Motivation and Emotion Psychology - Coursework Example

Motivation and Emotion Psychology Motivation and Emotion Psychology Question The most interesting area is motivation and emotion psychology. That is because of the potentiality of the area of psychology to answer or address diverse ‘why’ questions. For instance, “why do we go to class each day, why do professors teach students, why do professors test students, and why did Cain kill Abel” questions are essential in understanding the interest in relation motivation and emotion psychology. In addition, it is motivating to understand human behaviour. From that perspective, motivation refers to the want, need, interest or desire that compels an individual in a certain or specific direction. It is essential to note that the motivational mechanism can be a habit, desire, instinct, belief, interest, drive, or compulsion. Nevertheless, the motivation prompts individuals to take substantive actions. As an area of psychology, motivation and emotion is interesting because of the urge to understand what drives human beings to perform diverse actions (Scherer & Ekman, 2014). Moreover, it is essential to note that emotions cause humans to take appropriate action, thus the perfect opportunity to understand the manner in which the human brain system works to control behaviour. Motivation is fundamental in influencing diverse ideals an individual’s life. Particularly, it is important in the expression of feelings and emotions in diverse situations such as under the influence of literature, poetry. It also place an inquiry on the intention of ensuring joy to human beings. Motivation and emotions are essential to controlling social interactions, which makes it an interesting aspect of the psychology. In addition, I find this subfield of psychology interesting because of the subjective feelings, expressive behaviours, and physical reactions. Subjective feelings relate to how individuals interpret what they perceive as best at any time, thus the opportunity to express inner personal experiences. In addition, expressive behaviours relates to the outward signs of experiencing a feeling. It is essential to note that such behaviours might be intentional or unintentional inclusive of the facial expressions and body language. Similarly, motivation and emotion psychology relates to physical reactions which integrate substantial body changes, which tend to occur when an individual experiences an emotion. It is the awareness of the individuals concerning these changes, which make them suddenly aware of experiencing an emotion. The area of psychology is interesting because of diverse theoretical perspectives. For instance, it is interesting to study and implement the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It is interesting because of the influence of physiological, safety, belonging and love, esteem, and self-actualization needs. It is critical for individuals to satisfy their drive for hunger, thirst, and other basic needs. Upon satisfaction of the needs, it is essential to feel safe and secure prior to pursuit of sense of belonging or acceptance within the society. It is also essential for individuals to achieve or gain approval as well as recognition prior to satisfaction of the self-actualization needs in exploitation of the unique potential. That attributes of the subfield of psychology make motivation and emotion psychology an interesting concept in examining behavioural aspects of human beings. Question 2 There are diverse research and works that a psychologist specializing in motivation and emotion psychology might execute. One of the essential types of research or work is the experimental research. This relates to the randomized assignment of subjects, as well as standardized instructions while incorporating at least one IV and one DV. For instance, such psychologists might focus on the execution of naturalistic observation, which relates to the observation of behaviour in the natural environment. In most cases, such research activities relate to counting of behaviours with reference to number or incidences of aggressive acts or number of smiles. Some of the benefits of this research include the natural occurrence of behaviour, thus lack of manipulation from the researcher. In addition, the approach can offer more qualitative data rather than the mere quantitative information. In addition, researchers’ beliefs might alter observations when interpreting the motive behind the action of the individual or organism under observation. It is very challenging to coordinate multiple observers because of the need to define the observed behaviours operationally. Such psychologists might also focus on the execution of case studies as elements of research with reference to motivation and emotion (Ugazio, Lamm, & Singer, 2012). This type of research enables motivation and emotion psychologists to gather extensive information in qualitative and quantitative data, which can be essential in improving understanding of the rare cases or specific, as well as particular interventions. Psychologists focus on the execution of surveys through assessment of the research studies through administration of the questions with the intention of seeking to determine why individuals or organisms tend to behave in a specific manner. That is an illustration of the quantitative research approach with the intention of quantifying motivations and emotions prior to illustration of the theoretical concepts and perceptions. Motivation and emotion psychologists might also focus on the execution of correctional studies with the intention of determining the existence of a relationship between the IV and DV, as well as the essence of the relationship. Similarly, such psychologists might also engage in the execution of psychological testing. This is through utilization of testing in the course of gathering information concerning a group or an individual under the influence of reliable and valid results. From these perspectives, it is essential to note that the motivation and emotion psychologists have the ability to execute and engage in different aspects of research. Question 3 Notably, psychologists have the ability and potentiality to focus on the assessment of diverse research topics in relation to motivation and emotion. Among the research topics, which might be of great interest to the psychologists in this field, is work motivation. It is essential to note that work motivation is a significant phenomenon for the scholars and practitioner for effectiveness and efficiency in understanding. Knowledge concerning work motivation has the potentiality of shedding light on the diverse collective accomplishments with reference to discovery of various concepts and attributes. Work motivation refers to the psychological processes with the ability to direct, energize, and maintain action towards a job, task, role, or project (Pinder, 2014). In relation to that, psychologists might focus on the assessment of the work motivation theory, as well as its application or implementation in relation to understanding why people work effectively and efficiently in the market and industry of interest. Similarly, psychologists might consider incorporation of diverse perspectives and theoretical elements of motivation to understand and elaborate on the existing motives guiding employees in pursuit of diverse goals and targets at the end of the fiscal period. Practitioners or psychologists should focus on the assessment of five core theoretical perspectives in relation to work motivation. This is through evaluation of expectancy theory, equity theory, goal-setting theory, job design, and self-determination theory. These elements are essential in understanding the motives for the employees to work towards handling the demands and expectations of the business entities, as well as consumers in various markets and industry of interest. On the contrary, psychologists might also focus on the assessment of the influence of motivation in the course of achieving the goals and targets of the employees. For instance, motivation is one of the most effective approaches in the process of enhancing or improving the performance of an organization. Employees have the need to feel motivated in the course of addressing their demands and expectations of the organization within the market and industry of operation. It is also essential for the employees to feel that the organization is going in the right direction to gain the motivation towards handling the demands and expectations of the business entities. In this context, psychologist might consider examination of the psychological factors and elements aiding the achievement of the goals and targets by employees in pursuit of competitive advantage within the market of interest. Question 4 There are diverse challenges, which a psychologist in this area might face in his or her research or work. Often, psychologists deal with clients or research subjects. Dealing with people or research subjects might be stressful and cumbersome, thus the need to adopt and implement appropriate mechanisms to relieve themselves from such conditions. It is essential to note that the biggest reward of being a psychologist comes out as the biggest challenge of being a psychologist, which relates to helping people overcome or deal with their problems (Hoffman, 2012). Moreover, it is difficult to help people overcome their daily problems or issues. In most cases, psychologists have to learn on how to help their clients find effective, as well as productive methods for handling and understanding their conditions without taking them on themselves. From this perspective, successful psychologists need to focus on separating work life from personal life, thus the opportunity to practice effective stress management techniques. Motivation is one of the most engaging research aspects. In this context, psychologists need to adopt and implement the most appropriate mechanisms, which might be ideal in overcoming stress issues. Second, most psychologists prefer working on flexible schedule whenever they run their own practice. At the same time, psychologists are often on call, thus must deal with the critical issues, which affect their clients. In most cases, these issues tend to arise at the most inconvenient times. It is common for the psychologists to meet in evenings with diverse clients who work all day, thus limiting their ability to meet during normal business hours. Psychologists have the obligation of adjusting their schedule with the intention of handling diverse demands and expectations of the clients (Hoffman, 2012). This might be challenging for the psychologist focusing on motivation and emotions. It is also vital for the psychologists to focus on identification of the most appropriate schedule to maximize their potentialities in the course of achieving goals and targets in relation to working with complex clients or consumers. Motivation and emotion psychologists face diverse limitations in the course of working with human subjects. Human subjects have diverse perceptions and feelings or emotions in accordance with the existing situations or contexts. Because of that, such entities have the tendency of welcoming or rejecting psychologists when handling the discussions or interventions between the two aspects. The elements or reactions tend to limit the effectiveness and efficiency of psychologists in the process of achieving their goals and targets. In repose to the challenge, psychologists have the obligation of adopting and implementing appropriate techniques and mechanisms when working with the human subjects. This is critical in the achievement of various goals and targets of the field, as well as the psychologists to help human subjects overcome different problems or issues concerning motivation and emotion. References Hoffman, L. (2012). Toward a deep diversity of humanistic psychology: Facing our challenges, embracing our opportunities. Society for Humanistic. American Psychology Association. Retrieved from http://www.apadivisions.org/division-32/publications/newsletters/humanistic/2012/10/embracing-deep-diversity.aspx Pinder, C. C. (2014). Work motivation in organizational behaviour. Psychology Press. Scherer, K. R., & Ekman, P. (Eds.). (2014). Approaches to emotion. Psychology Press. Ugazio, G., Lamm, C., & Singer, T. (2012). The role of emotions for moral judgments depends on the type of emotion and moral scenario. Emotion, 12(3), 579. Read More