518 Chapter 14 The Major Motives of Life: Food, Love, Sex, and work
control, variation in tasks, supportive relationships, feedback,
and opportunities for advancement.Motives, Values, and the Pursuit
of Happiness
• People are not good at predicting what will make them happy
and what will make them miserable, and at estimating how long
those feelings will last, so they often choose goals that do not
bring them long-term satisfaction. well-being increases when
people enjoy the intrinsic satisfaction of an activity. Having
intrinsically enjoyable experiences makes most people happier
than having riches and possessions.
• In an approach–approach conflict, a person is equally attracted
to two goals. In an avoidance–avoidance conflict, a person is
equally repelled by two goals. An approach–avoidance conflict is
the most difficult to resolve because the person is both attracted
to and repelled by the same goal.
• Abraham Maslow believed that human motives could be ranked in
a pyramid, from basic biological needs for survival to higher psy-
chological needs for self-actualization. This popular theory has not
been supported empirically. Rather, psychological well-being de-
pends on finding activities and choosing goals that are intrinsically
satisfying and on developing the self-efficacy to achieve them.
Psychology in the News, Revisited
• Psychological research can help us understand the basic mo-
tives of our lives, including the enjoyment of food, love and
attachment, sex, and the nature and consequences of the goals
we set for ourselves. It shows that weight and body shape are
affected by more complicated factors than simply diet and
will power, and how powerfully culture shapes our notions of
the ideal and “healthy” body. It shows that sex is not simply
a matter of “doing what comes naturally”; what’s “natural” is
shaped by learning, culture, and experience. It shows that love
may start with the right chemistry and attractions, but it is sus-
tained (or extinguished) by less romantic matters of fairness,
income, and power. And it shows that the motivation to work—
and work well—is shaped not only by our own personal goals,
but by the kind of work we do and whether our work fosters or
impedes intrinsic motivation.Taking Psychology With You
• Motivational research suggests that people are happiest and
most fulfilled when they seek intrinsically pleasurable activi-
ties, focus on learning, improve their working conditions, resolve
conflicts, and choose the goals that reflect their most important
values.