The Power of Motivation: Crash Course Psychology #17
-
0:00 - 0:02>HANK GREEN: You've probably heard this story.
-
0:02 - 0:04Aron Ralston was out climbing
in Utah's Blue John Canyon -
0:04 - 0:07when a giant rock shifted
under his feet and he fell, -
0:07 - 0:10pinning his right arm to the canyon wall.
-
0:10 - 0:12He was stuck, and worse,
-
0:12 - 0:14he hadn't told anyone where he was going.
-
0:14 - 0:18For the next five days, Ralston tried
to move and chip away at the rock. -
0:18 - 0:21He ate his remaining food,
drank the last of his water, -
0:21 - 0:26eventually he drank his own urine,
and started videotaping his goodbyes. -
0:26 - 0:27But then something happened.
-
0:27 - 0:28Ralston had a dream.
-
0:28 - 0:31He saw himself as a father,
picking up his son, -
0:31 - 0:32and with that vision,
-
0:32 - 0:35an overpowering will to survive kicked in.
-
0:35 - 0:37He broke his arm bones,
-
0:37 - 0:40sawed through his flesh with a dull pocket knife,
-
0:40 - 0:41and freed himself.
-
0:41 - 0:44Ralston harnessed some of our
most powerful psychological forces: -
0:44 - 0:49hunger, thirst, desire to be part of a family,
need to return to the human community. -
0:49 - 0:51They ignited his tenacity,
-
0:51 - 0:54which allowed him to do an incredible thing.
-
0:54 - 0:59He harnessed the power of motivation,
obviously in a big, big way. -
0:59 - 1:06♪ [ intro ] ♪
-
1:09 - 1:11>In its most basic sense,
-
1:11 - 1:13motivation is the need
or desire to do something, -
1:13 - 1:16whether that need is biological,
social, or emotional. -
1:16 - 1:19And whether that something
is making dinner, going to college, -
1:19 - 1:21or cutting off your arm,
-
1:21 - 1:23motivation is what gets you moving.
-
1:23 - 1:27The big question is, why?
Why do we do anything? -
1:27 - 1:30I mean, why ever bother
changing out of my sweatpants? -
1:30 - 1:34Psychologists often view motivation
in one or more of four ways. -
1:34 - 1:36On their own, none of these theories is perfect,
-
1:36 - 1:39but taken together, they help us
understand what drives us. -
1:39 - 1:42Let's start with the first theory:
an evolutionary perspective. -
1:42 - 1:44For a while in the early 20th century,
-
1:44 - 1:49it was popular to think of all behaviors
as instincts, or innate drives to act a certain way, -
1:49 - 1:52but this so-called "instinct theory" was misguided,
-
1:52 - 1:54in part because the presence of a tendency
-
1:54 - 1:56doesn't always mean it's supposed to be there.
-
1:56 - 2:00Like, we can imagine why a bunch of people
might start rioting at a heated soccer match, -
2:00 - 2:03but to say that they're supposed to,
is a little short-sighted. -
2:03 - 2:06Evolution is a far more complex, chaotic,
and interesting process than that. -
2:06 - 2:09Plenty of behaviors could
just be accidents of evolution. -
2:09 - 2:11Late paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould
-
2:11 - 2:15called these accidents "spandrels,"
or traits that, rather than being adaptive, -
2:15 - 2:18just stuck around as byproducts
of other processes. -
2:18 - 2:21Today we define instincts as
complex, unlearned behaviors -
2:21 - 2:24that have a fixed pattern throughout a species.
-
2:24 - 2:27For example, dogs instinctively
shake their fur when wet, -
2:27 - 2:30salmon return to the stream
in which they hatched, -
2:30 - 2:33and human babies know how to
suckle just minutes after being born. -
2:33 - 2:38These are true, genetically predisposed
instincts that do not require learning. -
2:38 - 2:41But today we understand that while
certain tendencies may be genetic, -
2:41 - 2:45individual experience plays a major role
in behavior and motivation as well. -
2:45 - 2:47So another theory of motivation suggests
-
2:47 - 2:52that a psychological need, or drive,
simply compels us to reduce that need. -
2:52 - 2:55This is called the drive-reduction theory.
-
2:55 - 2:58This can be as simple as hearing my
stomach growl and looking for a burrito. -
2:58 - 3:03My need is food, my drive is hunger,
my drive-reduction behavior is burrito. -
3:03 - 3:06Drive reduction is all about
maintaining your body's homeostasis— -
3:06 - 3:08the balance of its physiological systems.
-
3:08 - 3:10As much as we're pushed to reduce our drives,
-
3:10 - 3:12we're also pulled along by incentives:
-
3:12 - 3:16the positive or negative stimuli
that either entice or repel us. -
3:16 - 3:19The mouth-watering smell of
that burrito pulls me toward it, -
3:19 - 3:21just as much as my hunger pushes me there.
-
3:21 - 3:25However, we're also clearly more complicated
than our homeostatic systems, -
3:25 - 3:29and drive-reduction theory may
oversimplify a lot of our behavior. -
3:29 - 3:31For example, a person may fast for days,
-
3:31 - 3:33ignoring their body's hunger,
-
3:33 - 3:36to honor some spiritual or political cause,
-
3:36 - 3:37and I know I'm not the only one
-
3:37 - 3:39who sometimes eats when
I'm not actually hungry. -
3:39 - 3:42So a third theory, the theory of optimal arousal,
-
3:42 - 3:44attempts to fill in some of those gaps.
-
3:44 - 3:48It suggests, rather than just reducing
a drive or tension like hunger, -
3:48 - 3:52we're motivated to maintain a balance
between stimulation and relaxation. -
3:52 - 3:55Say you're holed up in your
house all weekend studying. -
3:55 - 3:57You're bored and lonely and gettin' weird,
-
3:57 - 4:01so you call up some friends to go
mountain biking or go to a karaoke bar -
4:01 - 4:03or whatever you like to do for stimulation.
-
4:03 - 4:06The idea here is that you want
to hit the right level of arousal — -
4:06 - 4:10which, take note, psychologists
often use in a non-sexual sense — -
4:10 - 4:12without getting overstimulated and stressed.
-
4:12 - 4:15So if you nearly break your face on that bike ride
-
4:15 - 4:18or the Journey covers at karaoke
night start getting too intense, -
4:18 - 4:19you may need to back off and take a nap.
-
4:19 - 4:23Of course, everyone has a different
level of optimal arousal, -
4:23 - 4:25and I'm guessing Aron Ralston's was fairly high.
-
4:25 - 4:29Adrenaline junkies may jump out
of planes to hit their ideal level, -
4:29 - 4:33whereas others might be satiated by an
engaging book or a new knitting pattern. -
4:33 - 4:35No matter which, the optimal arousal theory
-
4:35 - 4:39suggests that we're motivated
to avoid both boredom and stress. -
4:39 - 4:41And obviously, not all needs are created equally.
-
4:41 - 4:44If I'm suffocating and can't catch a breath,
-
4:44 - 4:45I'm not going to be thinking
about eating that burrito. -
4:45 - 4:47And if I'm about to be ravaged by lions,
-
4:47 - 4:50I'm not going to worrying
about my next paycheck. -
4:50 - 4:51American psychologist Abraham Maslow
-
4:51 - 4:55illustrated this shuffling of
priorities in the mid-1900s -
4:55 - 4:57with his famous hierarchy of needs.
-
4:57 - 4:59Down at the bottom of the pyramid,
-
4:59 - 5:01you'll find our most basic
physiological needs -
5:01 - 5:03for food, water, air, and moderate temperatures.
-
5:03 - 5:05The next rung up speaks to our need for safety,
-
5:05 - 5:09then comes love and belonging,
followed by esteem or respect, -
5:09 - 5:12and finally, once all those needs have been met,
-
5:12 - 5:15we have the relative luxury of being
motivated by self-actualization -
5:15 - 5:18and spiritual growth and yoga retreats and stuff.
-
5:18 - 5:19Of course there are problems with Maslow's vision.
-
5:19 - 5:22Empirical research hasn't really supported his hierarchy.
-
5:22 - 5:24We tend to skip around on
that pyramid all the time, -
5:24 - 5:26and the importance of those higher-level needs
-
5:26 - 5:29may vary depending on our culture
and finances and personalities. -
5:29 - 5:33But still, everyone is restricted by
the lowest levels of the pyramid, -
5:33 - 5:35so regardless of theories about why we have them,
-
5:35 - 5:37most schools of psychological thought
-
5:37 - 5:40agree that we are driven by
at least three big motivators: -
5:40 - 5:43sex, hunger, and the need to belong.
-
5:43 - 5:46We'll do a whole lesson later
on all sorts of sex-related stuff, -
5:46 - 5:47including how it motivates us.
-
5:47 - 5:49(There's a lot there.)
-
5:49 - 5:53For now, let's just say that sexual motivation
is how we promote the survival of our species -
5:53 - 5:56through recreation and/or procreation,
-
5:56 - 5:59both of which help human
communities bond and expand. -
5:59 - 6:01Without it, none of us would be here today
-
6:01 - 6:04thinking about burritos and
severed arms and sex and stuff. -
6:04 - 6:08Internally, we are biologically driven
to knock boots by our sex hormones. -
6:08 - 6:12We're also motivated by psychological
and sociocultural influences -
6:12 - 6:14ranging from suggestive external stimuli
-
6:14 - 6:17plastered all over billboards, magazines, and TVs
-
6:17 - 6:20in the form of, you know, like, scantily
clad bodies sprawled out on beaches -
6:20 - 6:23to more genteel desires like love and family
-
6:23 - 6:25or adherence to personal, religious,
and cultural values. -
6:25 - 6:29Sex is a big motivator,
but it isn't precisely a need. -
6:29 - 6:32No matter what anyone has told you,
people do not die without it. -
6:32 - 6:36Hunger, though… After air and water,
food is our body's greatest need, -
6:36 - 6:40and thus, obtaining food is
one of our greatest motivations. -
6:40 - 6:43Hunger may seem pretty simple --
eat food, stay alive -- -
6:43 - 6:45but physiologically and psychologically,
-
6:45 - 6:47there is a lot going on,
-
6:47 - 6:50and like so many things,
it starts in the brain. -
6:50 - 6:54The sensation of hunger usually begins
with a drop in your blood-sugar level. -
6:54 - 6:56Glucose is our body's primary source of energy,
-
6:56 - 7:00and while you might not initially
feel a drop, your brain will. -
7:00 - 7:03Your hypothalamus monitors your blood chemistry
-
7:03 - 7:06and responds to both high levels
of the "hunger hormone" ghrelin, -
7:06 - 7:08and low levels of glucose,
-
7:08 - 7:11by triggering that feeling of hunger,
reminding you to eat something. -
7:11 - 7:13I am in fact experiencing it right now!
-
7:13 - 7:15Once you've eaten that burrito,
-
7:15 - 7:17your metabolism takes over,
converting that food into energy, -
7:17 - 7:20but while our physiological need for calories varies
-
7:20 - 7:22depending on our body size and composition,
-
7:22 - 7:24your gender, and your age,
-
7:24 - 7:27our hunger is also shaped by our
psychology, culture, and mood. -
7:27 - 7:30And these factors don't just
rule WHEN we're hungry; -
7:30 - 7:32they also guide WHAT we're hungry for.
-
7:32 - 7:35Biologically speaking, most humans
and many other animals -
7:35 - 7:37have a genetic taste for sweets and fatty foods
-
7:37 - 7:40because they're typically high in energy,
-
7:40 - 7:42but other taste preferences are conditioned
-
7:42 - 7:43through experience and culture.
-
7:43 - 7:46I may have an aversion to oysters
because they once made me sick, -
7:46 - 7:49and love gingerbread cookies because
my grandma used to make them. -
7:49 - 7:50Although popular in Cambodia,
-
7:50 - 7:52I'm not too keen on eating fried tarantulas,
-
7:52 - 7:57just as lots of folks around the world think
that the very idea of peanut butter is gross. -
7:57 - 7:59Still, the feeling of hunger affects us the same.
-
7:59 - 8:01During World War II in the U.S.,
-
8:01 - 8:04some conscientious objectors
volunteered for medical research -
8:04 - 8:06as an alternative way to serve their country.
-
8:06 - 8:08Perhaps the most famous of these studies
-
8:08 - 8:12was physiologist Ancel Keys'
Minnesota Hunger Experiment, -
8:12 - 8:16which measured the effects of semi-starvation
by partially starving its volunteers. -
8:16 - 8:20While ethically dubious, the experiment
was geared toward understanding -
8:20 - 8:23the many small and large effects of hunger,
-
8:23 - 8:24which was plaguing Europe at the time.
-
8:24 - 8:27The study started in 1944
-
8:27 - 8:31by feeding 36 young, healthy men
a normal diet for 3 months, -
8:31 - 8:34then halving their caloric intake for 6 months,
-
8:34 - 8:38then slowly rehabilitating them to
normal weight during the last 3 months. -
8:38 - 8:42They ate mostly wartime-foods like
root vegetables, bread, and pastas, -
8:42 - 8:45and were required to walk 22 miles
-
8:45 - 8:48and participate in various work
and educational activities -
8:48 - 8:49for 40 hours each week.
-
8:49 - 8:54The goal was to see a 25% drop in
body weight during the starvation period, -
8:54 - 8:56and, as you can imagine,
the changes were dramatic. -
8:56 - 8:59The men became gaunt and listless
-
8:59 - 9:02and showed a decrease in strength,
heart rate, and body temperature. -
9:02 - 9:05But the psychological effects were
perhaps even more dramatic. -
9:05 - 9:07The men became totally obsessed with food.
-
9:07 - 9:10They dreamed about it, talked about it
all the time, read cookbooks. -
9:10 - 9:14They lost interest in sex and
jokes and social activities. -
9:14 - 9:16They were irritable, anxious, and depressed.
-
9:16 - 9:18In the end, they were all rehabilitated,
-
9:18 - 9:20but the study gave us some understanding of
-
9:20 - 9:23the devastating psychological
effects of starvation. -
9:23 - 9:25It also showed us something of the social effects
-
9:25 - 9:28as men withdrew from one another
and isolated themselves. -
9:28 - 9:30As one fundamental need was frustrated,
-
9:30 - 9:34these men experienced the decline
of another: the need to belong. -
9:34 - 9:35Humans are social animals.
-
9:35 - 9:39Evolutionarily speaking, it's fair to say
that social bonding has helped us survive. -
9:39 - 9:41It's a tough world out there,
-
9:41 - 9:43and we've got a lot better shot at thriving
-
9:43 - 9:45if we're sharing resources and responsibilities,
-
9:45 - 9:47protecting and supporting each other in groups.
-
9:47 - 9:50That isn't say you need to be
joined at the hip with everyone; -
9:50 - 9:54our social needs have to be balanced with
our autonomy, or sense of personal control, -
9:54 - 9:57so we feel both connected and independent.
-
9:57 - 9:59But sometimes we're denied that sense of belonging.
-
9:59 - 10:01We've all experienced the pain
-
10:01 - 10:03of being ignored ignored or rejected
at some point in our lives. -
10:03 - 10:05It's worse than just about anything.
-
10:05 - 10:07The evidence for this is abundant.
-
10:07 - 10:08One recent study suggested
-
10:08 - 10:11that teenagers who had a sense
of belonging to their community -
10:11 - 10:14had better health and emotional outcomes
than those who didn't feel like they belonged. -
10:14 - 10:16Cultures all over the world
-
10:16 - 10:19actually use ostracism, or social
exclusion, as a type of punishment. -
10:19 - 10:21Whether it's kids in time out, adults in exile,
-
10:21 - 10:23or prisoners in solitary confinement,
-
10:23 - 10:25separation feels like a punch in the gut.
-
10:25 - 10:28Never underestimate the power
behind what motivates us. -
10:28 - 10:30The need to survive, the need to belong:
-
10:30 - 10:33if you can harness that motivation,
you can do just about anything. -
10:33 - 10:35Just ask Aron Ralston.
-
10:35 - 10:36If you were motivated to learn today,
-
10:36 - 10:39hopefully you took in four theories
of motivation including -
10:39 - 10:42the evolutionary perspective,
drive-reduction, optimal arousal, -
10:42 - 10:44and Maslow's hierarchy of needs;
-
10:44 - 10:47and how sex, hunger, and the
need to belong motivate us. -
10:47 - 10:48Thanks for watching,
-
10:48 - 10:52especially to our Subbable subscribers
who make this whole channel possible. -
10:52 - 10:54If you'd like to sponsor
an episode of Crash Course -
10:54 - 10:55or even be animated into an upcoming episode,
-
10:55 - 10:58just go to Subbable.com/CrashCourse.
-
10:58 - 10:59This episode was written by Kathleen Yale,
-
10:59 - 11:01edited by Blake de Pastino,
-
11:01 - 11:03and our consultant is Dr. Ranjit Bhagwat.
-
11:03 - 11:05Our director and editor is Nicholas Jenkins,
-
11:05 - 11:08the script supervisor is Michael Aranda
(who is also our sound designer), -
11:08 - 11:10and the graphics team is Thought Cafe.
-
11:10 - 11:12[END]
- Title:
- The Power of Motivation: Crash Course Psychology #17
- Description:
-
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Feeling motivated? Even if you are, do you know why? The story of Aaron Ralston can tell us a lot about motivation. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank tells us Ralston's story, as well as 4 theories of motivation and some evolutionary perspectives on motivation.
--
Table of ContentsFour Theories of Motivation:
Evolutionary Perspective 1:38:22
Drive-Reduction 2:45:10
Optimal Arousal 3:38:21
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 4:49:04
How Sex, Hunger, and the Need to Belong Motivate us 5:29:02--
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Support CrashCourse on Subbable: http://subbable.com/crashcourse - Video Language:
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- Duration:
- 11:20
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