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An individual’s typical and consistent motivations help shape that individual’s personality Characteristic motivation itself may be considered an aspect of personality and characteristic motivation may also result in certain consistent behaviour patterns

Learned Helplessness the expectation that no matter what behaviour is shown, it will either not result in a desired outcome or will not allow escape or avoidance of an undesired outcome.  In other words, an individual believes that events and outcomes in the world are uncontrollable. The individual perceives a behaviour-coutcome noncontingency, this is opposite …

Proposed by Bandura Setting goals and standards for self Observing or monitoring (keeping track of) our own behaviour to see how well we meet these standards. Rewarding or punishing self according to how well we meet our own standards  (our individual goals and standards determine how we self-reinforce and regulate our behaviour) We have individual…

External and internal motivation conceptualised in terms of reinforcers and punishers Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring in the future Punishment decreases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring in the future External reinforcers and punishers are ones that come from the outside world. Internal reinforcers and punishers are internal consequences created by our…

  Emotional intelligence describes emotional abilities or competencies that group together and that involve drawing on emotion in adaptive ways. Emotional intelligence includes adaptive perception, understanding, utilisation and management of emotion in the self and others. In some conceptualisations of emotional intelligence abilities that build on these competencies are included; such additional qualities include empathy,…

Approximately 50% of happiness seems to be determined by a happiness ‘set point.’ When poeple experience a lasting negative event (e.g., become paralysed) they become less happy, but after a year or so most people return to their baseline level of happiness. The reverse is true is true when people experience a positive event (e.g.,…

A process model of emotion regulation was developed by Gross and John and described in a 2003 article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.  According to this model, emotion may be regulated at five stages in the emotion generative process:  selection of situations,  modification of situations,  focus of attention,  change in cognition  changes in…

5. Professor Albert Bandura talks about some concepts from Social Cognitive Theory What are some ways that come to your mind of how concepts from Social Cognitive Theory can be used to improve societies?

Social Cognitive Learning Theory View of Motivation Social Cognitive Learning Theory is one of the best-articulated and researched theories that explains motivation and builds on theory and research focusing on cognitive processes and learning. Observational learning The basic premise of observational learning is that our potential for behaviour may change as the result of observing…

Self-Efficacy  The belief that we are capable of successfully showing certain behaviours that will bring about desired outcomes High self-efficacy tends to motivate people to engage in a realm People experience self-efficacy for specific realms of behaviour and may also have high general self-efficacy. Our choice of activities is partially determined by self-efficacy. We show more effort…

Socially acquired needs build on our basic organismic needs, but the level of and expression of these socially acquired needs are shaped by our learning experiences and our culture. Such needs include need for achievement, need to affiliate and need for power. Specific cues and situations in our environment may prompt a need and prompt…

complete absorption in an activity, occurs when there is a good match between our abilities and the level of challenge or difficulty of a task may be related to competence, self-determination and self-actualisation needs has been found to be associated with optimal performance tends to be a desirable and motivating state

Psychological needs may be inborn or learned, or a mixture of nature and nurture motivate our behaviour influence the goals we set ourselves influence what we find reinforcing Inborn Psychological needs Autonomy and Self-Determination: need to experience choice in initiation and regulation of own behaviour Competence:  need to be effective in interaction with the environment Relatedness: …

Sexual motivation in humans has a biological basis, but also strong learned and cognitive components. Stimuli in the environment (e.g. a sexual partner) as well as biological underpinnings (e.g. hormones) prompt sexual motivation. Cognitive factors tend to be important mediators between sexual motivation and sexual behaviour. Sexual Scripts:  Cognitive representations of behaviour sequences shown partners…

Physiological needs are at least in part biologically based and inborn. Meeting physiological needs helps us survive. Satisfaction of physiological needs is related to primary reinforcement. Hunger & Thirst – Homeostatic Model An individual’s body tries to maintain equilibrium in food and fluid intake and expenditure. A physiological need arises when an individual has been…

Motivation is an internal process that gives direction to our lives. Motivation can be described as a desire to show behaviour. An internal process that gives direction to our lives. A desire to show a behaviour or  a condition that elicits behaviour. Motivation comes from internal factors and external prompting conditions that interact with internal…

Autonomic nervous system Fight-or-Flight Heart, lungs and muscles Endocrine system Glands and hormones Neural brain circuits Limbic brain structures, e.g. amygdala Rate of neural firing Neural activity Rate of neural firing (information processing) Facial feedback Discrete patterns of facial musculature JAMES-LANGE THEORY

1 cheerful 4 sad 3 active 5 angry at self 4 disgusted 2 calm 4 guilty 3 enthusiastic 2 attentive 4 afraid 1 joyful 5 downhearted 3 bashful 5 tired 4 nervous   3 sheepish 4 sluggish 3 amazed 3 lonely 4 distressed 2 daring 4 shaky 4 sleepy 4 blameworthy 3 surprised 2 happy…

Growth motivation The desire to develop in ways that allow us to fulfil our potential. Agency is a critical factor. Can only develop once basic/deficiency needs are satisfied. Requires a match between abilities and the challenges presented by the environment, (e.g. state of flow). More likely to develop if the belief that one has the…

The perceived value of an outcome or object influences motivation. Value determines how reinforcing or desirable the outcome or object is. Influenced by cultural and social norms. FORCE the wish to approach or avoid (motivational pull or push associated with) an outcome determined by the interaction of the value of the outcome in interaction with…

learned helplessness is a pessimistic explanatory style (attributional learning perspective: no control over bad outcomes) prevents the person from showing behaviours that may lead to good outcomes. Attributional Retraining provides information to help individuals investigate whether their explanatory styles are adaptive, through behaviour modification helping individuals examine whether negative aspects of their environment could be…

WAYS OF COPING BEHAVIOUR (action taken) Approach versus Avoidance Move towards and interact with the problem versus walking away. Social versus Solitary Working with others. Proactive versus Reactive Prevent a problem before it occurs. Direct versus Indirect Taking action oneself rather than enlisting someone else. Control versus Escape Take charge versus steering clear. Alloplastic versus…

Attributions may influence outcome expectancies. Outcome expectancies are influenced by our perception of the contingency between behaviours and outcomes or consequences. (Social Cognitive Learning Theory) Attributions are the explanation we give to a past outcome we have experienced. Personal Permanent Pervasive Where the cause of an event arises. People experiencing events may see themselves as…