Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/Psychological needs

Tutorial 04: Psychological needs

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

This is the fourth tutorial for the motivation and emotion unit of study.

Overview

This tutorial provides an interactive discussion about:

1. basic psychological needs
2. taxonomy of motivation
3. topic development checklist

Needs

Brainstorm and discuss:

What are needs?

Needs are requirements (essential) for surviving and thriving i.e., for physiological and psychological health and well-being. There are deficit-based needs (e.g., thirst, hunger, sleep) and growth-based needs (e.g., autonomy, competence, relatedness).

How do needs differ from desires, wants, likes etc.?

Needs are essential for survival and well-being whereas desires, wants, likes etc. are motivations for non-essential stimuli (e.g., an umbrella in the rain).

What types of needs are there?

Needs can be classified as physiological, psychological, and implicit (social) (Reeve 2018). Another useful distinction is between deficit and growth needs. Or the Alderfer ERG theory refers to existence, relatedness, and growth needs.

What are the basic psychological needs?

According to self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, and relatedness

Taxonomy of motivation

Discuss:

What characterises extrinsic motivation? e.g.?

External (environmental) reasons for behaving. Caused by carrots (incentives and rewards e.g., praise) or sticks (threats and punishments e.g., insults).

What characterises intrinsic motivation? e.g.?

Internal reasons for behaving. Involves volition (i.e., I want to) and enjoyment (e.g., hobbies). External influences are absent.

Advantages of the I-E motivation distinction?

Simple and easy to understand. Helps with research designs.

Disadvantages of the I-E motivation distinction?

A dichotomous distinction is overly simplistic. Motivational sources are often complex and dynamic, involving aspects of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Types of motivation described by Deci and Ryan (2000)?

• Amotivation
• Extrinsic motivation
  • External regulation
  • Introjection
  • Identification
  • Integration
• Intrinsic motivation

Topic development - Checklist

1. Use the correct title and sub-title (use sentence casing)
2. Create a heading structure - at least 3 to 6 top-level headings between the Overview and Conclusion - may include sub-headings
3. At least 3 dot points per section, including before branching into sub-headings; Cover theory, research, and application
4. Embed and caption (Figure 1 ...) a relevant image
5. Provide at least 1 internal link (See also) and at least 1 external link (External links)
6. Include at least 3 citations and references (References)
7. Make at least 1 social contribution and summarise it on your user page
8. Check the marking criteria

For more info, see the topic development author guidelines.

Recording

• Tutorial 04 recording (2022)

See also

Additional tutorial material

• Implicit motives
• Models which organise needs
• Self-determination theory

Lecture

• Extrinsic motivation and psychological needs

Tutorials

• Physiological needs (Previous tutorial)
• Functionalist theory and self-tracking (Next tutorial)

References

Deci, R. M., & Ryan, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1020 Full pdf

External links

• Promoting motivation, health, and excellence (Ed Deci, 2012, TEDx, YouTube 14:05 mins)