Chapter 14 The Major Motives of Life: Food, Love, Sex, and work 515U
nderstanding the biological, psychological, and
cultural influences on motivation can help us
understand the stories that opened this chapter and
others that make the news every day.
The item about former Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts
to ban the sale of supersized soft drinks, which con-
tain enormous amounts of sugar, raises many ques-
tions. would the ban cause people to drink fewer
sodas, or would they just double their purchase of
smaller-sized drinks? Moreover, if a ban on large con-
tainers of soda simply causes people to switch to diet
drinks, sugar consumption could actually increase,
because artificial sweeteners make people crave more
sugar. we saw that the rise in obesity has many
causes, including an increase in inexpensive but
calorie-laden fast foods and large portion sizes, which
means that individuals and health officials will need
to think of imaginative interventions—perhaps start-
ing with some of the small but powerful ones that we
described in the Get Involved exercise on page 487.
The marriage of Hugh Hefner at age 86 to Crystal
Harris, 60 years younger, made many people scoff
about their motives. The couple certainly fits the
evolutionary prediction that men prefer young, fertile
women and women prefer older, rich men! But human
love takes many forms and involves many motives,
and whether it fades away or lasts for years depends
on social, economic, and cognitive factors such as
a couple’s attitudes, values, and perception of their
relationship as being fair or unfair. Maybe Hefner and
Harris married each other for pragmatic reasons, but
they might also have married for companionship and
fun, important aspects of human attachment.The news item about the rape conviction of the
teenage football players demonstrates some of the
unpleasant motivations that some people bring to
their sexual encounters. As we saw, the causes of
rape and sexual assault often have less to do with
physical pleasure than with contempt for women; in
this case, one young man took pictures of the vic-
tim, unconscious and naked, to circulate to friends.
Other motives for rape include narcissism, a sense of
entitlement, sadism, or a need to prove masculinity.
The two young men could easily have attracted con-
sensual partners, which suggests that whatever their
motives, their actions were not simply about sexual
gratification.
Finally, and on a happier note, the story of Drew
Lovejoy, the Jewish, biracial, American Irish-dancing
champion, demonstrates the importance of having
self-efficacy, setting challenging but achievable goals,
and persisting in the pursuit of your dreams. Drew
may have been driven in part by performance goals,
but we’ll bet that he also found intrinsic pleasure in
learning to master this difficult dance form.
Abraham Maslow may have been wrong about a
universal hierarchy of motives, but perhaps each of
us develops our own hierarchy as we grow from child-
hood to old age. For some people, the needs for love,
security, or safety will dominate. For others, the need
for achievement or power will rule. Some of us will
wrestle with conflicting motives; for others, one con-
suming ambition will hold sway over all others. The
motives and goals that inspire us, and the choices we
make in their pursuit, are what give our lives passion,
color, and meaning. Choose wisely.PsychoLogy in The neWs revisiTed
482The Hungry Animal: Motives to Eat The Social Animal: Motives(^) for Sex The Erotic Animal: Motives to Love
The Competent Animal: Motives to AchieveMotives, Values, and the^
(^) Revisited Psychology in the News, Pursuit of Happiness
TGoals (^) Yo aking Psychology u: How to Attain YoWith ur
THE MAJOR MOTIVES
OF LIFE: FOOD, LOVE,
SEX, AND WORK
14
see previous Harris, a Playmate of the Month in 2009, had broken off theius as engagement stereotypes in in 2011, terms of five age days and before beautytheir ,” he planned says. r
than wedding, in love,” anybody Harris but else the told couple in a^ Esquirrelationship reconciled e^ magazine. ever a year “Hef has. lateIt r.loves^ “He took me me believesmoretime^
away to realize that.”
Dancing Championshi^ American T^ GREENVILLE,^ OH, een Wins His Third All-IrelanMarch 17, 2012.p Drew Lovejoy, 17, has d won
the of the 6, third all-Ireland but only straight dancing when year. he championship happened Lovejoy started to go in dancing Dublin, to an Irish at Ireland, the dance agefor
munity competition on this form. bullied in Although him, Indianapolis he some persevered. with people a friend “I was in did his he farming like, get ‘I want hookedcom-^ a
color: medal,’” he said. Drew Lovejoy is to win Drewthree ’s championships, father, from Georgia, but not only the first also is black the and first his person Americanmotherof,^
from overwhelming.”“They Iowa, don’t even is white. know Drewhe’s’s Jewish. motherI , think Andee it Goldberg, would be too says
Hugh Hefner Marries Crystal Harrison New YBEVERL Y HILLS, earCA, ’s EvJanuary e 1, 2013. Hugh Hefner (^) , 86, mar-
ried for It is last—he his Crystal third is Harris, now marriage 26, a happat and, the y, he committed, Playboy says, Mansion he one-woman saved last the night.man.best (^)
Hefner difference. scoffs “It’s when only people people comment who don’t on know their us, 60-year who simplyage (^)
Psychology in the News
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris at their New Year’s Eve wedding.Taking Psychology With You
How to Attain Your
Goals
what are your values? what would you most
like to achieve and accomplish in your life?
Is the answer love, wealth, security, passion,
freedom, fame, the opportunity to improve
the world, being the best in a sport or other
skill? Something else? what are your short-
term goals: would you like to improve your
love life? Get better grades? Enjoy school
more? Lose weight? Become a better tennis
player?A whole world of motivational speakers,
books, and tapes offer inspiration, enthusiasm,
and a few magic steps to change your life, but
we hope that by now you will apply critical
thinking to their promises. Enthusiastic inspi-
ration is fine as far as it goes, but it usually
doesn’t transfer into helping you make real-life
changes. what does help? Think about some
of the lessons of motivational research that
you have learned in this chapter:Seek activities that are intrinsically pleasur-
able. If you really, really want to study Swahili
or Italian, even though these languages arenot in your pre-law requirements, try to
find a way to do it. As the great writer Ray
Bradbury said at age 89, the secret to living
to a grand old age is to “do what you love
and love what you do.” If you are not enjoy-
ing your major or your job, consider finding a
career that would be more intrinsically plea-
surable, or at least make sure you have other
projects and activities that you do enjoy for
their own sake.Focus on learning goals, not only on perfor-
mance goals. In general, you will be better
able to cope with setbacks if your goal is to