INTRODUCTION -
PSYCHOLOGY
LECTURE 3
Mgr. Tereza Škubalová, Ph.D.
EMOTIONS & MOTIVATION
 emotions and motivation are a dynamic component of
personality.
 Motivation is an action that directs us to achieve a goal.
 Emotions occur as a result of a situation that either
enables or threatens to achieve a goal.
BIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS
 Brain (limbic system) - amygdala -> processes the information quickly and
sends signals to the hypothalamus, which in turn activates the autonomic nervous
system.
 The cortex -> processes the information more slowly, allowing people to
appraise or evaluate the event and choose/modulate reaction. The cortex
under an influence of a strong emotion is more likely to process information
incorrectly.
 Autonomic nervous system:
 Sympathetic nervous system involves expending energy (fight or flight)
Parasympathetic nervous system works to keep energy in the body (rest/repair
and digest)
WHY EMOTIONS?
EMOTION PROCESS
 Important terms: affect, emotion, feeling, mood.
BASIC EMOTIONS
 Facial expressions
 Bodily expressions:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Bodily-
topography-of-basic-emotions-associated-with-the-
six-basic-emotions-and-neutral_fig1_295542402
MOTIVATION
• Motivation is an internal process (direction, intensity and
duration) that makes a person move toward a goal.
• Need = an internal state of deficiency or excess in the
body (hunger=>alimentary behavior =>food)
• Incentive - an external stimulus (material or immaterial)
- serves as a motive for behavior (approach avoidance).
 Hedonism
 Homestasis
• Motivation may be extrinsic, intrinsic, or both.
CLASSIFICATION OF MOTIVES
1. motives of appetite x motives of aversion
2. internal (needs, habits, interests, values) x
external (incentives)
3. conscious and unconscious (impulses)
4. primary - innate, dependent on tissue deficits
or physiological processes.
5. secondary – learned, sociogenic, psychological
(David McClelland: achievement, power,
affiliation-intimacy).
CLAYTON ALDEFER´S ERG MODEL
MOTIVATION – INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
PRINCIPLES
 Social aspect – person seeks belonging to group
(protection, self-esteem)
 Finality aspect – goals of the behaviour is
subjectively meaningful
 Activity – active participation, influencing one´s
situation (even passively)
 Unconscious aspect – the unconscious goal is to
preserve self-worth
DIFFICULT SITUATIONS
1. Problematic = the problem situation is open ->
looking for solutions; no solution -> frustration
2. Frustrating = reaching the goal is frustrated =
thwarted by an obstacle. The frustration causes
tension, which energizes reactions.
3. Stressful = stress is the result of the inability to
break free from a frustrating situation, the feeling
of pressure dominates
FRUSTRATION
 to achieve a goal, one usually has to make an effort and
overcome obstacles: external (objective) or internal
(subjective); passive or active.
 if it is not possible to satisfy the need due to an obstacle frustration
occurs (can result in deprivation).
 frustration tolerance = ability to tolerate a degree of
frustration.
 Goals are most likely to increase motivation to
achieve if they are specific, challenging but
achievable, and positive.
STRESS
 loading or overloading the body with various
stimuli and situations that the individual
perceives as an excessive load.
 an event or events that are interpreted as
threatening to an individual and which elicit
physiological and behavioral responses (stress
reaction)
 stressors (physical, social, mental)
STRESSFUL EVENTS
 unpredictability (unreadable, confusing, unclear,
unstructured)
 currently unsolvable
 lack of perceived control (unmanageable)
 endangering
 traumatic events
 internal conflicts
 a challenge for the limits of our possibilities
HANS SELYE: GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME
FIGHT-FLIGHT-FREEZE
TYPES OF STRESS
1. hyperstress - the requirements of the situation go
beyond adaptability
2. hypostress - the pressure of circumstances (nature of the
situation) has not reached the limit of unmanageability
3. distress - stressors have a clear negative effect (decrease
in performance, errors, failures)
4. eustress - stressors have a stimulating effect
(mobilization of forces), the activating effect of the
situation is more pronounced (e.g. waiting for paper
deadline as an eustress trigger)
RESPONSES TO STRESS
 Anxiety
 Anger
 Withdrawal, apathy
 Cognitive impairment
COPING STRATEGIES
 Coping = dynamic process, requires conscious
effort to control what is happening
1. problem-oriented strategy (instrumental)
2. strategies for seeking social support or emotionsoriented
coping
3. strategies of physical and psychological avoidance
To do:
 eliminate stressors
 change reaction to stressors
 build your resilience (healthy lifestyle, changes
are challenges, engagement, internal locus of
control, exposure to mild stressors with recovery)