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Unit 4.6: Motivation

AP Psychology | Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

🎯 Exam Focus

Motivation explains why we behave. Master key concepts: instincts (innate patterns), incentives (external rewards/punishments), intrinsic motivation (internal satisfaction) vs. extrinsic motivation (external rewards), overjustification effect (external rewards decrease intrinsic motivation), self-efficacy (belief in your ability), achievement motivation (drive to master challenges). Know major theories: Drive-Reduction (restore homeostasis), Arousal Theory (optimal arousal level, Yerkes-Dodson law: moderate arousal best for performance), Evolutionary Theory (behaviors that aided survival), Incentive Theory (rewards/punishments motivate), Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Understand Maslow's hierarchy (covered in 4.4 but important here). Know Lewin's conflicts (approach-approach, approach-avoidance, avoidance-avoidance). This topic appears frequently on multiple-choice and FRQ sections.

🚀 What is Motivation?

Motivation is the process that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior. It's the "why" behind our actions — what drives us to behave in certain ways, pursue goals, and persist through challenges.

Motivation involves multiple components: the activation of behavior (getting started), the persistence of behavior (continuing despite obstacles), and the intensity of behavior (how much effort we invest).

Different theories attempt to explain what motivates behavior — from basic biological needs to complex psychological desires. Understanding motivation helps explain everything from why we eat to why we pursue careers, relationships, and personal growth.

📌 Basic Motivational Concepts

Instincts

Instincts are complex, unlearned behaviors that are innate and characteristic of a species. They occur automatically without conscious thought or learning.

In Animals:

  • Birds building species-specific nests
  • Salmon swimming upstream to spawn
  • Spiders spinning webs
  • Baby turtles crawling toward ocean

In Humans:

Humans have very few true instincts. Most human behavior is learned. Possible instincts include:

  • Infant rooting reflex (turn toward touch on cheek)
  • Startle response to loud noises
  • Basic emotional expressions

Incentives

Incentives are external stimuli that motivate behavior by attracting us (positive incentives) or repelling us (negative incentives).

Positive Incentives

Rewards that attract us toward behavior

  • Money, bonuses
  • Praise, recognition
  • Grades, awards
  • Food, pleasurable activities

Negative Incentives

Consequences that push us away from behavior

  • Fines, penalties
  • Criticism, rejection
  • Poor grades, failure
  • Loss of privileges

Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing something because it's inherently enjoyable or satisfying

  • Internal satisfaction
  • Personal interest
  • Curiosity
  • Enjoyment of activity itself

Examples: Reading for pleasure, playing music because you love it, exercising because it feels good

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing something for external rewards or to avoid punishment

  • Money, prizes
  • Grades, recognition
  • Avoiding punishment
  • Meeting others' expectations

Examples: Studying to get good grades, working for salary, cleaning room to avoid punishment

Key Point

Intrinsic motivation is stronger and more sustainable. People who are intrinsically motivated persist longer, enjoy activities more, and perform better at complex tasks.

Overjustification Effect

The overjustification effect occurs when providing external rewards for an already intrinsically motivated activity decreases intrinsic motivation.

How It Works:

  1. Person enjoys activity for its own sake (intrinsic motivation)
  2. External reward introduced
  3. Person begins doing activity for the reward
  4. When reward removed, person loses interest
  5. Activity now seems like "work" rather than fun

Example:

Child loves drawing for fun (intrinsic). Parent starts paying child for each drawing. Child now draws for money. When payments stop, child stops drawing — lost intrinsic motivation. OR: You love learning French on your own, but then get a job requiring French. Now you learn French for work (extrinsic), not personal enjoyment.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy (Bandura, covered in 4.5) is your belief in your ability to succeed at a specific task. It's confidence in your competence.

Effects on Motivation:

  • High self-efficacy: Set challenging goals, persist through difficulties, view challenges as opportunities, recover from setbacks
  • Low self-efficacy: Avoid difficult tasks, give up easily, focus on failures, believe obstacles are insurmountable

Achievement Motivation

Achievement motivation is the desire to accomplish challenging tasks, meet high standards of excellence, and outperform others.

Characteristics:

  • Desire to master complex skills
  • Set challenging personal goals
  • Seek opportunities to demonstrate competence
  • Persist in face of obstacles
  • Take personal responsibility for outcomes
  • Prefer moderate risk (not too easy, not impossible)

🧠 Major Theories of Motivation

Drive-Reduction Theory

Drive-reduction theory proposes that physiological needs create an aroused state (drive) that motivates us to satisfy the need and restore balance (homeostasis).

The Process:

  1. Physiological need: Body lacks something essential (food, water, sleep)
  2. Drive: Internal tension/arousal state motivates action
  3. Behavior: Engage in activity to satisfy need
  4. Homeostasis restored: Balance returns, drive reduced

Key Concept: Homeostasis

Homeostasis is the body's tendency to maintain a balanced internal state. When balance is disrupted (too hot, too hungry), drives motivate behaviors to restore equilibrium.

Examples:

  • Hunger: Need food → hunger drive → eat → drive reduced
  • Thirst: Need water → thirst drive → drink → drive reduced
  • Temperature: Too cold → drive → put on jacket → balance restored

Limitation: Doesn't explain all motivation. Why do we seek stimulation, take risks, or pursue goals beyond basic needs?

Arousal Theory

Arousal theory proposes that we're motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal — not too high, not too low. We seek stimulation when under-aroused and seek calm when over-aroused.

Key Concepts:

  • Optimal arousal: Each person has ideal arousal level for peak performance
  • Under-aroused: Bored → seek stimulation (risky activities, excitement)
  • Over-aroused: Anxious/stressed → seek calming activities
  • Explains why we watch scary movies, go on roller coasters, or seek adventure

Yerkes-Dodson Law ⭐ IMPORTANT

The Yerkes-Dodson law states that performance on tasks is best at moderate levels of arousal. Creates an inverted-U curve.

  • Low arousal: Poor performance (not alert, unmotivated)
  • Moderate arousal: Best performance (alert, focused, motivated)
  • High arousal: Poor performance (anxious, scattered, overwhelmed)

Task Difficulty Matters:

  • Easy/well-learned tasks: Can tolerate higher arousal
  • Difficult/new tasks: Need lower arousal for best performance
  • Example: Expert athlete performs better with high arousal (pumped up), but beginner needs calm to learn new skill

Incentive Theory

Incentive theory proposes that external stimuli (rewards and punishments) pull us toward or push us away from behaviors. Emphasizes external factors over internal drives.

Key Points:

  • Behavior motivated by anticipated rewards or avoidance of punishment
  • Strength of incentive affects motivation (bigger reward = stronger motivation)
  • Explains why we work for money, study for grades, exercise for health
  • Can combine with other theories (both internal drives and external incentives)

Example: You're not hungry (no internal drive) but still eat dessert because it looks delicious (external incentive attracts you)

Evolutionary Theory of Motivation

Evolutionary theory proposes that behaviors that promoted survival and reproduction were naturally selected and became part of our motivational systems.

Examples of Evolutionary Motivations:

  • Hunger: Seeking food ensured survival
  • Sexual desire: Reproduction passed on genes
  • Belongingness: Group membership provided protection
  • Fear of snakes/heights: Avoiding danger increased survival
  • Preference for sweet/fatty foods: High-calorie foods were scarce, valuable
  • Curiosity: Exploring environment found resources

Self-Determination Theory

Self-determination theory proposes that people are motivated when three basic psychological needs are met: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Three Basic Needs:

1. Autonomy

Need to feel in control of your own behavior and goals. Self-determination and choice.

2. Competence

Need to master tasks and learn different skills. Feeling effective and capable.

3. Relatedness

Need to feel connected to others. Sense of belonging and attachment.

When these needs are satisfied: Intrinsic motivation increases, leading to greater persistence, creativity, well-being, and performance.

🏔️ Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy (Covered in 4.4, Important Here Too)

Maslow's hierarchy of needs proposes that human motivations are arranged in a pyramid. Lower needs must be satisfied before higher needs emerge.

From Bottom to Top:

1. Physiological Needs (Base)

Food, water, shelter, sleep — survival needs

2. Safety Needs

Security, stability, protection from harm

3. Love and Belongingness

Relationships, acceptance, affection

4. Esteem Needs

Achievement, recognition, respect, confidence

5. Self-Actualization (Top)

Fulfilling potential, creativity, personal growth, meaning

⚔️ Lewin's Motivational Conflicts

Overview

Kurt Lewin identified three types of motivational conflicts that create internal tension and drive decision-making.

Approach-Approach Conflict

Choosing between two desirable options. Both are attractive, but you can only choose one.

  • Least stressful conflict (both options are good)
  • Still creates tension because you must give up one desirable option

Examples: Two great job offers, choosing between two colleges you love, deciding which vacation destination

Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict

Choosing between two undesirable options. Both are unappealing, but you must choose one.

  • Most stressful conflict
  • Often try to escape situation entirely
  • Procrastination common

Examples: Study for difficult exam or fail the class, get painful dental work or suffer tooth pain, take unpleasant job or face unemployment

Approach-Avoidance Conflict

Single option has both positive and negative aspects. You're simultaneously attracted and repelled by the same choice.

  • Very common type of conflict
  • Creates ambivalence and vacillation
  • Often the hardest to resolve

Examples: Want to eat cake (pleasure) but avoid calories (health), want promotion (money/status) but dread extra responsibility, want to ask someone out (potential relationship) but fear rejection

🎢 Sensation-Seeking Theory

Drive for Novel Experiences

Sensation-seeking theory proposes that some people are motivated by a need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences.

Four Types:

  • Thrill/adventure seeking: Desire for risky physical activities (skydiving, racing)
  • Experience seeking: Desire for new experiences through mind/senses (travel, art, unusual people)
  • Disinhibition: Seeking social situations that allow loss of inhibitions (parties, drinking)
  • Boredom susceptibility: Intolerance for repetitive or dull situations

Individual Differences: People vary in sensation-seeking tendencies. High sensation-seekers motivated to seek stimulation; low sensation-seekers prefer predictability and calm.

📝 AP Exam Strategy

Multiple Choice Tips

  • Distinguish motivation types: Intrinsic (internal satisfaction) vs. extrinsic (external rewards)
  • Know overjustification effect: External rewards can decrease intrinsic motivation
  • Master drive-reduction: Need → drive → behavior → homeostasis restored
  • Understand Yerkes-Dodson: Moderate arousal = best performance; inverted-U curve
  • Identify Lewin's conflicts: Approach-approach (2 good options), avoidance-avoidance (2 bad options), approach-avoidance (1 option with pros/cons)
  • Know Maslow's hierarchy order: Physiological → Safety → Love → Esteem → Self-actualization
  • Recognize self-determination: Autonomy, competence, relatedness foster intrinsic motivation

Free Response Question (FRQ) Tips

  • Apply theories to scenarios: Identify which theory best explains the behavior described
  • Explain mechanisms fully: For drive-reduction, show the complete cycle from need to homeostasis
  • Use Yerkes-Dodson correctly: Specify task difficulty when explaining arousal effects
  • Show understanding of intrinsic/extrinsic: Explain why intrinsic motivation is more sustainable
  • Identify conflicts accurately: Determine which of Lewin's three types fits the situation
  • Compare theories when asked: Drive-reduction (internal needs) vs. incentive (external rewards)
  • Connect to real behavior: Always link theoretical concepts to concrete examples

✨ Quick Review Summary

🔑 The Big Picture

Motivation drives behavior. Key concepts: instincts (innate behaviors), incentives (external rewards/punishments), intrinsic motivation (internal satisfaction) vs. extrinsic motivation (external rewards), overjustification effect (external rewards decrease intrinsic motivation), self-efficacy (belief in ability), achievement motivation (desire to master challenges). Major theories: Drive-Reduction (need creates drive to restore homeostasis), Arousal Theory (optimal arousal for performance; Yerkes-Dodson law — moderate arousal best, inverted-U curve; task difficulty matters), Incentive Theory (external rewards/punishments motivate), Evolutionary Theory (behaviors that aided survival), Self-Determination Theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness foster intrinsic motivation). Maslow's Hierarchy: physiological → safety → love → esteem → self-actualization. Lewin's conflicts: approach-approach (2 good options), avoidance-avoidance (2 bad options — most stressful), approach-avoidance (1 option with pros/cons). Sensation-seeking: some people motivated by novel, risky experiences.

💡 Essential Concepts

  • Motivation
  • Instincts
  • Incentives
  • Intrinsic motivation
  • Extrinsic motivation
  • Overjustification effect
  • Self-efficacy
  • Achievement motivation
  • Drive-reduction theory
  • Homeostasis
  • Arousal theory
  • Yerkes-Dodson law
  • Optimal arousal
  • Incentive theory
  • Evolutionary theory
  • Self-determination theory
  • Autonomy
  • Competence
  • Relatedness
  • Maslow's hierarchy of needs
  • Self-actualization
  • Kurt Lewin
  • Approach-approach conflict
  • Avoidance-avoidance conflict
  • Approach-avoidance conflict
  • Sensation-seeking theory

📚 AP Psychology Unit 4.6 Study Notes | Motivation

Master motivation theories and concepts for exam success!