Evolutionary Approach to Motivation

Question 1

TWO THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO MOTIVATION

Answer 1

i. evolutionary perspective

ii. humanistic perspective

Question 2

EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH

Answer 2

Goal in life:
- reproduce
- enhance survival of species

Motivation for goal:
- biological/psychological needs

Accomplish goal how?
- maximize number of offspring
- maximize chance of survival of offspring

Question 3

EVOLTUONARY BASES OF BEHAVIOR

Answer 3

1. Organisms vary in endless ways
2. Some of these characteristics are heritable
3. Availability of resources can never catch up with rate of reproduction
4. Heritable traits will become prevalent if they enhance survival

Question 4

NATURAL SELECTION

Answer 4

Organisms that are more adapted to their environment are more likely to survive + pass on those genes

Question 5

FITNESS

Answer 5

Refers to the reproductive success of an individuals organism relative to the average reproductive success in the population

Question 6

ADAPTATION

Answer 6

a trait that is shaped by natural selection and allows the individual to survive and reproduce more successfully

Question 7

BATEMAN’S THREE PRINCIPLES

Answer 7

1. males show greater variance in number of offspring than females
2. males show greater variance in number of sexual partners than females
3. there is a stronger relationship between reproductive + mating success among males than females

Question 8

BATEMAN’S PRINCIPLE: EXPANDED

Answer 8

• nearly all females in a population mate and have offspring; but relatively few males mate successfully
• those males that do mate tend to mate with many females
• females are choosier when picking a mate than males
• males show greater elaboration of behavior/structures used in attracting mates than do females

Question 9

SEX DIFFERENCES IN JELOUSY: MEN

Answer 9

Men find the following to be more upsetting:

i) imagining your partner enjoying passionate sexual intercourse with another person

ii) imagine your partner trying different sexual positions with that other person

Question 10

SEX DIFFERENCES IN JELOUSY: WOMEN

Answer 10

Women find the following to be more upsetting:

i) imagining your partner forming a deep emotional attachment to that person

ii) imaging your partner falling in love with that other person

Question 11

BIOLOGICAL REALITY: MALES

Answer 11

• reproduction involves minimal investment of time, energy, and risk
• offspring # has no upper limits
• unsure of whether offspring is one’s own

Question 12

BIOLOGICAL REALITY: WOMEN

Answer 12

• reproduction involves substantial investment of time, energy, and risk
• offspring # has upper limits
• 100% sure of whether offspring is one’s own

Question 13

EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE: MALES

Answer 13

Maximize reproductive success by seeking more sexual partners with high reproductive potential

Question 14

EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE: FEMALES

Answer 14

Maximize reproductive success by seeking partners willing to invest material resources in one’s offspring

Question 15

BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES: MALES

Answer 15

• more interest in uncommitted sex
• greater number of sex partners over lifetime
• look for youth and attractiveness in partners

Question 16

BEHAVIOURAL OUTCOMES: WOMEN

Answer 16

• less interest in uncommitted sex
• smaller number of sex partners over lifetime
• look for income, status, and ambition in partners

Question 17

HAREM: HUMAN SOCIETY

Answer 17

refers to the place in which an elite man houses his wives, pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic servants, enslaved women + other unmarried female relatives

Question 18

HAREM: ANIMAL KINGDOM

Answer 18

an animal group consisting of one dominant male, a number of females, and their offspring

dominant male drives off other males and maintains unity of group

as juvenile males grow, they leave the group

dominant male mates with the females

drives off competitors until he is displaced aby another male

Question 19

IDEAS RELFLECTED IN THE STRUCTURE + ORDER OF A HAREM

Answer 19

• males maximize reproductive success by seeking a large number of sexual partners
• females maximize reproductive success by seeking a partner with high status/resource
• males expect chastity from partners
• females expect security from a partner

Question 20

SUMMARY OF EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH TO MOTIVATION

Answer 20

• studies traits that are universal in humans
• focuses on commonalities between people of different cultures
• trait could have evolved as an adaptation/by-product of a behavior
• goal of life is to reproduce
• adaptive trait enhanced reproduction

Question 21

PAUL EKMAN DID CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH ABOUT FACIAL EXPRESSIONS TO FALSIFY THE HYPOTHESIS OF WHICH THEORIST?

Answer 21

Charles Darwin

Question 22

EKMAN ANF FRIESEN FOUND THAT THE EMOTION THAT IS EASIEST TO RECGONIZE IS:

Answer 22

Happiness

Question 23

EKMAN ANF FRIESEN FOUND THAT THE TWO EMOTIONS THAT ARE MOST EASILY MIXED UP ARE:

Answer 23

fear and surprise