Question

Chapter 9 present the topic of motivation through the lens of five different theories psychologist use to explain motivation. they include: instinct, drive, Freud's theory, Maslow's theory and evolutionary theory. Discuss each of these five approaches by giving at least one example of a behavior (Your own or that of a family member friend etc). that can be explained based upon the motivational approach. be sure to personalize your response with details, and emphasize on how this type of motivation make you feel and why it appears to work well with you.

Answer 1

Instinct theory : One of the oldest answer to the question of "why" of behaviour within psychology is just answered by the instinct theory. According to James, McDougal, it is the theory of inborn and unlearned response tendencies which determine the behaviour of the organism. He defined instinct as complex, inherited tendencies common to all members of a species compelling each individual-

1. to perceive and pay attention to certain objects and situation.
2. to experience positive or negative emotional excitement on perceiving them.
3. thereupon to act in a way which was likely in the long run to perceive individual.

According to McDougal, all behaviour is purposive and they are determined by sentiments. Thus this theory suggests that instincts drive all behaviors. For example, brushing an infant's hair will cause the child to turn his or her head and search for a nipple.

Drive Theory : P.T. Young listed 6 meanings of the term drive :

1. Drive is an energy which moves the body.
2. It is internal stimulus which moves the body.
3. It is internal condition which releases energy and finally leads to activity.
4. It is general activity.
5. It is behavioural tendencies.
6. It is specific goal directed activity of the organism.

Finally he defined drive as motivating factor within the personality,purpose, or a wish, and interest.The concept of drive is broad and general. For example, We eat when we are hungry, drink water when we are thursty.

Freud's theory : The concept of motivation in psychoanalysis developed against the traditional rationalistic interpretation of behaviour which accepted the proposition that a man acts in any particular way because he has reasons for acting as he does. Freud objected to the theory of pure intellectualism as an explanation of human behaviour.He revolutionized the theory and practice of psychology by proposing unconscious motivation as an explanation of behaviour and further advocated that reasons of behaviour can be found by analyzing certain procedure of psychoanalysis. For example, many relationship difficulties for a girl stem from the unstable relationship she had with her father while growing up.

Maslow's theory :

The theory of self actualization was developed by Abraham Maslow(1954). He consistently argued that needs are arranged in a hierarchical order.As one general type of need is satisfied, other higher order need will emerge and become operative in life.Thus he developed a hierarchical order of needs-

• Physiological needs - Physiological needs are the physical requirements for human survival.For example, food,air,water,sleep,sex etc.According to Maslow, if these needs are deprived for a long time,the other needs will fail to appear. For an individual with domestic violence, domestic violence is mostly occur because of the physiological needs. If a person is able to fulfil his/her physiological needs by himself/herself there may be less experience of domestic violence. So they should be encouraged to do that.
• Safety needs - When the physiological needs are successfully fulfilled then safety needs occur.Safety needs include personal, financial, good health protection.For the domestic violence, victims often think that whatever the difficulty is, they are safe and secured in the home. But actually they need protection and safety from law. They should be taught about that.
• Social needs - It emphasize the needs for love and belongingness.Domestic violence is likely to be occur in a very less amount when the victim is more socialized and will feel his/her right to being loved and being loved is not a synonym of violence rather it is unconditional.
• Esteem need -Esteem needs are for a higher position within a group and act to foster pride in their work and in themselves as individuals.A person who is self esteemed and respect the own, he/she may never face domestic violence.So Making the victims self actualized is must.
• Self actualization - This need is the highest need.It means to fulfil one's individual nature in all its aspect.In this stage a person enjoys his/her life. Thus their focus is to find out the meaning of life,being more creative. They are thus detached from any materialistic things.So when a person enters in this stage he/she may never can be the victim of domestic violence. For the practitioners it is needed to prepare the victim. Thus they can possess the self actualized life.

Evolutionary theory : According to Darwin, animal emotion had two important evolutionary functions:

• Emotion communicates to other animals.
• Emotion prepares animals for action.

Evolutionary theories emphasize that emotional responses come from the instinctive nature.We have two different learning pathways into the brain, the "heart vs. head" distinction. One is represented by the hippocampus and frontal lobes, is involved in conscious decision making, event memories, and intellectual control. The other one is, involving "the heart," is the circuit activating the amygdala and other structures of the limbic system. It is involved in avoidance conditioning, impulsive appetites, and conditional emotional responses. It tends to involve unconscious, emotional experiences.Normally the two circuits work together. For example, our phobias are in fact phobias of things that we would have had reason to be afraid of in the wild.