5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2014-2015 Edition (2013)
STEP 4. Review the Knowledge You Need to Score High
Chapter 12. Motivation and Emotion
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: Why do you do what you do? Motivation is a psychological process that directs and maintains your behavior toward a goal, fueled by motives, which are needs or desires that energize your behavior. Theories of motivation generally distinguish between primary, biological motives such as hunger, thirst, sex, pain reduction, optimal arousal, aggression; and secondary, social motives such as achievement, affiliation, autonomy, curiosity, and play. Social motives are learned motives acquired as part of growing up in a particular society or culture. Emotion is closely related to motivation. Some psychologists even define emotions as specific motivated states. Emotion is a psychological feeling that involves a mixture of physiological arousal, conscious experience, and overt behavior. Emotions include love, hate, fear, and jealousy. Instinct/evolutionary, drive reduction, incentive, arousal, and humanistic theories look at motivation differently. James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer, and opponent-process theories explain the relationship between physiological changes and emotional experiences differently. Both motivation and emotion spur us into action.
This chapter looks closely at direction and maintenance of behavior toward a goal and the psychological feelings that result.
Key Ideas
Instinct/Evolutionary theory of motivation
Drive reduction theory of motivation
Incentive theory of motivation
Arousal theory of motivation
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological motives—hunger, thirst, pain, sex
Social motives—achievement, affiliation
Social conflict situations
James-Lange theory of emotion
Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
Opponent-process theory of emotion
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor theory of emotion
Cognitive-appraisal theory of emotion
Stress
Coping
Positive psychology
Theories of Motivation
Instinct/Evolutionary Theory
Charles Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection indicated that individuals best adapted to their environment will be more likely to survive and reproduce, passing their favorable characteristics on to the next generation. As a result, a beneficial trait (one with high adaptive value) tends to become more common in succeeding generations. Eventually almost all individuals in the population will have the beneficial characteristic. Darwin believed that many behaviors were characteristics that could be passed on. William James thought that motivation by instincts was important for human behavior. In the early 1900s, a small group of psychologists led by William McDougall believed all thought and action necessarily resulted from instincts such as curiosity, aggression, and sociability. Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality is based on instincts that motivate sex and aggression. Instincts are complex, inherited behavior patterns characteristic of a species. To be considered a true instinct, the behavior must be stereotypical, performed automatically in the same way by all members of a species in response to a specific stimulus. Birds and butterflies flying south to mate, or salmon swimming upstream to mate, are examples of animals carrying out their instincts, also called fixed-action patterns. An example of an instinct was investigated by ethologist and animal behaviorist, Konrad Lorenz, who worked with baby geese. These and other birds form an attachment to the first moving object they see or hear soon after birth by following that object, which is usually their mother. This behavior is known as imprinting. When Lorenz was the first moving object they saw, the baby birds followed him.
Evolutionary psychologists may work in the field of sociobiology, which tries to relate social behaviors to evolutionary biology. For example, they look at evolutionary mating patterns that differ between the two sexes; a male may be motivated to mate with multiple partners to increase the chance of his genes getting into the next generation, while a female might be motivated to mate for life with the male who has the best resources to take care of her and her children.
Psychologists today debate if there are any human behaviors that can be considered true instincts. Is rooting/sucking behavior complex enough to be considered instinctive behavior, or is it merely reflexive? How much of human behavior is instinctive? Psychologists have found it necessary to devise other theories beyond instinct/evolutionary theory to account for human behavior.
Drive Reduction Theory
According to Clark Hull’s drive reduction theory, behavior is motivated by the need to reduce drives such as hunger, thirst, or sex. The need is a motivated state caused by a physiological deficit, such as a lack of food or water. This need activates a drive, a state of psychological tension induced by a need, which motivates us to eat or drink, for example. Generally, the greater the need, the stronger the drive. Eating food or drinking water reduces the need by satisfying our hunger or quenching our thirst, and our body returns to its state of homeostasis. Homeostasis is the body’s tendency to maintain an internal steady state of metabolism, to stay in balance. Metabolism is the sum total of all chemical processes that occur in our bodies and are necessary to keep us alive. Scientists have identified many of the neural pathways and hormonal interactions associated with biological needs and drives. For example, receptor cells for thirst and hunger are in the hypothalamus. Drive reduction theory accounts well at least to some extent for primary motives such as hunger, thirst, pain, and sex. This biologically based theory does not account as well for secondary motives such as achievement, affiliation, autonomy, curiosity, power, and play that are social in nature.
Incentive Theory
Primary motives push us to satisfy our biologic needs. But we are also pulled by environmental factors, which have little to do with biology. An incentive is a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior, pulling us toward a goal. Secondary motives, motives we learn to desire, are learned through society’s pull. Getting a 5 on the AP Psychology examination is an incentive that motivates you to read this book.
Arousal Theory
What explains people’s needs to climb mountains, bungee jump, or ride roller coasters? Arousal is the level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system. The optimal level of arousal varies with the person and the activity. The Yerkes-Dodson law states that we usually perform most activities best when moderately aroused, and efficiency of performance is usually lower when arousal is either low or high. We tend to perform difficult or newly learned tasks better at a lower level of arousal, but we tend to perform very easy or well-learned tasks at a higher level of arousal. When first learning to drive a car, we will drive best if we are not anxious about our performance. Years later, we may need the radio on while we are driving to keep us aroused for our best performance.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow categorized needs and then arranged them in order of priority, starting with powerful physiological needs, such as the needs for food and water. His hierarchy is often pictured as a pyramid (Figure 12.1). Maslow agreed with Hull that basic biological needs to satisfy hunger and thirst must be met first, followed by our safety needs to feel safe, secure, and stable in a world that is organized and predictable. When our stomachs are growling because we are hungry and homeless, it is unlikely that our greatest motivation will be to get a high grade on a test. When our needs for food, drink, shelter, and safety have been met, we are motivated to meet our belongingness and love needs, to love and be loved, to be accepted by others and considered part of a group, such as a family, and to avoid loneliness and alienation. This need is followed by esteem needs for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and independence; and the need for recognition and respect from others. According to Maslow, few people reach the highest levels of self-actualization, which is achievement of all of our potentials, and transcendence, which is spiritual fulfillment. Although this theory is attractive, we do not always place our highest priority on meeting lower-level needs. Political activists go on hunger strikes, soldiers sacrifice their lives, parents go without food in order to feed their children. Scientific evidence does not support this theory.
Figure 12.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Physiological Motives
Hunger
Why do you eat? You eat when you feel hungry because your stomach is contracting or your blood sugar is low, but you also eat because you love the taste of a particular food, and because you are with friends or family who are eating. Our eating behavior is influenced by biological, social, and cultural factors.
Early research indicated that stomach contractions caused hunger. Yet even people and other animals who have had their stomachs removed still experience hunger. Recent research has revealed receptor cells in the stomach that detect food in the stomach and send neural impulses along the vagus nerve to our brain, reducing our level of hunger.
Hunger and Hormones
Secretion of the hormone cholecystokinin by the small intestine when food enters seems to stimulate the hypothalamus to reduce our level of hunger. When the small intestine releases sugars into the blood, blood sugar concentration increases. When blood sugar levels are high, the pancreas secretes the hormone insulin. For some people, the sight and smell of appealing food can stimulate the secretion of insulin. High levels of insulin generally stimulate hunger. Insulin lowers the blood glucose level by increasing the use of glucose in the tissues, by promoting storage of glucose as glycogen in the liver and muscles, and by promoting formation of fat from glucose. When blood sugar levels are low, insulin release is inhibited and the pancreas secretes the hormone glucagon. Glucagon increases the blood glucose level by stimulating rapid conversion of glycogen into glucose, which is released by the liver and muscles into the bloodstream. Thus, insulin and glucagon work antagonistically through a negative feedback loop to help maintain homeostasis.
Hunger and the Hypothalmus
Neurons in the liver sensitive to glucose in the surrounding fluid send signals to the hypothalamus by way of the vagus nerve. Three parts of the hypothalamus in the brain seem to integrate information about hunger and satisfaction or satiety. The lateral hypothalamus (LH) was originally called the “on” button for hunger. When stimulated, this structure of the brain will start eating behavior, but if it is lesioned or removed, the individual will not eat at all, and will even starve to death. The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) was called the satiety center, or “off” button, for hunger. When stimulated, it turns off the urge to eat and when removed, the organism will continue to eat excessively and gain weight rapidly. Recent research indicates that a third region of the hypothalamus called the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) also helps regulate eating behavior as a result of stimulation or inhibition by neurotransmitters. Norepinephrine, GABA, and neuropeptide Y seem to increase the desire for carbohydrates, whereas serotonin seems to decrease the desire for carbohydrates. When the hormone leptin, produced by fat cells, is released into the bloodstream, it acts on receptors in the brain to inhibit release of neuropeptide Y into the PVN, thus inhibiting eating behavior.
Eating and Environmental Factors
Although eating behavior is partially regulated by biological factors, environmental factors such as learned preferences, food-related cues, and stress also influence our desire to eat. We all seem to have some inborn taste preferences for sweet foods, salty foods, and high-fat foods, but learning also influences what we eat. People from different cultures show different patterns of food consumption. Meat and potatoes are consumed in larger quantities in the United States, while rice and fish are the staple foods in Japan. Religious values also influence eating behavior by setting specific rules for the foods we may eat and those we are not permitted to eat. Finally, we tend to learn our food habits from our parents, partly by observational learning and partly by classical conditioning, for example by pairing foods with pleasant social interactions. What, how often, and how much we should eat are expectations we have learned since we were babies.
Obesity
Obesity and the potential for health problems associated with diabetes and hypertension are growing concerns in our population. People of normal weight tend to respond to internal, long-term bodily cues, such as stomach contractions and glucose–insulin levels; while those who are obese tend to pay more attention to the short term, external cues, such as smell, attractiveness of food, and whether it is meal time. Stress-induced arousal also stimulates eating behavior in a large proportion of the population.
Aware that obesity often leads to health problems and that millions of people try to lose weight, scientists have studied obesity and weight loss. By studying identical twins who were raised apart, they have found that some people inherit a predisposition to be over-weight, while others have a predisposition to be too thin. Most people who lose weight on diets tend to put it back on. Most people who try to gain weight have difficulty keeping their weight up. These observations led to the set-point theory, that we each have a set point, or a preset natural body weight, determined by the number of fat cells in our body. When we eat less, our weight goes down and our fat cells contract, which seems to trigger processes that result in decreased metabolism and increased hunger. When we eat more, our weight goes up and our fat cells increase in size, which seems to result in increased metabolism and decreased hunger. If we continue to eat more, we can continue to gain weight, and our set point can go up. Some scientists theorize that many chronic dieters are restrained eaters who stringently control their eating impulses and feel guilty when they fail. They become disinhibited and eat excessively if their control is disrupted, which contributes to weight gain.
Eating Disorders
Slim models and actresses in the media are pictured as ideals in America and in some European countries. Some people are highly motivated to achieve this ideal weight, and develop eating disorders. Underweight people who weigh less than 85% of their normal body weight, but are still terrified of being fat, suffer from anorexia nervosa. People with this disorder are usually young women who follow starvation diets and have unrealistic body images. Anorexia is associated with perfectionism, excessive exercising, and an excessive desire for self-control. Bulimia nervosa is a more common eating disorder characterized by eating binges involving the intake of thousands of calories, followed by purging either by vomiting or using laxatives. People with this disorder are also usually young women who think obsessively about food, but who are also terrified of being fat. Results of research suggest that some people suffering this disorder secrete less cholecystokinin than normal, have a low level of serotonin, have been teased for being overweight, participate in activities that require slim bodies, have been sexually abused, or are restrained eaters.
Thirst
Regulation of thirst is similar to regulation of hunger. The lateral hypothalamus seems to be the “on” button for both hunger and thirst. When stimulated, this area of the hypothalamus will start drinking behavior, but if it is lesioned or removed, the individual refuses liquids, even to the point of dehydration. Different neurotransmitters are involved in hunger and thirst. Mouth dryness plays a minor role in stimulating us to drink. More important is the fluid content of cells and the volume of blood. Osmoreceptors are sensitive to dehydration of our cells. When osmoreceptors detect shrinking of our cells, we become thirsty. The hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary to release antidiuretic hormone (ADH), which promotes reabsorption of water in the kidneys, resulting in decreased urination. When we vomit, donate blood, or have diarrhea, the volume of our blood decreases, resulting in decreased blood pressure. This stimulates kidney cells to release an enzyme that causes synthesis of angiotensin, which stimulates thirst receptors in our hypothalamus and septum. Drinking behavior and reabsorption of water in the kidneys result. Not only is thirst affected by internal cues, but it is affected by external cues too. We often get thirsty when we see other people drinking in real life or advertisements. These external stimuli can act as an incentive that stimulates drinking behavior, even when we have had enough to drink. What we drink is affected by customs as well as the weather.
Pain Reduction
Whereas hunger and thirst drives promote eating and drinking behavior, pain promotes avoidance or escape behavior to eliminate causes of discomfort. (Additional information about pain is in Chapter 8.)
Sex
Like hunger and thirst, the sex drive involves the hypothalamus, but unlike hunger and thirst, the sex drive can be aroused by almost anything at any time and is not necessary for survival of an individual. The sex drive increases at puberty with an increase in male sex hormones, such as testosterone, and estrogen, as well as small amounts of testosterone, in females. Secretion of hormones by the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary gland to secrete luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) into the bloodstream, which stimulate gonads (testes in males and ovaries in females) to secrete testosterone and estrogen that initiate and maintain arousal. Without these two hormones, sexual desire is greatly reduced in all species, but testosterone levels in humans seem related to sexual motivation in both sexes. Humans seem less instinctively driven to have children than other animals. Many learned cues are involved in this drive. Societies attempt to regulate sexual behavior by imposing sanctions against incest and encouraging or discouraging masturbation, premarital intercourse, marital intercourse, extramarital intercourse, and homosexuality.
In the 1940s, when biology professor Alfred Kinsey coordinated preparation for a marriage course, he found little scientific information available about sex and decided to pursue that research. He began to interview people about their sex histories, trained other interviewers, and founded the Institute for Sex Research, now the Kinsey Institute, at Indiana University. His popular book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was based on thousands of interviews, although participants were not randomly selected. A similar book about females followed.
Sexual orientation refers to the direction of an individual’s sexual interest. Homosexuality is a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another person of the same sex, and bisexuality is a tendency to direct sexual desire toward people of both sexes. Heterosexuality is a tendency to direct sexual desire toward people of the opposite sex. While most people are heterosexual, about 10% are estimated to be homosexual. Researchers attribute the causes of homosexuality to biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors.
Although the sex drive is not necessary for survival of an individual, it is necessary for survival of the species. According to evolutionary psychologists, mammalian females lack incentive to mate with many males because they optimize reproductive success by being selective in mating, choosing a male who has resources to provide for children. On the other hand, males optimize reproductive success by mating with many females, choosing young, healthy, fertile females.
Masters and Johnson described a pattern of four stages in the biological sexual response cycle of typical men and women, including excitement characterized by sexual arousal; plateau, which involves increased breathing rate, muscle tension, heart rate, and blood pressure; orgasm, which is characterized by ejaculation in males and pleasurable sensations induced by rhythmic muscle contractions in both sexes; and resolution as blood leaves the genitals and sexual arousal lessens, followed in most males by a refractory period during which another erection or orgasm is not achieved. Females show less tendency for a refractory period and are often capable of multiple orgasms.
Social Motivation
Achievement
According to David McClelland, the achievement motive is a desire to meet some internalized standard of excellence. McClelland used responses to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to measure achievement motivation. He suggested that people with a high need for achievement choose moderately challenging tasks to satisfy their need. They avoid easy goals that offer no sense of satisfaction and avoid impossible goals that offer no hope of success. People low in need for achievement select very easy or impossible goals so that they do not have to take any responsibility for failure. College students high in this need attribute success to their own ability, and attribute failure to lack of effort. Some people fear success because success can invite envy or criticism that strains social relationships, or even rejection.
Affiliation
The affiliation motive is the need to be with others. In general, people isolated for a long time become anxious. The affiliation motive is aroused when people feel threatened, anxious, or celebratory. According to evolutionary psychologists, social bonds provided our ancestors with both survival and reproductive benefits offering group members opportunities for food, shelter, safety, reproduction, and care of the young. Affiliation behavior involves an interaction of biological and social factors.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
When you do something because you enjoy it or want to test your ability or gain skill, your motivation is usually intrinsic. Curiosity and a desire for knowledge stem from intrinsic needs. Intrinsic motivation is a desire to perform an activity for its own sake rather than an external reward. Extrinsic motivation is a desire to perform an activity to obtain a reward from outside the individual, such as money and other material goods we have learned to enjoy, such as applause or attention. Society is largely extrinsically motivated by rewards such as money. People who are intrinsically motivated by inner desires for creativity, fulfillment, and inner satisfaction tend to be psychologically healthier and happier. When people are given a reward for doing something for which they are intrinsically motivated, their intrinsic motivation often diminishes, resulting in the overjustification effect in which promising a reward for doing something they already like to do results in them seeing the reward as the motivation for performing the task.
Social Conflict Situations
Conflict involves being torn in different directions by opposing motives that block you from attaining a goal, leaving you feeling frustrated and stressed. The least stressful are approach-approach conflicts, which are situations involving two positive options, only one of which you can have. For example, you are accepted to both Harvard and Yale and must decide which to attend. Avoidance-avoidance conflicts are situations involving two negative options, one of which you must choose. Some expressions, such as, “Between a rock and a hard place,” or, “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” and, “Between the devil and the deep blue sea,” exemplify this conflict. Approach-avoidance conflicts are situations involving whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences. Ordering a rich dessert ruins your diet but satisfies your chocolate cravings. The most complex form of conflict is the multiple approach–avoidance conflict, which involves several alternative courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects. For example, if you take the bus to the movies, you’ll get there in time to get a good seat and see the coming attractions, but you won’t have enough money to buy popcorn. If your parents drive you, you’ll have to help make dinner and wash the dishes. If you walk there, you may be late and get a bad seat, but you’ll have enough money to buy popcorn and you won’t have to help with dinner and the dishes.
Theories of Emotion
An emotion is a conscious feeling of pleasantness or unpleasantness accompanied by biological activation and expressive behavior; emotion has cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components. Two dimensions of emotion are arousal or intensity and valence or positive/negative quality. The greater the arousal, the more intense the emotion. Fear, anger, happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust are examples of emotions. Evolutionary psychologists suggest that emotions persist because of their adaptive value. Fear of people and animals displaying angry faces, for example, caused humans to focus attention and energize action to protect themselves in ways that enabled the species to survive. Facial expressions seem to be inborn and universal across all cultures. Many areas in the brain, many neurotransmitter systems, the autonomic nervous system, and the endocrine system are tied to emotions. The amygdala, which is part of the limbic system, influences aggression and fear, and interacts with the hypothalamus, which sets emotional states, such as rage. The limbic system has pathways to and from the cerebral cortex, especially the frontal lobes, which are involved in control and interpretation of emotions. The left hemisphere is more closely associated with positive emotions, and the right with negative emotions. Emotions are inferred from nonverbal expressive behaviors, including body language, vocal qualities, and, most importantly, facial expressions. Paul Ekman and others found at least six basic facial expressions are universally recognized by people in diverse cultures all over the world.
Cultures differ in norms for regulating emotional expression. For example, the Japanese, who value interdependence, promote more restraint in expression of emotions than other more individualistic cultures.
Psychologists agree that emotions associated with feelings (e.g., love, hate, fear) have physiological, behavioral, and cognitive components, but disagree as to how the three components interact to produce feelings and actions. No one theory seems sufficient to explain emotion, but each appears to contribute to an explanation.
James-Lange Theory
American psychologist William James, a founder of the school of functionalism, and Danish physiologist Karl Lange proposed that our awareness of our physiological arousal leads to our conscious experience of emotion. According to this theory, external stimuli activate our autonomic nervous systems, producing specific patterns of physiological changes for different emotions that evoke specific emotional experiences. When we see a vicious looking dog growl at us, our sympathetic nervous system kicks in, we begin to run immediately, and then we become aware that we are afraid. This theory suggests that we can change our feelings by changing our behavior.
The James-Lange theory is consistent with the current facial-feedback hypothesis that suggests that our facial expressions affect our emotional experiences. Smiling seems to induce positive moods, and frowning seems to induce negative moods.
Cannon-Bard Theory
Walter Cannon and Philip Bard disagreed with the James-Lange theory. According to the Cannon-Bard theory, conscious experience of emotion accompanies physiological responses. Cannon and Bard theorized that the thalamus (the processor of all sensory information but smell in the brain) simultaneously sends information to both the limbic system (emotional center) and the frontal lobes (cognitive center) about an event. When we see the vicious growling dog, our bodily arousal and our recognition of the fear we feel occur at the same time.
We now know that although the thalamus does not directly cause emotional responses, it relays sensory information to the amygdala and hypothalamus, which process the information.
Opponent-Process Theory
According to opponent-process theory, when we experience an emotion, an opposing emotion will counter the first emotion, lessening the experience of that emotion. When we experience the first emotion on repeated occasions, the opposing emotion becomes stronger and the first emotion becomes weaker, leading to an even weaker experience of the first emotion. If we are about to jump out of an airplane for the first time, we tend to feel extreme fear along with low levels of elation. On subsequent jumps, we experience less fear and more elation.
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory
Cognitive theories argue that our emotional experiences depend on our interpretation of situations. Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer’s studies suggested that we infer emotion from arousal and then label it according to our cognitive explanation for the arousal. For example, if we feel aroused and someone is yelling at us, we must be angry.
Cognitive-Appraisal Theory
Different people on an amusement park ride experience different emotions. According to Richard Lazarus’s cognitive-appraisal theory, our emotional experience depends on our interpretation of the situation we are in. In primary appraisal, we assess potential consequences of the situation, and in secondary appraisal, we decide what to do. This suggests that we can change our emotions if we learn to interpret the situation differently.
Evolutionary psychologists disagree that emotions depend on our evaluation of a given situation. They note that emotional responses developed before complex thinking in animal evolution. Lower animals fear predators without thinking. Robert Zajonc thinks that we often know how we feel long before we know what we think in a given situation.
Stress and Coping
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
Stress is the process by which we appraise and respond to environmental threats. According to Hans Selye, we react similarly to both physical and psychological stressors. Stressors are stimuli such as heat, cold, pain, mild shock, restraint, etc., that we perceive as endangering our well-being. Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) three-stage theory of alarm, resistance, and exhaustion describes our body’s reaction to stress. During the alarmreaction, our body increases sympathetic nervous system activity and activates the adrenal glands to prepare us for “fight or flight,” which by increasing our heart and breathing rates, as well as the availability of glucose for energy, increases our strength for fighting an enemy or our ability to run away. During the second stage of resistance, our temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration remain high while the level of hormones, such as adrenalin and corticosteroids, continues to rise. If crises are not resolved in this stage, continued stress results in the depletion of our resources and decreased immunity to diseases characteristic of the third stage of exhaustion, which may result in illnesses like ulcers or depression, or even death.
“Remember: Selye’s three stages ARE a GAS (A = alarm, R = resistance, E = exhaustion, and GAS is the General Adaptation Syndrome).”
— Jamie L., former AP student
Stressful Life Events
We can classify stressors on the basis of intensity from the most intense catastrophes, to significant life changes, to daily hassles.
Catastrophes are stressors that are unpredictable, large-scale disasters which threaten us. When catastrophes cause prolonged stress, health problems often result.
Significant life events include death of a loved one, marriage, divorce, changing jobs, moving to a new home, having a baby, and starting college. Holmes and Rahe created a “Social Readjustment Rating Scale” that rates stressful events in our lives. For example, death of a spouse receives the highest number of points at 100 and getting married receives 50. According to Holmes and Rahe, the higher our score on the scale, the greater the probability we will face a major health event within the next year.
Daily hassles are everyday annoyances, such as having to wait in lines, arguing with a friend, or getting a low grade on a quiz. Over time, these stressors can add up, raising our blood pressure, causing headaches, and lowering our immunity.
Stress and Health
High levels of stress are associated with decreased immunity, high blood pressure, headaches, heart disease, and quicker progression of cancer and AIDS.
According to Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, people who have different characteristic patterns of reacting to stress have different probabilities of suffering heart attacks. Type A personalities are high achievers, competitive, impatient, multi-taskers, who walk, talk, and eat quickly. Type B personalities, in contrast, are those who are more relaxed and calm in their approach to life. Friedman and Rosenman found that Type A personalities were more likely to experience a heart attack in their 30s and 40s than Type B personalities. Current research suggests that the Type A traits of anger, hostility, and cynicism are most highly correlated with potential risks for cardiac problems. After a heart attack, however, Type As are more likely to make healthy changes in their lifestyles than Type Bs.
Coping Strategies
Coping strategies can be adaptive or maladaptive. Maladaptive strategies ordinarily fail to remove the stressors or wind up substituting one stressor for another. Adaptive strategies remove stressors or enable us to better tolerate them.
Maladaptive coping strategies include aggression; indulging ourselves by eating, drinking, smoking, using drugs, spending money, or sleeping too much; or using defense mechanisms.
Adaptive coping strategies vary from taking direct action through problem solving; to lessening stress through physically exercising, seeking the social support of friends, or finding help through religious organizations and prayer; to accepting the problem. For example, you can adopt the optimistic attitudes of hardy people by committing to a particular project or goal, seeing yourself as being in control rather than a victim of circumstance, and looking at finishing the project or realizing your goal as a challenge or opportunity. Health psychologists often suggest using relaxation, visualization, meditation, and biofeedback to help lessen the effects of stress in our lives, and boost our immune systems.
Positive Psychology
Subjective well-being, your assessment of how happy or satisfied you feel, has become a focus of positive psychology. Positive psychology, founded by Martin Seligman, is the scientific study of optimal human functioning. The three pillars of positive psychology are positive emotions, positive character, and positive groups, communities, and cultures.
Review Questions
Directions: For each question, choose the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Imprinting is
(A) the adaptive response of an infant when its mother leaves a room
(B) a maladaptive response of anxiety by an infant when abandoned by its mother
(C) a period shortly after birth when a newborn reacts to salty, sweet, or bitter stimuli
(D) a period shortly after birth when an adult forms a bond with his or her newborn
(E) the tendency of some baby animals to form an attachment to the first moving object they see or hear during a critical period after birth
2. Which of the following topics would a sociobiologist be most interested in studying?
(A) whether or not ape communication can be defined as language
(B) whether pigeons are capable of cognitive learning
(C) altruistic acts that ensure the survival of the next generation
(D) aggressive behavior in stickleback fish related to sign stimuli
(E) stress and its relationship to heart attacks
3. When asked why he wants to become a doctor, Tom says, “Because I’ve always liked biology and being a doctor will allow me to make a good salary to take care of a family.” His answer is most consistent with which of the following theories of motivation?
(A) drive reduction
(B) incentive
(C) hierarchy of needs
(D) arousal
(E) instinct
4. According to the Yerkes-Dodson model, when facing a very difficult challenge, which level of arousal would probably lead to the best outcome?
(A) a very low level
(B) a moderately low level
(C) a moderate level
(D) a moderately high level
(E) a very high level
5. The James-Lange theory of emotion states that
(A) emotional awareness precedes our physiological response to a stressful event
(B) emotional expression follows awareness of our physiological response to an arousing event
(C) an arousing event simultaneously triggers both a cognitive awareness and a physiological response
(D) the level of fear we first feel when we ride a roller coaster is reduced each time we experience the same event until thrill replaces it
(E) when we are unaware of why we are feeling arousal, we take our cue from the environment
6. Which of the following factors stimulate us to eat?
(A) stomach contractions, high levels of glucagon, and stimulation of the VMH
(B) high levels of cholecystokinin, high levels of insulin, and stimulation of the VMH
(C) lack of cholecystokinin, high levels of glucagon, and stimulation of the LH
(D) lack of cholecystokinin, high levels of insulin, and stimulation of the LH
(E) low blood sugar, stomach contractions, and stimulation of the VMH
7. Homeostasis refers to
(A) arousal of the sympathetic nervous system
(B) a tendency for individuals to behave consistently when highly motivated
(C) a need state resulting from the physiological experience of hunger or thirst
(D) the body’s tendency to maintain a balanced internal state
(E) the second stage of Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
8. During junior high, the typical student is preoccupied with making friends. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which of the following needs is he or she satisfying?
(A) fundamental needs
(B) safety needs
(C) love and belonging needs
(D) esteem needs
(E) self-actualization
9. Adit really likes the appearance of the Chevy Blazer his friend is selling, but knows he should be more conservative with his money. What type of conflict situation is he facing?
(A) approach-approach
(B) approach-avoidance
(C) avoidance–avoidance
(D) multiple approach–avoidance
(E) no conflict because he either buys it or he doesn’t
10. The number one tennis player on last year’s squad does not find her name on the list of students who made this year’s team. Which stage of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome is she most likely experiencing?
(A) alarm
(B) resistance
(C) denial
(D) competence
(E) exhaustion
11. Which of the following characteristics of the Type A personality is most positively correlated with having a heart attack?
(A) competitive
(B) eating quickly
(C) impatient
(D) ambitious
(E) hostile
12. Terrence’s parents were excited by his recent interest in reading science fiction novels. They bought him toy science fiction characters and praised him for reading the books. When they stopped giving him praise and toys, they were dismayed that he quit reading. Terrence’s behavior best illustrates
(A) the overjustification effect
(B) overlearning
(C) internal locus of control
(D) the self-fulfilling prophecy
(E) drive reduction theory
13. Which of the following most accurately reflects our current understanding of basic facial expressions?
(A) Facial expressions are universally recognized and displayed by all cultures.
(B) Anger is easily interpreted as a facial expression by most cultures and displayed by all in similar situations.
(C) Facial expressions are universally recognized, but highly variable in how they are displayed.
(D) Cultures vary in their interpretation and display of the six most common facial expressions.
(E) Facial expressions are learned through modeling of basic facial expressions by parents.
14. Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormones (LH) are most closely associated with which of the following motivated behaviors?
(A) hunger
(B) thirst
(C) sex
(D) anxiety
(E) happiness
15. Selection of moderately challenging tasks characterizes the behavior of people who have a
(A) fear of failing
(B) high need for achievement
(C) fear of success
(D) low need for achievement
(E) inferiority complex
Answers and Explanations
1. E—Imprinting is the tendency for the newborn of some animals, such as ducklings and goslings, to follow the first moving object they see or hear.
2. C—Sociobiologists assume that human and animal behavior is based on a biological imperative to ensure survival of genetic material into the next generation. They believe that altruism—selfless behavior—is an instinct that serves this goal.
3. B—Incentive theory discusses both the primary motives, such as hunger and sex, that push behavior, and the secondary motives, like achievement and money, that are pulled by incentives or rewards found in the environment.
4. B—According to the Yerkes-Dodson inverted U graph of arousal, average tasks require a moderate level of arousal, very difficult tasks like this one require a moderately low level of arousal, and very easy tasks require a moderately high level of arousal. Very low and very high arousal levels are never optimal because we need some arousal to do well, but too high a level agitates us.
5. B—According to the James-Lange theory, we are aware of feeling emotions after the physiological and behavioral responses occur to environmental stimuli. I see the bear, I start to run, and then I realize I am afraid.
6. D—The lateral hypothalamus (LH) is the “on” button that initiates eating behavior when food is not in our stomachs or small intestines, which is indicated by lack of cholecystokinin and high levels of insulin.
7. D—Homeostasis is a balanced internal state. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the parasympathetic nervous system works to return the body to homeostasis.
8. C—Most teens are looking to belong to groups and feel acceptance from others, which corresponds to Maslow’s third level in his hierarchy—love and belonging needs.
9. B—Adit’s conflict situation involves only one choice, to buy or not to buy the truck, and thus this is the approach-avoidance situation. There is both a positive and a negative consequence to buying the new truck.
10. A—The alarm stage is the first part of Selye’s general adaptation syndrome. The tennis player is probably in a state of shock and her stress at not making the team will cause the sympathetic nervous system to be activated. In the second stage of resistance, her coping skills will probably lessen her stress after the initial shock.
11. E—Three characteristics of the Type A personality have been found to be positively correlated with heart disease—anger, hostility, and cynicism.
12. A—In the overjustification effect here, an intrinsically rewarded behavior was turned into an extrinsically rewarded behavior and, thus, when the rewards were taken away by the parents, the behavior diminished.
13. C—Cross-cultural studies conducted by Paul Ekman and others seem to support identification of six basic facial expressions across all cultures, but different display rules, depending on the culture.
14. C—Follicle stimulating and luteinizing hormones are associated with sexual arousal in humans.
15. B—People with a high need for achievement want to feel successful. If they select easy tasks, they are expected to be able to do them and don’t feel very successful. If they select difficult tasks, their likelihood of success is limited. By completing challenging but achievable tasks, they feel successful.
Rapid Review
Motive is a need or a want that causes us to act. Motivation directs and maintains goal-directed behavior. Motivational theories explain the relationship between physiological changes and emotional experiences.
Theories of motivation include:
• Instinct theory—physical and mental instincts such as curiosity and fearfulness cause us to act. Instincts are inherited automatic species-specific behaviors.
• Drive reduction theory—focuses on internal states of tension, such as hunger, that motivate us to pursue actions that reduce the tension and bring us back to homeostasis, which is internal balance. Need is a motivated state caused by a physiological deficit. Drive is a state of psychological tension, induced by a need, which motivates us.
• Incentive theory—beyond the primary motives of food, drink, and sex which push us toward a goal, secondary motives or external stimuli such as money, approval, and grades regulate and pull us toward a goal.
• Arousal theory—each of us has an optimal level of arousal necessary to perform tasks which varies with the person and the activity. Arousal is the level of alertness, wakefulness, and activation caused by activity in the central nervous system. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, for easy tasks, moderately high arousal is optimal; for difficult tasks, moderately low is optimal; and for most average tasks, a moderate level of arousal is optimal.
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—arranges biological and social needs in priority from the lowest level of 1) basic biological needs to 2) safety and security needs to 3) belongingness and love needs to 4) self-esteem needs to 5) self-actualization needs. The need for self-actualization, the need to fulfill one’s potential, and transcendence, spiritual fulfillment, are the highest needs and can only be realized after each succeeding need below has been fulfilled. Lacks evidence to support theory.
Physiological motives are primary motives such as hunger, thirst, pain, and sex influenced by biological factors, environmental factors, and learned preferences and habits. These include:
1. Hunger—increases with stomach contractions, low blood sugar, high insulin levels that stimulate the lateral hypothalamus (LH); high levels of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine, GABA, and neuropeptide Y that stimulate the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVN); environmental factors such as the sight and smell of desired foods, and stress. Stimulation of the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) stops eating behavior.
Set point—a preset natural body weight, determined by the number of fat cells in our body.
Anorexia nervosa—eating disorder most common in adolescent females characterized by weight less than 85% of normal, abnormally restrictive food consumption, and an unrealistic body image.
Bulimia nervosa—an eating disorder characterized by a pattern of eating binges involving intake of thousands of calories, followed by purging, either by vomiting or using laxatives.
2. Thirst—increases with mouth dryness; shrinking of cells from loss of water and low blood volume which, stimulate the lateral hypothalamus; and sight and smell of desired fluids.
3. Pain—promotes avoidance or escape behavior to eliminate causes of discomfort.
4. Sex—necessary for survival of the species, but not the individual. Testosterone levels in humans seem related to sexual motivation in both sexes. Sexual orientation refers to the direction of an individual’s sexual interest:
• Homosexuality—a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another person of the same sex.
• Bisexuality—a tendency to direct sexual desire toward people of both sexes.
• Heterosexuality—a tendency to direct sexual desire toward people of the opposite sex. Masters and Johnson described a pattern of four stages in the biological sexual response cycle: sexual arousal, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.
Social motives are learned needs, such as the need for achievement and the need for affiliation, that energize behavior acquired as part of growing up in a particular society or culture.
Need for achievement—a desire to meet some internalized standard of excellence, related to productivity and success. People with a high need for achievement choose moderately challenging tasks to satisfy their need.
Affiliation motive—the need to be with others; is aroused when people feel threatened, anxious, or celebratory.
Intrinsic motivation—a desire to perform an activity for its own sake.
Extrinsic motivation—a desire to perform an activity to obtain a reward such as money, applause, or attention.
Overjustification effect—where promising a reward for doing something we already like to do results in us seeing the reward as the motivation for performing the task. When the reward is taken away, the behavior tends to disappear.
Social conflict situations involve being torn in different directions by opposing motives that block us from attaining a goal, leaving us feeling frustrated and stressed. Types of conflicts include:
• Approach-approach conflicts—situations involving two positive options, only one of which we can have.
• Avoidance-avoidance conflicts—situations involving two negative options, one of which we must choose.
• Approach-avoidance conflicts—situations involving whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences.
• Multiple approach–avoidance conflicts—situations involving several alternative courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects.
Emotions are psychological feelings that involve physiological arousal (biological component), conscious experience (cognitive component), and overt behavior (behavioral component). Physiological arousal involves stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system and hormonal secretion. The limbic system is the center for emotions; the amygdala influences aggression and fear and interacts with the hypothalamus. Basic emotions such as joy, fear, anger, sadness, surprise, and disgust are inborn. Cross-cultural studies support the universal recognition of at least six basic emotions based on facial expressions. Different cultures have different rules for showing emotions. No one theory accounts completely for emotions:
• Evolutionary theory—emotions developed because of their adaptive value, allowing the organism to avoid danger and survive. We often know how we feel before we know what we think.
• James-Lange theory—conscious experience of emotion results from one’s awareness of autonomic arousal.
• Cannon-Bard theory—the thalamus sends information to the limbic system and cerebral cortex simultaneously so that conscious experience of emotion accompanies physiological processes.
• Opponent-process theory—following a strong emotion, an opposing emotion counters the first emotion, lessening the experience of that emotion. On repeated occasions, the opposing emotion becomes stronger.
• Schachter-Singer two-factor theory—we determine an emotion from our physiological arousal and then label that emotion according to our cognitive explanation for the arousal.
• Cognitive-appraisal theory—our emotional experience depends on our interpretation of the situation we are in.
Health psychology looks at relationship between psychological behavior—thoughts, feelings, and actions—and physical health.
Stress—both psychological and physiological reactions to stressors; situations, events, or stimuli that produce uncomfortable feelings or anxiety.
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome—three-stage process describes our body’s reaction to stress:
1. Alarm reaction—stressor triggers increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system.
2. Resistance—raised temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration maintained; levels of adrenalin and corticosteroids rise.
3. Exhaustion stage—immune system is weakened, increased susceptibility to ulcers, depression, death.
Stressful life events include:
• Catastrophes—unpredictable, large-scale disasters that threaten us.
• Significant life events—stressful changes in our lives such as death of a loved one, marriage, starting college, etc. Holmes and Rahe’s Social Readjustment Rating Scale rates stressful events in our lives. The greater the number and intensity of life-changing events, the greater is the chance of developing physical illness or disease in the following year.
• Daily hassles—everyday annoyances that together can raise our blood pressure, cause headaches, and lower our immunity.
Type A personalities with traits of anger, hostility, and cynicism are more likely to have heart attacks than Type B personalities. Type A personalities—high achievers, competitive, impatient, multitaskers, who walk, talk, and eat quickly. Type B personalities—relaxed and calm in their approach to life.
Coping strategies are active efforts to reduce or tolerate perceived levels of stress. Maladaptive coping strategies include aggression; indulging ourselves by eating, drinking, smoking, using drugs, spending money, or sleeping too much; or using defense mechanisms. (See Chapter 14 for defense mechanisms.)
Adaptive coping strategies include taking direct action through problem solving, exercising, seeking the social support of friends, finding help through religious organizations and prayer, and accepting the problem. Relaxation, visualization, meditation, and biofeedback can help lessen the effects of stress in our lives and boost our immune systems.
Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning.