Motivation
Motivation: a process in an organism that causes it to move towards a goal or away from an unpleasant situation.
- Intrinsic motivation: motivation for the activity’s own sake.
- Extrinsic motivation: motivation due to external rewards.
The Biology of Weight
- Set point: an individual’s genetically influenced weight range.
Environmental Influences on Weight
- Abundant access to fast and processed foods.
- Increased portions in the U.S.
- High-sugar, high-calorie soft drinks.
- Decline in exercise (screens, desk jobs).
- Highly varied diets.
- When diets are predictable, people habituate and eat less.
Food
- People crave high-calorie high-fat foods because it was evolutionarily beneficial.
- Environmental factors on how much we eat:
- Portion sizes
- Plate size
- Availability of food
Eating Disorders
- Bulimia nervosa: person binges (eats a lot), feels out of control, then purges (vomiting / laxatives).
- Rare in non-Western cultures; correlated with rise in thin ideal for women.
- Anorexia nervosa: person hardly eats and becomes dangerously thin.
Genes play a role in the development of eating disorders, but so do anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and distorted body image.
The Biology of Love
- Vasopressin and oxytocin: hormones that play a crucial role in social bonding.
- Oxytocin causes people to attach to those close to them, but be defensive to those outside the group.
The Psychology of Love
- Adults’ attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) derive from how they were treated as a child.
- In cultures where it is unmasculine to express emotion, men express their love by taking compassionate actions.
- Predictors of love:
- Proximity
- Similarity (values, beliefs, physical look)
- Physiological arousal
- Reciprocity
Biology of Sexual Orientation
- The more older brothers you have, the more likely you are to be gay.
- Hypothesis: mothers are more likely in subsequent pregnancies to develop an immune response against a substance important to male brain development.
Sex
- Some think that women don’t like casual sex, but when women think their partner is experienced, the rates are comparable between men and women.
- Studies show women experience less pleasure during sex.
Motivations for Rape
- Narcissism and hostility towards women.
- A desire to dominate, humiliate, or punish the victim.
- Sadism (getting pleasure from inflicting pain).
Goals
- Performance goals: goals based on performing well or being judged favorably.
- People who fail are more likely to conclude that the fault is in them as a person.
- Mastery goals: goals based on improving a skill or finding intrinsic pleasure in what you’re learning.
- Self-efficacy: confidence; belief that one is capable of acquiring a new skill.
The Pursuit of Happiness
- People motivated by intrinsic satisfaction are happier than people motivated by money.
- Experiences make people more satisfied than having things.