4.6 Motivation
- Syllabus
- 2025
- Topic
- 4.6
- Level
- —
Learning objectives
4.6A—Explain how theories about motivation apply to behavior and mental processesExplain 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.4.6B—Explain how eating and belongingness motivate behavior and mental processes. EExplain hoxplain how eating and w…Explain how eating and belongingness motivate behavior and mental processes. EExplain hoxplain how eating and w eating and belongingness motivbelongingness motivatate e behabehavior and mental vior and mental prprococessesses. es.• 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.
Different Mechanisms Can Motivate the Same Behavior
| Theory | Motivating mechanism | Application clue |
|---|---|---|
| Drive-reduction | Behavior reduces a physiological drive and helps restore homeostasis | A bodily imbalance produces action that restores balance |
| Arousal | People seek an optimal level of stimulation; the Yerkes-Dodson law links arousal with performance | Too little or too much arousal can move performance away from its optimum |
| Self-determination | Motivation may be intrinsic (internal) or extrinsic (external) | The activity itself is valued versus an outside outcome |
| Incentive | An external reward attracts behavior | A reward or other external incentive changes action |
| Instinct | An innate, typically fixed response pattern to a stimulus in many non-human animals | The pattern does not require learning |
| Lewin conflict | Choice structure |
|---|---|
| Approach-approach | Choose between two attractive options |
| Approach-avoidance | One option has both attractive and unattractive features |
| Avoidance-avoidance | Choose between two unattractive options |
Sensation-seeking theory locates motivation in a person's need for varied or novel experience. The CED categories are experience seeking, thrill or adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility. Identify the category from the kind of novelty sought, not merely from whether an activity appears risky.
Intrinsic motivation comes from engaging in the activity itself; an incentive is an external reward. The CED describes instincts as typical of many non-human animals and states that humans do not seem to demonstrate instinctual behavior or mental processes, so learned human behavior should not automatically be called instinct.
Eating Combines Body Signals and Context
Eating is a motivated behavior produced by interaction between physical and mental processes. Internal signals affect hunger and satiety, while the food environment and social context can prompt, delay, or extend eating even when the biological state is similar.
| Influence | Motivational role |
|---|---|
| Ghrelin | Hormonal signal associated with hunger |
| Leptin | Hormonal signal associated with satiety |
| Hypothalamus via the pituitary gland | Regulates the hormonal system named in the CED |
| Presence of food | Makes an external eating cue available |
| Time of day | Learned or expected meal timing can cue eating |
| Social gathering | Other people and meal context can influence eating |
Belongingness is motivation toward social connection. It can influence behavior by making participation, acceptance, and continued relationships valued outcomes. In a shared meal, eating cues and belongingness can operate together: food provides an eating cue while the gathering supplies a social reason to join or remain.
Ghrelin or leptin alone does not determine a meal. Biological regulation and external cues interact. The CED names belongingness but supplies no separate named belongingness theory in this Topic, so no additional model should be inferred.