Motivation and Emotion

The motivational cycle, biological and psychosocial motives, Maslow’s hierarchy, the nature and expression of emotions, and ways to manage feelings and examination anxiety.

Key ideas

• In the motivational cycle a need creates a drive, the drive leads to goal-directed behaviour, and reaching the goal reduces the drive.
• Biological motives such as hunger and thirst come from the body’s needs; psychosocial motives such as affiliation, power, achievement and curiosity are learned.
• People high in achievement motivation prefer moderately difficult tasks.
• Maslow’s hierarchy rises from physiological needs to self-actualisation; higher needs take over once lower ones are met.
• An emotion combines arousal, a subjective feeling and a cognitive interpretation; it is shown through face, gestures, distance and paralanguage.
• Basic facial expressions seem universal, but culture shapes when and how strongly emotions are shown.
• A moderate level of examination anxiety helps performance; monitoring and blunting strategies keep it in check.

Remember

Watch out

• Using need and drive as the same thing: the need is the lack, the drive is the arousal it produces.
• Placing esteem above self-actualisation in Maslow’s hierarchy.
• Mixing up the strategies: preparing and rehearsing is monitoring, relaxing is blunting.

Worked example