Motivation and emotion/Book/2023/Physiological needs

Physiological needs:
How do human's physiological needs affect motivation?

Multimedia presentation (3 min)

Overview

Figure 1: A person taking a break to sip coffee amidst selling vegetables at a market. Observe Figure 1 as the vegetable seller takes a sip of his coffee, what motivates this? Impulse? Desire? Is it a distraction from his other motivations to sell his produce? These are just some of the questions that arise when confronting how motivation relates to our physiological needs. It could be argued abstractly, the man who sells vegetables to get money is also addressing physiological needs by using his money to provide himself food, water, warmth and rest. It can be difficult to measure a purely physiological need isolated without other competing and sometimes complimentary secondary motivations.

In the discipline of psychology, physiological needs has been a topic of interest since early psychoanalytic Drive theory, the idea that a biological urge emerges as a conscious discomfort or psychological drive (Hull, 1943). Clark Hull describes the concept of drive as a psychological and not biological term. This attempt to distinguish biological processes from mental processes is difficult to distinguish and remains a challenge when trying to address how human needs affect motivation.

The distinction of physiological needs in psychology was popularised by positive psychologist Abraham Maslow, who mentioned physiological needs in his well-known Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943). How do these needs affect motivation? More importantly, there may be behaviours and mental processes that get in the way of addressing physiological needs. While Maslow offers guidance to how needs should be prioritised, this is not always how needs are prioritised by people themselves, sometimes needs are not always prioritised to address a matter of strict survival (Leach, 1994).

Focus questions: What are physiological needs? How do motivations relate to physiological needs? What motivations only address base physiological needs?

Human physiological needs

Figure 2: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs visual representation.

Two main theories are discussed here that have a defined view of physiological needs. The below case study illustrates how a physiological need can be partially psychological in nature.

Case study Brian has been out hiking for 7 hours and his water containers are depleted. He has been hiking for at least an hour without taking a sip and has been exposed to the sun and elements for this duration. He is perspiring and losing water and sodium. He is now hyponatremic (low in sodium) and dehydrated. Theses symptoms are causing Brian psychological discomfort and he seeks to address these physiological symptoms by seeking out a body of water and eating a snack.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Maslow defines physiological needs as a basic need to maintain homeostasis. Homeostasis is defined by Maslow as the body's effort to maintain the blood flow via various bodily requirements like water, glucose, sodium, oxygen etc (Maslow, 1943). This could be defined as a state of physical equilibrium that addresses the body's strictly physical needs. However, Maslow (1943) also noted "...the person who thinks he is hungry may actually be seeking more for comfort, or dependence, than for vitamins or proteins..." which can infer that we can be motivated to satisfy a defined physiological need for other purposes outside of achieving a biological homeostasis.

Alderfer's ERG Theory

Alderfer (1969) counters Maslow's definition with a revised look at human needs. In Alderfer's model there is existence needs which cover physiological needs as well as some of Maslow's safety and love needs. Then there is relatedness that covers social relations and belonging, and lastly growth needs that cover Maslow's esteem and self actualisation needs. What can be ascertained in Alderfer's model is that physiological needs are sometimes broader and encompass many basic needs. Alderfer (1969) criticises Maslow's theory for being too stage-based, as if one need goes before another and it is not more of a collection of needs that are fulfilled simultaneously. This critique is delivered in such a way where it takes notice of how when a physiological need is fulfilled or satiated, there is not an immediate progression to be motivated by the next available need (e.g. security, safety).

Does drinking Sprite fulfil a physiological need? True. Thirst is quenched False. Persons may be motivated to drink Sprite unrelated to biological homeostasis

Motivation as it relates to physiological needs

Figure 3: Image of the hypothalamus.

This is an overview of information as it relates to human physiology and motivation.

Thirst and hunger

Thirst can be precipitated by hunger as drinking can be also associated with eating (Kraly, 1984). Kraly (1984) also recognises that learned behaviour avoids the need to constantly attend to physiological needs. These conclusions make it hard to measure without experimenting on participants who are in extreme deficits as learned behaviour that happens to address a physiological need is satiated before a person is motivated by their affects.

The brain and how it tends to physiological needs

The hypothalamus is responsible for controlling energy homeostasis within the brain (Rossi, 2023). In Teitelbaum and Epstien's (1962) study of rats with a lesion (damage) to the lateral hypothalamic area they found that the damage had caused the rats to not eat and result in death. This demonstrates the connection between the brain's physiology and motivation to fulfil a basic need. In this case, it could be inferred that the rats with this damage had no motivation to fulfil a basic need. This study can change the perception on need as it relates to the brain and a physiological process that is not wholly psychological in origin, which goes against Clark Hull's description as drive being primarily psychological.

Reward centres and their effect physiological needs

Volkov et al. (2011) discussed the reward centres and their affect on our feelings of satiety toward this physiological needs such as food while studying the neural impulses and their implication in obese persons. The hypothalamus is considerably responsible for transmitting the feeling of satiety via neuropeptides leptin, cholecystokinin, ghrelin, orexin, insulin, neuropeptide Y, and sensing nutrients glucose, amino acids and fatty acids. These nutrients are sensed and processed by the hypothalamus and Volkov et al. (2011) noted that "the regulation of food intake by the hypothalamus appears to rely on the reward and motivational neurocircuitry to modify eating behaviors". The motivational circuitry primarily being referred to in this case is the neurotransmitter dopamine. So, it may be possible if there are any changes and irregularities in this circuitry, some physiological needs may not be addressed. Irregularity in these dopaminergic systems would spur motivated behaviour that is beyond that of physiological requirement.

What area of the brain is predominantly in control of energy homeostasis? Medulla Hypothalamus Amygdala Hippocampus

Other motivations

Figure 4: Aircrew from No. 38 Squadron RAAF on a jungle survival training course in Singapore

Sensory noise and inattentional blindness

As the hypothalamus is responsible for controlling energy homeostasis, the thalamus and occipital lobes are responsible for spatial awareness (Driver, 1998). Driver (1998) discusses the phenomena of inattentional blindness and how attention can be directed away from one stimuli to respond to another. Could the same be possible for our motivations to satiate a physiological need? What if the physiological need was distracting us from another equally important task such as an athletic sporting event where water may only be provided in bursts or between rounds? Does this stimuli provided by our urge to satisfy our needs distract us from other tasks? If a marathon runner is motivated to replenish thirst and electrolytes, it may serve as a distraction if the runner is not at a interval where such replenishment is available or permitted.

Survival

Leach (1994) points out in his work Survival Psychology that individuals and groups do not always respond rationally to immediate threat and disaster. It may not be the body or the individuals conscious response that guides them away from immediate danger or death. Leach describes methods of action and coping mechanisms when dealing with a disaster situation that help prevent irrational and natural responses. He also points out that in order to survive for long periods of time things like a sense of purpose and even social connections are vital to sustaining, these are not strictly seen as physiological needs. So not only are behaviours sometimes antithetical to addressing physiological needs, also needs that are not physiological by Maslow's definition can even threaten basic needs to survive. This indicates some level of permeability between the hierarchy of needs are how they are prioritised and consciously motivated to address them.

Conclusion

Physiological needs affect motivation using some biological systems in the brain. However, some of these affects are not necessarily motivated entirely by physiological needs. Distinguishing the nature versus nurture scenario can be a real challenge as the line between biological and psychological can be blurred. It is important to note, that these two themes are a part of a whole process of human behaviour and are not separate. As demonstrated in Maslow's work, he recognises the potential for physiological needs to be satiated for the satisfaction and not the need. Alderfer further critiques Maslow by pointing out that all human needs are not strictly linear when studying human behaviour, you can organise what behaviours should be addressed for optimisation but this is rarely how humans actually behave. Also, measuring this behaviour in a perfect environment to facilitate a physiological response that prompts a psychological response can be difficult to measure in a vacuum, as Kraly points out, learned behaviours do potentially address many physiological needs without discomfort or immediate and life threatening reaction. Neurobiology of the hypothalamus in particular must be further researched to understand the complex inner-workings of motivation as it relates to physiological needs. It is clear that interruptions of the brain or dopaminergic systems can impact the physiological needs affect on motivations. Other competing motivations must also be studied, in a survival type scenario if possible. The key takeaway is that humans are not expressly motivated entirely by physiological needs in a vacuum, and the needs are addressed as a part of a whole, not in any particular order but there is indications that there is a preferred order of behavioural pursuits.

See also

• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (Wikipedia)
• Description of Physiological Needs (Wikiversity)
• Physiological needs (Book chapter, 2022)

References

Alderfer, C. P. (1969). An empirical test of a new theory of human needs. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance, 4(2), 142–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(69)90004-X

Driver, J. (1998). The neuropsychology of spatial attention.  Attention, 297-340. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7463-1_19

Hull, C. L. (1943). Principles of behavior: an introduction to behavior theory. The Journal of Philosophy, 40(20), 558-559. https://doi.org/10.2307/2019960

Kraly, F. S. (1984). Physiology of drinking elicited by eating. Psychological Review, 91(4), 478–490. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.91.4.478

Leach, J. (1994). Survival psychology. (J. Campling, Ed.). New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230372719

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation.  Psychological Review, 50, 370–396. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm

Rossi, M. A. (2023). Control of energy homeostasis by the lateral hypothalamic area.  Trends in Neurosciences, 46(9), 738–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2023.05.010

Teitelbaum, P., & Epstein, A. N. (1962). The lateral hypothalamic syndrome: Recovery of feeding and drinking after lateral hypothalamic lesions. Psychological Review, 69(2), 74–90. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0039285

Volkow, N. D., Wang, G. J., & Baler, R. D. (2011). Reward, dopamine and the control of food intake: implications for obesity. Trends in cognitive sciences, 15(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.11.001

External links

• Inattentional blindness (Simply Psychology)