Chapter 5

Motivation, Emotion, and

Stress and Coping
 Objectives of this Chapter

On the completion of this chapter the students

will be able to:
- explain motivation in their words
- identify the aspects of motivation
- describe different kinds of motivation
- describe Maslow's hierarchy of motives
- explain frustration and conflict
- identify types of frustration
- identify types of conflict
- explain emotion in their words
- explain the ways of identifying emotions
- identify the types of emotion
- define stress
- enumerate and explain the way of coping
with stress
 Motivation

• Refers to state within a person or animal that

drive behavior toward some goal.
• There are internal and external factors that
move a person or animal in a particular way at
a particular time.
 Theories of Motivation

Drive Theory of Motivation

• This theory is also called push theory of
motivation.
• Hence, according to this theory, behavior is
pushed toward goals by driving states within
the person or animal.
• When an internal driving state is aroused, the
individual is pushed to engage in the behavior
(activity) which will lead to a goal that reduces the
intensity of the driving state.
• The advocators of this theory argue that all
motivated behaviors are directed toward reducing
tension and arousal caused by internal drives.
• So in this theory internal physiological drives are
the sources of motivation
• Motivation is composed of the component parts
known as:
-physiological needs,
-driving state,
-goal directed behavior that is initiated by
driving state,
-attainment of the desired goal,
-the reduction of the driving state,
-subjective satisfaction.
• Physiological needs
• These refer to the needs for things which are essential for
our physiological well being like food, water, air etc.  
Driving State
• Refers to the unpleasant internal state of arousal like hunger,
thirst, fatigue, etc. that pushes and initiates an organism or
animal to do something to reduce or eliminate it andrestore
a balanced physiological state called homeostasis.
• Drive state can not be directly observed; it is rather inferred
from the behavior of the organism.
Goal Directed Behavior
• This refers to the activity of an organism aroused and
directed by the drive to fulfill its need (desire).
Goal
• Goal is the desired thing or situation that the organism
strives for and results in the reduction of driving state,
followed by satisfaction and relief when achieved.
• These important components form what is known as
motivational cycle graphically shown below.
 5. Reduction of drive state and satisfaction

4. Goal achievement 1. Physiological needs

3 . Goal directed behaviors 2. Drive State

• Behaviors that are successful in reducing drive
states are likely to be repeated while those fail
to do so are likely to be ignored when the
drive state occurs once again.
• Originally, the primary focus of drive theory
was biological needs and the drive they
produce.
 Arousal/Optimal Theory of Motivation

• According to this theory human motivation is

a process of searching/seeking an optimal
level of arousal, not minimal level of arousal
as in the case of drive theory.
• That is, it is a theory of motivation suggesting
that behavior can be directed either to
increase arousal or to reduce it to the optimal
level.
• If arousal is too low, a person will seek
situation or stimulus to increase arousal; if
arousal is high, behavior will be directed
toward decreasing it.
• For instance, watching sexual film to increase
lowered sexual desire, or running away from
noisy party to reduce arousal.
• As limitation is concerned, arousal theory can
not predict what exactly constitute an optimal
level of arousal, even though it provides useful
insights into the nature of human motivation.
• In other words, it is often difficult to
determine ahead of time as to what level of
arousal will be optimal for a given task or
situation.
 Expectancy/Incentive Theory of Motivation

– Why do people engage in complex, effortful, or

even painful behavior such as working many hours
on their jobs, studying long into the night, or
performing exercises that are painful?
• These questions are answered by theory of
motivation known as expectancy/incentive
theory.
• According to this theory of motivation
behavior is pulled, not pushed, by
expectations of desirable outcomes of
behaviors or objects outside the organisms or
people in the absence of any knowledge or
felt physiological drive state.
• For example, a student reading a textbook
does not do so to reduce some biological drive
states.
• Rather he/she would probably does so to
simply attain useful and interesting
knowledge, scoring a high grade on the
coming up exam, graduating from a college or
university.
• The fundamental assumption of expectancy
theory of motivation, hence, is that motivation
is not primarily a matter of being pushed from
within by various biological urges or drives;
rather, it is more of a question of being pulled
from without by expectations of attaining
desired outcomes known as incentives.
Goal-Setting Theory of Motivation
• The key assumption of this theory is that
setting specific and challenging but attainable
goals can boost motivation and performance,
especially when individuals are committed to
reaching the goals and receive feedback on
their progress (Baron, 2001).
Maslow’s Theory of motivation: Hierarchy of
Motives
• To Maslow, hierarchy of motives refers to the
fact that some needs are more powerful than
others depending upon individuals'
circumstances
 Self actualization

Need for self esteem and Love

Need for Affiliation

Need for Security

Physiological needs
• In Mallow’s view the higher motivation comes into
play only when the basic needs have been satisfied.
• For example, before a person can be free to engage
in self actualization- free to continue fulfilling
his/her potential-he/she has to:
-meet the physiological
-needs for safety and security,
- find love and belonging,
- have self-esteem and esteem of others.
 Characteristics of self-actualized persons

1. Realistic viewpoint toward life

2. Acceptance of themselves, other people, and
the world around them
4. Focus on solving problems rather than
thinking about themselves
5. Need for privacy and a certain degree of
detachment
6. Independence and an ability to function on
their own
7. Unsteroetyped appreciation of people, things
and ideas
8. Identification with human race and strong
social interest
9. Deeply loving and intimate relationships with
a few people
10. Democratic values
11. Ability to separate means from ends
12. Sense of humor that is lively and not cruel
13. Creativity
14. Lack of conformity
15. Demonstrate ability to rise above the
environment, rather than merely adjust to it.
 Kinds of Motivation

Biological motivation
• Includes:
- hunger, - sleep
- thirst, - pain avoidance
- sex, - need for oxygen and
- temperature regulation, all rooted in physical
need of the body.
• Many of them are triggered by departure from
balanced or homeostatic, bodily condition.
 Social Motivation

• Social motivations are learned motives

through the interaction human beings have
with one another.
• These motives make up an important part of
the description of personality, or the study of
behavioral differences among people.
I. Need for Achievement
• This is a motive to accomplish things and to be successful
in performing tasks.
• People with a high need to achieve:
-work hard,
-seek to improve their performance,
-take moderate instead of high or low risks.
II. Need for Affiliation
• Refers to a motive to be with other people.
• It is aroused by opportunities to be with others and by fear
 III. Need for power
• Is expressed by:
-identifying with powerful people
-gaining control over one’s body
-seeking to have personal influence over
other people
-influencing other through the
organizations to which one belongs.
 Exploration, Competence, and self Actualization Motives

I Needs to Explore the Environment

• Needs to explore the environment refers
to:
-curiosity,
- motivation, and
-need for sensory stimulation.
II. Need for Competence
• Need for competence is our need to master our
environment.
• Intrinsic motivation, defined as a need to feel self-
determining and effective in dealing with
environment, is closely related to competence
motivation.
III. Need for Self-actualization
• Refers to people’s need to develop their potentials.
 Frustration and Motivational Conflict
Frustration
• Frustration refers to blocking of goal-directed behavior.
• Among the major source of frustration are:
- environmental factors like:
- locked door,
- lack of money,
- parents,
-teachers or
- police officers who prevent us from achieving
our goal,
- personal factors like inability to get the desired thing because of lack
of ability and motivational conflicts.
 Motivational Conflicts
- Motivational conflict is a conflict that arises
when two or more motives drive behavior
toward incompatible goals.
Types of Motivational Conflict
Approach-Approach conflict -is a need to
choose between two incompatible goals that
are equally attractive at the same time
• Avoidance-Avoidance conflict-is a conflict in which
an individual is caught between two negative goals,
as the individual tries to avoid one goal he/she is
brought closer to the other and vice-versa.
• Approach- avoidance conflict-is a conflict in which
an individual is both attracted and repelled by the
same goal object. E.g. Uncontrolled sexual-
intercourse may be attractive for some people, but
its bad consequence frustrates them.
 Emotions
• is a subjective feeling state often:
- accompanied by facial and bodily
expressions
- having arousing and motivating
properties (Morgan, 1974).
 Theories of Emotion
• James-Lange Theory of Emotion
• This theory suggests that our emotional
experiences are the results of our physiological
reaction within our bodies to emotion-provoking
events/situations.
• That is, our realization of physiological reactions to
emotion-provoking events/stimuli is accompanied
by emotional feelings.
• For example, the fear we experience when we
make a speech in front of a lot of people is
due our realization that our heart is racing or
our mouth is dry etc.
• In other words, when we are in a stressful
situation our body first reacts to the situation
and then emotional feeling follows (See figure
below).
 Emotion Physiological Emotional
provoking reaction (E.g. feeling (E.g.
events (E.g. Racing heart) Fear)
speech)
 Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
• This theory states that emotion-provoking
events produce emotional feelings and
physiological reactions in us simultaneously.
• In other words, emotion provoking stimuli
simultaneously evoke physiological
reactions and emotional feelings (see figure
below).
 Physiological
reaction
(E.g. Racing
heart)

Emotion
provoking
events (E.g.
Coming up
diff, exam)

Emotional
feeling (E.g.
Fear)
 Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion

• According to this theory emotion-provoking

events produce increased arousal which
urges us to search external environment to
identify the cause of the arousal.
• The identified factor, then, determine the
label we place on our arousal and the
emotion we experience.
• The factors we select play a key role in
determining the label we place on our arousal,
and so in determining the type of emotion we
experience.
• For example, if we feel aroused in the
presence of an attractive woman, we may
label our arousal as attraction or even love.
 Opponent-Process Theory of
Emotion

• It is common experience in life that a strong

emotional feeling is followed by opposite feeling like
anger often followed by calm, or even by regret.
• Oponent-process theory suggests that emotional
reactions to a stimulus are automatically followed by
an opposite reaction, and repeated exposure to a
stimulus causes the initial reaction to weaken and
the opponent process (opposite reaction) to
strengthen.
• For example, heroin users initially experience
intense pleasure followed by unpleasant
sensations of withdrawal.
• With the repeated use of the drug, the
pleasure becomes less intense and the
unpleasant withdrawal reactions strengthen.
• In response to this unpleasant feeling, addicts
begin to use the drug not to generate pleasure
but to avoid the negative feeling that occurs
when they don’t use it (Baron, 2001).
 Expression and Perception of Emotions

• Organisms express their emotions in two

major ways: verbal and non-verbal ways.
Verbal Ways
• Verbal ways can be perceived in the form
of:
- sound produced and
- expression in words.
I. Sounds
• Sound expresses emotions by the following ways.
- Screams: denotes fear or excitement
- Groans: denotes pain or up happiness
- Sobs: denotes sorrow
- Breaks in voice: may mean great sorrow
- Loud, high-pitched, sharp voice: usually
mean anger
II. Expressions in words
• What is said and the way it is said is also an
important cue in the perception of emotion.
Non-verbal ways-Facial Expression & bodily
movement
• Facial expressions show emotions through its
three dimensions
I. Pleasantness –unpleasantness
• Observed by the degree to which a facial
expression represents feeling of pleasantness or
unpleasantness
II. Attention- rejection
• Attention is characterized by open eyes, flared
nostrils open mouth.
• Rejection is shown by shut (closed) eyes, lips, and
nostrils
• III Sleep – tension
• This is the facial expression in which the level
of tenseness or excitement is portrayed.
• At one extreme is relaxation of sleep and at
another extreme is expression of extreme
emotional arousal.
• B.N. Facial expression of a number of primary
emotions can be judged rather accurately by
people from diverse culture, strengthening the
view that the expression of primary emotion
may be innate.
• Bodily movements include the manner of
walking and moving hands and head
 Types of Emotions

• According to Plutchik there are two categories

of emotions namely, primary and mixed
(secondary) emotions.
• Primary emotions are emotions with
evolutionary basis that are part of our species
heritage and hence have adaptive value.
• Mixed emotions – are emotions that are
mixture of the primary emotions.
 Primary Emotions

I. Types of primary Emotions

• As identified by Plutchik, there are eight
primary emotions:
-fear, -acceptance
-anger -sadness
-joy -anticipation
-disgust -surprise
 A. Fear

• is designed to avoid danger or harm.

• is shown by running away or any action that
puts distance between an organism and the
source of danger.
• Its function is protection.
 B. Anger

• is designed to eliminate a barrier to satisfaction of

an important need.
• is shown by:
- biting,
- striking, or
- various symbolic acts of destruction, such as
cursing or threatening
• Its function is destruction
 
 C. Joy

• Designed to produce pleasure

• involves accepting a beneficial stimulus from
the out side worlds, as in:
- eating,
- grooming,
- mating, or
- affiliation with others.
• Its function is incorporation.
 D. Disgust

• is designed to expel something harmful that has

been ingested and is shown by:
- vomiting or,
- at times defecation, which are believed to
be associated with feeling of:
- contempt,
- hostility and
- sarcasm,
• Its function is rejection.
 E. Acceptance

• is designed to provide contact with sex for the

purpose of perpetuating one’s gene pool.
• Its expression includes sexual signaling,
courtship ritual, and sexual intercourse.
• Its function is reproduction.
 F. Sadness

• is associated with the loss of someone who

has provided important nurturance in the
past.
• In such circumstances, the individual sends
signals that serve to encourage the return of
the lost individual or to attract a substitute.
• Expressed by:
- crying,
- emission of distress signals, and
- “babyish “behavior.
• The function of this emotion is reintegration.
 G. Surprise

• This is reaction to make contact with a new,

unfamiliar stimulus like:
- a loud noise,
- a strange animal,
- a new territory, for example.
• The organism must quickly reorient the body and
stop what it is doing so that the sense organs can
take in information about the novel stimulus.
• Its function is reorientation
 H. Anticipation

• This is designed to bring the organism into

contact with many aspects of its environment.
• Getting to know one’s neighborhood permits a
form of mental mapping that enable the
animal to anticipate and deal with future
challenges to its survival.
• It serves to explore ones own environment.
• II. Sources of Emotional Feeling
Fear
• Situations that are perceived as:
- physically threatening,
- damaging to one’s sense of well-being or
- potentially frustrating
Anger
• The causes of this emotion include:
- Motive frustration,
- injury,
- insults,
- depression and
- hostility.
Joy
• Satisfaction of a motive or the attainment brings about joy.
Disgust/hatred
• The causes of this emotion include:
- scorn/disrespect
- hostility, and
- sarcasm.
Sadness or Grief
The loss of someone who has provided important nurturance
in the past.
III. Components of an Emotion
• An emotion has five components namely:
-Stimulus event
-Cognitive assessment of stimulus event
-Primary emotion directed by innate
mechanism
-Behavioral response to primary emotion
-Function served
• Example for fear
• You see a hyena (stimulus events)
• You make the cognitive assessment that the
situation is dangerous
• You feel an intense sense of fear ( primary emotion
directed by innate mechanisms)
• You run away (Behavior response to primary
emotion)
• you protect yourself (function served)
 Stress and Coping
Stress
• Stress is a psychological state associated with
physiological and hormonal changes caused
by:
- conflict,
- trauma, or
- other disquieting or disruptive
influences
The Body’s Reaction to stress
• As realized by M Selye, our body reacts to
stress and stressful situations.
• This physical reaction to stress is called, by
Selye, General Adaptation syndrome
The Three Stages in General Adaptation Syndrome

A. Alarm Reaction Stage

• During this stage the:
- person becomes alerted to the stress
- the body’s resources are mobilized to
help cope with the stress.
• One way in which stress could affect our body
is via the gland that comprises the
hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis.
• In response to stress, hypothalamus produces
certain hormone called corticotrophin.
• This hormone triggers the secretion of
another hormone called adrenocorticotropic
(ACTH).
• ACTH again acts on adrenal gland to cause the
secretion of corticosteroid hormones.
• These hormones have pronounced effect on a
person, such as causing him to become:
- lethargic/sleepy or depressed, or
- more sensitive and alert to his/her
environment
• At this stage the person attempts to cope,
- some times by using psychological
defense mechanism and
- some times by attempting to alleviate
the stress through direct action.
• If the stress persists symptoms of
maladjustment such as:
- rash (irritation),
- gastrointestinal upset,
- hives (irritation), and
- sleep disruption may occur.
B. Resistance Stage
• At this stage the attempts at defense have reached full
capacity.
• Here temporary resistance may be achieved by:
- intensifying the use of psychological defense
mechanisms, or
- taking direct action to eliminate the stressful
situation.
• The person tends to become fixed in his/her pattern of
dealing with the stress.
C. Exhaustion Stage
• At this stage:
- all the person’s resources are at end.
- metabolic changes that inhibit normal
brain functioning may occur and
- eventually a complete psychological
disorganization may result.
 Ways of Coping with Stress

A. Psychological Defense Mechanisms

I. Denial
• Denial is a defense mechanism in which the
individual simply denies the existence of the
events that have produced the anxiety.
II. Rationalization
• Rationalization is a defense mechanism in
which irrational impulsive action or even
failure is justified to others and to oneself by
substituting acceptable explanation for the
real, but unacceptable reason.
III. Reaction Formation
• This is a defense mechanism in which the
individual exhibits, and at the conscious level
believes he/she possesses, feelings opposite
to those possessed at the unconscious level.
IV. Projection
• Projection is a defense mechanism in which
the individual attributes his/her own motives
or thoughts to others, especially when these
motives or thoughts are considered
undesirable.
V. Sublimation
• Refers to a mechanism in an individual
expresses a socially unacceptable desire in
socially acceptable activity.
• For example, an individual who has becomes
butcher has chosen this job to satisfy his
internal desire of killing people.
VI. Compensation
• This refers to reacting to a personal deficiency by
developing another talent.
• It is a mechanism in which an individual becomes
famous in one aspect of life to overcome another
personal weakness.
• For example, Stevi Wonder might have
compensated his blindness by working to
become a great singer and composer.
VII. Repression/Forgetting
• Refers to putting undesirable feeling into
unconscious mind.
• That is, unacceptable or unpleasant id impulses are
pushed back into the unconscious mind.
• It is banishment of the threatening:
- thoughts,
- feelings, and
- memories into the unconscious mind.
VIII Regression
• This refers to retreating to an earlier pattern
of adaptation.
• That is, people behave as if they were at an
earlier stage of development.
IX Displacement
• This refers to the expression of unwanted
feeling or thought directed toward a weaker
person instead of a more powerful one.
• For example, a child may kick is younger
brother to discharge his anger he had with his
elder.
• X Intellectualization
• This refers to a defense mechanism related to
rationalization which involves reasoning.
• In intellectualization, however, the intensity of
the anxiety is reduced by a retreat into a
detached, unemotional, abstract language.
• For example, instead of reacting to that death
of a loved one by crying, an individual may
react by saying “everyone must die
sometime”.
• This mechanism is especially useful for
medical personnel who always deal with death
or illness.
XI Fixation
• It is a temporary halt in development in
response to the anxiety associated with the
next stage of psychosexual development.
XII Introjections
• The mechanism of introjections consists of
taking in “swallowing” the values and
standards of others.
• For example, an abused child may continue
the cycle by child beating.
XIII Ritual and Undoing
• This is when people perform elaborate rituals
as a way of undoing acts for which they feel
guilty.
• For example, a rejecting father may attempt to
alleviate his guilt by showering his child with
material goods.
B. Stress Management
• Stress can be dealt with in two major ways:
• -clinical stress management
• - direct coping strategies
• I. Clinical stress management
• Many different stress management techniques
have been developed.
• Some of the techniques are:
- progressive relaxation,
- yogic therapy, - meditation,
- hypnosis, - biofeedback,
- cognitive therapy
-psychopharmacology.
II. Direct coping strategies
• Direct coping strategies are active rational
strategies intended to alleviate stress either by
:
-eliminating the stress or
-reducing the psychological effects of
stress.
• Some of these strategies are as follow.
A. Gather as much information as possible.
• If you are in a stressful situation, probably you
will become uncomfortable.
• As a result you may make a rushed judgment
which can cause even a greater problem.
• But, if you gather information, you usually will
find that your view of the conflict begin to
change and the choice becomes obvious and as a
result the conflict will be over
B. Trust in time
• Many stressful events can be very painful.
• Divorce which may be followed by many
stressful situations such as:
- low income, and
- raising children as a single parent is one
of the examples.
• If you find yourself in an extreme anguish
feeling that:
- all of your plans are collapsing or
- your career is being ruined, trust in time.
• There are good possibilities that within a year
or two after your current world have
collapsed; you will find yourself in another one
that is fulfilling.
C. Try not to be alone
• Too much time, maintain friendships and
contacts.
• the good ideas and moods of other people
can have relaxing and comforting effects.
• Besides, it is helpful to have a pet animal with
whom to have shared your time alone.
D. Think positively and Rationally.
• Keep a sense of humor, enjoy, and laughter.
• If one does not like you there are others people in the
world.
• Again if you are sad because you did not make your
desired goal, think that there are hundreds of other
ways to be happy.
• Remember that every thing that seems to be
catastrophe really is not.
• Not every goal is worth having.
E. Begin to think of yourself as a relaxed person.
- move and speak slowly,
- eat slowly,
- take deep breath,
- stop from time to time to relax you muscles,
- watch how hectic the life of other people
seem,
-let this remind you to slow down more
-look at the tense faces and angry
expressions of the people around you,
-take pleasure in the fact that you are
relaxed person.