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User talk:Mish795

 Hello Mish795, and welcome to Wikiversity! If you need help, feel free to visit my talk page, or contact us and ask questions. After you leave a comment on a talk page, remember to sign and date; it helps everyone follow the threads of the discussion. The signature icon in the edit window makes it simple. To get started, you may

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And don't forget to explore Wikiversity with the links to your left. Be bold to contribute and to experiment with the sandbox or your userpage, and see you around Wikiversity! If you're a twitter user, please follow http://twitter.com/Wikiversity. Jtneill - Talk - c 12:42, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

 Hello , you can call me Jacob Frank. I'd like to be your mascot and welcome you to Wikiversity. Even though I was a plain and untutored man back in 18th-century Europe, that still didn't stop me from contributing my ideas to the world. Neither should it stop you. As a religious leader who developed the doctrine of "purification through transgression," my advice to you is to be bold and to ignore all rules—yes, these are two of Wikiversity's official policies! Happy editing.

Motivation and emotion
Hi. Welcome to the unit and to Wikiversity! I look forward to learning with you and I hope you find the topic and the unit rewarding. Please feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions or would like help at any point along the way. Sincerely, James Neill, -- Jtneill - Talk - c 12:42, 25 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Well done on getting underway and tackling your trepidation. Hopefully Tutorial 1 will also help in this respect. My main tip is to ask questions about how to do anything that you can't work out. Sincerely, James -- Jtneill - Talk - c 05:31, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Textbook chapter feedback
FYI, I just added an intro paragraph - Talk:Motivation and emotion/Textbook/Motivation/Indigenous Australians -- Jtneill - Talk - c 23:00, 4 November 2010 (UTC)

-- Jtneill - Talk - c 03:51, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Mish795


text:
School:History/News

School of History News Archive
 * December 22, 2015: Topic:Sri Lankan history has started
 * June 20, 2011: United States History will begin
 * June 20, 2011: Human Legacy Course will begin
 * Aug 24, 2010: Reorganization underway.
 * Jun 16, 2010: History of the Ottoman Empire Course has started.
 * May 15, 2010: Military History Department founded.

title: School:History/News


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Motivation and emotion/Textbook/Motivation/Mate-seeking behaviour

Overview and Topic Relevance
You may be asking yourself why is this topic relevant? One only has to look as far as their closest night-spot to observe that all cultures are consumed by the notion of seeking out a suitable mate. Alternatively you could ask yourself, what is the function of bars and clubs, internet dating, dancing and men's and women's magazines? Is it all just one big ritual to impress the opposite sex?

A lot of time, effort, and money is spent on considering and subsequently enhancing our sexual attractiveness in an effort to achieve a suitable partner. In the 21st century our whole society, it seems, is geared towards couple mentality. Socio-economic factors such as rising house prices, home loans, and a need to attain wealth and luxury items such as a fancy house, or car, make pairing almost a necessity. Our global economy is fuelled by this trend, whether it is measured by means of cosmetic surgery, weight loss or by the trillion dollars spent on make-up every year, it seems physical attractiveness is a very important element of who we are and how we attract a prospective mate. But are we merely slaves to our basic animal instincts or are we highly evolved rational beings?

Sociocultural factors such as gender roles and practices may also have a large impact. Ask yourself, when was the last time you remember being taught to, man up, or act more lady like in the presence of the opposite sex? Do you remember as a child, reading stories or seeing movies that ended in prince charming sweeping the princess off her feet and riding off into the sunset? These cultural expectations have an enormous impact on our mate seeking preferences, how we choose our partner and whom we choose to partner with. But what motivates us as humans to behave in this way? What drives us to seek out a suitable mate? And what makes this mate suitable? These questions will be discussed in the subsequent article.

Human and Animal Research
Partner selection has historically fascinated poets, musicians and playwrights alike and has laid the foundation for a complex social system of marriage and partnership for generations across all civilisations (More 2010). However it was not until early theories of Darwin in the mid 1800s, focusing on natural selection and mating preferences of animals (Darwin 1859), that mate seeking behaviour was empirically studied and recognised as a scientific concept. It is this evolutionary perspective that dominates the majority of psychological research and theory of mate seeking behaviour. Consequently a lot of what we know about human intrinsic motivation is derived from animal research.

The Evolutionary Approach
Darwin believed that sexual selection impacted greatly on the evolution of humans and the diversity of a population (Encyclopedia 2010). According to Darwin, sexual selection is the advantage of individuals over others of the same sex and species in the population to reproduce (Jones and Ratterman 2009).

Darwin's theory consisted of two main premises:
 * 1) The law of battle – whereby the strongest wins the right to reproduce
 * 2) Female or male choice – whereby the desired trait is passed on to the next generation

Modern conceptions of Darwin's model have further theorized the possible reasons as to why this is so (Shuster 2009).

Darwin Fisher Model of Sexual Selection – purports that higher quality female’s breed before lower quality females as they choose to pair with higher quality males. According to Darwin this serves a functional purpose as they produce more offspring as the higher quality males are able to fend off threats.

The Direct Benefits Model - assumes that females choose their mate based on the benefits their partner brings – such as nurture and care for their offspring, protection and resourses at ther disposal.

The Model of Indirect Benefits - hypothesizes that females base mate selection on the basis of a trait which predicts genetic success and that the ornament serves as a predictor of genetic variation.

Some Common Criticisms of the Evolutionary Approach
The approach while extremely parsimonious does not account for all mate seeking behaviors in humans. The theory is also based on the explanation of female preferences in mate selection, and males tack a back seat in the selection of a mate. The approach is extremely controversial as innate concpets cannot be easily tested in humans and as such the heuristic value of the theoretical approach has been questioned. The approach also neglects the role of the environment in evolution, favoring genetic explanations (Shuster 2009),( Jones and Rattermann 2009) and (Yoshida, Dolan, Friston 2008).

Evolutionary Approach and Recent Evidence
Evidence suggests that mate selection could be influenced more than we might think by unconscious genetic processes (Kaplan and Oudeyer 2007 a) This hypothesis has evolved from a growing body of evidence supporting the notion that factors such as body odour functions to discriminate partners with dissimilar immunity allells, in order to produce offspring with a highly varied and therefore larger resistance to environmental pathogens (Derti et al 2010). A study on a the Major Histocompality complex, a region of immunity genes, found that American European couples had larger MHC locus dissimilarity than non couples. However found that a study on a Yoruban (West African population) believe that due to outliers in the data this finding was not robust to conclude that immunity genes influence mate selection. This recent examination finds that rare instances of extreme gene similarity were avoided, rather partners choose partners similar to themselves however not so similar that they risk genetic inbreeding (Kaplan and Oudeyer 2007 a).

Some animal studies have identified chemicals essential to pairing and bonding behaviour in pairing. Liu et al (2010) found that drug exposure on a monogamous rat species can manipulate the bond between rodent pairs. Repeated exposure to a AMPH drug induced repeated exposure impaired the bond behavior between the rats, suggesting possible evidence for the nucleus accumbens in the release of chemicals such as dopamine essential for boding between monogamous species. Kokko and Rankin (2006) suggest that availability of potential mates is a ecological factor that is often overlooked by evolutionary theorists. However many researchers argue that population density may play a large role in competition, and female choice. Females are unlikely to reject an unfit male if there is not another alternative.

The Relevance of Darwin's Theory in Adaptive Mate Choice
Male mate preference behaviour in humans has received significantly less attention as animal research predominantly focuses on the female mate preference behaviour. However some recent research suggests that Darwin’s theory of natural selection is less relevant when applied to species where the male chooses a mate. Research has shown that male selection is counter intuitive to the notion of evolutionary driven mating preferences (Hall, Lindholm and Brooks 2004). A recent study on antagonistic male mating preferences in melangaster flies by long et al (2009) concluded that antagonistic and persistent behaviour of males in the selection of a mate decreases the efficacy of beneficial genetic variation. As males exhibit a mate preference for females with a high capacity to reproduce (those with larger body size), this reduces the female’s capacity to choose a mate that is beneficial to genetic variation. The antagonistic and persistent nature of the behaviour makes it easier for the male to select and reproduce with a female who has a lower fitness level (smaller body size). As this type of mate selection favours reproduction in lower fitness females the overall fitness of the population decreases and regresses towards the mean (Hall, Lindholm and Brooks 2004). As this is a relatively new finding, more research needs to be conducted to see if it is generalisable to other species and populations.

Adolescence and Learning Mate Preferences
Adolescence is a particularly interesting time from a research point of view as it is widely agreed upon that many individuals begin to develop an interest in the opposite sex. Studies on mate selection involving adolescents give researchers the opportunity to observe the formulation and possible causal factors associated with partner selection. From a learning theorists point of view, early adolescence is a time where the socialization of mate selection is formed, developed and continues to play an important role in development (Bartels, Magun-Jackson & Ryan 2010). Partners have been found to have similar social habits such as alcohol consumption and similar emotional intelligence (Amitay and Mongrain 2007). Adolescents not only choose a partner similar to themselves but their drinking behaviors tend to converge (Zwaluw et al 2009). A study by Simon, Aikins and Prinstein (2008) on the assessments of adolescent and romantic partner adjustment found that characteristics of a partner in adolescence strongly mediated psychosocial functioning of their partners. Prior to the relationship partners were self reportedly and peer reportedly alike on several facets including popularity, physical attraction and depressive symptoms. During the course of the study victimization significantly predicted change participants level of functioning, however this was largely dependent on the partners functioning, which predicted the direction and significance of the effect (Simon, Aikins and Prinstein 2008). This supports the notion that partner selection may be motivated by likeness traits, which further develop our experiences in early adolescence (Simon, Aikins and Prinstein 2008).

Social Transmission of Mate Preferences
Recent evidence lends support to the notion that partner preference may be socially transferable among animal and human populations providing support for the notion that mate seeking may be adaptive and learned.

Animal Studies
Is it possible that animals can mediate the effects of evolution through cultural learning? Evidence suggests that some species can acquire mate preferences through social mechanisms by means of observation and copying behaviors in the acquisition of a mate. This posits the notion that this behavior may influence the selection of specific traits in a partner and thus the future traits of the population. In 2005 a study on a polygamous species of sparrow by Swaddle and colleuges found, females developed preferences for males who had previously been chosen by other females. A second experiment revealed this effect generalized not only to the specific mate but also to a trait characteristic of the partner. Female sparrows chose mates that they had previously seen with other females exhibiting the same characteristic such as a leg band. ]]

Human Studies
Recent evidence has suggested that social transmission of mate choices may also exist in humans. A study by Jones and colleuges in 2007 showed that women who saw other women exhibiting positive facial expressions towards men such as smiling, increased the woman’s preferences to a male more than neutral expressions. Men however exhibited the opposite effect supporting the hypothesis that males may see this as a sign of competition from other males.

Mate copying behavior in humans is thought to function as a valuable source of knowledge which informs our own choice. Yorzinski and Platt in 2010 found that men and women both expressed interest in a photograph of a potential mate of the opposite sex when the potential mate was pictured as being paired with an attractive partner of the opposite sex. Women however showed a greater reliance on the partner choices of other women. It is hypothesized that as women are generally more selective than males (Yorzinski & Platt 2010) they may be more suspicious of males who are paired with a less attractive mate due to differential parental investment. Females are unlikely to pair with a partner they do not believe is capable of relative success with other attractive females.

Sex Differences in Selectivity
A lot of research has focused on the differences between male and female mate selection and courtship behaviour. Approaching a potential mate, a characteristic of males observed in many studies has found to be a mediating factor of attraction (Finkel and Eastwick 2009). A speed dating study by Finkel and Eastwick (2009) found that the act of merely approaching, rather than reacting to an approach, produced significantly lower levels of choosiness in men as it increases attraction to the partner, however this same effect was not found in women. This is theorised to be dependent upon intrinsic desire of the male to approach the female in situated conceptualisation (Harris and Uller 2009). This theory suggests general categories become more meaningful when they are paired with a context. Therefore approach behaviour in a romantic context makes the behaviour more meaningful for the person approaching and thus more confidence in speed dates and around potential mates of the opposite sex. However when the roles were reversed and women became rotators, this effect in men diminished. Partners perceptions of mate preference are not the only important factor in mate selection. Recent research has suggested that perceptions of the self or self concept, a phenomenon theroised to evolved due to selection pressure in the environment, can also impact on the mate selection preferences of men and women (Campbell and Wilbur 2009). This is believed to reflect the values of the mate preferences of the opposite sex. A series of studies by Campbell and Wilbur (2009) found that traits related to men’s status and resources were an important aspect of men’s self concept and that women placed more importance on traits such as physical attractiveness on their self concept.

Males
Many studies have found that males are less selective when choosing a potential partner when compared with females (Finkel and Eastwick 2009). Men have also been found to place more emphasis on perceived beauty and youth (Campbell and Wilbur 2009) and seek women who have a high chance of reproductive success (Todd et al 2007). Studies have also found that men felt more threatened by other males who were perceived to have higher levels on traits related to status and resources (Campbell and Wilbur 2009). Many studies have found that males place more emphais on the sexual fidelity of their partners, whereas women place more emphais on the emotional fidelity of partners (Josephs & Shimberg 2010). This is thought to occur as males want to be sure that any offspring a mate produces is their biological product (Josephs & Shimberg 2010).

Females
Studies have found women place more emphasis on status and resources than other traits (Campbell and Wilbur 2009). This is hypothesized to occur as the evolutionary theoretical assumption stipulates that men and women have differentaial levels of parental investment (Kaplan and Oudeyer (2007 b). Women have also been found to be more threatened by rivals who appeared higher on levels of traits related to attractiveness (Campbell and Wilbur 2009), which may occur due to both self concept and/or the potential for successful pairing with a mate of the opposite sex.

Actual And Perceived Mate Selection
Many studies using self-report measures have not supported the evolutionary theory as they found that simeralities amoung individuals highly correlated with attraction levels. However it has been argued that self report measures do not accurately reflect an individuals actions (Toddet al 2007). Preferred characteristics and actual characteristic of the ideal partner may also differ due to competition (Courtiol et al 2010). Consistent with this hypothesis, a study by Courtiol et al (2010), examine the actual and desired body type preferences of couples in france concluded that actual characteristics differ to preferred characteristics of  an individuals partner for males but not for females. Traits considered to be highly predictive of atractivness in a mate may not be predictive of a actual mate selection and pairing (Henecy et al 2008). For women a weak correlation was found between desired and actual physical attractivness of their partner. While for men a strong correlation was found between desired and actual physical attractivness of their partner. For example men who prefer larger women, usually have a larger than average partner. This demonstrates that the influence of desired physical traits on selection of a partner may be sex specific.

A speed dating study by Toddet al (2007) on adults found that questionares or self report measures were a reliable measure of the belief that an individual was attracted to a mate similar to them. However this belief did not translate into action when actual preferences were observed as male’s tended to choose women based on their physical attractiveness levels. Women tended to be more discriminative and choose men based on their overall desirability as compared to the woman’s level of attractiveness (Todd et al 2007).

Attraction
Attractive traits are theoretical signifyers of underlying health and reproductive capacity of a potential mate (Gallap and Fredrick 2010). Two types of searching strategies in humans have been examined (Henecy et al 2008). Confirmation searching refers to information seeking about a potential mate. An individual may choose to ask questions to affirm or negate their beliefs about the individual to determine whether they are an appropriate mate. A balanced search strategy involves risk assessment of the partner (Henecy et al 2008). A study by Henecy et al (2008) of college students found little evidence for the occurrence of a balance search strategies as when participants viewed various vignettes of a made up person they predominantly searched for information on attractiveness levels. There was no difference found between males and females for the attainment of information aboput the level of attractiveness or risk information. however when the participants were presented with a vignette of an unattractive persona – additional information was a significant factor. These results do not confirm the hypothesis that people conduct a balanced well thought out approach to seeking a mate but rather they seek out what they are attracted to in a mate.

Attractive Similarity or Differences
Studies on women’s face preferences of males have found highly variable results on what women consider to be attractive. This is partly due to the way the faces were manipulated across studies. A study by DeBruine et al (2006) using a technique integrating three of the most widely used face techniques, to manipulate facial images, revealed women's face preferences for masculine faces positively correlated with the masculinity of their ideal and actual partner. These results demonstrate the large variability in the perceived trait attraction of a partner. However Gallap and Fredrick (2010) suggest that although there is large varaility between the attraction of traits and individuals there is an overall consensus for some traits.

Menstrual Cycle
Many studies have detailed that a woman is more attractive to potential mates when she is at her most fertile. However recent studies have contradicted the assumption that women are more visually physically attractive during the more fertile stages of their menstral cycle as Peters, Simmons and Rohdes (2009) found no significant effect for differences in attractiveness ratings for photographs of women at various stages in their menstral cycle. These did not differ between low and high fertility phases either. This suggests that a visual stimuli may be too subtle to detect differences in a woman’s appearance (Peters, Simmons and Rohdes 2009).

Social Status
The social status of a male or female can also be predictive of reproductive success (Shulster 2009). It has been widely observed, particularly in social animals, that those with alpha female or alpha male status are more likely to produce more offspring and have the first pick of a mate (DuVal and Kempenaers 2008). This finding is also indicative of the higer levels of attraction of both female and males when self confidence in a potential mate is high (Kaplan and Oudeyer 2007b).

Waist to Hip Ratio
Waist to hip ratios and shoulder to hip ratios have widely been found to be a preditor trait of attraction (Gallap and Fredrick 2010). The hour glass figure in women is more attractive due to perceived reporoductive associations such as the frequency of ovulation – women with hourglass figures generally ovulate more often and have a more consistent cycle. The loss of this hourglass figure is seen to be an adaptive indicator of pregnancy and thus incapacity at that stage to conceive (Peters, Simmons and Rohdes 2009). Broad skeletal mucle in women is also attractive as they can undergo birth and lower body fat in women is indicative of gulteofermoraol fat which aids in neural development (Gallap and Fredrick 2010), and thus reproductive success. {{Hide in print|

Quiz
{The Evolutionary approach is based on the principle of sexual selection? + TRUE. - FALSE.
 * type="[]"}

{Preferences for mates can be learned through observation? - TRUE. + FALSE.
 * type="[]"}

{Males are more likely to be attracted to women who have an hourglass figure and muscular skeletal structure? + TRUE. - FALSE.
 * type="[]"}

{Rare instances of gene similarity are avoided when selecting a mate? - TRUE. + FALSE. }}
 * type="[]"}


text:
School talk:History/News

Please give a date for any announcements.Harrypotter 13:06, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

I have archived material from before 2010, as it can't really be called news anymore!Harrypotter 14:55, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

title: School talk:History/News


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User:Hamish24

Guide to Hamish's E-Portfolio
My purpose is to create an E-portfolio for the Unit Understanding Motivation and Emotion that incorporates the following goals:
 * 1)  Describe what activities were carried out from week to week
 * 2)  Act as an ongoing resource of information covering chapter content, lectures and tutorials
 * 3)  Identify insights gained while connecting and interacting with other peers within the unit
 * 4)  Analyse how these learnings apply to my current life experiences
 * 5)  Integrate learning experiences for personal future growth

My story
The posting below is about some of the choices and decisions I have made in the past couple of years in my life. Although I wrote this in the later stages of this unit, it has been purposely placed here. The reasons for that are to not only demonstrate some form of reflection to the reader, but more so to remind myself that often it's not until enormous decisions are made, can one look back and fully appreciate the processes of growth and change.

This week has being a huge eye opener for me. While I knew what was happening this time last year, I couldn't explain it, not in the terms of academic language anyway. Six weeks ago, I had no idea what intrinsic motivation or extrinsic motivation was. I will try and keep this as short and simple as possible though forgive me if I sway from side to side. I was driving to work, I had my tie on, my business pants, and from the outside one could say "hey here's a guy that's motivated, he's well dressed, looks enthusiastic, obviously has a good job, security and is on his way to success". Yet quite the opposite was going on.

The day you find yourself driving to work hoping someone might crash into you, so you don't have to go, then arriving, doing two laps of the car park only to drive home and call in with "I'm not going to make it" is the day you know something has to change. At the time I asked myself why? I mean I did the right thing, I left school, abandoned my dream of going on the tennis circuit to complete a university degree in Information Technology. I worked my way into a high paying job, and after five years, questioned is this the best as life gets? Was I put here to live life in a box, spend eight hours a day in front of computer, go home, sleep then wake up and do the same thing over and over again. What kind of life is that?

I was guided by extrinsic motivation. The choices I made were guided by the roles of pleasing and fitting in with society expectations. When someone would ask me what do you do for work, I would respond with IT, Server Operations and hope the conversation would end there. While society might look highly upon my previous position, I knew it was overpaid and overestimated in difficulty. Regardless of the praise from the outside world, of "you've done really well" I still wasn't happy. I was under challenged and I needed out. The last thing I wanted "was to look back, have regrets and think, now you're seventy years old, are you satisfied with what you've done with your life"?

I started investigating spirituality, Buddhism, thinking that a person could be happy in any position within any circumstance. Perhaps that's true. I definitely don't deny the possibility, but I wasn't prepared to sit and watch life pass me by in hope of one day figuring it out.... So I left the IT industry for good, and went back to university, though this time to study psychology. This is something, I had passionately wanted to do for a very long time regardless of the risks involved. I started playing tennis again and coaching to make up for the money. I followed the interests that came from within (intrinsic motivation). The interests that were never really lost, just temporarily covered over with extrinsic rewards . While I am not making the same salary (concrete reward), I feel alive and reconnected with the world again. Being outdoors on the tennis court, seeing others get excited as they improve reminds of the many things I had forgotten. I gained a sense of autonomy which was almost completely lost from the routine and boredom of nine till five in a box. I gained competence in my self and abilities, and enhanced relatedness whereby my relationships are no longer restricted to a computer screen and procedural tasks. I am no longer limited to a shed with no windows, an office full of guys and an electronic pass that needs to be swiped through every room entered. I've formed new friendships through tennis and university by the choice of leaving an unhealthy environment that only provided artificial security, to a new environment that is positive, promotes learning and psychological growth.

Week 1 Motivation
Motivational forces are suggested to play a major role in determining reasons as to why one behaves the way he/she does. Questions arise as to why certain individuals are motivated to study, while others may be motivated to party, play sport, or seek out career orientated goals. The major goal of motivational psychology put in its simplest form is to determine why people behave the way they do. This has been one of the fundamental questions in the history of psychology, and while many psychological fields have emerged, many questions concerning root causes of human behavior remain. The study of motivation concerns processes whereby behavior can be explained in terms of energy and direction. Energy is identified as the arousal aspect,the inner drive or force whereby someone is driven to carry out some form of behavior. Energy alone, is not enough for the act of behavior to occur. Direction such as a desired outcome, or goal is required in combination with arousal for activity to occur. For instance when someone is hungry (energy or arousal) they may eat (behavior) in order to obtain comfort (goal).

Intensity of Behavior
Intensity of certain behavior varies within each individual. These are often driven by my motivational forces.

As a tennis coach outside of university, I am often faced with challenges around motivating certain tennis players to try harder. This is inferred upon my observations whereby I can identify the antecedents (expressions of motivation) which are known to give rise to certain motivational states. For example, certain individuals following miss hitting several forehands in a row often get down on themselves, drop there intensity levels and predictably continue to hit the balls out.

In this case, a good motivational theory would provide possible solutions, enhancing the probability that such individuals would persist and actively engage with more effort.

On the other hand, those players who show higher levels of engagement and behavioral intensity through consistent effort, focused attention, and persistence often go on to become good tennis players.

Internal Motives
A motive is an internal process that energizes and directs behavior. These are commonly divided into: needs,cognitions, and emotions.
 * Needs are those necessary for the maintenance of life, for example food and water.
 * Cognitions refer to mental events, such as thoughts, beliefs, expectations and self concept.
 * Emotions can be identified as short lived, subjective, physiological, functional, expressive phenomena that coordinate our reactions to major life events.

Motives constantly fluctuate, vary over time and interact with one another. For example people who are worried about gaining weight might starve themselves in order to avoid the anxiety that accompanies the act of eating. Here it can be indicated that the need (food) is competing against an emotion (such as anxiety) which may be fueled by cognitions (self concept). This interaction shows how a cognitive motivator may over ride a physiological need which is necessary for survival.

Knowing this information will definitely serve me when writing my textbook chapter on the motivation behind anxious behavior. For instance, one aspect I intend on focusing my research on is Obsessional Compulsive Disorder in which compulsive behaviors are suggested to be driven by high levels of anxiety. From the leanings suggested here, it may be that compulsive behaviors are the result of competing motives involving cognitive beliefs.

Motivation

Tutorial 1
In this weeks tutorial the class we were broken down into teams and asked to discuss what was mean by "Motivation and Emotion". My definition of motivation was " some form of uplifting state to achieve some purpose" , while my definition of emotion was "energy in motion"  taken from the word e-motion. However the group introduced more thorough definitions, identifying motivation as an internal drive directing behavior, and emotion as something that could be expressed both internally and externally, as a reaction to stimuli, through facial expressions or through physiological responses such as skin conductance. James also asked us to develop questions for our textbook chapter. My chapter is on the motivation driving Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Here I asked listed the following:

 * Where do intrusive thoughts come from?
 * Are intrusive thoughts the result of emotion (anxiety) or do they stem from cognitive beliefs, malfunctioning brain structures or past experiences?
 * Why do people engage in compulsive behavior such as checking locks numerous times when they internally know their behavior isn't rational?
 * Why do OCD individuals vary between the content of obsessions and why does OCD behavior stop and start?

These questions have long termed fascinated me, as I have always been curious as how thoughts enter the mind.

 * Where do thoughts come from?
 * What distinguishes a good thought from a bad thought?
 * Do thoughts become obsessions when they are only inappropriate in content eg. (fear of contamination) and is it the individuals response to the thought that makes the obsession stick and persist?
 * Can an OCD mind use the same mind to solve the problem of OCD ?
 * Can research into brain plasticity provide better approaches to treatment then counseling and drugs? What about eastern medicine?

Another huge question that I have wondered, is it possible to develop OCD after watching the movie '"The Secret"''? ''' The movie states that we are all responsible for our own destiny and creation, and that its our thoughts that are creating our lives and everyday events. Obviously from this movie, severe dangers may arise, specifically if a bad thought enters conscious, then the viewer starts to ponder the idea that, thinking may actually be the same as creating such bad event. A term coined thought fusion.

The movie "The Secret" may put those with highly imaginative minds and good morals at risk, whereby the individuals takes on responsibility for events that may in fact be out of their control. This is interesting because OCD individuals are suggested to have beliefs that relate to inflated responsibility, and low competence concerning control.

Motivation psychology is also about developing solutions to improve and enhance lives, so it's plausible to consider all of the above.

Grand Theories
Grand theories are those that were developed earlier in history in attempt to explain all human motivated action into one cause. For instance a grand theory would not only explain why individuals eat and sleep, it would also explain why certain people fall in love and why others don't. Additionally it would provide reasoning for individual differences and preferences towards activities such as sports and hobbies. However, due to the complexity of human behavior these theories have yet provided full scientific explanations. The theories mentioned include :

 *  Will

 * Descartes proposed that a motivation force existed that controlled an individuals actions. This was identified as the Will. This particular force was suggested to leave the individual no choice over behaviors exhibited and the events that took place within their lives. The idea of the will was abandoned, when people were shown to resist temptation with delayed gratification.

 *  Instinct

 * According to instinct theory, individuals are believed to behave the way they do through pre-wired genes and past evolution. Charles Darwin's work 'The Selfish Gene' involved concepts of the instinct. Reasons for why males are attracted to women with physical beauty and similarly reasons as to why women are attracted to men with money could be linked to the instincts of survival and replication passed down from our ancestors. The concept of instinct may be useful for my chapter on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as it intrusive thoughts may be rising from unconscious motives involving protection. Particularly when considering the content of OCD individuals deals with violence, religious, and health concerns. Additionally, perhaps that technology has risen at such a fast rate, and the external demands have changed so rapidly that the machinery of our mind just hasn't evolved at the same rapid rate.

 *  Drive
 * Drive theory proposes behavior occurs due to the function of biology, where by an individual acts in the goal to service the bodily needs. For example in the case of OCD, the compulsions may be driven from internal anxiety, an uncomfortable feeling sending an indication to the individual that something is wrong, and certain action needs to be taken in order to regain a sense of comfort. This may manifest in the form of compulsion. Even though this doesn't make logical sense, towards serving a bodily need to reduce anxiety, the compulsion does in fact assist. Another way at looking at this, could come from a perspective that the body may be low in serotonin, and the feelings of anxiety are indicating the individual that a biological need is in jeopardy and help may be required. In this instance the emotion is guiding the individual in a beneficial way.

Week 2 Assessment Items
The assessment items for this subject are very different to any other subject experienced to date. We are required to write a book chapter for a specific topic concerning motivation or emotion. My book chapter is on Motivation and Anxiety Disorders. This should be interesting, however I am currently unaware of how, exactly the two components will fit together. Upon investigating other Motivation and Emotion Textbooks I am yet to find one that deals with a whole chapter entirely on Motivation and Anxiety Disorders. Rather, anxiety tends to spread entirely throughout the books with one line sentences. This will be an uprising challenge, for both the topic and learning how to write in textbook format. The other assessment items involve creating a multimedia presentation for the textbook chapter and creating an online E-Portfolio. Both of these items incorporate elements of creativity which should be fun.

Thoughts
My initial thoughts involving the textbook chapter and task engagement stem from identifying the motives that guide anxious behaviours. I will use Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as my main disorder for focus. However, this topic seem complex in the case that OCD doesn't involve one behaviour, it involves many. It's not as specific as eating or sleeping, rather it deals with varying compulsions, various intrusions which surround different themes. The other challenge that I face is that it's not tied down to one or two specific theories. Rather, deals with evolutionary, social learning, and biological components. Linking Motivation and Anxiety Disorders into one chapter will require thorough investigation.

Likes
Tasks involve creativity Certainly will involve large components of learning which aren't limited to the field of psychology. For example will need to : This subject definitely adds challenges outside of those previously faced in other subjects
 * learn how to write in textbook format
 * learn how to write wiki code
 * learn how use technology equipment in the case of video recording

Dislikes

 * No exams. I tend to enjoy exams as I often find myself spending too much time on written forms of assessment and easily get caught up in the little details. Exams also have a yes/no answer usually and once the 2-3hrs is over, its gone for good.

The Motivated and Emotional Brain
The emotional and biological brain is swimming in a world of hormones and neurotransmitters which continues to influencing our behavior. Much of this is going on at an unconscious level. Personally, I start asking myself to what extent can I alter the activity of these neurotransmitters. Can this be achieved through drugs, nutrition, exercise, meditation, interactions with friends, passionate and meaningful relationships or through simply observing nature? What are the ingredients that will give me the biggest and most rewarding experiences this life has to offer?

Neurotransmitters & Hormones In the Body
Dopamine

 * This is the feel good chemical. How can dopamine be increased? (Possibly through amphetamines as Andre Agassi may suggest, according to his biography involving his tennis career). More sensibly, exercise, nutrition, and actively engaging in the activities an individual finds pleasurable. Anticipation of a good event can also bring on dopamine, for instance an up coming tennis tournament, release date of unit results, and seeing someone special. According to research, dexamphetamine is a stimulant medication believed to increase dopamine levels in the brain, to stimulate executive functioning when performance is lacking. This is linked to the pre-frontal cortex. Specifically the brain component involved in decision making. Interestingly, executive functioning is of concern when considering OCD, as often one disorder may actually be the prime motivator for another. Research has shown that individuals with OCD sometimes have an underlying condition such as ADHD. On occasions when the ADHD is treated, OCD actually clears up on its own accord. This is an area of knowledge that, often general medical practitioners may be unaware of.

Serotonin

 * This is a key neurotransmitter in feeling good. This may temporarily be increased by chocolate and carbohydrates. However exercise is also suggested to increase levels of thid neurotransmitter. OCD individuals are suggested to be low in this neurotransmitter. The research indicates that SSRI's are a main form of treatment for anxiety disorders. This is one specific section I shall investigate when writing my textbook chapter. Low levels of serotonin may act as motives for OCD.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Brain Structures

The Amygdala

 * When an individual is exposed to fear provoking stimuli, increased activity occurs within the amygdala. The amygdala functions in the storage of highly emotionally charged events, specifically those concerning fear. When an individual is experiencing levels of high anxiety, the amygdala is highly aroused. This may provide insight into the explanation of symptoms of hyper vigilance, fear and constant worry.

Constant Worry & Brain Circuitry

 * The orbital cortex functions as the error detection circuit. This component of the brain is responsible for stimulating pathways concerning worry. These pathways run between the caudate nucleus, the cingulate gyrus, and the thalamus. Research suggests that the caudate nucleus is responsible for changing from one thought to another. The persistence of intrusive thoughts are suggested to be the result of a malfunctioning caudate nucleus.

The Striatum
 * The striatum is the key component allowing the intrusive thoughts into awareness. The striatum acts as an automatic transmission and filtering system. When the striatum isn’t functioning correctly, the sensory information coming from the external world isn’t being filtered effectively. This allows the old evolutionary circuits to pass through possibly resulting in the intrusive thoughts.

Physiological Needs
Physiological needs include water, food and sex. These are the basic needs that are necessary to live, and stem from biological factors. When food and water requirements aren't met, other bodily functions can deteriorate. This includes the brain, and the many processes that occur within. This actually reminds me of a personal and frightening experience a few years ago. I had being involved in long strenuous exercise sessions over several months in the summer. Running anywhere between 16-30km a day, combined with tennis lead me to the emergency room at the hospital with a conditioned identified as hyponatramia. My brain had lacked salts. Patients who are hospitalized have sodium levels of less than 130 mEq/L usually, while coma related cases are generally around 115 mEq/L or less. My levels were at 118 mEq/L. The experiences that occurred were severe thought confusion, muscle spasms, and lapses in reality. When someone would speak to me, I didn't know if they had just spoken to me, if I had imagined it, or if the conversation took place several hours before hand. I couldn't read, nor know how to open a door. This was terribly frightening. This just goes to show how important our basic needs such as food and water are, especially concerning brain activity.

Psychological Needs
Psychological needs can be identified as a preprogrammed innate source that generates the desire to interact with the environment in order to advance personal growth, psychological development, and well being. Psychological needs fall under Self Determination Theory. Once the physiological needs are met and equilibrium to some extent is established, psychological needs are the next stage for growth and well being. This follows Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs model. Psychological needs persist over the lifetime, even when they are met. Often the rewards that arise from meeting these needs lead to the desire for more.

Autonomy
Autonomy suggests that you have some control over your decisions and what goes on in your environment. Behavior is autonomous when it’s guided by an individuals interests and preferences. This approach considers the personal aspect rather than focusing on a particular outcome to some degree. Furthermore, it is nurturing and encouraging in origin.

The textbook chapter exercise for this unit definitely shows aspects of autonomy from my perspective. The students have the choice over which topics they can choose. This allows us to pursue our interests. Additionally what I like best is that it has been made quite clear, help is easily accessible either via the lecturer, or other class mates within tutorials or Wikiversity. The major point that mostly stands out from this is that students are not so much in competition with each other for a change. Rather we are encouraged to work together for the better of all. This increases our learning opportunities, the possibility for new relationships and higher levels of achievement. I really like this concept as I feel that while competition has its purpose, there are more meaningful aspects to life which need to be addressed and brought forward. The exercise chapter, tutorials and the online components of communication does a good job at that.

Competence
Competence suggests that an individual has the skill to be capable in the environment in which they are working. This is something that we can all relate to as a psychological need. For instance when we don't feel competent in a particular environment we may be motivated to carry out some form of avoidance behavior or motivated to step up to the challenge and increase the likelihood for future successes. Competence involves components of optimal challenge and flow (combination of skill and task level). These are best when evenly matched. In the case that the task is too hard, stress may result. Alternatively when the task is too easy it can become tedious. This comes from the work carried out by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Optimal Experience and Flow. I researched some of his work, and was fascinated by it. I came across one of his books in the Dymocks book store "The classic work on how to achieve happiness" and ended up purchasing it. I am still yet to finish reading it because of the current uni work load, though, so far it's incredible. In one of Mihaly's conferences a music composer description of flow is :

'“You are in an ecstatic state to such a point that you feel as though you almost don’t exist. I have experienced this time and time again. My hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching in a state of awe and wonderment. And the music just flows out of itself”' Mihaly Csikzentmihaly Critical and positive feedback is an essential component regarding the individual’s requirement to feel competent. Feedback may come from the task itself. For instance when you enjoy the tasks you’re doing, often you will experience the joy. This likely would increase your motivation to continue tasks in similar nature. This is likely coming from intrinsic motivation, rather than extrinsic motivation. Feedback isn't limited to emotions felt and may also come from others. For instance friends, workers and those around you.

Competence in the workplace can be enhanced through some sort of structure or training program. Resources should be readily available, and failure tolerance should be acceptable. For an individual to grow and develop, the environment needs to promote engagement, learning opportunities, and allow for individuals to make mistakes. Often true growth comes from mistakes and without mistakes one could easily argue that, progression throughout life wouldn't be possible. For instance, a baby falls over many times before learning to walk. This section is relevant to my textbook chapter for motivations behind anxiety disorders as the research suggests that OCD sufferers may have cognitive beliefs involving perfectionism. This suggests individuals with OCD may place greater blame on themselves when they make mistakes, possibly acting as a motive towards the disorder.

Relatedness
Relatedness identifies the need to relate with others and bond. Interacting with others opens up opportunities for close relationships, whereby the likelihood of experiencing positive emotions increases. Relatedness comes under three categories.

 * Exchanging - Counting what you put in and what you get back. For example work.
 * Communal relationship – Carrying out an act of kindness where keeping count is not an issue. For example a marriage relationship.
 * Internalization – Relationships where an individual carries out an act of kindness for another, because there is an internal wanting to do so.

After reading the notes on relatedness, I can see how this is a particular area that is relevant to many of our daily interactions. For instance, what is it that motivates me to coach tennis? Obviously, I am getting paid for it, so it can be considered exchanging, however I also have an internal wanting to do so as it gives me satisfaction watching people improve. In this aspect it could be considered partly internalization.

 * Above all relatedness could be thought of as something that either directs us towards certain people and away from others.

Social Needs
Social needs are those that stem from an individuals learned experiences. They are not built into us, though enter our awareness through daily events, interactions, and culture. They include achievement, affiliation, intimacy and power. All of these form aspects of personality. These needs influence our choice of hobbies, whether or not we choose to enter commitments such as marriage, follow career paths towards positions of power and exerting control over others or develop behaviors directed towards seeking other peoples approval.

These social needs may be relevant for the textbook chapter on motivation and anxiety disorders. For instance lets take the case of approval seeking behavior. When an individual seeks anothers approval, likely there's the feeling that he/she lacks approval. This in turn can create anxiety, guiding the individual towards behaviors that are needy and reassurance seeking. Others may find these behaviors off putting and push the anxious individual away. In such case, this could give rise to cognitive beliefs of failure, increasing the chances of future avoidance behaviors encouraging the existence of an anxiety related condition.

Maslow's Hierachy of Needs

Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is closely linked with self determination theory. When autonomy, relatedness and competence are met, an individual is most likely to be in a position where he/she is able recognize intrinsic motivation and utilize this. One of the major goals of motivational psychologists is to increase intrinsic motivation. This is because we are far more productive and happy when intrinsic motivation is followed. The behaviors that arise from intrinsic motivation tend to foster autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This also has performance benefits such as enhancing concentration, and decision making. People are more likely to continue the activity when they’re intrinsically motivated rather than be distracted by the extrinsic reward. I think this concept is vital in today society especially when concerning careers, long time hours in the office, and overall internal goals involving life satisfaction. Money is important in today’s world there's no doubting that, though it’s also important to step back occasionally and ask "Would I be prepared to stay in this job for the rest of my life, even if offered a million dollars?" If the answer is no, than perhaps it's time to investigate other avenues. Personally I myself find that my best work occurs when I am interested in the tasks, whereby I lose track of time, and get really involved. The impacts are accumulating, not only in the work, they stem to my conservations with friends, relationships, performance on the tennis court, eating habits and psychological health. When I follow my passions the positive emotions increase. When I don't they slide backwards. Intrinsic motivation involves pursuing your own interests which come from within. Doing it because you want to do it, doing it because it’s rewarding for self, and not doing it for some external reward, (concrete – money) or (social recognition, praise, recognition, or avoid embarrassment). The reward is something you feel within yourself. It's important to point out that intrinsic motivation has nothing to do with being selfish or pushing others out of the way to get what you desire. Intrinsic motivation is beyond selfishness, and stems from healthy and kind motivators. My personal opinion is that intrinsic motivation stems from the heart of our very soul.

Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation is guided by the environmental response returned. It ranges from least autonomous to most autonomous. Examples of external incentives include grades, and money. However they're maybe better ways to strike individual motivation as the rewards don't always contribute to psychological growth, though rather attempt to control. I have noticed this in coaching young children tennis. There's no point in giving them prizes week after week. What can actually happen is the process backfires, with the children leading to expectations that its a right to get a prize rather than just enjoying the game and competition. As I have since found there are better ways to motivate the children to try, by saying "I know you can hit this ball over the net, I have seen you do it before!" in an enthusiastic tone. It's amazing what you can learn from experiences like these. Discover a way to prompt intrinsic motivation within an individual and then roll with it is better than attempting to control.

Incentives

 * Environmental events that attract or repel someone toward or away from initiating a particular course of action
 * Where there's no intrinsic motivation to do something, incentives, consequences, rewards and punishments can work. For example road behavior, recycling. However this is not necessary the best way to increase motivational behaviors.

Consequences, Rewards and Punishment
Punishments are ineffective due to the wide range of side effects. The side effects usually aren’t worth the short term benefits. Furthermore they can impair relationships, particularly those involving family members. Parental punishment can have severe psychological and sexual effects on a child. Particularly if the punishment is spanking. For instance if the child is sexually aroused when spanked, this may have later development issues and conflicts between love, pain and sex. Punishments are based on negative modeling, which can become a viscous cycle replicated whereby victims may become bully's. However I am a little hesitant about the degree of truth in the "victims become bullies" attitude. Occasionally, I think that's just a cop-out for some weak individual to assault someone. Some individuals can get smashed violently even worse than the majority and go on to never hurt anyone or become violent. Positive rewards can be effective for trivial activities when there's no intrinsic motivation. However questions arise as to what happens when people provide rewards for activities in which an individual is already intrinsically motivated to do. There are hidden costs to giving people rewards, for what they're already doing. These hidden costs can actually take from the intrinsic motivation, where people become more distracted and focused on the external reward. While the intended effect of the external reward was to increase the intrinsic motivation, it actually does the opposite which affects the individuals approach to the task.

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

 * Used to understand how an extrinsic event may effect intrinsic motivation. External reward or punishment will either control the persons behavior or inform the individual on how they are going and how they can improve there competence.
 * Locus casualty is the individuals belief in what causes their behavior. The person will form ideas about whether it is themselves (internal) or (situation) something external. While it is possible to provide an extrinsic reward that increases that local causality, the outcome is better when the reward is non-tangible (social confidence boost). Whereby the reward aims at an individuals sense of competence which leads back to self determination theory (autonomy, competence, relatedness).

Motivating Others
Motivating others can be done through attempting to regulate emotions through contingencies, reinforcements and punishments. However sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between intrinsic behavior and extrinsic behavior with individuals. For example two people may be doing the same thing, though only they would themselves know internally why they are engaged in the particular activity. Often in most cases it's a mix, which further enhances the consideration for hidden costs. Motivating behavior can be achieved through principles of operant conditioning, rewards, reinforcements and punishments. However the most effective approach is through: prove reason rationale and looking for some aspect where there's slight interest, and then use that as a starting point to increase intrinsic motivation.

Goal Setting and Goal Striving
Goal setting links in with components of Mihalys work on flow and optimal experience. His research suggested that when and individuals goals are above their level of capability they may become anxious. On the other hand, if the goal is below their level of capability they we can become bored. To be able to set goals that are realistic, while promoting a sense of challenge can be an interesting task in itself. What is really fascinating about this concept of goal setting and striving forward is that, when the optimal level is reached, a peak state can occur whereby the goal in a way becomes effortless. That's not to say, that the task doesn't involve high levels of skill, though more so to emphasise that the task is so enjoyable the process of engagement goes beyond the final result of having achieved the goal. I find this incredibly interesting because to me this indicates that real creation comes from some source or possible higher self that goes far beyond the outersurface of the superficial mind, and extrinsic motivation from the external world.

Personal Control
Individuals have motivation to exercise personal control. This includes control over the environment and the events within ones life. Engaging in personal control allows people to maximize positive outcomes, leading to a more fluent and productive life. In order to do so, the person must have a certain level of belief in themselves. Having a powerful perception of being able to control outcomes internal and external, can act as a predictive indicator that he/she is more likely to adopt behavior approach motivational styles. This involves taking action. There are two main components.
 * Expectancy how likely it is that a certain event will occur. "Can I do it?"
 * Will it provide me with the outcome that I expected? "Are there any consequences?"

To expand on this, lets say that there's a state wide tennis tournament coming up, and the prize money is $1000. I could ask myself, am I capable of winning this? Assume the answer is yes. However, will the outcome provide me with that which I expect, say the money. Well, "Yes" it will provide me with the money, though the downside is that it will also place added pressures onto me. For instance I will be expected to win the tournament after that, and the one after that. Whether these are self imposed by myself, others or from past experience, the beliefs are still there.

Self Efficacy
Self efficacy involves cognitive beliefs in how well we can cope over time. They revolve around our belief, that we will be able to perform the skill regardless of the difficulty of the situation. This process involves translating ability into performance. Bandura came with the theory of Self Efficacy, where the best prediction of success comes from the individuals own belief in the task. For example, a tennis player may be able to perform incredibly well in a practice session, though when they're put out on the court in knockout tournament conditions can they step up and win. A good indication may simply involve asking the individual, under these circumstances do you think you can win. This concept helps explain why some people approach certain situations and why others don't. When the individual has self efficacy greater than self doubt, then the outcome will likely result in approach motivation. Whereas, if the individual has greater self doubt than self efficacy then likely he/she will engage in avoidance behavior

Sources of Self Efficacy

 * Past behavior (past learning experiences may form cognitive beliefs related to ability)
 * Learning through observation (seeing someone else succeed may influence your willingness to approach the task)
 * Verbal persuasion (encouragement from others who have faith in you may increase the likelihood of approach)
 * physiological activity (optimal arousal may lead to approach which links back in with Mihaly's work on flow and optimal experience)

Having a positive self efficacy can predict the amount of effort and length one may put into the task. Individuals with high self efficacy tend to find solutions through difficult circumstances, and experience positive emotions. However its important to note that having high self efficacy doesn't necessarily the individual actually has the skills to achieve. For instance, James noted in the lecture that an individual can't just think they're way to success. Empowerment is also needed.

Mastery Beliefs
Mastery beliefs are closely linked to autonomy and coping strategies. When things get difficult people with good coping strategies can find various ways through difficult times as opposed to giving in and throwing in the towel. This includes moving towards rather than away from the problem. For instance facing the situation at hand. Often I think that many of the problems we face are really just stories, that have been rehearsed over and over again within ones mind, to such extent that a limited view on the world arises and that's all we can see. When a person lets go of the emotion attached to the story or the concept of the story or even some feelings of being proud of the story itself, the problem can often fade away and be seen from new and different angles. My personal experience has shown me this. When solving problems, some people may act on their own, while others seek help from other individuals. Coping action can be done either through indirect or direct means.

Learned Helplessness
Learned helplessness can be considered the opposite to mastery. Individuals tend to have a distorted unhealthy view of the self. In such cases when an individual faces failure, the result is likely to be magnified within him/herself where by their mastery beliefs seem to be forgotten. Reasons for failure are seen as intrinsic to the individual rather than environment. This could be thought of as "only seeing the world in certain shades" where there is no perception of control available. For this to happen there has to be learning from past experiences to have occurred along with memory encoding, as well as behavioral components that reinforce and sustain this way of being. Consequences can arise from this such as learning problems, lack of motivation, apathy, and depression.

The self
The self involves many components such as self concept, identity, agency, and self regulation. This topic is so large, that it wouldn't be realistic to try and summarise this in several paragraphs. My interpretation from the material suggests that individuals are constantly taking all the pieces of information from events, experiences, social interactions, and regulating emotions in cognitive processes in the overall goal of adapting to the environment while becoming the best possible person that he/she can be.

Emotions

Emotions can be identified as short lived, feelings of arousal or under arousal. They tend to act as feedback mechanisms to enable us to adapt and cope with the various situations we face. It’s also important to note that emotions themselves can act as motivation forces. Emotions accompany four components: feelings, body arousal, social expression and sense of purpose. Feelings are dependent on the individual, interpreted by cognitive processes. For instance a pounding heart upon sight of an attractive girl to some may indicate anxiety, while for another it may indicate excitement and joy. From this it can easily be seen interpretation of the emotion plays a role. Bodily arousal is the individual's biological response to prepare for coping actions based on the emotion. Social expression deals with our ability to communicate emotion through gestures, voice tone and behavior. However, this can often be over played and underplayed to some extent and acted. For instance, one may smile when in fact they are sad or one may stay quiet and appear aloof when in fact they know exactly what is going on. Mental illnesses such as depression in some cases may be overplayed. In saying this, I acknowledge that there are many serious true cases where the illness is in fact so bad that one can’t even stand up to get out of the corner of their room and would do anything to cry but has forgotten how to. However on the other hand one has to be cautious when an individual is depressed and constantly talking about their condition to all of their friends as the main topic of conversation. Discussing the latest pills they have tried, and when the next psych appointment is, as if that’s become part of their identity or life story. Sense of purpose involves using the emotion as a guide to take action. For example when I am happy I will go and play tennis, or visit friends.

Main Emotions
There are different theories that suggest numerous types of emotion. Though, the main basic emotions can be identified as:
 * Sad
 * Fearful
 * Happy
 * Angry
 * Uncertain
 * Love
 * Suprise.

Causes of Emotion
Emotions are suggested to be caused by either biological components or cognitive components. The biological perspective involves brain circuitry, genetic makeup, and unconscious processes. The cognitive perspective involves how we interpret the emotion. For instance we can acknowledge an emotion as good or bad, and then magnify this through reacting a certain way. I guess what would be ideal is to let go of the negative emotions when they really aren’t serving us in a beneficial way, such as excessive fear of a future imagined event that is unlikely to happen. On the other hand it would be ideal to increase the positive emotions. Perhaps this also can be accompanied by letting go of the happy emotions experienced. From this perspective I’m suggesting that when you’re trying to hold onto a good emotion, there’s actually some kind of opposing force suggesting that you’re going to lose it because otherwise there would be no need to try and hold onto it.

The Trait Perspective
Personality traits are suggested to be stable over time. These traits play a role in our everday interactions, the places we choose to visit, the friends we associate with and the way we cope with difficult situations. The five main traits expressed throughout the research generally include the following:

 * Openness
 * Conscientiousness
 * Agreeableness
 * Extroversion
 * Neuroticism

The research associates happiness with extroversion. This makes obvious sense when considering that the psychological needs autonomy, connectedness and relatedness closely link with being able to exercise control of your environment, form close relationships, connect with one another and freely explore the world. From the personality test conducted in "Personality and Individual Differences", my highest trait was shown to be openness. This suggests that I am open to new experiences, new possibilities and various ways of looking at the world. However, I also tended to be high on agreeableness, which has a downfall of suggesting that perhaps they're maybe some form of approving seeking behavior involved. However, I am hesitant towards this idea of "approving seeking behavior" because at the end of the day when there's confrontation, I have to ask myself, on the wide scale of everything, is this really that important? These personality traits can influence approach motivation behavior or avoidance motivation behaviors. This stems on from previous sections already dealt with. My own criticism, however towards personality traits, is that I disagree with the idea that they are stable over time. I like to think that nothing is concrete; everything changes, including our perception of others and what's important. There's no amount of research that could convince me otherwise. Then again, perhaps that’s just my "openness" kicking in.

Sigmund Freud
Freud observed that people often engaged in behaviour that wasn’t necessarily beneficial or warranted. This led him to believe that unconscious forces must be occurring underneath the surface of the mind whereby, internal forces were directing and guiding behavior. He theorized the mind contained two opposing forces, the instinctual drive to satisfy the self (Id), and the competing force of societal expectations (Superego). These were suggested to be balanced by the (ego). The ego’s main role involved utilizing defense mechanisms, in which inappropriate thoughts (e.g. similar to those observed in OCD patients) were pushed down into consciousness. However, as time went on it was suggested repression could only go so far. It could be likened to bottling up a pile of emotions into a coke bottle and shaking it, where by sooner or later the bottle will burst. I find Freud’s work to be interesting, and certainly has its merits, whether it can be proven scientifically or not a large part of me believes components to be true. I disagree with his views on sexual development, however regardless of whether repression and ego mechanisms kicked in during those sexual stages and a person developed into a oral fixated type, or anal type doesn’t tend to really matter that much, but more so the fact that, earlier events in life played a role. This is undeniable as shown in Bolwby’s work on attachment theory. However thought suppression, certainly is relevant in OCD, as OCD patients try to push intrusive thoughts out of consciousness only to have them appear and reappear stronger than ever.

Positive Psychology

Holism is a top-down approach to understanding an individual. This comes from humanistic psychology which aims to learn about human potential, and seek out its development. Humanistic psychology however has its limits due to the lacking of scientific reasoning which has lead towards the field of positive psychology. Positive psychology attempts to place science into a field that is somewhat both philosophical and psychological in nature. The aim of positive psychology is to build upon an individual’s personal strengths, abilities, allowing for a more fulfilling life. This has certain advantages when concerning mental illnesses, prevention and treatments. I got the indication from the lecture, that its possible when our nurturing requirements have being fulfilled and met, some illnesses may actually fade away. I interpret this to be an indication that illnesses may be similar to emotions in the aspect for providing feedback that something is wrong so adjustments can be made. For instance an anxiety disorder may actually be the body’s way of letting the individual know that they’re diet is overly rich in caffeine foods such as coffee, redbull and coke. Positive psychology takes on the perspective that emotions such as anxiety don’t necessarily need to be feared, but rather embraced. When difficult situations arise, we always have a choice. We can either resist, and push the discomfort felt from the situation away or we can see it as an opportunity for personal growth and change. At the end of the day, trying to push bad emotions away only fuels them more, so why bother. Welcome the negative emotion or the crisis as best as you can, even if that’s only a little. When I say this I am not implying some form of positive thinking, brainwashing or affirmations which from experience, is just like adding more junk on top of junk. I am just saying acknowledge the situation for what it is. This all comes down to acceptance. This is my personal view when dealing with difficult situations, and I believe that it links in perfectly with positive psychology.

Carl Rogers
I really agree with some of Carl Rogers work involving self actualization and the idea that that every human being is motivated towards self actualization. The other aspects that are fascinating are the ideas that we actually have the built in ability to heal ourselves. This concept has always being of interest to me. I mean when we fall over or hurt ourselves, intellectually we don’t know how to heal the skin and regenerate new cells, yet the body takes care of it. Even though the body doesn’t take care of say a mental illness, I certainly believe that the resources exist within ourselves do so. Carl Rogers suggests that people are all by nature, resourceful, trustful and capable of making decisions and living fulfilling lives. He also places a large emphasis on empathy when concerning treatment. Actually after investigating just a small component of his work I am starting to wish I carried out my textbook chapter on this. The views tend to be very uplifting. Carl Rogers

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Within the field of positive psychology, self-actualization may be similarly linked with Eastern views of “Enlightenment”. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs act as a guide to achieving self-actualization. Self actualization actually is hidden below the other needs, and remains relatively quiet and relatively unnoticed in today’s society. However I believe that, self-actualization is the most vital need of all. My experience tells me that one hasn’t truly lived, unless they’ve experienced some form of self-actualization. This may seem farfetched coming from an undergrad student in 3rd year, though while I may have experienced aspects of this state, I have not being able to sustain it. This state has occurred through long activities of running around the Canberra lakes, observing the water, ducks, trees, sky and clouds. While this is debatable on whether the state arose from endorphins, neurotransmitters, exercise and being outside is questionable. Regardless, it was the best experience of my life involving complete freedom, security and joy.

Week 14 Conclusion
This has been an incredible learning experience for me. This subject has certainly, to this date being the most interesting and challenging of all. I say this in complete honesty. Regardless of the grade obtained, the learning’s from this go beyond psychology and will be beneficial in the future. The technical skills gained in wiki code, format, layout and the extensive components involving long written assessments have definitely helped improve my language and writing skills. The assessment components were far beyond the normal, and have exposed me to new areas. While I can look back and see certain components in my textbook chapter that I could definitely improve on, like a quiz, glossary, and a firm statement of coverage, and lapses within my media presentation, the overall subject and lecture materials provided can only be given praise. This has definitely an enjoyable experience.

Hamish Mcleod

title: User:Hamish24


text:
Motivation and emotion/Book/2010/Sex and emotion

Overview
"Sex without love is an empty experience, but as empty experiences go it's one of the best."- Woody Allen

Sex is important within society, it is innate and we are biologically programmed to want and need it. We need sex to procreate and to feel close to another human. People do not engage in sex just to start a family, sex can cause very strong emotions and the act of sex can be engaged in due to these very strong emotions. Sexual intercourse is the most intimate behaviour two people can do together. It is important to understand the emotions involved in sex and this chapter will look at the emotions involved in first time sexual intercourse and acts of sex thereafter, how emotions differ between the genders while engaging in sex. It will also look at emotions involved when engaging in risky sexual behaviour, masturbation and sexual dysfunction.

Sex as an emotion
“Sex is an emotion in motion.”- Mae West Emotion research is rooted in the study of subjective experience and most people would describe sexual experiences as pleasurable, exciting, enjoyable and stimulating. People often consider sex to be a biological need like hunger, sleep and thirst, however sexual desire is emerging as one of the most typical emotions. An interesting paper by Everaerd, 1988 poses the question “Is sex an emotion?” and if yes, “Is it worthwhile to study sexual experience (arousal, excitement) within the framework of emotion theory?”

However, before we answer the question we must first look at the definition of emotion. Emotion has been studied within many different theoretical approaches, which is said to cause confusion about the definition and different names such as mood, affect and feelings are also said to cause more confusion. Ekman, 1984 defined three core characteristics of emotion- However, looking at this the definition and characteristics of emotion is still vague and somewhat confusing. Everaerd, 1988 believed that sex based upon Ekmans’s assumptions qualifies as an emotion as it evolved to deal with fundamental life tasks (reproducing), adaptive to when and what occurs and there is coherence for interconnected patterns in expression.
 * Evolved to deal with basic life tasks
 * Each emotion is specific, i.e. what occurs (in expression) and when it occurs (events that call for the emotion) are different across the emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, etc).
 * For each emotion there are interconnect patterns in expression linked to the situational events.

Emotions and sex
People do not engage in sex purely to procreate, people engage in sexual behaviour for many reasons including love, pleasure, stress reduction, anger, recognition and to gain power (Browning, Hatfield, Kessler, & Levine, 2000). Sexual encounters are emotional events and it is important to understand sexual motives and emotions to predict sexual behaviour which can be useful in reducing conflict and re-igniting romantic relationships. Nelson (1978) developed a measurement for sexual motives. He stated five reasons for engaging in sex-
 * 1) Love and affection
 * 2) Pleasure
 * 3) Conformity
 * 4) Recognition –competition
 * 5) Power

Nelson found that conformity, love and pleasure were the highest rated reasons for people engaging in sexual behaviour (as cited in Browning et al, 2000). However, in a more recent study has found that one of the main reasons that people have sex is because it feels good, and that people who report greater enjoyment also report having sex more frequently (Pinkerton, Cecil, Bogart & Abramson, 2003). However, all people are different and emotions and motivation can vary, in particular it has been noted that males and females experience different emotions during sex. Emotions also vary across the ages, for example adolescents will state different reasons for engaging in sex than older people in a steady and secure relationship, in particular when it is their first time.

The First Encounter
There is growing awareness and research that many decisions are driven, at least in part, by emotions rather than deliberate and rational choice (Slovic, 2003). During adolescence a number of significant changes in emotions occur in particular negative states such as irritability increase and it has been reported that older girls often report that on a daily basis they aren’t as happy, friendly or cheery when compared to younger adolescents (O’Sullivan & Hearn, 2008). Adolescence is also a time where rapid changes are occurring internally in particular changes relevant to sexuality, this include new social interactions with peers, greater feelings of empathy, less ego-centric thinking and strong emotions such as anger and anxiety (O’Sullivan & Hearn, 2008).

One of the most important decision that an adolescent makes is when to first engage in sex, however, it is not clear what role emotions play in particular which emotions characterise the transition into being sexual active. A study by O’Sullivan & Hearn (2008) attempted to understand what role emotions played in early sexual experiences for adolescent girls. Major findings were that girls who did not expect to engage in sexual intercourse in the near future did not see themselves as ready and would often attribute negative emotions, such as sadness, nervous, disgust and feeling negative about themselves, with such events. The only positive emotion that was found was the feeling of attractiveness; however when later asked about their first sexual experience the girls associated the experience with feelings of happiness, confidence, and feeling positive about themselves. The study explained these results through evolution, where most girls have learnt to except their first sexual experience to be a negative event as they are often warned by mothers that it is a painful experience, that it is associated with negative social and emotional consequences, in particular shame and guilt. Interestingly, it was found that girls are in fact not encouraged to view their sexuality in a positive light (O’Sullivan, Graber & Brooks-Gunn, 2001; Graber, Brooks-Gunn & Galen, 1998). Based on these studies it is easy to see why girls often view their first sexual experience with negative emotions, but after the fact usually with positive emotions as they have learnt for themselves that sex isn’t always associated with such negative events.

Unfortunately, there is limited research on male's emotional motives for engaging in first time sexual behaviour, however, one study found that the most common reason was curiosity, followed by ‘just want to’ and only 14% of male participants gave love as the reason for engaging in sexual behaviour (Shope, 1975 as cited in Carroll, Volk & Hyde, 1985). It would be fair to assume that males would not experience the same negative affect before sexual experience as females because they are not exposed to the attitudes about sex being detrimental to emotional and social environments. In an interesting study by Simon, Berger & Gagnon (1972) it was found that in first time sexual experiences, 46% of males were not emotionally attached or involved with their partner, however, 59% of women were and planning to marry their first partner, while an additional 22% were in love but did not have marriage on the cards. This meaning that 81% of women in comparison to 54% of men were emotionally attached to their first sexual partner.

It is clear to see from these results that males and females have different emotional reactions and expectations to first time sexual experiences.

The Affective Shift Hypothesis
Based on an idea proposed by Symons (1979) that there are gender differences in intercourse related affective changes, Haselton & Buss (2001) proposed the Affective Shift Hypothesis as an evolved solution to avoid commitment. According to the hypothesis men and women have evolved different affective change because they have faced different commitment and problems in the pursuit of sexual strategies. Heslton & Buss (2001) hypothesised the following three things:
 * 1) Sex Differences in Perceptions of Partners Attractiveness- According to the hypothesis for men, a negative shift in the perceived attractiveness of his partner will help prevent long-term relationships in what was meant to be a short term sexual relationship. More men will report experiencing this negative shift than women as of the benefits of having multiple sexual partners.
 * 2) Sex Difference in Perceptions of One’s Own Commitment- As the benefits of securing a long-term relationship after sex are greater for women, they are more likely to experience a positive shift in their perception of commitment and love. After sex, love and commitment for a partner will increase in order to secure a long term relationship to provide security, access to resources and paternal care for any offspring.
 * 3) Differences in Perceptions of Partner Attractiveness within-sex- Men who have had more sexual partners should be more likely to experience a negative affective shift towards their sexual partner when compared to men who have a relatively low number of sexual partners. However, this doesn’t not work the same for women- where all women, not matter the number of sexual partners, will equally experience the negative affective shift.

After testing these hypothesis among undergraduate college students, Haselton & Buss found that men and women do experience different affective changes after first-time sexual intercourse. A few of the results they found are summarised below:
 * Men are more likely to lose sexual interest after a few months
 * Men are more likely to report that the first time they had sex was the best time (this could alternatively be explained by the fact that it was the first orgasm that man had ever experienced and men, in particular young men, are pretty much guaranteed an orgasm during sex).
 * Women reported greater feelings of love and commitment following their first sexual encounter.
 * Men reported perceiving their partners as less attractive following sex for the first time.
 * A follow-up study found that men who had greater number of sexual partners were more likely to report negative affective shift in partner’s attractiveness.

Haselton & Buss believe that these results suggest that short-term mating functions differ between the sexes, where short-term mating for men may help with increasing partner numbers to increase reproductive output while long-term mating helps women secure resources and care for offspring.

Sexual Infidelity v. Emotional Infidelity
In all cultures infidelity occurs and it is seen as one of the main reasons for divorce (Shackelford, LeBlanc & Drass, 2000). Infidelity can have destructive consequences, both emotionally and physically. Infidelity is often described as either emotional infidelity which refers to when a person directs love, time and attention to someone other than their partner, or sexual infidelity which is when a person engages in sexual activity with a person other than their partner. Shackelford, LeBlanc & Drass (2000) suggest that men are more saddened in reaction to partner’s sexual infidelity while women get more upset in response to a partner’s emotional infidelity. Schutwohl (2004) explains why the male jealously mechanism (JM) is heightened by partner’s sexual infidelity, while female JM is heightened by partner’s emotional infidelity. It is explained that males are concerned with loss of opportunity to reproduce and are afraid of investing resources into offspring that may not be genetically related. While women are concerned with loss of resources, and a man’s mere sexual infidelity does not always mean the loss of his resources rather this resource threat occurs when he engages in emotional infidelity.

Sexual Dysfunction
Sexual Dysfunction, as defined by the DSM-IV-TR, is a disturbance in the process involved in the sexual cycle or by pain associated with sexual intercourse. The sexual cycle is divided into the following phrases, and sexual dysfunction can occur at one or more of these phases. Sexual Dysfunction can be an embarrassing and detrimental problem for both individuals and couples, being able to understand what emotions contribute to and are felt by those with sexual dysfunction may be able to help treat it.
 * 1) Desire- fantasises about sexual activity and desire to participate in sexual activity.
 * 2) Excitement- subjective sense of sexual pleasure and physiological changes that also occur. Changes in males include penile erection and changes in females include vaginal lubrication and expansion.
 * 3) Orgasm- the peaking of sexual pleasure characterised by release of sexual tension. In males there is the ejaculation of semen and in females there contractions of the wall of the outer vagina.
 * 4) Resolution- sense of general well-being and muscle relaxation. For males there is a time period where they can’t orgasm or have an erection immediately after the orgasm phase, however, females may be able to respond to stimulation almost immediately.

A study by Nobre & Pinto-Gouveia (2003) looked at reported emotions in sexually dysfunctional men and women and predicted that they would report significantly more negative emotions (in particular those associated with depressed mood) and less pleasure than those who do not suffer a sexual dysfunction. Results supported this hypothesis, men with sexual dysfunction reported higher feelings of sadness, disillusion and fear while women reported feelings of sadness, disillusion, guilt and anger. Both genders reported feelings of less pleasure and satisfaction with sexual experiences when compared to reports from individuals not with sexual dysfunction.

It is clear that emotions related to depression (lack of pleasure, lack of satisfaction, sadness, etc) have a negative effect on sexual functioning in both men and women. It has been said that men and women with sexual problems show cognitive patterns similar to those seen in individuals with depressive disorders (Beck, 1996). It is important to note that this study did not explain the difference in feelings between men and women, while men felt fear women reported anger and guilt, it could be said that men fear losing respect among male counterparts if his sexual dysfunction were to be discovered. Likewise, it could be said women feel guilt as they are not pleasing their partner, however, these assumptions are based on a personal view and further research would be needed to understand the relationship and differences in emotions.

Test Yourself
The Affective Shift Hypothesis refers to: - A shift in emotions during sex - Male’s sexuality + Gender differences in affective changes after sex. - Female’s sexuality
 * type=""}

{The emotions expressed in those with Sexual Dysfunction are similiar to emotions involved in which other group of mental disorders? + Depressive Disorders - Personality Disorders - Substance-Related Disorders - Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
 * type=""}

{Men are more likely to get upset about _____ infidelity, while females are more likely to be upset about ______ infidelity : - sexual; sexual + sexual; emotional - emotional; sexual - emotional; emotional
 * type=""}

{True or False: Adolescent males reported the main reason for engaging in first time sex as love: + False - True.
 * type=""}


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