7.2 Specific Topics in Motivation

🍔 Hunger Motivation

• Glucose circulates through the blood and provides our bodies a major source of energy.

• If glucose levels decrease, our body is signaled and we become hungry. The brain triggers the hunger in the hypothalamus:
  • ⬆️Lateral hypothalamus—Stimulates hunger in a person
    • Produces orexin
    • If your lateral hypothalamus was destroyed, you would never have a will to eat.
    • 💡 Lateral Hypothalamus = Large Hunger
  • ⬇️Ventromedial hypothalamus—Stimulates satiation (fullness) after eating
    • If your ventromedial hypothalamus was destroyed, you would never stop eating.

• Thyroid—Regulates metabolism
• Pancreas—Regulates glucose in the bloodstream

Image Courtesy of Sutori.

1. ⬆️Ghrelin—increases hunger, secreted by an empty stomach
2. ⬆️Orexin—increases hunger, secreted by the hypothalamus
3. ⬇️PYY—decreases hunger, digestive tract hormone
4. ⬇️Leptin—decreases hunger, protein hormone secreted by fat cells
5. Insulin—controls glucose levels, secreted by pancreas

Set-Point Theory

👅 Taste Preferences

• When we think about whether or not we should eat, we automatically think of food. This actually, in turn, triggers hunger.
• We often consume a lot of carbs when we are upset, since they boost serotonin!
• As we learned in unit 4, conditioning can alter anything, including our taste preferences.
• Our culture tells us what food we should eat and what food we shouldn't eat, impacting our preferences.
• Neophobia, or the dislike of new foods 🤢, exists as well, and it is all because of our ancestors. Not trying new, unknown foods protected them.
• Did you ever notice that you eat more when you are with your friends or family 🍏🍕🍳? This is 100% normal; when we see others eat, it makes us want to eat. Also, having different options definitely plays an impact on how hungry you get.

Sexual Motivation

Sexual Response Cycle

1. Excitement—Beginning of sexual desire. Blood flows to genital region.
2. Plateau—Sexual desire and excitement peaks. Secretion increases.
3. Orgasm—Genitals contract causing ejaculation, occuring after sexual stimulation. Breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure reach their highest points.
4. Resolution—Body returns to an unaroused state. Males enter a refractory period, which is a resting period in which they cannot achieve orgasm again until this period is over.

Image Courtesy of WebMD.

Sexual Dysfunction

1. A person experiences distress from unusual sexual interest
2. The sexual desire entails harm to other people

Hormones

🗣️ Social Motivation

Belonging

• Being social boosted the chances of survival ❤️of our ancestors.
• If we are both social and have a sense of personal control (autonomy), we usually have a high self esteem and feel valued.
• Unit 9 is all about social psychology, so you'll learn about all of this in-depth, but we often would do anything to conform to a group and gain acceptance.
• Ostracism, or the pain of being excluded, exists as well. Many people reach their low when they end relationships with their close friends or partners. Children who are in the foster system also fear being alone and excluded.
• Ostracism is the reason why many immigrants immigrated 🌎 as a society, rather than alone.