Motivation is the drive that makes us do the things we do. The five approaches to motivation are instinct, drive-reduction, arousal, incentive, and cognitive. The instinct approach is the pattern of behavior that we are born with such as the need to survive, the need for reproduction, and the need to explore our territory. The drive-reduction approach is the drive to reduce a need, such as hunger, sleeping, and even the need to learn. Arousal approach suggests that everyone strives to maintain levels of stimulation and activity. The level widely varies from person to person, from high level arousal, such as skydiving, to nothing more than watching a scary movie. An example of the incentive approach would be if kids eat all of their dinner they may have a dessert afterward. By offering dessert, the kids will be motivated to finish their dinner. The cognitive approach suggests that students will study more to make a better grade. Intrinsic motivation is for one’s own enjoyment while extrinsic motivation is working to make money or studying longer for a good grade.
Emotions are feeling, both physiological and cognitive, that influence one’s behavior. The main two positive emotions are love and joy. The three main negative emotions are fear, anger, and sadness. One positive emotion for a student is pride. I take pride in my work because I know I have done the best I can and the payoff will be a good grade. A negative emotion of being a student could be worry or guilt. If I did not put much effort into an assignment I would worry about the grade I would get and feel guilty for not putting my best foot forward.
The incentive approach and the cognitive approach could help me overcome the emotions related to being a student. The incentive approach because I want to make good grades so I work hard on assignments. The cognitive approach, extrinsic motivation, because I enjoy learning new