4/2/20091Motives and PersonalityChapter 11Introduction• Motivational psychologists ask, “What drives people to do the things they do?”• They search for motives that propel people to do what they do4/2/20092Basic Concepts• Motive: Internal state that arouses and directs behavior toward a specific object or goal.• Motive is caused by a deficit, a lack of something.• Motives differ from each other in type and amount.Basic Concepts• Motives are based on needs: States of tension within a person, and as need is satisfied, tension is reduced.• Motives propel people to perceive, think, and act in ways that serve to satisfy a need.4/2/20093Henry Murray’s Theory of Needs• Need refers to a readiness to respond in a certain way under certain circumstances…It is a noun, which stands for the fact that a certain trend is apt to recur• Needs organize perception, guiding us to “see” what we want (need) to seeHenry Murray’s Theory of Needs• Needs organize action by compelling a person to do what is necessary to satisfy a need• Needs refer to states of tension, and satisfying a need reduces tension• Process of reducing tension that is satisfying and not a tensionless state per se4/2/20094Henry Murray’s Theory of Needs• Murray proposed a list of fundamental human needs• Each need is associated with a specific desire or intention, particular set of emotions, specific action tendencies, and can be described with trait namesHenry Murray’s Theory of Needs• Each person has a unique hierarchy of needs—individual’s needs can be thought of as existing at a different level of strength4/2/20095Henry Murray’s Theory of Needs• High levels of some needs interacted with the amounts of various other needs within each person—interaction makes the motive concept dynamic• Elements in the environment affect a person’s needsHenry Murray’s Theory of Needs• Press: Need-relevant aspects of the environment– Alpha press: Objective reality– Beta press: Perceived reality4/2/20096Apperception: Act of interpreting and perceiving meaning in the environment• Thematic Apperception Technique (TAT): Ambiguous pictures presented to a participant for interpretation• Presumption that a person projects current needs into the interpretation of a pictureTAT and Questionnaire Measures of Motives: Do They Measure Different Aspects of Motives? • McClelland argues that responses to TAT and questionnaire measures are not correlated because they measure two different types of motivation• TAT measures implicit motivation—unconscious desires, aspirations, and needs4/2/20097TAT and Questionnaire Measures of Motives: Do They Measure Different Aspects of Motives? • Questionnaires measure explicit or self-attributed motivation—reflect a person’s self-awareness of conscious motives• Implicit motives better predict long-term behavioral trends over timeTAT and Questionnaire Measures of Motives: Do They Measure Different Aspects of Motives? • Explicit motives better predict responses to immediate, specific situations and to choice behaviors and attitudes4/2/20098The Big Three Motives• Need for Achievement• Need for Power• Need for IntimacyNeed for Achievement• People who have a high need for achievement:– Prefer activities that offer some, but not too much, challenge– Enjoy tasks where they are personally responsible for the outcome– Prefer tasks where feedback on their performance is available4/2/20099Need for Achievement• Sex differences: Life outcomes and childhood experiences• Promoting achievement motivation: Independence training and setting challenging standards for childrenNeed for Power• Readiness or preference for having an impact on people• People with a high need for power are interested in controlling situations and controlling others4/2/200910Need for Power• Sex differences: Largest is that men but not women with high need for power perform a variety of impulsive and aggressive behaviors• Profligate impulsive behaviors (drinking, aggression, sexual exploitation) is less likely to occur if a person has responsibility trainingNeed for Power• People with a high need for power do not deal well with frustration and conflict—show strong stress responses, including high blood pressure4/2/200911Need for Intimacy• Recurrent preference for or readiness for warm, close, communicative interactions with others• People with a high (compared to those with low) need for intimacy:– Spend more time during day thinking about relationships– Report more pleasant emotions when around other peopleNeed for Intimacy• People with a high (compared to those with low) need for intimacy:– Smile, laugh, make more eye contact– Start up conversations more frequently and write more letters4/2/200912Need for Intimacy• Consistent sex difference: Women, on average, have a higher need for intimacyHumanistic Tradition: The Motive to Self-Actualize• Emphasis is on the conscious awareness of needs and choice and personal responsibility• Approach is a counter-response to psychoanalytic and behavioral traditions, both of which are held that people have little free will in determining their actions4/2/200913Humanistic Tradition: The Motive to Self-Actualize• Emphasis is on the human need for growth and realizing one’s full potential• Human nature is positive and life-affirming• Focus on growth instead of deficiencyMaslow’s Contributions• Hierarchy of needs– Lower needs must be satisfied before we can proceed to higher needs– Need hierarchy emerges during development, with lower needs emerging earlier in life than higher needs4/2/200914Maslow’s Contributions• Hierarchy of needs:• Physiological• Safety• Belongingness• Esteem• Self-actualizationMaslow’s Contributions• Characteristics of self-actualizing persons: 15 characteristics, including spontaneous, problem centered, affinity for solitude, democratic values, and creativity4/2/200915Rogers’ Contributions• Focused on ways to foster and attain self-actualization• Fully functioning person: Person who is en route toward self-actualization• All children are born with a need for positive regardRogers’ Contributions• Many parents and significant others place conditions of worth on when one will receive positive regard-conditional positive regard• Key to development of unconditional positive self-regard and moving toward self-actualization is the receipt