NCERT Textbook: Motivation and Emotion | Psychology for UPSC Optional (Notes) PDF Download

 Page 1


Psychology
126
Chapter
8
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
• understand the nature of human motivation,
• describe the nature of some important motives,
• describe the nature of emotional expression,
• understand the relationship between culture and emotion, and
• know how to manage your own emotions.
After reading this chapter, you would be able to
Introduction
Nature of Motivation
Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Psychosocial Motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Nature of Emotions
Expression of Emotions
Culture and Emotional Expression
Culture and Emotional Labeling
Managing Negative Emotions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Box 8.1)
Management of Examination Anxiety (Box 8.2)
Enhancing Positive Emotions
Key Terms
Summary
Review Questions
Project Ideas
Contents
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
Emotion has taught mankind
to reason.
– Marquis de Vauvenargues
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 2


Psychology
126
Chapter
8
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
• understand the nature of human motivation,
• describe the nature of some important motives,
• describe the nature of emotional expression,
• understand the relationship between culture and emotion, and
• know how to manage your own emotions.
After reading this chapter, you would be able to
Introduction
Nature of Motivation
Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Psychosocial Motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Nature of Emotions
Expression of Emotions
Culture and Emotional Expression
Culture and Emotional Labeling
Managing Negative Emotions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Box 8.1)
Management of Examination Anxiety (Box 8.2)
Enhancing Positive Emotions
Key Terms
Summary
Review Questions
Project Ideas
Contents
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
Emotion has taught mankind
to reason.
– Marquis de Vauvenargues
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
127
Sunita, a girl from a little known town, puts in 10-12 hours of hard work everyday
in order to get through the various engineering entrance examinations. Hemant, a
physically challenged boy, wants to take part in an expedition and trains himself
extensively in a mountaineering institute. Aman saves money from his scholarship
so that he can buy a gift for his mother. These are just a few examples, which
indicate the role motivation plays in human behaviour. Each of these behaviours
are caused by an underlying motive. Behaviour is goal-driven. Goal-seeking
behaviour tends to persist until the goal is achieved. For achieving their goals people
plan and undertake different activities. How is Sunita going to feel if after all the
hard work she has put in, she does not succeed or Aman’s scholarship money gets
stolen. Sunita, perhaps, will be sad and Aman angry. This chapter will help you to
understand the basic concepts of motivation and emotion, and related developments
in these two areas. The basic emotions, their biological bases, overt expressions,
cultural influences, their relationship with motivation, and some techniques to help
you manage your emotions better will also be dealt with.
Introduction
NATURE OF MOTIVATION
The concept of motivation focuses on
explaining what “moves” behaviour.  In fact,
the term motivation is derived from the Latin
word ‘movere’, referring to movement of
activity. Most of our everyday explanation of
behaviour is given in terms of motives. Why
do you come to the school or college? There
may be any number of reasons for this
behaviour, such as you want to learn or to
make friends, you need a diploma or degree
to get a good job, you want to make your
parents happy, and so on.  Some combination
of these reasons and/or others would explain
why you choose to go in for higher education.
Motives also help in making predictions about
behaviour. A person will work hard in school,
in sports, in business, in music, and in many
other situations, if s/he has a very strong need
for achievement. Hence, motives are the
general states that enable us to make
predictions about behaviour in many different
situations. In other words, motivation is one
of the determinants of behaviour. Instincts,
drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under
the broad cluster of motivation.
The Motivational Cycle
Psychologists now use the concept of need to
describe the motivational properties of
behaviour. A need is lack or deficit of some
necessity.  The condition of need leads to drive.
Fig.8.1 : The Motivational Cycle
Need
Reduction of
arousal
Goal-directed
behaviour
Achievement
Drive
Arousal
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 3


Psychology
126
Chapter
8
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
• understand the nature of human motivation,
• describe the nature of some important motives,
• describe the nature of emotional expression,
• understand the relationship between culture and emotion, and
• know how to manage your own emotions.
After reading this chapter, you would be able to
Introduction
Nature of Motivation
Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Psychosocial Motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Nature of Emotions
Expression of Emotions
Culture and Emotional Expression
Culture and Emotional Labeling
Managing Negative Emotions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Box 8.1)
Management of Examination Anxiety (Box 8.2)
Enhancing Positive Emotions
Key Terms
Summary
Review Questions
Project Ideas
Contents
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
Emotion has taught mankind
to reason.
– Marquis de Vauvenargues
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
127
Sunita, a girl from a little known town, puts in 10-12 hours of hard work everyday
in order to get through the various engineering entrance examinations. Hemant, a
physically challenged boy, wants to take part in an expedition and trains himself
extensively in a mountaineering institute. Aman saves money from his scholarship
so that he can buy a gift for his mother. These are just a few examples, which
indicate the role motivation plays in human behaviour. Each of these behaviours
are caused by an underlying motive. Behaviour is goal-driven. Goal-seeking
behaviour tends to persist until the goal is achieved. For achieving their goals people
plan and undertake different activities. How is Sunita going to feel if after all the
hard work she has put in, she does not succeed or Aman’s scholarship money gets
stolen. Sunita, perhaps, will be sad and Aman angry. This chapter will help you to
understand the basic concepts of motivation and emotion, and related developments
in these two areas. The basic emotions, their biological bases, overt expressions,
cultural influences, their relationship with motivation, and some techniques to help
you manage your emotions better will also be dealt with.
Introduction
NATURE OF MOTIVATION
The concept of motivation focuses on
explaining what “moves” behaviour.  In fact,
the term motivation is derived from the Latin
word ‘movere’, referring to movement of
activity. Most of our everyday explanation of
behaviour is given in terms of motives. Why
do you come to the school or college? There
may be any number of reasons for this
behaviour, such as you want to learn or to
make friends, you need a diploma or degree
to get a good job, you want to make your
parents happy, and so on.  Some combination
of these reasons and/or others would explain
why you choose to go in for higher education.
Motives also help in making predictions about
behaviour. A person will work hard in school,
in sports, in business, in music, and in many
other situations, if s/he has a very strong need
for achievement. Hence, motives are the
general states that enable us to make
predictions about behaviour in many different
situations. In other words, motivation is one
of the determinants of behaviour. Instincts,
drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under
the broad cluster of motivation.
The Motivational Cycle
Psychologists now use the concept of need to
describe the motivational properties of
behaviour. A need is lack or deficit of some
necessity.  The condition of need leads to drive.
Fig.8.1 : The Motivational Cycle
Need
Reduction of
arousal
Goal-directed
behaviour
Achievement
Drive
Arousal
Rationalised 2023-24
Psychology
128
A drive is a state of tension or arousal produced
by a need. It energises random activity. When
one of the random activities leads to a goal, it
reduces the drive, and the organism stops
being active. The organism returns to a
balanced state. Thus, the cycle of motivational
events can be presented as shown in Fig.8.1.
Are there different types of motives? Are
there any biological bases explaining different
kinds of motives? What happens if your motive
remains unfulfilled? These are some of the
questions we will discuss in the following
sections.
TYPES OF MOTIVES
Basically, there are two types of motives :
biological and psychosocial. Biological motives
are also known as physiological motives as they
are guided mostly by the physiological
mechanisms of the body. Psychosocial motives,
on the other hand, are primarily learned from
the individual’s interactions with the various
environmental factors.
However, both types of motives are
interdependent on each other. That is, in some
kind of situations the biological factors may
trigger a motive whereas in some other
situations, the psychosocial factors may trigger
the motive. Hence, you should keep in mind
that no motive is absolutely biological or
psychosocial per se, rather they are aroused
in the individual with varying combinations.
Biological Motives
The biological or physiological approach to
explain motivation is the earliest attempt to
understand causes of behaviour. Most of       the
theories, which developed later, carry traces of
the influence of the biological approach. The
approach adhering to the concept of adaptive
act holds that organisms have needs (internal
physiological imbalances) that produce drive,
which stimulates behaviour leading to certain
actions towards achieving certain goals, which
reduce the drive. The earliest explanations of
motivation relied on the concept of instinct. The
term instinct denotes inborn patterns of
behaviour that are biologically determined
rather than learned. Some common human
instincts include curiosity, flight, repulsion,
reproduction, parental care, etc.  Instincts are
innate tendencies found in all members of a
species that direct behaviour in predictable
ways. The term instinct most approximately
refers to an urge to do something. Instinct has
an “impetus” which drives the organism to do
something to reduce that impetus. Some of the
basic biological needs explained by this
approach are hunger, thirst, and sex, which
are essential for the sustenance of the
individual.
Fig.8.2 : Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Focus on the innate, biological causes
of motivation like hormones,
neurotransmitters, brain structures
(hypothalamus, limbic system, etc.).
For example, hunger, thirst and
sex motives.
Psychosocial Motives
Focus on psychological and social
(as well as environmental) factors and
how they interact with each other to
produce motivation. For example,
need for achievement, affiliation, power,
curiosity and exploration, and self-
actualisation motives.
Types of Motives
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 4


Psychology
126
Chapter
8
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
• understand the nature of human motivation,
• describe the nature of some important motives,
• describe the nature of emotional expression,
• understand the relationship between culture and emotion, and
• know how to manage your own emotions.
After reading this chapter, you would be able to
Introduction
Nature of Motivation
Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Psychosocial Motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Nature of Emotions
Expression of Emotions
Culture and Emotional Expression
Culture and Emotional Labeling
Managing Negative Emotions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Box 8.1)
Management of Examination Anxiety (Box 8.2)
Enhancing Positive Emotions
Key Terms
Summary
Review Questions
Project Ideas
Contents
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
Emotion has taught mankind
to reason.
– Marquis de Vauvenargues
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
127
Sunita, a girl from a little known town, puts in 10-12 hours of hard work everyday
in order to get through the various engineering entrance examinations. Hemant, a
physically challenged boy, wants to take part in an expedition and trains himself
extensively in a mountaineering institute. Aman saves money from his scholarship
so that he can buy a gift for his mother. These are just a few examples, which
indicate the role motivation plays in human behaviour. Each of these behaviours
are caused by an underlying motive. Behaviour is goal-driven. Goal-seeking
behaviour tends to persist until the goal is achieved. For achieving their goals people
plan and undertake different activities. How is Sunita going to feel if after all the
hard work she has put in, she does not succeed or Aman’s scholarship money gets
stolen. Sunita, perhaps, will be sad and Aman angry. This chapter will help you to
understand the basic concepts of motivation and emotion, and related developments
in these two areas. The basic emotions, their biological bases, overt expressions,
cultural influences, their relationship with motivation, and some techniques to help
you manage your emotions better will also be dealt with.
Introduction
NATURE OF MOTIVATION
The concept of motivation focuses on
explaining what “moves” behaviour.  In fact,
the term motivation is derived from the Latin
word ‘movere’, referring to movement of
activity. Most of our everyday explanation of
behaviour is given in terms of motives. Why
do you come to the school or college? There
may be any number of reasons for this
behaviour, such as you want to learn or to
make friends, you need a diploma or degree
to get a good job, you want to make your
parents happy, and so on.  Some combination
of these reasons and/or others would explain
why you choose to go in for higher education.
Motives also help in making predictions about
behaviour. A person will work hard in school,
in sports, in business, in music, and in many
other situations, if s/he has a very strong need
for achievement. Hence, motives are the
general states that enable us to make
predictions about behaviour in many different
situations. In other words, motivation is one
of the determinants of behaviour. Instincts,
drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under
the broad cluster of motivation.
The Motivational Cycle
Psychologists now use the concept of need to
describe the motivational properties of
behaviour. A need is lack or deficit of some
necessity.  The condition of need leads to drive.
Fig.8.1 : The Motivational Cycle
Need
Reduction of
arousal
Goal-directed
behaviour
Achievement
Drive
Arousal
Rationalised 2023-24
Psychology
128
A drive is a state of tension or arousal produced
by a need. It energises random activity. When
one of the random activities leads to a goal, it
reduces the drive, and the organism stops
being active. The organism returns to a
balanced state. Thus, the cycle of motivational
events can be presented as shown in Fig.8.1.
Are there different types of motives? Are
there any biological bases explaining different
kinds of motives? What happens if your motive
remains unfulfilled? These are some of the
questions we will discuss in the following
sections.
TYPES OF MOTIVES
Basically, there are two types of motives :
biological and psychosocial. Biological motives
are also known as physiological motives as they
are guided mostly by the physiological
mechanisms of the body. Psychosocial motives,
on the other hand, are primarily learned from
the individual’s interactions with the various
environmental factors.
However, both types of motives are
interdependent on each other. That is, in some
kind of situations the biological factors may
trigger a motive whereas in some other
situations, the psychosocial factors may trigger
the motive. Hence, you should keep in mind
that no motive is absolutely biological or
psychosocial per se, rather they are aroused
in the individual with varying combinations.
Biological Motives
The biological or physiological approach to
explain motivation is the earliest attempt to
understand causes of behaviour. Most of       the
theories, which developed later, carry traces of
the influence of the biological approach. The
approach adhering to the concept of adaptive
act holds that organisms have needs (internal
physiological imbalances) that produce drive,
which stimulates behaviour leading to certain
actions towards achieving certain goals, which
reduce the drive. The earliest explanations of
motivation relied on the concept of instinct. The
term instinct denotes inborn patterns of
behaviour that are biologically determined
rather than learned. Some common human
instincts include curiosity, flight, repulsion,
reproduction, parental care, etc.  Instincts are
innate tendencies found in all members of a
species that direct behaviour in predictable
ways. The term instinct most approximately
refers to an urge to do something. Instinct has
an “impetus” which drives the organism to do
something to reduce that impetus. Some of the
basic biological needs explained by this
approach are hunger, thirst, and sex, which
are essential for the sustenance of the
individual.
Fig.8.2 : Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Focus on the innate, biological causes
of motivation like hormones,
neurotransmitters, brain structures
(hypothalamus, limbic system, etc.).
For example, hunger, thirst and
sex motives.
Psychosocial Motives
Focus on psychological and social
(as well as environmental) factors and
how they interact with each other to
produce motivation. For example,
need for achievement, affiliation, power,
curiosity and exploration, and self-
actualisation motives.
Types of Motives
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
129
Hunger
When someone is hungry, the need for food
dominates everything else. It motivates people
to obtain and consume food. Of course we
must eat to live. But, what makes you feel
hungry? Studies have indicated that many
events inside and outside the body may trigger
hunger or inhibit it. The stimuli for hunger
include stomach contractions, which signify
that the stomach is empty, a low concentration
of glucose in the blood, a low level of protein
and the amount of fats stored in the body.
The liver also responds to the lack of bodily
fuel by sending nerve impulses to the brain.
The aroma, taste or appearance of food may
also result in a desire to eat. It may be noted
that none of these alone gives you the feeling
that you are hungry. All in combination act
with external factors (such as taste, colour,
by observing others eating, and the smell of
food, etc.) to help you understand that you
are hungry. Thus, it can be said that our food
intake is regulated by a complex feeding-
satiety system located in the hypothalamus,
liver, and other parts of the body as well as
the external cues available in the environment.
Thirst
What would happen to you, if you were
deprived of water for a long time?  What makes
you feel thirsty? When we are deprived of water
for a period of several hours, the mouth and
throat become dry, which leads to dehydration
of body tissues. Drinking water is necessary
to wet a dry mouth. But a dry mouth does not
always result in water drinking behaviour. In
fact processes within the body itself control
thirst and drinking of water. Water must get
into the tissues sufficiently to remove the
dryness of mouth and throat.
Motivation to drink water is mainly
triggered by the conditions of the body: loss
of water from cells and reduction of blood
volume. When water is lost by bodily fluids,
water leaves the interior of the cells. The
anterior hypothalamus contains nerve cells
called ‘osmoreceptors’, which generate nerve
impulses in case of cell dehydration.
Sex
One of the most powerful drives in both animals
and human beings is the sex drive.  Motivation
to engage in sexual activity is a very strong
factor influencing human behaviour.  However,
sex is far more than a biological motive. It is
different from other primary motives (hunger,
thirst) in many ways like,         (a) sexual activity
is not necessary for an individual’s survival;
(b) homeostasis (the tendency of the organism
as a whole to maintain constancy or to attempt
to restore equilibrium if constancy is disturbed)
is not the goal of sexual activity; and (c) sex
drive develops with age, etc. In case of lower
animals, it depends on many physiological
conditions; in case of human beings, the sex
drive is very closely regulated biologically,
sometimes it is very difficult to classify sex
purely as a biological drive.
Psychosocial Motives
Social motives are mostly learned or acquired.
Social groups such as family, neighbourhood,
friends, and relatives do contribute a lot in
acquiring social motives. These are complex
forms of motives mainly resulting from the
individual’s interaction with her/his social
environment.
Need for Affiliation
Most of us need company or friend or want to
maintain some form of relationship with
others. Nobody likes to remain alone all the
time. As soon as people see some kinds of
similarities among themselves or they like each
other, they form a group. Formation of group
or collectivity is an important feature of human
life. Often people try desperately to get close
to other people, to seek their help, and to
become members of their group.  Seeking other
human beings and wanting to be close to them
both physically and psychologically is called
affiliation. It involves motivation for social
contact. Need for affiliation is aroused when
individuals feel threatened or helpless and also
when they are happy.  People high on this need
are motivated to seek the company of others
Rationalised 2023-24
Page 5


Psychology
126
Chapter
8
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
• understand the nature of human motivation,
• describe the nature of some important motives,
• describe the nature of emotional expression,
• understand the relationship between culture and emotion, and
• know how to manage your own emotions.
After reading this chapter, you would be able to
Introduction
Nature of Motivation
Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Psychosocial Motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Nature of Emotions
Expression of Emotions
Culture and Emotional Expression
Culture and Emotional Labeling
Managing Negative Emotions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Box 8.1)
Management of Examination Anxiety (Box 8.2)
Enhancing Positive Emotions
Key Terms
Summary
Review Questions
Project Ideas
Contents
Moti Moti Moti Moti Motiv v v v vation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion ation and Emotion
Emotion has taught mankind
to reason.
– Marquis de Vauvenargues
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
127
Sunita, a girl from a little known town, puts in 10-12 hours of hard work everyday
in order to get through the various engineering entrance examinations. Hemant, a
physically challenged boy, wants to take part in an expedition and trains himself
extensively in a mountaineering institute. Aman saves money from his scholarship
so that he can buy a gift for his mother. These are just a few examples, which
indicate the role motivation plays in human behaviour. Each of these behaviours
are caused by an underlying motive. Behaviour is goal-driven. Goal-seeking
behaviour tends to persist until the goal is achieved. For achieving their goals people
plan and undertake different activities. How is Sunita going to feel if after all the
hard work she has put in, she does not succeed or Aman’s scholarship money gets
stolen. Sunita, perhaps, will be sad and Aman angry. This chapter will help you to
understand the basic concepts of motivation and emotion, and related developments
in these two areas. The basic emotions, their biological bases, overt expressions,
cultural influences, their relationship with motivation, and some techniques to help
you manage your emotions better will also be dealt with.
Introduction
NATURE OF MOTIVATION
The concept of motivation focuses on
explaining what “moves” behaviour.  In fact,
the term motivation is derived from the Latin
word ‘movere’, referring to movement of
activity. Most of our everyday explanation of
behaviour is given in terms of motives. Why
do you come to the school or college? There
may be any number of reasons for this
behaviour, such as you want to learn or to
make friends, you need a diploma or degree
to get a good job, you want to make your
parents happy, and so on.  Some combination
of these reasons and/or others would explain
why you choose to go in for higher education.
Motives also help in making predictions about
behaviour. A person will work hard in school,
in sports, in business, in music, and in many
other situations, if s/he has a very strong need
for achievement. Hence, motives are the
general states that enable us to make
predictions about behaviour in many different
situations. In other words, motivation is one
of the determinants of behaviour. Instincts,
drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under
the broad cluster of motivation.
The Motivational Cycle
Psychologists now use the concept of need to
describe the motivational properties of
behaviour. A need is lack or deficit of some
necessity.  The condition of need leads to drive.
Fig.8.1 : The Motivational Cycle
Need
Reduction of
arousal
Goal-directed
behaviour
Achievement
Drive
Arousal
Rationalised 2023-24
Psychology
128
A drive is a state of tension or arousal produced
by a need. It energises random activity. When
one of the random activities leads to a goal, it
reduces the drive, and the organism stops
being active. The organism returns to a
balanced state. Thus, the cycle of motivational
events can be presented as shown in Fig.8.1.
Are there different types of motives? Are
there any biological bases explaining different
kinds of motives? What happens if your motive
remains unfulfilled? These are some of the
questions we will discuss in the following
sections.
TYPES OF MOTIVES
Basically, there are two types of motives :
biological and psychosocial. Biological motives
are also known as physiological motives as they
are guided mostly by the physiological
mechanisms of the body. Psychosocial motives,
on the other hand, are primarily learned from
the individual’s interactions with the various
environmental factors.
However, both types of motives are
interdependent on each other. That is, in some
kind of situations the biological factors may
trigger a motive whereas in some other
situations, the psychosocial factors may trigger
the motive. Hence, you should keep in mind
that no motive is absolutely biological or
psychosocial per se, rather they are aroused
in the individual with varying combinations.
Biological Motives
The biological or physiological approach to
explain motivation is the earliest attempt to
understand causes of behaviour. Most of       the
theories, which developed later, carry traces of
the influence of the biological approach. The
approach adhering to the concept of adaptive
act holds that organisms have needs (internal
physiological imbalances) that produce drive,
which stimulates behaviour leading to certain
actions towards achieving certain goals, which
reduce the drive. The earliest explanations of
motivation relied on the concept of instinct. The
term instinct denotes inborn patterns of
behaviour that are biologically determined
rather than learned. Some common human
instincts include curiosity, flight, repulsion,
reproduction, parental care, etc.  Instincts are
innate tendencies found in all members of a
species that direct behaviour in predictable
ways. The term instinct most approximately
refers to an urge to do something. Instinct has
an “impetus” which drives the organism to do
something to reduce that impetus. Some of the
basic biological needs explained by this
approach are hunger, thirst, and sex, which
are essential for the sustenance of the
individual.
Fig.8.2 : Types of Motives
Biological Motives
Focus on the innate, biological causes
of motivation like hormones,
neurotransmitters, brain structures
(hypothalamus, limbic system, etc.).
For example, hunger, thirst and
sex motives.
Psychosocial Motives
Focus on psychological and social
(as well as environmental) factors and
how they interact with each other to
produce motivation. For example,
need for achievement, affiliation, power,
curiosity and exploration, and self-
actualisation motives.
Types of Motives
Rationalised 2023-24
Chapter 8 • Motivation and Emotion
129
Hunger
When someone is hungry, the need for food
dominates everything else. It motivates people
to obtain and consume food. Of course we
must eat to live. But, what makes you feel
hungry? Studies have indicated that many
events inside and outside the body may trigger
hunger or inhibit it. The stimuli for hunger
include stomach contractions, which signify
that the stomach is empty, a low concentration
of glucose in the blood, a low level of protein
and the amount of fats stored in the body.
The liver also responds to the lack of bodily
fuel by sending nerve impulses to the brain.
The aroma, taste or appearance of food may
also result in a desire to eat. It may be noted
that none of these alone gives you the feeling
that you are hungry. All in combination act
with external factors (such as taste, colour,
by observing others eating, and the smell of
food, etc.) to help you understand that you
are hungry. Thus, it can be said that our food
intake is regulated by a complex feeding-
satiety system located in the hypothalamus,
liver, and other parts of the body as well as
the external cues available in the environment.
Thirst
What would happen to you, if you were
deprived of water for a long time?  What makes
you feel thirsty? When we are deprived of water
for a period of several hours, the mouth and
throat become dry, which leads to dehydration
of body tissues. Drinking water is necessary
to wet a dry mouth. But a dry mouth does not
always result in water drinking behaviour. In
fact processes within the body itself control
thirst and drinking of water. Water must get
into the tissues sufficiently to remove the
dryness of mouth and throat.
Motivation to drink water is mainly
triggered by the conditions of the body: loss
of water from cells and reduction of blood
volume. When water is lost by bodily fluids,
water leaves the interior of the cells. The
anterior hypothalamus contains nerve cells
called ‘osmoreceptors’, which generate nerve
impulses in case of cell dehydration.
Sex
One of the most powerful drives in both animals
and human beings is the sex drive.  Motivation
to engage in sexual activity is a very strong
factor influencing human behaviour.  However,
sex is far more than a biological motive. It is
different from other primary motives (hunger,
thirst) in many ways like,         (a) sexual activity
is not necessary for an individual’s survival;
(b) homeostasis (the tendency of the organism
as a whole to maintain constancy or to attempt
to restore equilibrium if constancy is disturbed)
is not the goal of sexual activity; and (c) sex
drive develops with age, etc. In case of lower
animals, it depends on many physiological
conditions; in case of human beings, the sex
drive is very closely regulated biologically,
sometimes it is very difficult to classify sex
purely as a biological drive.
Psychosocial Motives
Social motives are mostly learned or acquired.
Social groups such as family, neighbourhood,
friends, and relatives do contribute a lot in
acquiring social motives. These are complex
forms of motives mainly resulting from the
individual’s interaction with her/his social
environment.
Need for Affiliation
Most of us need company or friend or want to
maintain some form of relationship with
others. Nobody likes to remain alone all the
time. As soon as people see some kinds of
similarities among themselves or they like each
other, they form a group. Formation of group
or collectivity is an important feature of human
life. Often people try desperately to get close
to other people, to seek their help, and to
become members of their group.  Seeking other
human beings and wanting to be close to them
both physically and psychologically is called
affiliation. It involves motivation for social
contact. Need for affiliation is aroused when
individuals feel threatened or helpless and also
when they are happy.  People high on this need
are motivated to seek the company of others
Rationalised 2023-24
Psychology
130
and to maintain friendly relationships with
other people.
Need for Power
Need for power is an ability of a person to
produce intended effects on the behaviour and
emotions of another person.  The various goals
of power motivation are to influence, control,
persuade, lead, and charm others and most
importantly to enhance one’s own reputation
in the eyes of other people.
David McClelland (1975) described four
general ways of expression of the power
motive.  First, people do things to gain feeling
of power and strength from sources outside
themselves by reading stories about sports
stars or attaching themselves to a popular
figure. Second, power can also be felt from
sources within us and may be expressed by
building up the body and mastering urges and
impulses. Third, people do things as
individuals to have an impact on others. For
example, a person argues, or competes with
another individual in order to have an impact
or influence on that person. Fourth, people
do things as members of organisations to have
an impact on others as in the case of the leader
of a political party; the individual may use the
party apparatus to influence others.  However,
for any individual, one of these ways of
expressing power motivation may dominate,
but with age and life experiences, it varies.
Need for Achievement
You might have observed some students work
very hard and compete with others for good
marks/grades in the examination, as good
marks/grades will create opportunities for
higher studies and better job prospects. It is
the achievement motivation, which refers to
the desire of a person to meet standards of
excellence. Need for achievement, also known
as n-Ach, energises and directs behaviour as
well as influences the perception of situations.
During the formative years of social
development, children acquire achievement
motivation.  The sources from which they learn
it, include parents, other role models, and
socio-cultural influences. Persons high in
achievement motivation tend to prefer tasks
that are moderately difficult and challenging.
They have stronger-than-average desire for
feedback on their performance, that is to know
how they are doing, so that they can adjust
their goals to meet the challenge.
Curiosity and Exploration
Often people engage in activities without a clear
goal or purpose but they derive some kind of
pleasure out of it.  It is a motivational tendency
to act without any specific identifiable goal. The
tendency to seek for a novel experience, gain
pleasure by obtaining information, etc. are
signs of curiosity. Hence, curiosity describes
behaviour whose primary motive appears to
remain in the activities themselves.
What will happen if the sky falls on us?
Questions of this kind (What will happen if…)
stimulate intellectuals to find answers.
Studies show that this curiosity behaviour is
not only limited to human beings, animals too
show the same kind of behaviour. We are
driven to explore the environment by our
curiosity and our need for sensory stimulation.
The need for varied types of sensory
stimulations is closely related to curiosity.  It
is the basic motive, and exploration and
curiosity are the expressions of it.
Our ignorance about a number of things
around us becomes a powerful motivator to
explore the world. We get easily bored with
repetitive experiences. So we look for something
new.
In the case of infants and small children,
this motive is very dominant. They get
satisfaction from being allowed to explore,
which is reflected in their smiling and
babbling.  Children become easily distressed,
when the motive to explore is discouraged, as
you have read in Chapter 3.
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
There are various views on human motivation,
the most popular among these is given by
Abraham H. Maslow (1968; 1970). He
Rationalised 2023-24