Looking at the biological, cognitive and environmental influences on your behavior.

1. Motivation in
Everyday Life
What are the Biological,
Cognitive, and
Environmental Influences on
Your Behavior?

2. W is Motivation?
hat
 A pre s ume d internal state causing you to m ove
tow a goal
ard
 The factors that initiate, guide, and direct your
behaviors tow certain goals and that m
ard aintain
those actions w hile the goals are being pursued
Motivation may involve ways of thinking and relating to portions of
your environment
Motivation has an emotional component attached to it

3. Biological Influences on
Motivation
 Genetic Factors
Instinct
An inherited behavior pattern expressed in a uniform and consistent manner,
and which occurs in every member of a species that aids in its survival within
an environment
Human Behavior
Flexible and diverse behavior patterns that are guided and shaped by genetics
and influenced by cognition and the environment
Types of Biological Motives
Physical characteristics (desirability as sex partners or strength to protect and
provide)
Cultural influences (recognition, status, and expression of emotions)

4. Ne e ds and Drive s
Needs are internal biological states that help to initiate, guide, and
maintain behavior
Drives are internal states of tension or arousal that initiates actions that
will try to satisfy the underlying need
Homeostasis is an automatic physiological process that responds to
drives in order to reduce the internal tension and maintain a
physiological balance
The Basal Metabolism is the amount of energy the body expends in a
resting state
The Set Point is the internal standard around which the body weight is
regulated

5. The Physiological Needs: Thirst
 You become thirsty either through a direct
loss of fluids or by consuming too much salt
The body’s normal balance of water and minerals (i.e. sodium) is
upset
When fluids are lost, neurons or receptors in the hypothalamus
emit a hormone that reduces the amount of water secreted from the
kidneys
Accompanying this is a change in heart rate and blood pressure
The kidneys release a hormone (renin) that acts on the neurons in
the hypothalamus creating the sensation of thirst and initiating
drinking
Managing your need for liquids
Alcohol is NOT a thirst quencher due to its dehydration effects
Most people attempt to satisfy their thirst with what’s popularly
advertised not what they need

6. The Physiological Needs: Hunger
 Your body seeks a balance between your food
intake and your energy requirements
The regulatory system for hunger includes several areas in the brain
including the hypothalamus, sensors that monitor nutrients in the blood
stream, the liver, and the stomach
The body tries to maintain a set point weight and to correct deviations when
it gets too low or too high a weight
Coping with your need to eat
How much and what you eat is under biological control
Family, culture, social pressures, physical and psychological problems, and
personal preferences influence this
Dieting
When the body receives an insufficient calorie intake, it goes into a
starvation mode and stores every calorie it gets = more weight
When the diet is finished, the body brings itself up to set point again
The best thing is to go for less than two pounds per week weight loss, get
regular exercise, and eat well-balanced meals

7. The Physiological Needs: Sex
Sexual responses satisfy both biological
and psychological needs
Your motivation for sexual activity is affected by
cognitive and environmental as well as
physiological factors
Sex hormones influence sexual arousal through their effects
on the hypothalamus
Sex hormones’ influence in humans are not as strong as the
influence they have on the lower animals
When sexually aroused, the levels of sex hormones increase
with the human imagination playing a major role in sexual
arousal
Cultural practices, and religious and moral codes affect the
expression of sexual desire

8. Aro u s a l
The body’s general level of alertness and activity as
reflected in muscle tension, heart and respiration
rates, and patterns of the brain’s electrical activity
The Ye rke s -Do ds o n Law
When the level of arousal is too high or too low, performance falls off
1. This is due to the fact that under high levels of arousal, the most recently learned
behaviors are often dropped in favor of old habits
2. High arousal interferes with your ability to solve problems and make decisions
People vary in what they consider high or low arousal levels
Some people are sensation seeking actively seeking ways to maintain high levels of
arousal and excitement in their lives
Some sensation seekers become artists, competitive sports enthusiasts, scientists, or
entertainers; others become criminals, schemers, con artists, or drug addicts

9. Manag Uncom ortable
ing f
Levels of Arousal
 Your optimum level of arousal is the
appropriate level of sensation for a given
activity
To ob tain this le ve l, you may ne e d to rais e or low e r your le ve l
of s timulation
Develop a small-win mentality
Breaking problems into smaller parts, pursuing each part, and
developing some successes in tackling each aspect of the problem is how to
develop this state of mind
Large, unmanageable problems become a series of smaller,
manageable situations
With a series of smaller wins it becomes much easier to resolve the
larger issue --- and you’ll be more motivated to do it

10. Cognitive I nfluences on
Motivation
 Unconscious Motives
Conscious and unconscious needs and drives affect your
behavior
You’re not overtly aware of the influences, but they do exert a control over you
Getting in touch with Unconscious Motives
First, be willing to examine your actions: “What made me do this?”
Try not to discount or disregard completely the reactions other people have to
what you say and do: “What is valid about their point of view?”
Try to identify the motivations in your fantasies and dreams: “What is this
telling me about my personal desires?”
Your dreams and fantasies may indicate you need someone to discuss your
deeper feelings and desires with
Discuss your concerns and behaviors with friends, parents, or a counselor

11. Expe ctations
Beliefs that anticipate or estim how you
ate
and others will or should behave
Expectations are present in: statements about your hopes
for the future, rules of social behavior, and whether you’ll
achieve success or not
They compel you to respond in certain ways
The role of personal expectations in your successes and
failures
Expectations are a good predictor of achievement in school, the job, and in relationships
Anticipation that what you’ll do will or will not lead to something productive is part of the
story
Self-efficacy (the expectancy that your efforts will lead to success) must be examined
Self-efficacy has two components: the perception that you possess the skills and abilities
to achieve the goals; and your estimate that if those skills are used, there will be a
positive outcome

12. More on e xpe ctations
Perceptions of self-efficacy predict grades in school, the development of
social skills, stopping smoking, career choices, coping with feared events,
and performance of sales people
Self-efficacy is necessary to make changes in your life
The higher the sense of self-efficacy, the better the performance
As the performance increases, the self-efficacy is enhanced
Four factors produce an effective level of self-efficacy
1. The number of success experiences on a task --- particularly if
they are early in learning
2. Observing admired and respected models obtaining productive
outcomes from their efforts
3. Listening to others when they try to boost your morale
4. Correctly interpreting information from your psychological states

13. Lo c us o f Co ntro l Be lie fs
 Positive and negative outcomes result from the
perception of where your personal control is
located
Beliefs in locus of control are learned through past experience and
are not fixed
Internal locus of control – the belief that your efforts are
under your control and that they will lead to positive
outcomes
Tend to be assertive, extroverted, self-directed, prosocial, and
interested in developing social relationships
External locus of control – the belief that externals (e.g.
fate, luck, the stars, or powerful others) control most
aspects of your life

14. Promoting an Internal Locus of
Control
e Assume more responsibility for tasks at work
and at school
Volunteer to do things other people normally take on
Begin with easy things, then select more and more difficult tasks
t Try new activities rather than the usual safe,
secure ways of doing things
Try a new sport, a new food, a new way to get home from school or work; just break old habit
patterns
People with strong external locus of control beliefs do things which reinforce those beliefs
n Consider changing aspects of your current
environment
“How does everyone in my life contribute to my locus of control beliefs?”
“What types of people do I need around me to change that?”
“What about my current job or school contributes to my believing I’m not in control of things?”

15. Values
 Stable beliefs that underlie and are observed in your
behaviors across a wide variety of situations in your life
Value s affe c t yo ur willing ne s s to initiate ac tio ns de s ig ne d to
o btain c e rtain g o als
Value s affe c t the de g re e o f e ffo rt yo u put into an ac tivity and
ho w we ll yo u pe rs is t in purs uing c e rtain g o als
Value s affe c t the c ho ic e s yo u make in life
 Examining your values
What do I c urre ntly value , and am I s atis fie d with what I value ?
What dis c re panc ie s e xis t be twe e n what I value and my
be havio rs ?
Cognitive dissonance
What dis c re panc ie s e xis t amo ng the thing s I value ?
Inconsistent beliefs alone can create cognitive dissonance

16. Environmental Influences on
Motivation
Z Ince ntive s
A physical object that can be used to motivate
you to act; Any external stimulus or goal in an
environment that motivates your actions
Incentives are goals you’ll pursue in attempting to reduce certain drives or
obtain something you consider important and personally valuable
Some incentives are more valuable than others, hence, they have
incentive value
Problems pursuing incentives
Two or more goals may have similar positive features, negative features, or a
combination of both
When there are combinations of features there is goal conflict

17. Goal Conflicts
Identifying and resolving Ways of resolving the conflicts
common goal conflicts produced by goals with both
Approach-Approach conflict
positive and negative qualities
When two goals are equally attractive or 1. Find more reasons for making
desirable one goal more attractive than
Avoidance-Avoidance conflict the other
When two goals are equally undesirable 2. Find a new goal that has the
Must weigh the negative qualities of both positive characteristics of both
and choose the “lesser of two evils”
goals
Another solution is to find a different
option that has more positive qualities 3. Just go ahead and pick one
Approach-Avoidance conflict
One goal is attractive and one isn’t
Double Approach-Avoidance conflict
Two or more goals have both attractive
and unattractive qualities

18. Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic
Motivation
 Be fitsa s c te w inc ntive
ne s o ia d ith e s
Both tangible rewards and subjective thoughts and feelings
accompany the goal-seeking
Extrinsic motivation
The desire to perform a behavior to get an external reward or
avoid punishment
Intrinsic motivation
The desire to perform a behavior where pleasure is derived from
performing the behavior
Sometimes external rewards can undermine intrinsic
motivation
External rewards are important in many activities. If they
are expected, it is unlikely that the activity would continue
without them.

19. Enhancing Intrinsic Motivation in the
Workplace
 Five principles
1. Variety should be present in the tasks that employees perform
2. People need a certain amount of autonomy to do their jobs
Managers need to avoid over-supervising every detail of the job
3. People work better when they can identify how their efforts contribute to the final
product or outcome of the task
Employees need to feel ownership for a product or outcome so they can feel
they’ve made a difference
4. Regular feedback on how well an employee is performing needs to be provided
This allows corrections to be made and positive feedback makes people feel
good about their efforts
5. Opportunities to work on tasks and/or to discuss job-related issues with other
employees need to be part of the work environment
This allows for ideas to be shared and for people to recognize each other’s
contributions as well as having some of their social needs met

20. Combined Effects of Needs,
Expectations, & the Incentive Values
 Achievement
The need to achieve is the desire to compete successfully with
standards of excellence
Satisfying the need to achieve over time produces a number of
desirable consequences: Persistence on tasks, initiative, assuming
personal responsibility for doing things, and setting realistic
goals
Three factors influence your level of achievement motive
1. It is a learned drive which developed from childhood when
excellence and competition are stressed and successes rewarded
with praise and affection
2. It is an expectation about whether or not your attempts to satisfy
this need are likely to be successful. This develops from having success
experiences in the past.
3. It has the incentive value of goals which are the positive and
negative qualities associated with the goals
For you to achieve and get ahead in life, you need to have an
appropriate amount of internal need or drive to achieve, expect
success that will help you meet this need, and value obtaining
goals that represent an accomplishment

21. More on Achievement
 Those with a High Need to Achieve are realistic
about what they can accomplish
They derive satisfaction from accomplishing challenging tasks or goals
A challenge is defined as a goal or task of intermediate difficulty
e The Fear of Failure is associated with the need to
achieve
It is the anxiety that occurs when a challenge is faced and you are
concerned about your ability to handle it
People vary in terms of how much the fear of failure affects their lives

22. More on the Fear of Failure
Strategies used by those with a Fear of
Failure
1. Easy tasks or goals are attempted insuring success
2. Difficult tasks or goals are attempted insuring failure
3. Tasks are attempted with a lack of investment of time or effort
4. Procrastination increases so things never get done on time or at the last
minute thus insuring that the work isn’t done appropriately
5. Superstriving occurs so that they make a supreme effort and work beyond
their capabilities ending up exhausted and “burned out”
6. Lying and cheating are sometimes used to get ahead only giving
temporary relief from the anxiety over failing

23. The Fear of
Success
Some people actually fear becoming
successful
People with a fear of success worry about social
rejection or disapproval from their less
successful peers.
They also may fear losing control over their
independence and autonomy if they became too
successful
Often, if they do become successful, they feel that they
somehow fooled the world and fear someone uncovering their
great “deception”

24. Re actions of Hig h & Low
nACH to the ir Succe s s e s and
Failure s
High achievement motivation people
believe that ability and effort pay off
Will dig in and work harder when things aren’t working
out
Take their time by considering all possibilities before making a decision
 Low achievement people believe
outside factors control their
successes
Tend to stop trying and don’ t believe that their skills and
abilities make much of a difference
They’ ll generally wait for easier tasks
Gamblers and high risk takers

25. Modifying Your Need for
Achievement
 Six Steps
 Engage in self-study
Become sensitive to the presence of achievement motivation in your thoughts and actions and assess the
skills you have that will help you get ahead
 Think creatively and imaginatively
Find unique ways to become more successful in your career and set goals for future activities
 Establish moderate goals
Select goals you have a realistic chance of obtaining
 Take initiative and responsibility
Don’t depend on others, get things done yourself
 Attribute your successes more to your skills, ability, and
effort
Don’t choose easy tasks or attribute your success to luck
 Think positively
Imagine yourself becoming successful due to the actions you took

26. The Po we r Mo tive
 The desire to have an impact on others, arouse strong
emotions in them, or maintain your reputation and prestige
Three factors affect the attempt to gain or use power:
1. An internal need or drive to feel powerful
2. Personal expectations or estimates of whether the efforts to obtain
influence will be successful
3. The incentive value of the goals being pursued
Power is a complex force
Both men and women have similar interests in obtaining “socially appropriate”
power indicators (e.g. prestige, the ability to exert leadership)
Men have a stronger tendency to abuse power
High needs for power are associated with alcoholism, reckless driving,
gambling, verbal and physical aggression and abuse, and overcontrolling in a
relationship
Early family history plays a role in socially unacceptable displays of power
The misuse of power affects other areas of your life
Those with a high need for power have a difficult time establishing close
relationships

27. Affiliation: The Need for Human
Contact
 It is better to seek moderate levels of Affiliation
Moderate levels of affiliation produces more satisfaction in social
interactions
Women with high needs for affiliation have more negative moods
Often, your expectations of how others should act leaves you disappointed
If you’re relatively unconcerned about affiliation you’ll have a difficult time with
intimate relationships and be suspicious of others, eventually withdrawing from
social contact and the chance for personal growth
Anxiety increases the need for Affiliation
Having others around when you’re anxious helps you to feel
better
Having people who take a more active role in helping you to cope is much
more effective

28. Maslow’ s Hierarchy of
Needs
 Not all needs are created equal
Our needs are arranged along a hierarchy of importance
 Motivation is more than physio-
logical drives
You have some degree of independent control over your
behavior
You are capable of evaluating possibilities and incentives and choosing among
them
Higher order needs are motivators
Self-actualization is a major need, but lower order needs must be met first

29. The Hierarchy of

Needs
First Priority Needs
The Physiological Needs
The most important to fulfill
Air, water, food, sleep, protection from the elements, etc.
 Second Order Needs
Safety and Security
The need to be cared for and protected, and to care for and protect others
The need for structure, order, and predictability in the environment
We live with two conflicting needs: safety and security and the need to express
our talents and energies in self-fulfilling ways
Most people don’t get beyond Safety and Security
Will stay in a situation even when it’s destructive often through fear of
disapproval from others

30. More on the Hierarchy of
Needs
 Third Order Needs
Love and Belongingness
Includes the desire for community and to feel a part of a place called “home”
Shows up as the need for close, meaningful relationships with family and
friends
The widespread loneliness in our society reflects the difficulty in fulfilling this
need
 Fourth Order Needs
Self-Esteem
The need for a healthy sense of self respect and to be respected by others
Included are the needs for feelings of competence, mastery, and achievement

31. More on the Hierarchy of
Needs
 Highest Order Need
Self-Actualization
The need for completeness,
using your talents and capabilities,
to know and understand yourself
and others more fully, and to
contribute to the world in a positive
way
Less than 10% of the people in
the world achieve self-
actualization
All the lower needs must be met
before self-actualization can be
attempted