Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

322 CHAPTER 8 Motivation and Emotionexperience itself. For example, college students who study abroad score significantlyhigher on sensation seeking than college students who stay in theircountry of origin (Schroth & McCormack, 2000).Like people, animals also seem to seek out novel environmental stimulation.Rats, cats, dogs, and other animals actively explore a new environment. In a seriesof classic studies, psychologist Harry Harlow (1953a, 1953b) showed thata monkey will spend hours trying to open a complicated lock, even when thereis no incentive or reward for doing so. And, when kept in a boring cage, a monkeywill “work” for the opportunity to open a window to peek into anothermonkey’s cage or to watch an electric train run (Butler & Harlow, 1954).Seeking Stimulation Like humans, animalsare also motivated to seek out stimulationand explore novel environments. In his researchwith monkeys, Harry Harlow (1953c)found that arousal was a powerful motive.These young monkeys are trying to open acomplicated lock, despite the lack of an incentiveor reward for their behavior.Humanistic TheoryHuman Potential as a MotivatorIn the late 1950s, humanistic theories of motivation were championed by psychologistsCarl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Although not discounting the role ofbiological and external motivators, humanistic theories emphasized psychologicaland cognitive components in human motivation (Sheldon, 2008). Motivation wasthought to be affected by how we perceive the world, how we think about ourselvesand others, and our beliefs about our abilities and skills (Rogers, 1961, 1977).According to the humanistic perspective, people are motivated to realize their highestpersonal potential. Although the motivation to strive for a positive self- concept andpersonal potential was thought to be inborn, humanistic theories also recognized theimportance of the environment (Maslow, 1970). Without a supportive and encouragingenvironment—personal, social, and cultural—the motivation to strive toward one’shighest potential could be jeopardized (King, 2008). Later in the chapter, we’ll considerthe most famous humanistic model of motivation, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.In the next several sections, we’ll look at several basic motives, starting with thefundamentally biological motive of hunger and eating. Later, we’ll consider psychologicalmotives, including competence and achievement motivation. As you’ll see,the motivation concepts of drive, homeostasis, incentive, and arousal all come intoplay in understanding many different human behaviors.Biological MotivationHunger and EatingKey Theme• Hunger is a biological motive, but eating behavior is motivated by acomplex interaction of biological, social, and psychological factors.Key Questions• What is energy homeostasis, and how does it relate to energy balance?• What are the short-term signals that regulate eating behavior?• What chemical signals are involved in the long-term regulation of a stablebody weight?• How do set-point and settling-point theories differ?humanistic theories of motivationThe view that emphasizes the importance ofpsychological and cognitive factors in motivation,especially the notion that people aremotivated to realize their personal potential.It seems simple: You’re hungry, so you eat. But even a moment’s reflection will tellyou that eating behavior is not that straightforward. When, what, how much, andhow often you eat is influenced by an array of psychological, biological, social, andcultural factors.