Chapter 10
universality of relatedness and autonomy
According to one study, relatedness and autonomy seem to be. Cultures across the world were tested on how well they would do on tests related to the intrinsic motivation they were exposed to, and relatedness and autonomy seemed to be pretty strong predictors of performance.
Facial expressions as universal evidence
Researchers went to remote areas of New Guinea, and people still identified emotions as the same (especially happiness)
Marshmellow study
set up a marshmallow test, asking kids to either wait and get 2 marshmallows or eat it right away. Kids who waited tended to do better in life.
James-Lange theory evidence
smiling makes us happy, but when people have botox they have more muted emotional responses
core values
strongly held beliefs about the enduring principles that are most important and meaningful. They promote emotions and actions when they are aroused or threatened.
Yerkes-Dedson Law
psychological principle that performance on a challenging task increases with arousal up to a certain moderate level. After that, it no longer helps, and instead, impairs
avoidance motivation
how we avoid negative outcomes
anxiety and loneliness
Anxiety increases when we face exclusion from our social groups. People who are sad and lonely tend to be more attentive to social evaluation.
anxiety and community electric shock experiment
In one study, participants were told they would receive an electric shock. One group was told that this would be a minor shock and would barely hurt (low anxiety). The other group was told it would be intense and painful (high anxiety). Both groups were then told that they would have 10 minutes before the shock. They were asked if they would rather wait with a group or wait by themselves. The ones in the higher anxiety condition preferred waiting with others.
intrinsic motivation
a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
intrinsic v extrinsic motivation study (teaching--when tasked w/ different motivations, teaching styles reflect this)
One study tested this by having teachers teach students how to do a problem-solving task. One condition/group was simply told to facilitate the children's learning. This was intrinsic, given that there was no end goal in mind. The other group was told to prepare students well as they would be tested on the material. The latter is how American models of teaching often operate. The students were then given a test after being taught, and the students taught by the first group of teachers did better. Interestingly, because the teachers were given more autonomy in group 1, their teaching style was also centered around autonomy; they allowed students to work through the problems by themselves first. Relatedness also increased in this teaching style, as the teachers would often describe their process/feelings about certain aspects of the problem solving process. The 2nd group were more motivated extrinsically, so their teaching style was more extrinsic. They were more likely to give criticism and praise-make external judgements on the students.
Extrinsic Motivation
a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment
self-affirmation theory
Self-affirmation is our need for a sense of self that is coherent and consistent. We often reject information in favor of sustaining our self-image.
Exam example of Yerkes-Dedson Law
Students perform best on exams when they feel moderate anxiety. Too little anxiety can make them inattentive, but too much interferes with their thinking.
insula + emotion
The insula receives and integrates somatosensory signals from the entire body. It is involved in the subjective awareness of bodily sensations → heartbeat, feeling hunger, etc. Particularly active while feeling disgust-also activated in anger, guilt, and anxiety.
intrinsic v extrinsic motivation study (drawing)
The study tasked kids with drawing (which is usually an intrinsic motivator for kids). Then, they set up three groups. One group was told they would win an award for their drawing (extrinsic motivation). Another group was awarded unexpectedly after the test. The last group was not rewarded or led to expect a reward. When later allowed to free draw, kids who had solely intrinsic motivation during the previous drawing time spent more time in the free choice time drawing, as they hadn't had their autonomy taken away during drawing. The 2nd group spent less time.
Music as universal, evidence
There was agreement between Americans and Cambodians on how music made them feel
delayed gratification (self-regulation)
Voluntarily postponing an immediate reward in order to complete a task before enjoying a reward.
self-efficay (achieving goals)
belief that efforts toward a goal will result in success
controlling emotions SHOULD (5)
change the meaning of the emotion, create mental distance, find humor, refocus our attention, or distract ourselves
display rules
culturally determined rules about which emotions are appropriate to display
grit (achieving goals)
desire to achieve long-term goals (grit has been proven to be more effective than intelligence)
achievemnt motivation
desire to do well relative to standards of excellence
ideal affect
emotional and affective states that cultures especially value
Embarassment and blushing
indicate a realization of interpersonal error which shows respect for social group affiliation. Usually, these responses are met with sympathy, amusement, and laughter.
Amgydala + emotion
involved in the emotional significance of stimuli. Helps process emotion. Because emotions are likely to increase activity of the amygdala, this activity is likely to improve long term memory for an event. The amygdala modifies how the hippocampus consolidates memory.
Schacter-Singer theory
label applied to physiological arousal results in the experience of the emotion. All physiological responses to all emotional stimuli are essentially the same (which is referred to as undifferentiated physiological arousal). This arousal is simply interpreted differently depending on the situation, and then we give it a label that is quick and straightforward
Evidence for Schacter-Singer theory
language people use to describe their feelings has a powerful impact on emotion they experienced
balance theory
people are more motivated to achieve harmony in their interpersonal relationships, generally in the form of triads (2 people against one common enemy)
how people get out of cognitive dissonance (2 ways-smoking)
people get out of cognitive dissonance by convincing themselves that something isn't actually harmful (like telling themselves smoking isn't that bad). Or, they rationalize their behavior (stress of quitting smoking would be much worse than the effects of smoking).
misattribution arousal study
people walking on a creaky bridge versus a regular bridge/ Those that were on the creakier bridge and approached by a woman asking for their number were more likely to call the woman back later on because they had confused their anxiety in the moment with romantic arousal.
controlling emotions SHOULD NOT (2)
suppress and ruminate, this just intensifies/worsens the emotions
guilt (3 modes of increasing social bonds)
the first is that we tend to try and connect with loved ones when we feel bad about something to receive affirmation and advice; the second is that guilt shows that we care that we hurt someone; the third is that guilt can be used as manipulation which then increases unhealthy social bonds
anxiety and community
the more likely we are to want to be in community
misattribution arousal
the process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do
James-Lange theory
the theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli stimulus → arousal → emotion
Avoidance of cognitive dissonance
unpleasant feeling of being aware of holding 2 conflicting beliefs or a belief that conflicts with a behavior
Approach motivation
we seek out food, sex, companionship because they are generally associated with pleasure
