Motivation and Emotion

October 15, 2020

- Motivation concerns the physiological and psychological processes underlying the initiation of behaviours that direct
organisms toward specific goals
○ These initiating factors, or motives can take on many forms such as satisfying bodily needs (e.g. drink when thirsty)
and social behaviours (e.g. Seeking out others when lonely)
- Homeostasis is the body's physiological processes that allow it to maintain consistent internal states in response to the
outer environment
- Drive a biological trigger that tells us we may be deprived of something and causes us to seek out what is needed, such as
food or water
- Incentives stimuli we seek out in order to reduce drives
- Motivations are influenced by internal or external source of stress
- Stress consume more resources than normal and its hard for homeostasis to predict how long you will be in the energy−
consuming state (you don't schedule stress)
○ So we have allostasis
- Allostasis is the motivation that's not only influenced by current needs, but also by the anticipation of future needs caused
by stress
○ E.g. If someone is stressing for an exam, a person may snack a lot since the anxiety and controlling emotions uses a lot
of energy −> if no snack −> energy level dip below optimal level −> physical and mental well−being would suffer
▪ If no stress, homeostasis would drive the person to consume a particular number of calories
▪ Since there was stress, allostasis which involves the influence of stress on homeostasis would drive the
individual to consume a greater number of calories

Hunger and Eating

- "On" and "off" switches involving hunger can be found in regions of the hypothalamus (which is found in the brain)
- Hypothalamus is involved in regulating motivation and homeostasis by stimulating the release of hormones throughout the
body
○ Stimulation of lateral hypothalamus causes rats to eat; the "on" switch
○ Stimulation of ventromedial hypothalamus causes rats to stop eating; the "off" switch
▪ Damage to this region means "off" switch is broken and rats will become obese
- Paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus signals that's time to stop eating by inhibiting the lateral hypothalamus
- Hypothalamus is influenced by hormones that are released in response to the energy needs of your body
- Hypothalamus detects changes in the level of glucose
○ Glucostats (type of neuron) detect glucose levels in fluid outside of cell
▪ If levels too low −> glucostats signal hypothalamus that its low −> leads to increase hunger
- Glucose a sugar that serves as a primary source for the brain and the rest of the body
- A hormone called insulin helps store glucose for future use
○ Insulin levels rise after consumption of meal −−> hunger decreases
- Over the course of evolution, our bodies are developed to make consumption of high−energy foods pleasurable
○ i.e. we like some foods more than others
- We crave fats because we have specialized receptors on the tongue that are sensitive to fat content of food
○ These receptors stimulate the release of endorphins and dopamine (responsible for sense of pleasure and reward)
- Some people have a sugar fix which means the addiction to candy/chocolate is comparable to addiction to drug like heroin
○ Drugs & sugary foods are both supernormal stimuli, stimuli that's more intense than our bodies evolved to typically
 experience
○ Sugar release dopamine in nucleus accumbens, a brain region associated with reinforcing effects of substances like
cocaine
- Food lead to 2 different reward responses: one we taste food and when we are digesting it
○ Dopamine releases when we taste food and
○ Dopamine releases when food reaches stomachs, motivating us to eat
- Satiation point in meal when we are no longer motivated to eat
○ Caused by cholecystokinin (CCK) , neurons release CCK when intestines expand
▪ Ventromedial hypothalamus receives this info and decreases appetite
- In one study, participants rated some chocolates as tasty and pleasurable −> led to activity in reward centres, but after
eating lots of chocolate, it became less appealing and ratings became negative −> activity in reward centres decreased
○ Physiological and psychological motivations to eat influence each other
- Quantity of food we eat is also influenced by cognitive factors; a cognitive influence on eating is the unit bias
- Unit bias the tendency to assume that the unit of sale or portioning is an appropriate amount to assume
○ Single banana comes individually wrapped and makes for a healthy portion; it is an ideal unit
○ Bottle of pop today is around 600mL, but decades ago it was around 200 mL, despite the volume, each is seen as
consisting one unit of pop −−> leads to consume 3x amount of pop than your grandparents in one sitting
- Focusing attention on the moment−by−moment experience of eating can affect how much we consume
○ This mindful eating technique reduces impulsive eating and choose healthier snacks
- Eating is also influenced by social factors:
○ Social facilitation: Eating more. Dinner hosts may encourage guests to take second servings. Also, the longer you sit at
the table and socialize, more likely to eat more.
○ Impression management: Eating less. Sometimes people control their behaviours so others will see them in a certain
way, this is called impression management. Similarly, minimal eating norm states that in some social and cultural
settings, eating small amounts is to avoid seeming rude
○ Modelling: Eating whatever they eat. For example: a new employee going to a business dinner may notice that no one
eat much and takes their time, so the newcomer will see others as models, and so he'll restrain his eating
- Eating is best described as a behaviour motivated by biological, cognitive, and social psychological factor
- Obesity is a disorder of positive energy balance, in which energy intake exceeds energy expenditure
- Hunger−related motivations can also lead people to under−eat
- Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves (1) self−starvation, (2) intense fear of weight gain and dissatisfaction
with one’s body, and (3) denial of the serious consequences of severely low weight
- Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that is characterized by periods of food deprivation, binge−eating, and purging
○ Binge involve short burse of intense calorie consumption followed by purging (self−induced vomiting), fasting, laxative
use and/or intense exercise
- Bulimia is marked by a tendency to be impulsive, whereas anorexia is not
○ But both involve changes in the motivation to eat and both are dangerous
- Combination of stress and psychological vulnerability (perceived lack of control in their lives interacts with psychological
variables like perfectionism, guilt, anxiety, etc.) dramatically increases the chance of developing an eating disorder
- Social factors can also lead to eating disorders
○ Peer influence is a major cause, where teens, particularly females learn behaviours/attitudes from friends
▪ Friends may tease you if you don't live up to (thin) standards in the media, or encourage you to be thin
- Family have an influence on individuals with eating disorders
○ Anorexic girls are often complimented for being slim, which reinforces their eating disorder
○ Bulimia patients have family that don't give them much control over their lives and tend to intrude in each other lives
- Some people use eating disorders as a coping mechanism to deal with their difficult−to−control lives
○ From altering their body mass, they can feel they are in control of some aspect of their lives
- Reproduction suppression hypothesis states that females who have low levels of social support from romantic partners and
family members are more likely to engage in dieting behaviour
○ Can influence ovulation and lead to loss of menstrual periods, making it less likely that the woman will be pregnant
○ Some women do this to gain some control over their complex and stressful lives
- Young men may starve themselves during high periods of exercise to lose weight and achieve muscle mass
○ These men with "reverse anorexia" are just as obsessive and perfectionist about their bodies as people with anorexia
- Women that have increased exposure to media can have decreased satisfaction in their bodies
○ Especially if their self−esteem is based on meeting socially defined standards
- Ladies more likely to compare themselves with unrealistic popular culture figure than were men when describing their body
- Men are also sensitive to pressures of having a "perfect body" depicted by the media
 - In a study, where females viewed commercials containing thin and attractive women, they had decreased satisfaction with
their own bodies and concerned what other people think about them

11.2 Sex

- Libido is the motivation for sexual activity and pleasure

- Intrasexual selection is a situation in which members of the same sex compete in order to win the opportunity to mate with
members of the opposite sex
○ E.g. Male caribou fight each other and whoever wins the fight will more likely mate with females than the loser
○ Evolutionary advantageous since animals that are dominant are strongest/smartest will mate more, and overall if the
trend continues the species as a whole will be stronger and/or smarter
- Intersexual selection is a situation in which members of one sex select a mating partner based on their desirable traits
- Men and women look for partners who are attractive (e.g. Symmetrical face) and who appear to be healthy
○ Evolutionary psychologist suggest that these individuals would be more likely fertile and possess good genes
- Men tend to stand up straight to appear taller and healthier to look more attractive when an attractive woman walks by
○ From evolutionary view, this behaviour is an attempt to be more genetically fit than their competitors
- Social economic status (SES) had a greater effect for females to enter a relationship than males, especially for long−term
relationships
○ From evolutionary view, female have limited amount of eggs so they need to ensure they have enough resources to
raise a child; these resources would come from men
- Men can pretty much always produce sperm, and have evolutionary impulse to pass their genes as many offspring they can
○ So makes sense that they're attracted to young, healthy women who are likely able to reproduce
- Kinsey and his colleagues interviewed thousands of people about their sexual histories (1938−1952)
○ Reported that 37% males had one homosexual experience resulting an orgasm (corresponding figure for female was
13%); absolutely shocking at that time
○ Kinsey believed that homosexuality and heterosexuality fell on a continuous scale, this idea still remains today
- In Metson and Buss's study, they asked more than 1500 college students for reasons for having sex
○ Some had sex for physical reasons (i.e. Get an orgasm)
○ Some people had sex to attain a goal such as financial or personal gain, or revenge
○ Some people had sex for emotional reasons (e.g. wanting to intensify the relationship)
○ Some people had sex because of feelings of insecurity
○ Having sex for reproduction reasons was ranked very far down the list
- Females that have sex are more motivated by physical pleasure in short−term relationships and by emotional factors in long−
term relationships
- Motivation to have sex continues throughout the lifetime (even when your like 80), it doesn't fade away
- Physiological and psychological motives for having sex are not separate
○ Sexual arousal (biological state) can influence our feelings of desire
- Sexual response cycle describes the phases of physiological change during sexual activity, which consists of 4 primary
stages: excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution
○ There are differences between sexes in how these stages are experienced as well their duration
- More women don't experience orgasm (21%−32%) than men (2%) during masturbation or sexual intercourse
- Men usually experience a single orgasm followed by a refractory period, where women can have multiple orgasms without
a refractory period
- Refractory period is a time period during which erection and orgasm are not physically possible
- Sexual response is also influenced by hypothalamus
○ Physical stimulation activates the hypothalamus which stimulates pituitary gland which releases oxytocin
▪ Oxytocin levels surge after orgasm and remain elevated after 5 mins in males and females
- Oxytocin is a hormone related to feelings of trust and the desire to be close to someone
- The graph below summarizes Masters and Johnson's observations of human sexual responding in males and females:
- Testosterone is a hormone that is involved in the development of sex characteristics and the motivation for sexual
behaviour
○ Greater prenatal exposure to testosterone causes male−typical brain development and partner preferences (i.e.
preference for females)
○ Lower prenatal exposure to testosterone causes female−typical brain development and partner preferences (i.e.
preference for males)
▪ So testosterone influences development of brain structures that are likely related to sexual orientation
 ▪ Both of these roles above are consistent with evolutionary explanations for sex
- For large part of history, societies were set up in a way that gave men more power than women
○ Many cultures viewed women has possessions; very patriarchal
- Women's right movement put pressure on lawmakers so they can have equal economic and political rights (e.g. voting)
○ So result was women were perceived as people rather than possessions
- Increasing presence of women in workforce made them economic independent −> they could take care of themselves if
they're pregnant
○ Didn't need to be as careful about whom they had sex with
- Development of birth control pills allowed women to control over whether they would become pregnant
○ This gave them much more control over their sexual behaviours