
• often unconsciously mimic the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions
of other people as we interact with them
• Stronger connection
• If another person copies your gestures and physical postures (subtly)
Theories of Emotion
- The James – Lange theory.
- The Cannon-Bard theory.
- The Schachter’s theory
The James – Lange theory
• Challenged commonsense: we see a lion, feel fear, become aroused,
and run
• They argued, emotional feelings follow bodily arousal. Thus, we see a
bear, run, are aroused, and then feel fear as we become aware of our
bodily reactions
The Cannon-Bard theory
• If you see a dangerous-looking lion, brain activity will simultaneously
produce bodily arousal, running, and feeling fear
• Ie emotional feelings and bodily arousal occur at the same time
• Stimulus: thalamus – cortex & hypothalamus
The Schachter’s theory
cognitive (mental) factors also part of emotion
• emotion occurs when we apply a particular label to general
physical arousal
• when we are aroused, we have a need to interpret our
feelings
• the label (such as anger, fear, or happiness) we apply to
bodily arousal is influenced by
• our past experiences, the situation, and the reactions of others
Schachter’s (1964) ‘Two-Factor’ theory of emotion
–Emotions occur when we apply a particular label to
general physiological arousal.
–Choice of label is a process of attribution, deciding on
the source of arousal.
• Experience of emotion therefore depends on 2 factors:
autonomic arousal and cognitive interpretation.
• Type of emotion experienced depends on your
interpretation of the arousal
Schachter and Singer’s
experiment
The experiment suggested that those participants who had no way to
interpret their reaction to the injection began feeling and acting the way they
had been prompted.
• This supports Schachter and Singer’s theory that the body reacts in physically similar ways even though different emotions are being experienced. It also
suggests that we interpret our emotions according to the behavior of those
around us
Schachter and Singer’s
experiment Results:
The participants in group 1 and 2 who didn’t receive accurate information
about the effects of the injection tended to imitate the behaviors of the
confederates.
• The participants in group 3 who were told the truth and the members of the control group were uninfluenced by the behavior of the confederates.
The structure of the experiment.
Aim:
• To show that similar bodily response can be labeled
differently, depending on a person’s situation
Method:
• 1/2 the participants received an adrenaline injection and
1/2 received a placebo that had no effect on behavior
• Participants who received adrenaline were subdivided
into 3 groups.
• Group 1 was told nothing about the side effects of the
adrenaline.
• Group 2 was told that the substance would cause itching and
numbness and
• group 3 was told that the injection would increase the activity of
their nervous system (truth).
Then the participants were taken to a room and told to wait in pairs.
The participants didn’t know that they were paired with a
confederate who was “in” on the experiment. The confederates acted
very strangely and unusual
Attribution and facial feedback hypothesis.
- It is the mental process of assigning causes to events.
- In emotion, the process of attributing arousal to a particular source.
Facial feedback hypothesis:
• The sensations from facial expressions help define what emotion a
person feels
Emotional Intelligence
• EQ is the ability to consciously make your emotions work for you in a
wide variety of life circumstances.
• Important elements of emotional intelligence include: • self-awareness, empathy, an ability to manage emotions, understanding emotion, and
knowing how to use emotions to enhance thinking, decision-making, and relationships.
• Positive emotions are valuable because they tend to broaden our
focus and they encourage personal growth and social connection.
Dealing with other
peoples emotions
Various responses • Denial of feelings • “there’s no reason to be so upset..” • The philosophical approach • “Look life is like that. Things don’t always turn out the way we want • Advice • “You know what I think you should do?
- Questions
- “What exactly happened that made you forget?”
- Defense of the other person
- “I understand why your boss responded the way he did.”
- Pity
- “Oh you poor thing I feel so sorry for you, I could just cry”
Empathetic response
• An attempt to tune into the feelings of another
• “Boy, that sounds like a rough experience”
Motivation
• An internal state that activates and gives direction to our thoughts,
feelings, and actions. To be moved to action.
• The dynamics of behavior — the ways in which our actions are initiated, sustained, directed, and terminated (Franken, 2007).
• Motive – specific need or desire that arouses an organism and directs
its behavior towards a goal (hungry – seek food)
• Emotions also activate and affect behavior.
Nature of Motivated
Behavior
• Dimensions of motivation:
• We are not necessarily aware of the reasons for our actions
• In everyday behavior, we sometimes know precisely why we choose to act in a
particular way
• We may sometimes act without thinking, but afterward we are able to trace back the
reasons for acting.
• Psychoanalytic theory purports that sometimes our reasons for acting remain hidden
from ourselves
The reasons for one’s actions may be intrinsic (motivated by internal psychophysiological states, e.g. hunger) or extrinsic (external factors in the
environment, e.g. money)
A Model of Motivation
• Begins with a need (internal deficiency)
• Need causes a drive (energized motivational state) to develop
• Drive activates a response (action/ series of actions)
• …designed to attain a goal (target of motivated behavior) which
results in need reduction.
• Influenced by external stimuli as well as internal needs. Eg Incentives
may override needs
Types of Motives
- Primary motives
- Stimulus motives
- Secondary motives
Primary motives
• Biological
• Survival needs
• Most important are hunger, thirst, pain avoidance, and needs for air,
sleep, elimination of wastes, and regulation of body temperature.
• Biological motives are innate/instincts
• They maintain homeostasis
• Homeostasis
• The body remains a steady state of physiological equilibrium. Any deviation
from equilibrium results in automatic reactions to restore equilibrium.
Stimulus motives
Drive for Stimulation
• Reflects need for information, exploration, manipulation, and sensory
input.
• Present in infancy
• Examples include activity, curiosity, exploration, manipulation, and
physical contact.
Secondary motives
are based on learned needs, drives, and goals.
Learned motives help explain many human activities, such as making music, creating a web page, or trying to win the
• skateboarding finals in the X Games. Many secondary motives are related to learned needs for power, affiliation (the need to be with others), approval, status, security, and achievement. Fear and aggression also appear to be greatly affected by learning.
Arousal Theory
Arousal Theory
• We try to keep arousal at an optimal level
• Individuals have characteristic levels of arousal – determined by the characteristic ratio between the level of sympathetic activity and parasympathetic
the activity of our autonomic immune system.
• When we are understimulated, the level of arousal drops below our
characteristic level of arousal and when we are overstimulated it
rises above our characteristic level of arousal.
• Some individuals need highly stimulating environments (stimulation
seekers) while others prefer serene, calm circumstances
• Yerkes-Dodson Law – level of arousal needed for optimal
performance.
This law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental
arousal, but only up to a point.
• When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases.
• This process is often illustrated graphically as a bell-shaped curve which
increases and then decreases with higher levels of arousal.
A bell curve
Inadequate stimulation –> Got juices going so, inspired –> Overload = Paralyzed / unproductive
Learned Motives
• Opponent-Process Theory: if a stimulus causes a strong emotion, eg
fear, an opposite emotion tends to occur when the stimulus ends, eg
relief/pleasure.
• Social Motives: success, achievement, competition, money,
possessions, status, love, approval, grades, dominance, power, or
belonging to group.
– Acquired through socialization and cultural conditioning.
Motivation
Need for achievement: strive to do well any time they are evaluated.
• Need for power: a desire to have impact or control over others.
People with strong needs for power want their importance to be
visible.
• Personal cognitive factors such as self-determination, curiosity and
challenge.
• Self-confidence affects motivation by influencing the challenges you
will undertake, the effort you will make, and how long you will persist
when things don’t go well
Intrinsic Motivation
• Intrinsic motivation occurs when we do something because we see it
as inherently interesting or enjoyable or an opportunity to explore,
learn, and actualize our potential.
• People are more likely to be creative when they are intrinsically
motivated.
• Work quality is influenced by personal interest and freedom of
choice
Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation stems from external factors, such as pay, grades,
rewards, obligations, and approval. Most of the activities we think of as “work” are extrinsically rewarded.
• Although internal motivation often results in improved performance,
creativity and self-esteem, highly successful individuals seem to be
both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated (emphasize personal
effort but also often highly competitive)
Intrinsic and Extrinsic
motivation Examples:
• Examples:
• A student who does his homework only because he fears parental
sanctions for not doing it is extrinsically motivated because he is
doing the work in order to attain the separable outcome of avoiding
sanctions.
• A student who does the work because she personally believes it is
valuable for her chosen career is also extrinsically motivated because
she too is doing it for its instrumental value rather than because she
finds it interesting
Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs
• Needs are prioritized - Higher motivations can come into play only
when the basic needs have been satisfied.
• Maslow believed that all humans have an inherent need to actualize
themselves but that in order to achieve that a number of other needs
have to be fulfilled.
Growth needs
Self-actualization as expressed through meta-needs:
Wholeness, perfection, completion, justice, richness, simplicity, aliveness, beauty, goodness, uniqueness, playfulness, truth, autonomy, meaningfulness
Basic needs
- Esteem and self-esteem
- Love and belonging
- Safety and security
- Physiology needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of need [Pyramid]
- Self- actualization
- Esteem and self-esteem
- Love and belonging
- Safety and security
- Physiological needs: air, food, water, sex, sleep, e.t.c
