Module 7: Humanist and Motivational Perspectives

Question 1

Motives are…

Answer 1

psychological entities that shape our behaviour to help us meet our goals

Question 2

What precedes and generates motives?

Answer 2

Fundamental needs

Question 3

How do we distinguish between needs and motives in two ways?

Answer 3

1. Needs precede motives
2. Needs are states that do not by themselves impact behaviour

Question 4

Murray conceptualized motives as ____________ meaning that…

Answer 4

implicit; motives affect behaviour outside of our conscious awareness

Question 5

Murray proposed ____ motives but 3 in particular have been highlighted:

Answer 5

27

NAch
NAff
NPow

Question 6

What is high NAch (need for achievement) associated with?

Answer 6

Drive to accomplish things independently

Pushing for excellence and wanting to continuously improve

Preference to engage in moderately challenging tasks

Longer persistence toward goals and more effort

Participating in competitive sports

Occupations that require autonomy (i.e., entrepreneurial types of employment)

Question 7

What is high NAff (need for affiliation) associated with?

Answer 7

Drive to establish and maintain relationships

Tendency to engage in prosocial interpersonal behaviours

Question 8

One meta-analysis found that women score higher on measures of NAff than men. The authors offered 2 potential explanations for this:

Answer 8

1. Based on social-psychological and feminist perspectives the difference may be due to gender socialization
2. Increasing levels of progesterone among women preceding increasing NAff levels

Question 9

What is high NPow (need for power) associated with?

Answer 9

Drive to have an impact on people

More likely to post pictures of themselves and boast about themselves

Tend to be good at negotiation

Higher cortisol levels in the face of losing

Question 10

Analysis of children’s stories and presidential addresses are two ways to measure…

Answer 10

implicit motives

Question 11

McLelland coded NAch levels in children’s stories from 1925 and found…

Answer 11

the coded NAch levels in children’s stories from 1925 predicted economic growth (i.e., electricity production) in the 25 years between 1925 and 1950

Question 12

In his work, David Winter has found that high NAch speeches are associated with presidencies featuring…

Answer 12

high activity but limited lasting change or achievements

Question 13

In his work, David Winter has found that high NPow speeches are associated with presidencies that…

Answer 13

history remembers as “great” and perhaps relatedly involve the initiation of wars

Question 14

This theory is a very broad framework for explaining and understanding human motivation and personality (i.e., a meta-theory) and includes 5 “mini theories”

Answer 14

Self-determination theory (SDT)

Question 15

Basic Psychological Needs Theory (BPNT)

Answer 15

One of the SDT’s mini theories that states that people have a set of evolved psychological needs that are essential for functioning and well-being

Question 16

Briefly describe the 3 psychological needs proposed by the BPNT

Answer 16

1. Competence
   - Regular mastery
   - Opportunity to apply skills and be challenged
2. Relatedness
   - Connections to individuals
   - Sense of belonging
3. Autonomy
   - Sense of choice
   - Sense of control over actions

Question 17

Describe 2 ways that the BPNT and the “big three” implicit motives are different from one another

Answer 17

1. Research on the “big three” motives generally focuses on variations among people whereas the 3 psychological needs put forth by the BPNT argues that all 3 needs are essential
2. The needs in BPNT are explicit rather than implicit like the “big three” motives meaning that people can consciously report on them

Question 18

One of SDT’s basic tenets is that when basic needs are fulfilled people will be…

Answer 18

most engaged and motivated

Question 19

Intrinsic goals involve affiliation, community connection, and personal growth whereas extrinsic goals are a bit more ______________

Answer 19

materialistic

Question 20

_________ goals are associated with improved well-being while having success with ____________ goals are not

Answer 20

intrinsic; extrinsic

Question 21

One study showed that by briefly activating extrinsic goals (i.e., money) people were less willing to…

Answer 21

ask for help and less helpful to experimenters and confederates

Question 22

In his model, Murray distinguished between two different types of needs:

Answer 22

1. Primary (or viscerogenic) needs
2. Secondary (or psychogenic) needs

Question 23

What type of needs, according to Murray, are satisfied by physical means?

Answer 23

Primary/viscerogenic needs

Question 24

What type of needs, according to Murray, are satisfied by mental or emotional means?

Answer 24

Secondary/psychogenic needs

Question 25

What term did Murray use to refer to need-relevant aspects of the environment? Also provide an example

Answer 25

Environmental press i.e., a person's NAff won't affect that person's behaviour without an appropriate environmental press (such as the presence of friendly people)

Question 26

What term did Murray use to describe the notion that there is a so-called real environment (aka objective reality)?

Answer 26

Environmental alpha press

Question 27

What term did Murray use to describe the notion that there is a perceived environment?

Answer 27

Environmental beta press

Question 28

If we want to know about a person's primary motives, we might ask them to engage in apperception which is the act of...

Answer 28

interpreting the environment and perceiving the meaning of what is going on in a situation

Question 29

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Answer 29

A technique for assessing needs and motives Ambiguous stimulus is interpreted

Question 30

The assessment of state levels of needs can be useful in determining...

Answer 30

aspects of a situation that bring about changes in specific needs

Question 31

The TAT has been found to be sensitive to changes in state levels of various motives. TRUE or FALSE

Answer 31

True

Question 32

The assessment of _______ levels of needs is the most frequent goal of personality psychologists

Answer 32

trait

Question 33

Muli-Motive Goal

Answer 33

A new form of assessing motives which combines features of the TAT with features of self-report

Question 34

What are 2 critiques of the TAT?

Answer 34

1. Low test-retest reliability 2. Very low correlations between TAT measures of certain needs and questionnaire measures of the same needs

Question 35

The major differences between men and women high in NAch occur in 2 areas:

Answer 35

1. Life outcomes predicted 2. Childhood experiences (i.e., among women high NAch is associated with a stressful or difficult early family life whereas the early lives of men are characterized by support and care)

Question 36

Carol Dweck proposed a developmental theory of achievement motivation which suggests that...

Answer 36

the most adaptive belief system is that abilities are not fixed but that they are malleable and can be developed

Question 37

According to Carol Dweck, people who believe that their abilities are fixed or predetermined will have a ______ NAch

Answer 37

low

Question 38

The largest and most consistent sex difference among those high in NPow:

Answer 38

High NPow men but not women perform a wide variety of impulsive and aggressive behaviours

Question 39

Since impulsive behaviours are less likely if an individual has responsibility training, David Winter proposed that...

Answer 39

socialization experiences not biological sex per se, determine whether NPow will be expressed in maladaptive behaviours

Question 40

What is the other motivational tradition that is more rooted in clinical psychology?

Answer 40

The Humanistic Tradition

Question 41

What is a primary difference between the humanistic tradition and the "big three" motives?

Answer 41

Motives are conscious rather than implicit and unconscious

Question 42

What are 3 characteristics of the humanistic tradition?

Answer 42

1. Life meaning is found in the choices that a person makes 2. Human need for growth 3. Motivation does not come from a specific deficit but rather from a need to grow and become who one is meant to become

Question 43

Although Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow both focused on the idea of self-actualization, they differed in their focus of it:

Answer 43

Rogers focused on the ways to foster and attain self-actualization Maslow focused on the characteristics of self-actualizing people

Question 44

What was Carl Rogers' general approach to self-actualization?

Answer 44

Person-centered approach

Question 45

According to Carl Rogers what is "positive regard"?

Answer 45

An inborn need - all children are born wanting to be loved and accepted

Question 46

According to Carl Rogers' what are "conditions of worth"?

Answer 46

Requirements set forth by others for earning their positive regard

Question 47

According to Carl Rogers', what is "conditional positive regard"?

Answer 47

Positive regard, when it must be EARNED by meeting certain conditions

Question 48

Children who experience many conditions of worth...

Answer 48

Lose touch with their own desires and wants Please others Moving away from self-actualization Dependent on others for positive regard

Question 49

How can one avoid the consequences that are associated with experiencing many conditions of worth?

Answer 49

Unconditional positive regard

Question 50

It has been argued (given the correlation found) that ___________________ __________________ may be more important for self-actualizing than IQ, or mere cognitive intelligence

Answer 50

emotional intelligence