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7.1 Theories of Motivation

6 min readdecember 22, 2022

Mary Valdez

Mary Valdez

John Mohl

John Mohl

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Mary Valdez

Mary Valdez

John Mohl

John Mohl

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

This unit is about motivation. It identifies and applies to understand behavior of humans and animals🧑‍🤝‍🧑🐻.  It talks about the strengths and weaknesses between theories and the most basic primary needs: physiological, social, and sexual.

Motivational Concepts

Motivation is something that directs a behavior. For example, if you want to get a good grade on the AP Psych exam in May, you are motivated to study 💯 You're probably very familiar with motivation, but it goes deeper than you think and basically exists in every action you do.

Before going through the theories, let's discuss some vocab terms:

  • are behaviors that occur unconsciously because they usually just "feel right."

  • drive us toward or away from the behavior we want. The incentive could either be a positive stimulus or a negative stimulus, but either way, it impacts our behavior🚶

  • is when you are doing something for yourself. An example of this would be reading just because you love to read ❤️📖

  • is when you are doing something for an external factor. Using the above example, if you read just to fulfill a summer assignment ✔️📖, you were extrinsically motivated.

    • Having is stronger and drives you farther since it is something you, yourself, are genuinely interested in.

  • The is when an external factor decreases one's to complete a certain task. For example, if you began to learn French on your own time and then came across a really good job offer that requires French, you may now begin to learn French just for the job, rather than yourself💰

  • Achievement motivation is one theory that states our desires to master complex stuff and reach personal goals is our motivations. So even without skills, benefits or knowledge, we are motivated to challenge ourselves. Now obviously this does vary from person to person, but it is true that our motivation does drive us to do crazy stuff!

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-lvAoCtiwXgfh.jpeg?alt=media&token=f17d9a5d-e3b7-4c05-a03d-1d4772abc5d2

Image Courtesy of Sites at Penn State.

  • Self-Efficacy:

    • High self-efficacy is the belief that someone can complete a task successfully. This usually goes hand in hand with high and accepting challenges along the way.

    • Low self-efficacy is being uncertain that you can master a task and goes hand in hand with low . You don't feel as interested in learning the task, so you are unsure if you will be good at it. Having low self-efficacy leads to giving up and avoiding obstacles.

Different Theories

Many different theories about motivation developed over time. Let's discuss them!

Instinct Theory (evolutionary)

This theory has to do with that stated that those that are best adapted to their environments are most likely to mate and survive. Therefore, the motivation in this theory is to survive and we, as well as animals, adapt behaviors that help us live 💕

ExampleStrength of Theory 👍Weakness of Theory 👎
All babies display innate reflexes like rooting and suckingIt helps explain similarities due to our ancestral past.It helps explain animal behaviors better than human behaviors.

Drive-reduction Theory (biological)

This theory focuses on how our inner pushes and external pulls interact to drive our behaviors. 

  • Push Factors: Motivate us to get away from bad things

  • Pull Factors: Motivate us to work toward good things

We have our need, drives, and behaviors. Our create a tensional state that motivates an organism to satisfy that need by doing a certain behavior.

By doing this behavior, we should reach , which is a steady internal state.

ExampleStrength of Theory👍Weakness of Theory👎
When you need food, you become hungry, and then you cook yourself something to make the feeling of hunger go away.It explains our motivation to reduce arousal by meeting basic needs, hunger, or thirst.It doesn't explain why some motivated behaviors increase arousal.
https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-Lb0z4xS6ruAl.jpg?alt=media&token=3780a4e4-53e6-4f06-ba67-b3531bcfe29f

Image Courtesy of Myers' AP Psychology Textbook 2nd Edition.

Optimal Arousal Theory

The focuses on finding the right level of stimulation.  An organism tries to find behaviors that actually increase arousal because everything else bores them.

ExampleStrength of Theory👍Weakness of Theory👎
Being bored and getting yourself into trouble just because you needed to find something to do. Another example is "Curiosity kills the cat" and you just wanna try something new that excites you! It explains that motivated behavior may increase or decrease arousal.It doesn't explain our motivation to address our more complex social needs.

Yerkes-Dodson law

The suggests moderate arousal can lead to optimal performance. With this being said, you've probably experienced the law in real life.

If you were ever way too relaxed 😴 when taking an exam or way too stressed 😟, I bet you noticed a decrease in your exam performance. However, if you are moderately aroused so much that you are aware and alert, you will obtain a higher score.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-H2ZORcf5HI4R.png?alt=media&token=d60b113a-bd34-43e9-8b62-85e5135e3095

Image Courtesy of ResearchGate.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow came up with a theory based on needs. The first level of needs focuses on fulfilling basic, . Once they are met, the focus shifts to more cognitive and abstract needs.

From the bottom to the top, the pyramid reads:

  • 💧🍔 (air, food, and water)

  • 🏠Safety (shelter, place to live) 

  • 💕Belongingness (love, a connection with someone or something)

  • 😍Self esteem (loving yourself)

  • 🏆Self actualization (achieving any goal you set your mind to).

    • Reaching self-actualization is nearly impossible. To do this, you would have to find meaning beyond yourself.

Strength of this TheoryWeakness of this Theory
It incorporates the idea that we have levels of various needs.The order of needs may change depending on the circumstance of the person.

Motivations

Eating

Ever felt that huge urge to eat those Oreo late at night? Well that's a motivation of hunger, which happens simply because we need food. Or is it that simple?? Hunger motivations actually involved biological, psychological, and social factors.

Our brain plays the biggest role in hunger. The controls body chemistry. So when it's time for you to eat, the activates, causing you to eat. Then you are getting pretty full from 5 bags of Oreos on your own. That's when the kicks in, causing you to stop . If either part is damaged, you'll either never eat because you never feel hungry or you'll never stop because you don't feel satisfied. Both situations are kinda horrifying 😖.

So how does the decide when we need to feel hungry and full? Well the states that the wants to maintain a certain body weight. So when your weight drops, it'll tell you to eat more and lower the metabolic rate, which is how quickly your body uses your energy.

But it's not solely the that gets to decide everything. there's also something called the , which states that there are certain foods that make you more hungry. If you have bad memory of hot dogs and throwing up, you might not feel too hungry around hot dogs as you would to Oreos. Culture and background can also play a similar effect.

Sexual Motivation

Like hunger, sexual motivations have biological and psychological properties.

The physical sexual response cycle is as follows:

  • - respiration and heart rate increase

  • - respiration and heart rate continue at an elevated rate

  • - rhythmic genital contractions, euphoria

  • - respiration and heart rate return to normal

Sexual desire comes from psychological factors too. Elevation in levels of hormones or erotic material are good examples.

Social Motivation

Basically, this means you want to succeed. You want to challenge yourself and reach your goals. This is called achievement motivation. This is different from optimum arousal because it's not about only being motivated to seek, it's more about meeting a high achievement goal.

🎥 Watch: AP PsychologyMotivations

🏆 TriviaMotivations

Key Terms to Review (33)

Belongingness Needs

: These involve emotional requirements such as friendship, intimacy, family - essentially feeling loved and accepted by others once physical survival and safety has been secured.

Biological Factors in Motivation

: These refer to physiological factors that influence our behaviors such as hunger, thirst, sex drive etc., which motivate us to fulfill our basic survival requirements.

Charles Darwin's Principle of Natural Selection

: This principle suggests that individuals who adapt best to their environments are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations.

Drive-reduction Theory (biological)

: This theory proposes that our behavior is motivated by biological needs. When we have a need (like hunger), it creates a drive (like eating) which motivates us to satisfy the need.

Eating

: Eating is a basic biological drive that involves the intake of food to provide energy and nutrients necessary for survival.

Extrinsic Motivation

: This refers to behavior driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise. These types of motivation arise from outside the individual rather than from within.

Garcia Effect

: The Garcia Effect, also known as conditioned taste aversion, refers to the development of a strong association between a particular food and illness or discomfort. This effect is named after psychologist John Garcia who discovered it.

Homeostasis

: Homeostasis is the body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions.

Hypothalamus

: The hypothalamus is a small region of the brain that serves as the main control center for autonomic functions. It plays a crucial role in many important functions, including releasing hormones and regulating body temperature.

Incentives

: Incentives are external stimuli or rewards that motivate behavior. They can be positive (rewards) or negative (punishments).

Initial Excitement

: The first phase of the sexual response cycle, where there is an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. This phase also includes physical changes such as erection in males and vaginal lubrication in females.

Instinct Theory (evolutionary)

: This theory suggests that all organisms are born with innate biological tendencies that help them survive. These instincts drive the behavior of individuals.

Instincts

: Instincts are innate, fixed patterns of behavior in response to certain stimuli. They're automatic responses that don't require conscious thought.

Intrinsic Motivation

: Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior driven by internal rewards such as personal satisfaction or enjoyment derived from performing an activity itself rather than for some external reward.

Lateral Hypothalamus

: The lateral hypothalamus is part of the hypothalamus involved in triggering eating and drinking.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising different levels of human needs, from basic physiological needs to self-actualization and transcendence.

Motivational Concepts

: These are psychological constructs that explain why we behave the way we do. They include needs, drives, and incentives which push or pull us towards certain actions.

Optimal Arousal Theory

: This theory suggests people are driven to perform actions in order to maintain an optimal level of physiological arousal. We seek activities that either decrease high levels of arousal or increase low levels of arousal.

Orgasm

: The climax of sexual stimulation, characterized by intense pleasure and various physiological changes such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, and rapid breathing.

Overjustification Effect

: This occurs when an expected external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

Physiological Needs

: These are the basic needs that are vital to survival, such as food, water, sleep, and warmth.

Plateau Phase

: The second phase of the sexual response cycle where sexual tension builds at a slower pace until it reaches its peak just before orgasm.

Psychological Factors in Motivation

: These are mental elements that stimulate an individual's desire for achievement or change. They include needs, desires, fears, ambitions etc., which drive behavior towards certain goals.

Resolution Phase

: The final stage in the sexual response cycle, following orgasm, during which physiological responses return to normal levels.

Safety Needs

: Once physiological needs are met, safety needs come into play. These include security, stability, freedom from fear.

Self Actualization Needs

: These are the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs; fulfilling one's potential and realizing one's unique capabilities. It involves personal growth, self-fulfillment, seeking personal enlightenment and knowledge.

Self Esteem Needs

: These are the needs for respect, recognition, and appreciation from others as well as self-respect. They involve the desire for reputation or prestige.

Set-Point Theory

: The set-point theory is a concept in psychology that suggests our body has a pre-determined weight range to which it naturally tries to return, maintaining this 'set point' through adjustments in energy intake and expenditure.

Sexual Motivation

: Sexual motivation refers to the natural instinct and desire to engage in sexual activities for pleasure and/or reproduction.

Social Motivation

: Social motivation is the human need to interact with others and to be accepted by them.

Specific Types of Motivations

: Specific types of motivations refer to the various sources or reasons that drive people's actions or behaviors. These can include intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, achievement motivation, etc.

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

: The ventromedial hypothalamus is a part of the hypothalamus that signals to stop eating when we are full.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

: The Yerkes-Dodson law is a psychological principle that states performance on tasks improves up to a point with increased physiological or mental arousal (stress), but beyond that point, further increases in arousal can lead to decreased performance.

7.1 Theories of Motivation

6 min readdecember 22, 2022

Mary Valdez

Mary Valdez

John Mohl

John Mohl

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

Mary Valdez

Mary Valdez

John Mohl

John Mohl

Dalia Savy

Dalia Savy

Haseung Jun

Haseung Jun

This unit is about motivation. It identifies and applies to understand behavior of humans and animals🧑‍🤝‍🧑🐻.  It talks about the strengths and weaknesses between theories and the most basic primary needs: physiological, social, and sexual.

Motivational Concepts

Motivation is something that directs a behavior. For example, if you want to get a good grade on the AP Psych exam in May, you are motivated to study 💯 You're probably very familiar with motivation, but it goes deeper than you think and basically exists in every action you do.

Before going through the theories, let's discuss some vocab terms:

  • are behaviors that occur unconsciously because they usually just "feel right."

  • drive us toward or away from the behavior we want. The incentive could either be a positive stimulus or a negative stimulus, but either way, it impacts our behavior🚶

  • is when you are doing something for yourself. An example of this would be reading just because you love to read ❤️📖

  • is when you are doing something for an external factor. Using the above example, if you read just to fulfill a summer assignment ✔️📖, you were extrinsically motivated.

    • Having is stronger and drives you farther since it is something you, yourself, are genuinely interested in.

  • The is when an external factor decreases one's to complete a certain task. For example, if you began to learn French on your own time and then came across a really good job offer that requires French, you may now begin to learn French just for the job, rather than yourself💰

  • Achievement motivation is one theory that states our desires to master complex stuff and reach personal goals is our motivations. So even without skills, benefits or knowledge, we are motivated to challenge ourselves. Now obviously this does vary from person to person, but it is true that our motivation does drive us to do crazy stuff!

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-lvAoCtiwXgfh.jpeg?alt=media&token=f17d9a5d-e3b7-4c05-a03d-1d4772abc5d2

Image Courtesy of Sites at Penn State.

  • Self-Efficacy:

    • High self-efficacy is the belief that someone can complete a task successfully. This usually goes hand in hand with high and accepting challenges along the way.

    • Low self-efficacy is being uncertain that you can master a task and goes hand in hand with low . You don't feel as interested in learning the task, so you are unsure if you will be good at it. Having low self-efficacy leads to giving up and avoiding obstacles.

Different Theories

Many different theories about motivation developed over time. Let's discuss them!

Instinct Theory (evolutionary)

This theory has to do with that stated that those that are best adapted to their environments are most likely to mate and survive. Therefore, the motivation in this theory is to survive and we, as well as animals, adapt behaviors that help us live 💕

ExampleStrength of Theory 👍Weakness of Theory 👎
All babies display innate reflexes like rooting and suckingIt helps explain similarities due to our ancestral past.It helps explain animal behaviors better than human behaviors.

Drive-reduction Theory (biological)

This theory focuses on how our inner pushes and external pulls interact to drive our behaviors. 

  • Push Factors: Motivate us to get away from bad things

  • Pull Factors: Motivate us to work toward good things

We have our need, drives, and behaviors. Our create a tensional state that motivates an organism to satisfy that need by doing a certain behavior.

By doing this behavior, we should reach , which is a steady internal state.

ExampleStrength of Theory👍Weakness of Theory👎
When you need food, you become hungry, and then you cook yourself something to make the feeling of hunger go away.It explains our motivation to reduce arousal by meeting basic needs, hunger, or thirst.It doesn't explain why some motivated behaviors increase arousal.
https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-Lb0z4xS6ruAl.jpg?alt=media&token=3780a4e4-53e6-4f06-ba67-b3531bcfe29f

Image Courtesy of Myers' AP Psychology Textbook 2nd Edition.

Optimal Arousal Theory

The focuses on finding the right level of stimulation.  An organism tries to find behaviors that actually increase arousal because everything else bores them.

ExampleStrength of Theory👍Weakness of Theory👎
Being bored and getting yourself into trouble just because you needed to find something to do. Another example is "Curiosity kills the cat" and you just wanna try something new that excites you! It explains that motivated behavior may increase or decrease arousal.It doesn't explain our motivation to address our more complex social needs.

Yerkes-Dodson law

The suggests moderate arousal can lead to optimal performance. With this being said, you've probably experienced the law in real life.

If you were ever way too relaxed 😴 when taking an exam or way too stressed 😟, I bet you noticed a decrease in your exam performance. However, if you are moderately aroused so much that you are aware and alert, you will obtain a higher score.

https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/fiveable-92889.appspot.com/o/images%2F-H2ZORcf5HI4R.png?alt=media&token=d60b113a-bd34-43e9-8b62-85e5135e3095

Image Courtesy of ResearchGate.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow came up with a theory based on needs. The first level of needs focuses on fulfilling basic, . Once they are met, the focus shifts to more cognitive and abstract needs.

From the bottom to the top, the pyramid reads:

  • 💧🍔 (air, food, and water)

  • 🏠Safety (shelter, place to live) 

  • 💕Belongingness (love, a connection with someone or something)

  • 😍Self esteem (loving yourself)

  • 🏆Self actualization (achieving any goal you set your mind to).

    • Reaching self-actualization is nearly impossible. To do this, you would have to find meaning beyond yourself.

Strength of this TheoryWeakness of this Theory
It incorporates the idea that we have levels of various needs.The order of needs may change depending on the circumstance of the person.

Motivations

Eating

Ever felt that huge urge to eat those Oreo late at night? Well that's a motivation of hunger, which happens simply because we need food. Or is it that simple?? Hunger motivations actually involved biological, psychological, and social factors.

Our brain plays the biggest role in hunger. The controls body chemistry. So when it's time for you to eat, the activates, causing you to eat. Then you are getting pretty full from 5 bags of Oreos on your own. That's when the kicks in, causing you to stop . If either part is damaged, you'll either never eat because you never feel hungry or you'll never stop because you don't feel satisfied. Both situations are kinda horrifying 😖.

So how does the decide when we need to feel hungry and full? Well the states that the wants to maintain a certain body weight. So when your weight drops, it'll tell you to eat more and lower the metabolic rate, which is how quickly your body uses your energy.

But it's not solely the that gets to decide everything. there's also something called the , which states that there are certain foods that make you more hungry. If you have bad memory of hot dogs and throwing up, you might not feel too hungry around hot dogs as you would to Oreos. Culture and background can also play a similar effect.

Sexual Motivation

Like hunger, sexual motivations have biological and psychological properties.

The physical sexual response cycle is as follows:

  • - respiration and heart rate increase

  • - respiration and heart rate continue at an elevated rate

  • - rhythmic genital contractions, euphoria

  • - respiration and heart rate return to normal

Sexual desire comes from psychological factors too. Elevation in levels of hormones or erotic material are good examples.

Social Motivation

Basically, this means you want to succeed. You want to challenge yourself and reach your goals. This is called achievement motivation. This is different from optimum arousal because it's not about only being motivated to seek, it's more about meeting a high achievement goal.

🎥 Watch: AP PsychologyMotivations

🏆 TriviaMotivations

Key Terms to Review (33)

Belongingness Needs

: These involve emotional requirements such as friendship, intimacy, family - essentially feeling loved and accepted by others once physical survival and safety has been secured.

Biological Factors in Motivation

: These refer to physiological factors that influence our behaviors such as hunger, thirst, sex drive etc., which motivate us to fulfill our basic survival requirements.

Charles Darwin's Principle of Natural Selection

: This principle suggests that individuals who adapt best to their environments are more likely to survive and pass on their genes to future generations.

Drive-reduction Theory (biological)

: This theory proposes that our behavior is motivated by biological needs. When we have a need (like hunger), it creates a drive (like eating) which motivates us to satisfy the need.

Eating

: Eating is a basic biological drive that involves the intake of food to provide energy and nutrients necessary for survival.

Extrinsic Motivation

: This refers to behavior driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise. These types of motivation arise from outside the individual rather than from within.

Garcia Effect

: The Garcia Effect, also known as conditioned taste aversion, refers to the development of a strong association between a particular food and illness or discomfort. This effect is named after psychologist John Garcia who discovered it.

Homeostasis

: Homeostasis is the body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions.

Hypothalamus

: The hypothalamus is a small region of the brain that serves as the main control center for autonomic functions. It plays a crucial role in many important functions, including releasing hormones and regulating body temperature.

Incentives

: Incentives are external stimuli or rewards that motivate behavior. They can be positive (rewards) or negative (punishments).

Initial Excitement

: The first phase of the sexual response cycle, where there is an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and breathing. This phase also includes physical changes such as erection in males and vaginal lubrication in females.

Instinct Theory (evolutionary)

: This theory suggests that all organisms are born with innate biological tendencies that help them survive. These instincts drive the behavior of individuals.

Instincts

: Instincts are innate, fixed patterns of behavior in response to certain stimuli. They're automatic responses that don't require conscious thought.

Intrinsic Motivation

: Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior driven by internal rewards such as personal satisfaction or enjoyment derived from performing an activity itself rather than for some external reward.

Lateral Hypothalamus

: The lateral hypothalamus is part of the hypothalamus involved in triggering eating and drinking.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

: Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising different levels of human needs, from basic physiological needs to self-actualization and transcendence.

Motivational Concepts

: These are psychological constructs that explain why we behave the way we do. They include needs, drives, and incentives which push or pull us towards certain actions.

Optimal Arousal Theory

: This theory suggests people are driven to perform actions in order to maintain an optimal level of physiological arousal. We seek activities that either decrease high levels of arousal or increase low levels of arousal.

Orgasm

: The climax of sexual stimulation, characterized by intense pleasure and various physiological changes such as increased heart rate, blood pressure, and rapid breathing.

Overjustification Effect

: This occurs when an expected external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task.

Physiological Needs

: These are the basic needs that are vital to survival, such as food, water, sleep, and warmth.

Plateau Phase

: The second phase of the sexual response cycle where sexual tension builds at a slower pace until it reaches its peak just before orgasm.

Psychological Factors in Motivation

: These are mental elements that stimulate an individual's desire for achievement or change. They include needs, desires, fears, ambitions etc., which drive behavior towards certain goals.

Resolution Phase

: The final stage in the sexual response cycle, following orgasm, during which physiological responses return to normal levels.

Safety Needs

: Once physiological needs are met, safety needs come into play. These include security, stability, freedom from fear.

Self Actualization Needs

: These are the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs; fulfilling one's potential and realizing one's unique capabilities. It involves personal growth, self-fulfillment, seeking personal enlightenment and knowledge.

Self Esteem Needs

: These are the needs for respect, recognition, and appreciation from others as well as self-respect. They involve the desire for reputation or prestige.

Set-Point Theory

: The set-point theory is a concept in psychology that suggests our body has a pre-determined weight range to which it naturally tries to return, maintaining this 'set point' through adjustments in energy intake and expenditure.

Sexual Motivation

: Sexual motivation refers to the natural instinct and desire to engage in sexual activities for pleasure and/or reproduction.

Social Motivation

: Social motivation is the human need to interact with others and to be accepted by them.

Specific Types of Motivations

: Specific types of motivations refer to the various sources or reasons that drive people's actions or behaviors. These can include intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, achievement motivation, etc.

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

: The ventromedial hypothalamus is a part of the hypothalamus that signals to stop eating when we are full.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

: The Yerkes-Dodson law is a psychological principle that states performance on tasks improves up to a point with increased physiological or mental arousal (stress), but beyond that point, further increases in arousal can lead to decreased performance.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.


© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.

AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.