Topic 5b - Motivation

Question 1

What is motivation?

Answer 1

Internal state that drives people into action
Energises, directs and perpetuates behaviour
Directed towards satisfaction of needs
If unsatisfied - generates physiological / psychological arousal
DYNAMIC STATE (changes)

Question 2

How do personality and motivation compete?

Answer 2

May be motivated to take on a new job that doesn’t suit your personality due to money and power benefits

Question 3

What are models of motivation? - Murray 1938

Answer 3

Press + Perceived need -> motives -> behaviour
Primary needs (biological = food and water)
Secondary needs (psychogenic)
Press = Situational / external conditions influence needs

Question 4

What are the original 20 psychogenic needs?

Answer 4

• Need for achievement
• Need for affiliation
• Need for aggression
• Need for autonomy
• Need for dominance
• Need for exhibition
• Need for nurturance
• Need for order
• Need for play
• Need for sentience
• Need for sex
• Need for understanding

Question 5

What are the three main needs - McClellands Needs Theory

Answer 5

Need for achievement
Need for affiliation
Need for power

Question 6

How are needs measured?

Answer 6

Thematic Apperception Test

Question 7

What are sub components of need for achievement?

Answer 7

Hope for success, fear of failure

Question 8

What are sub components of need for power?

Answer 8

Hope for power, fear of weakness

Question 9

What does Hill (1987) propose the subtypes for need for affiliation motives are?

Answer 9

• Need for emotional support (be around others and feel comfort)
• Need for positive stimulation (feed off others)
• Need for attention
• Need for social comparison (being about others and compare with self)

Question 10

What is need for achievement?

Answer 10

Gaining satisfaction from achievement

Question 11

What tasks do people with need for achievement prefer? (Schultheiss, 2008)

Answer 11

Tasks of moderate difficulty - chances of success are not too high or too low
More indicative of ability

Question 12

What are the individual level aspects of Need for Achievement?

Answer 12

• Entrepreneurial success and innovation
• Poor leadership and managerial skills (lack of control)

Question 13

What are the societal level aspects of Need for Achievement?

Answer 13

• Economic growth and innovation
• Civil war / ineffective leadership

Question 14

What did Bradburn & Berlin, 1961 find about need for achievement and economic growth?

Answer 14

• Societal level of need for achievement in England from 1501-1830 (content analysis from popular literature)
• Samples of popular and imaginative literature - projection of authors needs and motives
• Changes of need for achievement in society linked to increases in economic growth

Question 15

What are the individual level aspects of need for power?

Answer 15

High testosterone, sexual activity, aggression, managerial and leadership career success

Question 16

What are the societal levels aspects of need for power?

Answer 16

• Increase in war and arms
• Effective leadership

Question 17

What did Spangler & House (1991) find about effective leadership and need for power?

Answer 17

High need for power and its correlation with presidential performance (factors that indicated measures of war, greatness and decisions)

Question 18

What is need for affiliation?

Answer 18

Desire to spend time with others and form social ties

Question 19

What is need for power?

Answer 19

Need to influence, dominate and control

Question 20

What is need for affiliation at individual level?

Answer 20

Like similar people to self, dislike dissimilar (to avoid conflict)

Question 21

What is need for affiliation at societal level?

Answer 21

Peace and disarmament, political scandal

Question 22

What did Langer & Winter (2001) find about need for affiliation and conflict?

Answer 22

Importance of concessions and to avoid and resolve conflicts - can affect willingness vs unwillingness to allow a third party in

Question 23

What is the link between need for power and health outcomes?

Answer 23

High testosterone -> high need for power -> more engagement in power-challenge situations -> activates sympathetic nervous system stress response (fight or flight) -> chronic high blood pressure over time -> lowered immunity

Question 24

What did McClelland et al. (1982) prison study find?

Answer 24

• 133 male prison inmates completed thematic apperception test (4 stories about pictures)
• Coded their need for power and need for affiliation
• Number of stressors recorded
• Number of severity of illnesses in the past 12 months
• S-IgA (indicator of immune functioning)
• High power, high stress = high illness severity and lower immune functioning

Question 25

What is the link between need for affiliation and health?

Answer 25

• Associated with parasympathetic activity, increased immune functioning - general positive effects on health, this conserves energy and promotes functions

Question 26

What did McClelland & Kirshnit (1988) find about need for affiliation and health? - short film study

Answer 26

• 132 students
• Used TAT to measure needs
• Need for affiliation group primed further in post-film writing about love and caring
• S-IgA measured before and after
• Measured number of illnesses in the year
• Those who watched Mother-Teresa Film had an increase of S-IgA = increased immune functioning
• Protective effects of need for affiliation
• No overall change in need for power
• Sub group with inhibited power motive syndrome = sensitive to need for power, low affiliation. Had low S-IgA after WW2 film

Question 27

What sort of jobs will high need for power people seek?

Answer 27

• Leadership and managerial
• Teaching - high generativity
• More children