PSYC 2600 Chapter Notes - Chapter 11: Thematic Apperception Test, The Need, Enculturation
19 Jun 2018
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Week 6 Readings: Chapter 11: Motives and Personality
Basic Concepts
Motives: internal states that arouse and direct behaviour towards specific objects or goals
- Caused by a deficit, a lack of something
- Can be unconscious
Needs: states of tension within a person
- Motives are based on needs
- When a need is satisfied, the state of tension is reduced
- Motives propel people to think, perceive, and act in specific ways that satisfy the need
People differ from each other in:
1. The strength of their motives
2. These differences are measureable
3. These differences cause or are associated with important life outcomes
4. Differences among people in the relative amounts of various motives are stable over
time
5. Motives may provide one answer to the question: why do people do what they do?
Henry Murray:
- Key psychologist in the theory of motivation
Need
- Organize perception, guides us to see what we want/need
- Compels people to do what is necessary to satisfy the need
- It is the process of reducing tension, not the final result that is satisfying
- Each person has a unique hierarchy of needs
Dynamic: the mutual forces of influence within a person
- The interaction of various motives within a person
Press
Press: need-relevant aspects of the environment
Alpha Press: real environment, objective reality
Beta Press: perceived environment, perceived reality
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Example: someone smiles at you on the street
- If you have a high need for affiliation you see the smile as friendly, and a way to start a
conversation
- If you have a low need for affiliation you may see the smile as a smirk
Apperception and the TAT
Apperception: the act of interpreting the environment and perceiving the meaning of what is
going on in a situation
- A person’s needs can influence this
Thematic Apperception Test: consists of black and white images that are ambiguous
- The person is then asked to make up a story about the image
Essential Features:
1. The stimulus is ambiguous
2. The patient describes and interprets what is going on
State Levels of a Need: a person’s momentary amount of a specific need, which can fluctuate
with specific circumstances
Trait Levels of a Need: measuring a person’s average tendency, or their set point, on the
specific trait
- People differ from each other in their typical or average amount of specific needs
Multi-Motive Grid: combines features of the TAT with features of self-report questionnaires
- 14 pictures are selected to arouse on of the big three motives
- The pictures are presented with questions about important motivational states, and the
person then answers the questions
Three Big Motives: Achievement, Power and Intimacy
Need for Achievement
Doing things better:
- The need for achievement: the desire to do better, and to be successful, and to feel
competent
- People high of nAch get satisfaction from accomplishing a task
- They prefer moderate levels of challenge
- They enjoy tasks where they are personally responsible for the outcome
- They prefer tasks with feedback
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Increasing the Need for Achievement:
- People high on nAch persue careers in business
- In collectivist cultures, individual need for achievement is valued less than group
achievement
Determining Sex Differences:
- In women who have high nAch and who value work and family, good grades, college,
starting a family, and marrying are important
- Women who have high nAch and who value family focus on dating and physical
appearance
- Women who had a difficult family life as a child have high nAch
- Men who had a good family life and relationship with their mother have high nAch
Promoting Achievement Motivation in Children:
- Parenting behaviours can promote high achievement motivation
Independence Training: parents can behave in ways that promote autonomy and
independence in their children
- Setting challenging standards for the child
- The challenges shouldn’t exceed the child’s abilities
- Children with secure attachment style develop a higher need for achievement
Need for Power
- The desire to have an impact on others
Research Findings:
- People with a high need for power have more arguments, behave assertively in small
groups
- They want control of situations and people
Sex Differences:
- Men high on nPow display impulsive and aggressive behaviours
- Women high on nPow do not
- Men high on nPow display more risky sexual behaviours and substance abuse
Responsibility Training: being responsible for someone makes the maladaptive behaviours
less likely to occur
Health Status and the Need for Power:
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Document Summary
Week 6 readings: chapter 11: motives and personality. Motives: internal states that arouse and direct behaviour towards specific objects or goals. Caused by a deficit, a lack of something. When a need is satisfied, the state of tension is reduced. Motives propel people to think, perceive, and act in specific ways that satisfy the need. Organize perception, guides us to see what we want/need. Compels people to do what is necessary to satisfy the need. It is the process of reducing tension, not the final result that is satisfying. Each person has a unique hierarchy of needs. Dynamic: the mutual forces of influence within a person. The interaction of various motives within a person. Example: someone smiles at you on the street. If you have a high need for affiliation you see the smile as friendly, and a way to start a conversation. If you have a low need for affiliation you may see the smile as a smirk.
