Psychology



Psychology

Motivation, Emotion, and Behavior

Motivation is the force that activates and directs the underlying behavior and any tendency for survival. Current research focuses its attention on factors that activate or energize behavior. Emotions are subjective reactions to the environment that are accompanied by neural and hormonal responses. Usually experienced as pleasant or unpleasant and are considered adaptive reactions that affect our way of thinking. There are various types of motivation. Primary motivation is linked to the biological needs that interact very little with the behavior; the individual may be motivated originally by them, but concluded by complex processes of conditioning and learning. High motivation is giving a neutral stimulus the ability to elicit behaviors (classical conditioning) (Vuilleumier, 2005).

Our motivation relies very much upon just how happy we truly are. If you feel lousy about yourself, you will not have much motivation to change things because you will not feel worthy of the change. If our emotions are positive, we will be motivated towards the performance of activities, if our emotions are negative, it will be hard for us concentrate on our work, and eventually, we will get de-motivated (Phelps, 2006). For example, a person is upset, because one of his closest friends has died in an accident. His motivation towards his work will be on the lower side as compare to the person who has not gone through such incident. Therefore, it can be said that the degree of motivation is directly related to the nature of emotions being possessed.

Theories of Emotion

James-Lange theory

According to this theory, when a person is insulted, he or she does not experience the physiological symptoms of anger, but rather, his or her heart and breathing rate increase and muscles tighten, and then interprets these changes in the body as "I'm angry ". This theory holds that physiological responses are different for each emotion, which is not always true. In some cases, although the theory has some degree of validity, does not offer a full explanation of emotional experience. The feedback of physiological responses is not necessary to experience an emotion, though it may be important (Ellis, 1997).

Cannon-Bard Theories

In 1927 Walter Cannon and Bard, through laboratory research showed that the physiological reactions accompanying different emotions are the same in one emotion or another. In other words, when a person is nervous, angry, and afraid or in love, increases heart rate, breathing rate and ...