Chapter 09

Motivation and Emotion

Motivation

Motivation refers to the physiological and psychological processes that initiate behaviors directed toward specific goals. It is essential for survival, as it helps maintain homeostasis by driving organisms to fulfill their needs.

• Drive: Biological triggers indicating deprivation, prompting us to seek what we need (e.g., hunger, thirst).

• Incentives: External stimuli we seek to reduce drives, such as food or water.

Hunger Regulation

Hunger is regulated by complex interactions between the brain, hormones, and environmental cues.

• Hypothalamus: Acts as the body's thermostat and hunger regulator.

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

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

  • Damage to the hypothalamus can cause inability to regulate eating behavior.

• Hormones:

  • Ghrelin: Increases appetite; levels decrease 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): Medication that lowers hunger drive by mimicking/enhancing GLP-1 hormone, leading to prolonged satiety, reduced cravings, and slower gastric emptying.

Food and Reward

Eating is associated with reward mechanisms in the brain.

• Fat receptors on the tongue stimulate the cingulate cortex (emotional processing).

• Food taste and texture are rewarding, leading to dopamine release and reinforcement of eating behavior.

Food and Cognition

Cognitive factors influence how much and what we eat.

• Portion control: Perception of appropriate portion sizes affects consumption.

• Unit bias: Tendency to assume the unit of sale or portion is the correct amount to consume.

Food and Social Factors

Social context and cultural norms play a significant role in eating behavior.

• Social facilitation: Eating more when spending longer at the table.

• Impression management: Eating less to manage how others perceive us.

• Modeling: Mimicking the eating behavior of those around us.

• Grocery store layouts, culturally learned preferences, habits, social norms, and food-related cues (appearance, odor) influence consumption.

• Stress and negative emotions can lead to overeating.

Food and Culture

Cultural differences affect eating habits and obesity rates.

• Portion and item sizes vary between cultures (e.g., Philadelphia vs. Paris).

• Time spent eating in fast food restaurants differs.

• Americans are more likely to be obese than the French.

• Eating habits in Italy and other countries reflect cultural norms.

Influences on Hunger

Various factors influence hunger and eating behavior.

• Individualism vs. collectivism (personal preference vs. group norms).

• Social media influences perceptions of body types.

• Emotional eating is common.

Obesity

Obesity rates have increased rapidly due to environmental and behavioral factors.

• Abundance of low-cost, high-fat meals.

• Habitual consumption of high-calorie foods "on the go."

• Rise in energy-saving devices (e.g., cars).

• Types of leisure activities (less outdoor activity).

• Canadians spend more time in cars than outdoors.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's theory proposes a hierarchy of human needs, with belongingness as a fundamental requirement.

• Need of Belonging: Basic human need for warmth, affection, and mutually caring relationships.

• Permanence: Stable relationships are more important than frequent interactions.

• Social Connectedness: Associated with better physical and mental health; loneliness is a major risk factor for hypertension, weakened immunity, and increased stress.

• Loneliness predicts life expectancy as strongly as smoking.

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

Love

Love is categorized into different types based on emotional and relational characteristics.

• Passionate love: Physical and emotional longing for another person.

• Compassionate love: Tenderness and affection when lives are intertwined.

Emotions

Emotions are feelings associated with the evaluation of experiences, involving arousal, brain activity, cognitive appraisals, and subjective feelings.

• Shaped by cultural rules.

• Components:

  • Cognitive: Subjective conscious experience (e.g., feeling happy).

  • Physiological: Bodily arousal.

  • Behavioral: Overt expressions.

Functions of Emotions

Emotions serve several adaptive functions.

• Prepare for action (linking environmental events to responses).

• Shape future behavior (reinforcement or punishment).

• Facilitate social interaction (communicate internal states to others).

Labelling Emotions

Basic emotions include happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and disgust. Cultural differences exist in emotional concepts and expressions.

• Schadenfreude: Malicious joy (German).

• Hagaii: Vulnerability to heartache from frustration (Japanese).

• Musu: Reluctance to yield to unreasonable parental demands (Japanese).

Emotional Expression: Innate vs. Learned

Emotional expression is considered innate and shaped by evolution.

• Darwin proposed that emotional expressions evolved for communication.

• Major emotional expressions are universal "primary colours."

• Social smiles emerge at similar ages in sighted and blind infants (~3 months).

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

• Cross-cultural similarities in age-related distress at separation from mother.

Primary Emotions

Paul Ekman's research identified six basic emotions recognized worldwide, which are biologically hardwired.

• Work on microexpressions (brief, involuntary facial expressions).

Microexpressions

Microexpressions are fleeting facial expressions that may reveal concealed emotions.

• Occur in less than half a second.

• Can be misinterpreted or missed.

• Research shows faked expressions are often asymmetrical.

• Facial cues associated with lying include gaze aversion, raised eyebrows, and pursed lips.

Culture and Emotions

Cultural influences affect both the experience and expression of emotions.

• Cultural Display Rules: Norms for expressing emotions.

  • Japan: Suppress negative emotions in public to maintain harmony.

  • U.S.: Express emotions more freely.

Theories of Emotion

Several theories explain the relationship between physical responses and subjective feelings.

• James-Lange Theory: Bodily reactions precede and cause emotional experience.

  • Body reacts to stimulus; brain interprets reaction as emotion.

  • Example: Feeling fear after noticing increased heart rate.

• Cannon-Bard Theory: Emotions and physiological reactions occur simultaneously and independently.

  • Thalamus transmits signals to amygdala and autonomic nervous system.

  • Cognitive assessment of emotion is independent of physical sensations.

  • Example: Capilano Bridge Study—misattribution of arousal.

• Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: Emotion arises from physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation.

  • General arousal leads to assessment and subjective feelings.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Facial muscle activity can influence emotional experience.

• Experiment: Holding a pencil between lips or teeth affects perceived funniness of cartoons.

Botox and Reading Emotions

Botox treatment can impair the ability to identify emotions due to paralyzed facial muscles.

• Participants treated with Botox performed worse than those with dermal fillers in emotion identification tasks.

Theory of Constructed Emotion

Lisa Feldman Barrett's theory suggests emotions are concepts constructed by the brain, based on interpretation of bodily sensations and previous experiences.

• Emotions are shaped by culture and context.

• Example: Emotional experience at a wedding is constructed from prior concepts and cultural norms.

Table: Comparison of Major Theories of Emotion

Theory	Main Idea	Sequence	Example
James-Lange	Emotion follows bodily reaction	Stimulus → Physiological Response → Emotion	See snake → Heart races → Feel fear
Cannon-Bard	Emotion and bodily reaction occur simultaneously	Stimulus → Physiological Response + Emotion (parallel)	See snake → Heart races & feel fear at same time
Schachter-Singer	Emotion depends on arousal and cognitive interpretation	Stimulus → Physiological Response → Cognitive Label → Emotion	See snake → Heart races → "I'm scared" → Feel fear

Additional info:

• Some examples and cultural terms (e.g., Hagaii, Musu) were inferred from academic context.

• Table was constructed to clarify theory comparisons.