Motivation & Emotion: Structured Study Notes for Psychology Students

Motivation

Definition and Importance

Motivation refers to the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviors that direct organisms toward specific goals. It is essential for survival as it contributes to homeostasis, the body's tendency to maintain a balanced internal state.

• Drive: A biological trigger indicating deprivation of something necessary, prompting us to seek what is needed (e.g., hunger, thirst).

• Incentives: External stimuli that we seek to reduce drives (e.g., water, sex).

Forms of Motives

Motives can take many forms, from satisfying basic needs to seeking social interaction.

• Example: Drinking when thirsty (drive reduction), seeking companionship when lonely (social motive).

• A behavior is initiated to complete some sort of goal-directed action.

Physiological Aspects of Hunger

Role of the Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus detects changes in blood glucose and acts as an on/off switch for hunger:

• Lateral hypothalamus: Initiates eating ("go" signal).

• Ventromedial hypothalamus: Stops eating ("stop" signal).

• Injury to the hypothalamus can radically alter eating behavior.

Hormonal Regulation

• Ghrelin: Increases appetite; levels drop after gastric bypass surgery.

• Leptin: Produced by fat cells, signals satiety and reduces hunger.

• Insulin: Secreted by the pancreas, regulates satiety and food intake.

Ozempic (GLP-1 Agonist)

• Mimics/enhances GLP-1 hormone, which helps regulate blood sugar and appetite.

• GLP-1 receptors reduce hunger signals, making individuals feel fuller for longer.

• Reduces cravings by dampening the brain's response to food-related cues.

• Slows gastric emptying.

Food and Reward

Brain's Reward System

Fat receptors on the tongue stimulate the cingulate cortex, linking food taste and texture with reward.

• Highly palatable foods trigger dopamine release, reinforcing eating behaviors.

Eating and Cognition

Portion Control and Unit Bias

• We use portion sizes to determine when to stop eating.

• Unit bias: The tendency to assume the unit of sale or portioning is the appropriate amount to consume.

Portion Sizes

Portion sizes have increased over time, contributing to overeating and obesity.

Food Item	Portion Size (20 Years Ago)	Portion Size (Today)
Soda	6.5 oz	20 oz
Bagel	3 in	6 in
Pizza	500 cal	850 cal
Additional info: Other items show similar increases in portion size.

Eating and the Social Context

Social Factors

• Social facilitation: Eating more in the presence of others.

• Impression management: Eating less to manage others' perceptions.

• Modeling: Eating whatever others eat.

Other Social/Environmental Factors

• Culturally learned preferences and habits (e.g., comfort foods, stress-eating).

• Social norms and societal rules.

• Food-related cues (appearance, odor, effort required).

• Stress can link heightened arousal/negative emotion to overeating.

Culture and Food

Philadelphia vs. Paris (Rozin et al., 2003)

• Portions in Philadelphia are much larger than in Paris (restaurant portions 25% larger, item sizes 41% bigger).

• Americans spend less time eating and are three times more likely to be obese than the French.

Eating in Italy

• Limited take-out options; eating is a social activity.

• Social norm to stop and enjoy coffee, not rush.

• Specific foods/beverages reserved for certain times; focus on seasonal foods.

Obesity: Causes and Trends

Rapid Increase in Obesity

• Adult obesity in Canada nearly doubled from 1978 to 2005; over 63% of adults overweight.

• Contributing factors: abundance of low-cost, high-fat meals, eating on the run, energy-saving devices, leisure activities, and more time spent in cars.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Levels of Needs

• Physiological (food, water, shelter)

• Safety (security, stability)

• Love/Belonging (relationships, affection)

• Esteem (self-respect, recognition)

• Self-actualization (achieving potential)

Belongingness & Love Needs

The Need to Belong

• Basic human need, similar to nourishment and protection.

• Motivation to maintain warm, affectionate, mutually caring relationships.

• Permanence of relationships matters more than frequency of interactions.

Belonging, Loneliness & Health

• Social connectedness predicts better physical and mental health.

• Loneliness is a major risk factor, linked to hypertension, weakened immunity, and elevated stress hormones.

• Loneliness predicts life expectancy as strongly as smoking.

Technology & Belongingness

• Technology can foster global communities but may isolate people from local ties.

Love

Types of Love

• Passionate love: Physical and emotional longing, sexual attraction, powerful cravings, "honeymoon stage".

• Compassionate love: Tenderness, affection, commitment, nurturing, enduring.

Emotions

Understanding Emotional Experiences

• Mental states or feelings associated with evaluation of experiences.

• Involves arousal, facial/body changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action.

• Shaped by cultural rules.

Components of Emotion

• Cognitive: Subjective conscious experience.

• Physiological: Bodily arousal.

• Behavioural: Overt expressions.

Functions of Emotions

• Prepare us for action.

• Shape future behavior (reinforcement or punishment).

• Help us interact effectively with others (signals to observers).

Labelling Emotions

• Basic emotions: happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust.

• Cultural differences in emotion descriptions (e.g., schadenfreude, hagaii, musu).

Emotional Expression

Innateness and Universality

• Darwin: Emotional expression shaped by evolution.

• Major emotional expressions are universal ("primary colours" of emotion).

• Child development: Social smiles emerge at similar ages in seeing and blind infants.

• Monozygotic twins more similar in fear of strangers than dizygotic twins.

Primary Emotions (Paul Ekman)

• Six basic emotions recognized worldwide: fear, anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise.

• Biologically hardwired, not learned.

• Microexpressions: brief, involuntary facial expressions revealing true emotions.

Emotion	Facial Expression
Fear	Wide eyes, open mouth
Anger	Furrowed brow, tight lips
Sadness	Downturned mouth, drooping eyes
Happiness	Smile, raised cheeks
Disgust	Wrinkled nose, raised upper lip
Surprise	Raised eyebrows, open mouth

Microexpressions

• Occur in a fraction of a second.

• May reveal concealed emotions; debated in literature.

• Faked emotional expressions are often asymmetrical.

Facial Cues to Deception

• Liar's stereotype: belief that liars show specific facial/behavioral cues (e.g., gaze aversion, raised eyebrows, pursed lips).

Culture & Emotions

Cultural Display Rules

• Culture influences what emotions are felt and how they are expressed.

• Japan: Suppression of negative emotions in public to maintain harmony.

• US: More free expression of emotions.

Theories of Emotion

Overview

• Relationship between physical responses and subjective feelings.

• Bottom-up (physical sensation to appraisal) vs. top-down (appraisal to physical sensation).

James-Lange Theory

• Body reacts first, emotion follows.

• Bodily events are interpreted by the brain as emotional experiences.

• We can influence feelings via physical sensations.

Cannon-Bard Theory

• Emotions and physiological reactions occur simultaneously.

• Physical reactions are not dependent on emotions, or vice versa.

• Thalamus transmits signals to amygdala and autonomic nervous system.

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory

• Emotions arise from two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation (labeling).

• General arousal leads to assessment, which leads to subjective feelings.

Application Example: Capilano Bridge Study

• Men on a scary bridge misattributed arousal (fear) to attraction when approached by an attractive experimenter.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

• Facial muscles send messages to the brain about the emotion being expressed.

• Strack et al. (1988): Pencil between lips/teeth affects perceived funniness of cartoons.

• Wagenmakers et al. (2016): Failed to replicate in 17 studies.

Botox & Reading Emotions

• Botox paralyzes facial muscles, reducing ability to express and identify emotions.

• Participants treated with botox performed worse at identifying emotions than those with dermal fillers.

Theory of Constructed Emotion (Lisa Feldman Barrett)

• Emotions are concepts constructed by our brains.

• Our brains interpret bodily sensations as particular emotions based on previous experiences and cultural context.

• Example: Two guests at a wedding may experience different emotions based on cultural concepts of weddings.

Additional info: These notes expand on brief points and provide academic context for exam preparation in psychology, covering motivation, emotion, physiological and social factors, cultural influences, and major theories.