Needs & Motives Flashcards
(11 cards)
What is a need and what are the kinds
An unsatisfactory internal condition that motivates behaviour.
- Needs influence what we seek out and how we respond to different stimuli in the environment.
Biological Needs (Primary): Are essential to keep our bodies alive – things we can’t live without.
Psychological Needs (Secondary): Mentally we require things that make us feel good emotionally and reduce negative affect – things we can live without.
o Can be derived from biological needs and internal and external stimuli.
o Psychological needs and motives are synonymous.
o Not characterized as a body deficiency.
What is a motive and a press
Motives (step 2): Motives are cognitions associated with emotions that drive our preferred experiences and goals.
- I.e. Motives are changes in the body (cognitively) that drive us to engage in behaviours to produce favourable outcomes.
Press: External events that influence motives by increasing or decreasing it.
Provide an example combining needs, motives, and a press
The body needs water to function, feeling thirsty is an aversive feeling that motivates us toe access water, seeing a water bottle can act as a press to which motivates us to get up and go drink it.
What is a dispositional motive and which view is it most similar to
Dispositional Motives: The natural tendency towards a high or low level of a motive making it more or less common in their behavioural repertoires, producing individual differences.
- Similar to the nomothetic view of traits. That being, everyone has the same traits residing in them.
- An example would be if someone has high need for achievement, they may ignore hunger responses to successfully finish a project.
What is appreception and what kinds of test did we discuss. Is it top down or bottom up?
Apperception: The projecting of a motive onto an ambiguous external stimulus via imagery.
- This is a top-down approach: Viewing stimuli in a biased way to reflect ones strongest motives.
Thematic Apperception Test: Assesses strongest motives through narrative fantasy.
o Takes 30 minutes, 6 cards to interpret.
o Questions includes what is occurring, occurred, will occur, feelings.
What are the 5 Kinds of dispositional Motives
1) Need for Achievement: The need to overcome obstacles, achieving goals, and doing them well.
2) Need for Power: The need to have an impact on others, have prestige, and feel strong compared to others.
3) Need for Affiliation: Need to spend tome with others and form friendly social ties.
4) Need for Intimacy: Need to experience warm, close, and communicative exchanges with another person.
5) Inhibited Power Motivation: Higher need for power than affiliation, but inhibiting power use.
Describe what it means to have a need for acheivement. Describe what the TAT would show and research regarding a high and low need. Describe the term associated with this.
1) Need for Achievement: The need to overcome obstacles, achieving goals, and doing them well.
TAT Reflects: Taking pride in success and negative feelings towards failure.
- High competing individuals are high in this need. Setbacks fuel success.
Research: The need for achievement effects how people choose tasks.
Low need: Choose very easy or very hard tasks
High need: Choose tasks at the same skill level or a little bit higher.
Diagnosticity: The extent to which a task provides information about something (e.g. your skill level).
Research: Higher need for achievement is positively correlated with greater persistence against failure, better task performance, and better grades.
- Associated with self-control and conscientiousness
- Behavioural Signature Example: Women high in this need achieve their goals of family and career.
Describe what it means to have a need for power. Describe what the TAT would show and research regarding a good or bad need.
2) Need for Power: The need to have an impact on others, have prestige, and feel strong compared to others.
TAT Reflects: Forcefulness and status.
Research: Men high in the need for power prefer dependent wives, and females high in this need have greater job satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
- Interpersonally, individual high in this need become angrier when they cant exert influence over others. (Correlate positively with narcissism)
Good or Bad: Depends on responsibility during socialization.
Good if person is responsible, conscientious and expresses power in socially acceptable ways
Bad if person is irresponsible, exploits others and behaves aggressively.
Describe what it means to have a need for affiliation. Describe what the TAT would show and research regarding a high need.
3) Need for Affiliation: Need to spend tome with others and form friendly social ties.
TAT Reflects: Being accepted within a group and establishing relationships with others.
- This is negatively skewed in the population, meaning that more people on average are high in this need.
Research: Higher in this need means more likely to conform, initiate contact with others, engage in sociall activities, express desire to interact with others when alone.
Describe what it means to have a need for intimacy. Describe what the TAT would show and research regarding a high need.
4) Need for Intimacy: Need to experience warm, close, and communicative exchanges with another person.
TAT Reflects: Communication of self-disclosure, becoming close.
Research: High in this need prefer more one on one interactions rather than group exchanges. Prefer for self-disclosure and want partner to reciprocate (like eye contact).
- Men higher in this need have more martial and job satisfaction
Research: These people are active listeners.
Describe what it means to have a need for inhibited power motivation. Describe what the TAT would show and research regarding a high need.
5) Inhibited Power Motivation: Higher need for power than affiliation, but inhibiting power use.
Research: This need is better in leadership (for non-technical) settings because ablet o make decisions without fear of not being liked. Exhibit greater self-control. More conscientiousness.
Research: Move to higher levels of management and more effective persuasion.
