Psychology for Dummies (21 page)
Read Psychology for Dummies Online
Authors: Adam Cash
Tags: #Psychology, #General, #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Spirituality
Most of us can relate to being worried about money and our finances. I’m sure that even the computer software moguls of the world have spent one or two sleepless nights of their lives mentally counting their pennies. Some of us have learned to live on a budget. We set aside money for our mortgage, car payments, medical insurance, and household costs. We even keep a little money for entertainment if there’s any left over. When I started living on a budget, something weird began to happen. When I went to a store and saw something that I liked, such as a new CD or a pair of shoes, I asked myself if I really needed that item. Part of developing a budget involves figuring out what we really need, and what our financial priorities are.
I first spend my money on what I need. My needs are a powerful determinant in what I do with my money. I might even say that I’m
driven
(or pushed) by my prioritized needs. Satisfying my needs is one of my top, if not the top, drive in my life. Needs drive my behavior; they motivate me.
Clark Hull came up with a theory of motivation that emphasized need satisfaction. Needs are generated from two things,
homeostasis
and
equilibrium restoration.
I experience homeostasis when my needs are met and I feel balanced. When my needs aren’t being met, I find myself out of balance, and I’m then motivated to restore the equilibrium through the satisfaction of my needs.
Hull’s theory is called
drive reduction theory
because I’m driven to satisfy my needs.
Drives
are motivations toward satisfaction and homeostasis. There are two kinds of drives:
My biological needs necessary for survival are called
primary drives.
Hunger, fatigue, and thirst are all examples of primary drives. If you think about it, primary drives play a pretty big role in our everyday routine. A large part of our lives revolves around satisfying hunger and obtaining shelter.
Any need other than a primary drive is called a
secondary drive.
A lot of these are learned from our families, social groups, and the larger culture that we live in. These secondary drives derive their importance as they become associated with primary drives. We’re driven to go to school and get good grades in order to have a better life and to be able to provide for our future families and ourselves. Secondary drives have no inherent worth in and of themselves, they only matter as they relate to primary drives.
One of the limitations of drive reduction theory is that it leaves no room for needs that seem only peripherally related to our biological survival. Does going surfing restore my homeostatic balance? What basic need does surfing satisfy? I may be able to stretch it a little and say that if I don’t go surfing, I’ll get depressed, and then I won’t be able to go to work, and then I won’t be able to eat. That would make surfing a secondary drive at the bottom of a long chain of other secondary drives. Most of us probably don’t reduce, consciously anyway, our every activity to the lowest common denominator of biological survival.
Although it’s not technically an instinct theory, Abraham Maslow’s motivational theory states that our motivations stem from a basic set of needs that we naturally strive to satisfy. Maslow believed that some needs are more basic than others. Eating is more basic than getting an A on your English final. They’re both needs (for some people anyway), but one is just more fundamental than the other.
Maslow created a priority list of needs that he arranged into a triangle called the
hierarchy of needs:
At the lowest and most foundational level are our
basic physical needs
for food, water, and sleep. These needs direct our behavior until we satisfy them.
The next level of the triangle contains our needs for
safety and security.
We need proper shelter and protection.
Love and belonging
is
the next level of need.
The fourth level of need is
self-esteem.
We strive toward situations that enhance our sense of self-worth.
Self-actualization
— the need to fulfill our top potential and to live at a high level of awareness of ourselves and our desire — is the top level. When we’ve reached the highest part of the triangle/hierarchy, we have a
peak experience,
or a feeling that signals our arrival at the highest level of motivation.
Optimal level of arousal theory
is considered a more refined version of drive reduction theory. Instead of just being driven to satisfy our basic biological needs at a minimum level, we’re motivated to reach the highest level of satisfaction possible. What do I mean by “highest level of satisfaction?” Think of this as the “prime rib theory” of arousal. When my body needs energy, I get hungry, and I develop a primary drive or motivation to eat something. Now, if this theory was the “hamburger theory” of arousal or the “minimal level of arousal theory,” I’d just get a greasy cheeseburger and be done with it. But why would I eat hamburger if I can eat steak? I can satisfy my primary need of hunger and enjoy the flavor at the same time.
Another component of optimal level of arousal theory is that we’re driven to seek the best (optimal) level of arousal in order to maximize our performance. In an example of how optimal level of arousal theory might work, Yerkes and Dodson found that we perform activities best when we’re moderately aroused — not too relaxed, not too uptight. This is called the
Yerkes-Dodson law.
I guess that makes the optimal level of arousal theory more like the “chicken-fried steak theory” of arousal instead of the “prime rib theory.”
Have you ever had to make a presentation in front of a large group or class? Were you nervous? How nervous? Throwing-up, passing-out nervous? Being that nervous constitutes an extreme level of arousal, and as those of you who’ve been there know, it doesn’t contribute to a topnotch performance. If someone is too relaxed though, he may not put out enough effort to properly prepare for the presentation, and he may then give an equally bad performance. The best place to be is right in the middle.