Psycho 1002_Chapter 10_ Motives and Emotions

Study Guide > Psycho 1002_Chapter 10_ Motives and Emotions

Carleton University PSYC 1002 Chapter 10: Motives and Emotions Motivational Theories and Concepts ● Motivation: involves goal-directed behaviour; needs, wants, interests and desires that propel people in certain directions, and propel us to achieve important goals. Drive Theories ● Drive theories apply to the concept of homeost ...[Show More]

Carleton University
PSYC 1002
Chapter 10: Motives and Emotions

Motivational Theories and Concepts

● Motivation: involves goal-directed behaviour; needs, wants, interests and desires that

propel people in certain directions, and propel us to achieve important goals.

Drive Theories

● Drive theories apply to the concept of homeostasis; when individuals experience a drive,

they’re motivated to pursue actions that will lead to drive reduction

○ E.g., feeling hungry causes a drive system, if you go without, you’ll feel

uncomfortable; internal tension (drive) motivates you to obtain food; reducing the

drive and restoring physiological equilibrium

● Homeostasis: a state of physiological equilibrium or stability.

● Drive is an internal state of tension that motivates an organism to engage in activities

that should reduce this tension.

● Drive theories can’t explain all motivations like thirst for knowledge or when we eat when

we’re not hungry

Incentive Theories

● Incentive: is an external goal that has the capacity to motivate behaviour.

● Drive and incentive models can be conceptualized as push/pull theories

● Drive theories emphasize how internal states of tension push people in certain

directions

● Incentive theories emphasize how external stimuli pull people in certain directions ○ Sources of motivation are outside the organism

● Emphasizes environmental factors and downplays biological bases of human motivation

Evolutionary Theories

● The evolutionary perspective asserts that human motives and those of other specifies

are products of evolution; just as anatomical characteristics are; natural selection

favours behaviours that maximize reproductive success; passing on genes to the next

generation

○ Explain motivations like affiliation, achievement, dominance, aggression and sex

drive

● Motivational theories all agree that humans display an enormous diversity of motivations;

these include a host of biological motives (hunger, thirst, sex)