Why Do People Make the Choices They Do?

Remember: Explain instinct approaches to motivation;
Explain drive-reduction approaches to motivation;
Explain arousal approaches to motivation;
Explain incentive approaches to motivation;
Explain cognitive approaches to motivation;
Apply the different approaches to motivation

Have you ever wondered why people choose particular career paths? Suppose you asked five high-powered attorneys why they selected legal careers. For each of the following answers, describe how the approaches in your textbook would explain their responses.

1. "I grew up in the projects and I want to make enough money so that my family never again has to worry about having enough to eat."
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2. "Lawyers get all the girls!"
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3. "I love the feeling of being in the courtroom and the strategy of the completion."
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4. "I want to make a good income, drive a Porsche, and live in a nice house."
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5. "I think lawyers are critical cogs in the justice systems and I want to help protect individual rights and freedoms."

Why are You Going into Your Field?

Relate: Explain instinct approaches to motivation;
Explain drive-reduction approaches to motivation;
Explain arousal approaches to motivation;
Explain incentive approaches to motivation;
Explain cognitive approaches to motivation;
Apply the different approaches to motivation

People spend years preparing for different career choices. Why? What makes one choose to become a nurse and another a businesswoman?

Consider your course of study.

1. Why did you choose this program?
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2. How will this career meet your instinctual needs?
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3. How will it reduce your primary and secondary drives?
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4. How does it provide arousal or intellectual stimulation?
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5. What incentives do you expect to gain?
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6. What is your thought process about this job?

What Do You Think?

Relate: Apply the different approaches to motivation

1. Why do you think the majority of professionals in your field choose this line of work? Explain your answer.

Fast Food

Relate: Describe the biological and social factors that underlie hunger

For this exercise, think about fast food for a moment. Though fast food is often blamed for the obesity epidemic, this example is going to be used because the portion sizes tend to be universal, thus giving us a good starting place for a discussion on food.

1. Think about the last time you stopped at a fast food restaurant. Please describe in detail exactly what you ordered, including any drinks or desserts. Be sure to list the sizes.
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2. Is this typical of how much your regularly eat at a fast food restaurant?
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3. The recommended serving size of meat for a healthy adult is about the size of the average human fist. This is equivalent to most children's meals. Did you eat more or less than this?
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4. If the recommended serving size for an adult is the size of a fist, then the recommended serving size for a child is the size of a child's fist. Yet, the amount children are served equals the amount found in an adult portion. Have you ever heard a parent complain that his/her child has only eater two bites of sandwich or only a couple of fries? How do you explain this?

Dieting

Relate: Describe the biological and social factors that underlie hunger

1. Most people spend some time dieting, yet very few successfully keep their weight at a desired level. In fact, it is nearly impossible for many obese people, despite their caloric intake. List some reasons why this might be true. Use the textbook to justify your answer.

A Day in Your Life

1. Keep a food diary of everything you consume for an entire day. List what all you've written in your entry below.
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Reviewing this list, answer the following questions:

1. Did you eat any items because you were truly hungry? List these items below.
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2. Did you eat simply because the item was physically available, like candy on your desk? List these items below.
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3. Did you eat any items simply because you enjoy the flavor, like a piece of chocolate cake? List these items below.
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4. Did you eat any items while you were doing something else, such as driving or watching TV? List these items below.
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5. Which items made you feel full?
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6. Did any items make you feel hungry a short time later?
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7. Did you find yourself eating something because someone else made it or because someone else was eating it at the same time? List these items below.
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8. Did you find yourself eating something as a reward or treat? List these items below.
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9. Looking at your answers, what factors contributed to your eating patterns?

The "Talk"

Relate: Summarize the varieties of sexual behavior

Most people remember when their parents gave them the "talk" about sex. During childhood, many attitudes toward sexual behavior are transmitted to children both directly and indirectly. For each behavior listed, describe what information you were given about that topic.

1. Heterosexuality
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2. Homosexuality
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3. Bisexuality
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4. Masturbation
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5. Premarital sex
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6. Extramarital sex
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7. Have any of your thoughts changed as an adult? If so, how?

What Does This Tell You?

React: Explain how needs related to achievement affiliation and power are exhibited

1. What do your answers in the last activity tell you about your unique personality? Explain your answer.

The Experience of Emotions

1. Psychologists have many explanations and theories about emotions. They question where feelings come from and what purpose emotions serve. Imagine yourself on graduation day, as you proceed to the stage to accept your degree. Describe in detail what feelings you imagine might experience in that moment.
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2. Chances are, your descriptions are a relatively accurate summary of how you may actually feel on that day. But the explanations for these feelings vary. For each theory listed below, give the rationale it would use to explain your emotions.
   1. The James-Lange Theory
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   2. The Cannon-Bard Theory
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   3. The Scacter-Singer Theory

What Do You Think?

React: Define the range of emotions

1. Which theory do you most agree with? Explain your answer.

Act as If…

React: Define the range of emotions;
Explain the roots of emotions

Many people feel that they are victims of their own emotional states. In fact, we often attribute our behavior to our feelings. For example, saying "I yelled at you because I was angry." In this chapter we learned that emotions are unstable and changeable. But, can you change how you feel about something?

1. Try another experiment. Choose an emotional state that is you don't often experience. For one entire day, behave as though you were experiencing that emotion. Did you begin to feel differently? Record your results.

What Do You Think?

1. Emotions and motivations are neither good nor bad. What have you learned about yourself in this chapter and how can you use these lessons in your daily life?

the case of... maria tokarski, the happiest loser Maria Tokarski had been a normal weight for her height throughout much of her life, but after her first child was born she found that she just couldn't lose the extra weight she had gained during her pregnancy. Caring for an infant took a lot of her time and energy, and she wasn't as focused on her health and appearance as she once had been. Rather than returning to her normal weight, Maria slowly gained more until she was almost twice her prepregnancy weight.

Maria's weight gain affected her mood, her social life, and even her marriage. But when her physician delivered the news that it was affecting her health, Maria found the determination to make a change. It took almost two years of regular exercise, careful monitoring of her diet, and regular support group meetings, but Maria eventually returned to her former slim figure. On her son's fifth birthday, Maria pulled out her favorite pair of jeans that had been in storage since just before her maternity days and was overjoyed to find that they finally fit her once again!

1. What may have been some of the motivational and environmental factors contributing to Maria's weight gain after childbirth?
2. If you were Maria's physician, how would you explain to her the weight-set-point hypothesis?
3. Which approaches to motivation might help to explain Maria's unflagging determination to lose all the weight she had gained, and why?
4. If Maria were your friend and she asked your advice on weight-loss strategies, what would you tell her?
5. In what ways do you think emotion was tied in to Maria's weight gain and her subsequent weight loss?