Emotion and Motivation

TUĞÇE GÜNDÜZ KÖSEOĞLU, PHD

Motivation
Motivation is the force that moves people to act.
➡ Motivation initiates, directs, and maintains behavior.
Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and sustained in order to
meet physical or psychological needs (Petri, 1996).
The term comes from the Latin word “movere”, meaning “to move”.
Examples of Motivation in Daily Life
Hunger → motivates a person to search for food.
Loneliness → motivates someone to call a friend or seek social interaction.
Desire for success → motivates people to attend college.
Need for financial security → motivates people to go to work.

Q: What happens if one person has no motivation at all?

Types of Motivation
1. Extrinsic Motivation; Behavior is performed to obtain external rewards or avoid negative
consequences.
Examples: Tipping for good service
➡ People act in order to gain external rewards.

2. Intrinsic Motivation; Behavior is performed because the activity itself is enjoyable,

interesting, or satisfying.
➡ People act because they enjoy the activity itself.
Early Approaches to Motivation
Emphasis on biological and internal factors.
Two major early perspectives were: Instinct Theory Drive & Reduction Approach

Instinct Theory -Evolutionary Approach: Instincts are innate (inborn) patterns of behavior found in
humans and animals.
Evolutionary theorists suggested that human behavior may be guided by instincts, similar to animals.

Examples:
Reproductive instinct → sexual behavior
Territorial instinct → aggressive behavior

Q: Why are some people more aggressive than others? / Why do cultures behave differently?
Early Approaches to Motivation
Instinct Theory & Evolutionary Approach
Limitations of Instinct Theory
Instinct theory could describe behavior, but it could not explain why behaviors occur.
It doesn’t explain differences between people
It ignores learning and experience

It doesn’t explain underlying mechanismsIt doesn’t answer:

What’s happening in the brain?
What hormones or thoughts are involved?
How does motivation actually start?

Important Contribution; The theory emphasized that hereditary (genetic) factors influence behavior.
Early Approaches to Motivation
Drive-Reduction Theory
Focuses on the relationship between needs, drives, and behavior.

A need is a requirement essential for survival (e.g., food, water).

When a need occurs, it creates psychological tension and physical arousal.

This tension is called a drive, which motivates behavior to reduce the tension (Hull, 1943).
Early Approaches to Motivation
Drive-Reduction Theory
Types of Drives
Primary Drives Secondary (Acquired) Drives
•Related to basic survival needs. •Learned through experience or conditioning.
•Examples: •Examples:
• Hunger • Money
• Thirst • Social approval
• Habits such as smoking substitutes

➡ Primary reinforcers satisfy primary drives.

➡ Secondary reinforcers satisfy acquired drives.

Q:What is primary & secondary reinforcer?
Early Approaches to Motivation
Drive-Reduction Theory
Homeostasis
Homeostasis: the body’s tendency to maintain a stable internal state. Works like a thermostat
for the body.
Example: Hunger → tension → eating → balance restored
➡ Behavior is motivated to restore internal balance.

Limitations of Drive-Reduction Theory; The theory does not explain all human behavior.
Examples: People sometimes eat when they are not hungry.
Some activities increase arousal instead of reducing it. Exp.; skydiving, watching horror movies…
➡ These behaviors show that motivation is more complex than just reducing drives.
Physical drive vs Psychological Needs
Motivation is strongly related to human needs.
McClelland’s Theory of Needs-Psychologist (David C. McClelland - 1961, 1987)
Three important psychological needs:
1. Need for Affiliation (nAff): Desire for friendly relationships and social interaction.
People high in affiliation: Want to be liked and accepted by others
Prefer cooperation and teamwork &➡ Often good team players.

2. Need for Power (nPow): Desire to control or influence others.

People high in power motivation: Want status, prestige, and influence
Seek leadership and authority & ➡ Success is often associated with status and influence.

3. Need for Achievement (nAch): Strong desire to achieve goals and succeed.
People high in achievement: Prefer challenging but realistic goals
Seek personal accomplishment & ➡ Strongly related to academic and career success.
Carol Dweck’s Self-Theory of Motivation
•Carol Dweck suggested that the need for achievement (nAch) is strongly related to personality
and beliefs about one’s abilities.

•People’s beliefs about themselves (self-theories) influence how they interpret success and
failure.

➡ This idea is related to Locus of Control:

Internal locus of control → people believe they control their own outcomes.
External locus of control → people believe outcomes depend on luck, fate, or powerful others.
Carol Dweck’s Self-Theory of Motivation
What you believe about your abilities shapes how you act when
things get hard.
Two Belief Systems
1. Fixed Mindset 2. Growth Mindset
Intelligence is unchangeable. Intelligence can improve through effort and
experience.
People tend to:
People tend to:
Avoid difficult tasks
Persist after failure
Give up easily after failure
Develop new strategies
Try to look smart rather than learn
Focus on learning and mastery
➡ Can lead to Learned Helplessness:
Stopping efforts after failure because one ➡ Failure becomes a learning opportunity.
believes success is impossible.
Dweck’s Educational Recommendation

•Parents and teachers should praise effort and strategies, not just intelligence.

Example:
❌ “You are very smart.”

✅ “You worked really hard on this problem.”

➡ Constructive feedback + effort praise increases motivation and resilience.

 Arousal and Incentive Approaches to Motivation
Motivation can also be explained by the need for stimulation & external rewards.
Stimulus motives increase stimulation. - Examples: curiosity, exploration, and play.
➡ These motives are often unlearned and naturally motivating.
Sometimes you’re not trying to reduce discomfort (like hunger).Instead, you’re trying to escape boredom and feel
more “alive.” – Example: Buying a new product (cream, junk food, app, etc.)

Arousal Theory
•People have an optimal level of arousal (ideal level of tension or alertness).
•Performance depends on the level of arousal.

Key idea:
•Too little arousal → boredom → poor performance
•Too much arousal → anxiety → poor performance
•Moderate arousal → best performance
 Arousal and Incentive Approaches to Motivation
Motivation can also be explained by the need for stimulation and external
rewards.
Yerkes–Dodson Law; Describes the relationship between arousal and performance.
General principle:➡ Performance is highest when arousal is balanced (not too low OR too high).
Easy tasks → best performance at higher–moderate arousal (more energy helps)
Difficult tasks → best performance at lower–moderate arousal (calm focus helps)
Examples: ???

Sensation Seeking; Some people require higher levels of stimulation than others.
These individuals are called sensation seekers.
Examples: Extreme sports/Traveling to new places/Risk-taking activities
➡ Sensation seeking may be related to personality and temperament.
Arousal and Incentive Approaches to Motivation
Motivation can also be explained by the need for stimulation and external
rewards.
Incentive Theory; Behavior can also be motivated by external rewards (incentives).
Incentives = things that attract or lure people into action.
Example: Eating a delicious dessert even when not hungry.
➡ Motivation occurs because of the reward itself, not a physical need.

Modern View of Motivation;

Many psychologists believe motivation results from both:
Push: internal needs or drives
Pull: external incentives or rewards
Example: Hunger (push) Choosing a tasty candy bar instead of healthy food (pull)
Humanistic Approaches to Motivation
Humanistic theories focus on personal growth and human potential.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Self-Determination Theory
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Abraham Maslow (1943, 1987); proposed that human needs are
arranged in a hierarchical order (pyramid).People usually satisfy lower-level needs first, before
moving to higher-level needs.

Levels of Needs
Physiological Needs-Food, water, sleep, survival
Safety Needs-Security, stability, protection
Love and Belongingness-Friendship, relationships, social connection
Esteem Needs-Self-respect, recognition, achievement
Self-Actualization-Achieving one’s full potential
Transcendence (added later)-Seeking spiritual meaning beyond oneself
Humanistic Approaches to Motivation
Humanistic theories focus on personal growth and human potential.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Self-Determination Theory
Self-Actualization: The highest level of personal development. People aim to realize their full
abilities and potential.
➡ Moments of deep fulfillment are called peak experiences.

Limitations of Maslow’s Theory

Limited scientific evidence supporting the hierarchy. Based mainly on Maslow’s personal
observations.
Cultural differences may affect the order of needs.

Examples: In some cultures security needs are more important. In others social relationships
may be prioritized.
Humanistic Approaches to Motivation
Humanistic theories focus on personal growth and human potential.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Self-Determination Theory
Self-Determination Theory - Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (2000)
SDT focuses on three universal psychological needs that promote growth and healthy relationships:
[Link] → feeling control over one’s actions
[Link] → feeling capable and effective
[Link] → feeling connected to others
➡ When these needs are satisfied, motivation and well-being increase.

Importance of Supporting Environment

•Satisfying these needs increases intrinsic motivation: doing things because they are internally
rewarding.
•Positive feedback and opportunities for self-determination enhance competence and autonomy.
Humanistic Approaches to Motivation
Humanistic theories focus on personal growth and human potential.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Self-Determination Theory
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation → actions are inherently satisfying.
Extrinsic motivation → actions are performed for external rewards (e.g., money).
External rewards may reduce intrinsic motivation if the task is not interesting. For interesting
tasks, external rewards can sometimes enhance motivation.
Example:Healthcare workers for a salary (extrinsic) but also feel good helping patients (intrinsic).

Cultural Universality; SDT applies across cultures.

Individualistic cultures (e.g., US, UK) → value independence and self-reliance
Collectivistic cultures (e.g., Japan, China) → value social ties and cooperation
➡ Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are important universally.
COFFEE BREAK
Emotion
•Emotion = the feeling aspect of consciousness.

•Latin root “mot” → “to move” → relates to both motive and emotion.

•Three elements of emotion:

• Physical arousal (heart rate, breathing, pupils dilate)

• Behavioral expression (facial expressions, gestures)

• Cognitive awareness (inner recognition of the feeling)

Physiology of Emotion
Sympathetic nervous system activates during emotion:
◦ ↑ Heart rate, ↑ breathing, dry mouth

Different emotions produce slightly different physiological patterns:

Each emotion (fear, anger, disgust, etc.) creates a different pattern of physical reactions in your body.
◦ Sadness, anger, fear → higher heart rate
◦ Disgust → higher skin conductance (Skin conductance = how much your skin sweats)

Emotions are not just “feelings”—they are also bodily patterns.

Psychologists study things like:
Heart rate
Breathing
Sweating
Physiology of Emotion
Brain Structures - Amygdala
Key role in fear, pleasure, and facial expressions
Damage → difficulty learning fear or recognizing others’ emotions

Processes emotional stimuli via two pathways:

“Low road” → fast, unconscious reaction & “High road” → slower, conscious evaluation
(prefrontal cortex)

Imbalances may contribute to anxiety disorders.

Emotion Regulation Strategies
Distraction, reappraisal, and controlling (?) emotions in decisions
Key brain areas: lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala

???«Emotion control overlaps with non-emotional cognitive control.»???

This means: the brain systems we use to manage our emotions are very similar to the ones we use
to manage thinking, attention, and behavior in general.

Overlap
•Both rely on similar brain areas, especially the prefrontal cortex (front of the brain).
•Skills like attention, inhibition, and working memory help in both:
• In cognitive control coping → ignore distractions, stay on task
• In emotional control copping → resist impulsive reactions, reframe negative thoughts
Emotion Regulation Strategies
Metacognition
What is Metacognition?
◦ Being aware of your own thinking processes and regulating them.
Example: “I’m getting angry; I need to take a deep breath and focus.”

Relation to Emotion regulation:

To manage emotions, you first need to recognize the emotion → this is a metacognitive
process.
◦ Example: When feeling anxious, thinking, “This anxiety might affect my test, I need to calm down”.
Q: What might happen if we do not acknowledge the emotion and instead suppress it

Relation to Cognitive Control: Planning, attention, and problem-solving also require

metacognition because you evaluate and select strategies for effective thinking. Therefore, both
emotional and non-emotional cognitive control overlap with metacognitive processes.
The Behavior of Emotion:
Emotional Expression
Emotions are expressed through facial expressions, body movements, gestures, and actions.
◦ Examples: smiles, crying, yelling, kissing, running, fighting

Universal Facial Expressions: Some facial expressions are biologically universal, supporting an
evolutionary perspective (Darwin, 1898).
Ekman & Friesen (1969, 1971) identified seven basic emotions recognizable across cultures:
Anger Fear Disgust Happiness
Surprise Sadness Contempt

Even children blind from birth display these expressions, showing biology over learning.
The Behavior of Emotion:
Emotional Expression
Culture determines when, where, and how emotions are expressed.
Individualistic cultures (e.g., USA) vs. collectivistic cultures (e.g., Japan) have different rules.
Example: Japanese people may suppress emotions publicly but display them privately.

Gender Differences
Boys/men often show less emotion publicly; girls/women are encouraged to express feelings.

Though status can influence this.

Q:In workplaces, who may express more anger?
The Behavior of Emotion:
Emotional Expression
Crying as Emotional Behavior
•People cry for sadness, grief, anger, or even happiness.

•Study finding (Gračanin et al., 2015):

• Immediate effect: Slight dip in mood

• Delayed effect: Increase in positive mood → explains why “a good cry” feels relieving

What we call; «emotional release»

Subjective Experience
Labeling Emotion (Cognitive Element)
Defining the Cognitive Element
•The third element of emotion is the subjective (?) interpretation of a feeling.
•This involves giving the feeling a label, e.g., anger, fear, happiness, sadness, shame, interest.

•Also called the cognitive element because it relies on:

• Retrieving memories of similar experiences
• Understanding the context of the emotion
• Selecting an appropriate label
Subjective Experience
Labeling Emotion (Cognitive Element)
Cultural and Learned Influences;Labels for emotions are learned and influenced by language
and culture.
•Example: Chinese Americans rooted in Chinese culture may describe emotions in bodily or
social terms (“dizzy,” “friendship”), whereas Americanized Chinese and European Americans use
direct emotional words (“love,” “liking”).

•Cultural Differences in Happiness

Japanese students associate positive emotions with socially engaged feelings
(friendship, connection).
VS
U.S. students associate positive emotions with socially disengaged feelings
(pride, personal achievement).
Early Theories of Emotion
1. Common-Sense Theory
•Sequence: Emotion → Physical Arousal → Behavior

•Example:
• Seeing a snarling dog → Feeling fear → Heart races→ Running away

•Key idea: The feeling itself comes first and triggers the body and behavior.

•Critique: Does not explain why similar physiological reactions can accompany different
emotions (e.g., fear and excitement).
Early Theories of Emotion
2. James-Lange Theory
•Sequence: Physical Arousal → Emotion → Behavior
•Example:
• Stimulus: Something happens (e.g., seeing a snarling dog)
• Physiological Response: Heart races, muscles tense, breathing quickens
• Emotion Experienced: Fear is felt as a result of noticing the body’s changes
•Key idea: Emotions result from the body’s physical reaction, not the other way around.
Significance: This theory shifted focus in psychology toward the connection between the body
and emotional experience, emphasizing that physical states play a crucial role in shaping
feelings.
Challenge: Studies of spinal cord injury patients show that people can still experience emotions
even when the sympathetic nervous system cannot fully function.
This suggests that while bodily feedback may influence emotion, it is not strictly necessary for
the experience of emotion.
Early Theories of Emotion
3. Cannon-Bard Theory
•Sequence: Emotion and Physical Arousal occur simultaneously, then behavior
•Example:Seeing a snarling dog → Brain processes fear → Heart races → Running
at the same time
Mechanism: Sensory information goes to both:
The cortex → processes the emotion (fear, etc.) & The sympathetic nervous system → triggers
bodily arousal
The thalamus was proposed as the relay station that sends signals simultaneously.
•Key idea: Emotion does not depend on Physical component; both happen together. Emotional
experience and physiological arousal occur simultaneously, not sequentially.
•Rationale: Cannon argued that bodily changes for different emotions are not distinct enough for
the brain to rely solely on them (as James-Lange suggested).Bard added that sensory input is
processed simultaneously in brain and body.
Early Theories of Emotion
3. Cannon-Bard Theory
Critiques:
Vagus nerve feedback
Exists as an alternate pathway, suggesting body feedback still influences emotion—so Cannon-
Bard isn’t a complete explanation.

Slow, deep breathing → calm feelingsHeart racing → increased anxiety

Vagus nerve feedback shows that bodily signals influence emotional experience, so emotions are
shaped by both brain activity and body feedback, challenging the Cannon-Bard theory’s claim
that body signals are irrelevant.
Early Theories of Emotion
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
•Core Idea: Facial expressions not only reflect emotions but also influence or even cause them.
• Example: Smiling can make you feel happier; frowning can make you feel sadder.
•Origin:
• Based on Charles Darwin (1898) – facial expressions evolved to communicate intentions (like threat or
fear) and are universal.
• Also influenced by the James-Lange idea that bodily responses can shape emotional experience.
•Mechanism:
• When you express an emotion on your face, sensory feedback travels to the brain.
• This feedback can:
• Intensify the current emotion
• Possibly trigger the emotion itself

•Limitations / Critiques:
• People with facial paralysis still experience emotions normally, suggesting that facial feedback is not
essential for emotional experience.
• Raises the question: facial expressions can influence emotions, but they don’t fully determine them.
Early Theories of Emotion
Quick Tip:
•Common-sense theory = emotion first
•James-Lange = body first
•Cannon-Bard = both at the same time
•Facial feedback = expression influences emotion
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive Arousal (Two-Factor) Theory
•Emotion arises from two simultaneous components:
[Link] arousal – bodily responses like increased heart rate, rapid breathing, sweating.
[Link] labeling – interpreting the cause of the arousal by using cues from the environment.

•Process:
1.A stimulus occurs (e.g., a snarling dog).
[Link] body responds with arousal (racing heart, widened eyes).
[Link] brain observes the arousal and interprets it in context, labeling it as a specific emotion
(fear).
[Link] person then experiences the emotion.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive Arousal (Two-Factor) Theory
Key Phrase:
“I am aroused in the presence of a scary dog; therefore, I must be afraid.”

Implication:
Emotion is not just physiological (as in James-Lange) or simultaneous with arousal (as in Cannon-
Bard); it requires both arousal and cognitive interpretation.
This explains why the same physiological arousal can lead to different emotions depending on
the context.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive-Mediational Theory (Lazarus, 1991)
Core Idea:
The cognitive appraisal—how a person interprets or evaluates a stimulus—comes first and
determines both the emotional experience and the physical arousal.

Key Concept:
Cognition mediates between the stimulus and the emotional reaction.
- In other words, the brain first evaluates the situation, then decides what emotion is
appropriate.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive-Mediational Theory (Lazarus, 1991)
How it Works: Example with a Snarling Dog
[Link]: A snarling dog appears.
[Link] Appraisal:
1. If the dog is behind a sturdy fence → appraisal: “No real threat.”
2. If the dog is loose and approaching → appraisal: “Danger—threatening animal!”
[Link] Response:
1. Minimal arousal → mild emotion (annoyance).
2. High arousal → strong emotion (fear).
[Link] Reaction: Follows the appraisal (heart rate, sweating, readiness to run, etc.).

•Difference from Schachter-Singer:

• In Schachter-Singer’s two-factor theory, arousal occurs first and is then labeled based on environmental
cues.
• In Lazarus’s theory, cognitive appraisal comes first, shaping both arousal and emotion.
Cognitive Theories
Cognitive-Mediational Theory (Lazarus, 1991)
Limitations / Critiques
•Some emotions happen too quickly for conscious appraisal (Zajonc, 1998).

•The amygdala can trigger fear responses before conscious thought (LeDoux, 1996).
• Q:When this might happen?

•This suggests that in some situations, emotion can bypass cognitive mediation.
Takeaway
Emotions are complex, and multiple theories can be correct depending on the situation:

Some emotions require thought first (e.g., falling in love, evaluating complex social situations).

Some emotions are automatic, immediate, and survival-oriented (e.g., reflexive fear).
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK