Motivation and emotion/Lectures/Introduction

Lecture 01: Introduction

Resource type: this resource contains a lecture or lecture notes.

This is the first lecture for the Motivation and emotion unit of study.

OverviewEdit

This lecture:

provides an overview of the unit, highlighting key points from the unit outline, particularly the assessment, with detailed explanation about the topic selection and topic development exercises.
introduces the psychological study of motivation and emotion and key conceptual frameworks.

Take-home messages:

This unit seeks to understand psychological theory and research about motivation and emotion and to apply this knowledge to a specific topic for the major project.
The assessment items are: Topic selection (0%), Topic development (10%), Book chapter (45%), Multimedia presentation (20%), Quizzes (25%)
Motivation refers to the processes that give behaviour its energy, direction, and persistence.
Emotions help us to adapt by functioning as motivators, providing feedback about our behaviour, and helping us to communicate our needs to others.

Etymology: The terms "motivation" and "emotion" have a common root in the Latin verb movere (to move).

There are two key questions underlying psychological study of motivation and emotion:

Why do we do
what we do?

Why do we feel

the way we feel?

The practical, applied purpose is to be able to better address the questions of:

How can we change
what we do?

How can we change

what we feel?

If you ask someone in the street, "What is motivation?" they are likely to say something about having the will-power and self-discipline to focus and channel one's attention and efforts towards a short- or long-term goal-related task such as doing a workout or studying.
This aspect of motivation is commonly depicted in "motivational" books and media.
For example, this video inspires us to put aside inner excuses and self-doubts, to push on through difficulty, and strive towards challenging goals:

Psychological science considers ALL behaviour to be motivated. This includes:
- approach-based goal-directed behaviours
- mundane behaviour (e.g., drinking and eating)
- less "desirable" behaviours (e.g., avoidance, procrastination, nose-picking etc.)
- "non-behaviour" (i.e., choosing not to do something is also a motivated behaviour)
Two people doing the SAME behaviour (e.g., a workout) may have DIFFERENT motivations (e.g., fitness, mood change, social engagement).
We have MULTIPLE motivations in any moment, but only our DOMINANT motivation gets acted upon.
Emotions are "designed" to help up to adapt to our environment
Emotionally intelligence involves tuning into, self-regulating, and making effective use of emotion