4.6 Motivation

Explain how theories about motivation apply to behavior and mental processes.

• Some theories about motivation focus on behavior and mental processes that seek to address physical needs and desires such as drive-reduction theory and arousal theory. Drive-reduction theory addresses how certain behaviors help maintain homeostasis while arousal theory addresses how people seek an optimal level of arousal when they behave (as demonstrated by the Yerkes-Dodson Law).
• Self-determination theory proposes that people are motivated by intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external) motivations. Incentive theory explores the role of rewards (an extrinsic motivation) in motivating behavior.
• Many non-human animals are motivated by instincts (innate, typically fixed patterns of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli). Humans do not seem to demonstrate instinctual behavior or mental processes.
• Lewin’s motivational conflicts theory proposes that choices create conflicts one must resolve as the basis of motivation. The type of conflicts faced include approach-approach, approachavoidance, and avoidance-avoidance.
• Sensation-seeking theory proposes that one’s level of need for varied or novel experiences is the basis of motivation. The types of sensation seeking are experience seeking, thrill or adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility.

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• Eating is a complex motivated behavior that demonstrates how physical and mental processes interact.
  • i. Hormones, such as ghrelin and leptin (regulated by the hypothalamus via the pituitary gland), regulate feelings of hunger and satiety.
  • ii. External factors like the presence of food, time of day, or social gatherings around meals also influence the behavior of eating.