Answer the following:
1) Describe a time in your life when you were motivated enough to do ANYTHING to achieve a goal. Give detail. What was the driving emotion behind this motivation?
2) Take a look at the theories of motivation on page 375-380 of your text. Then take a look at the following scenarios and pick a theory to describe what is going on to motivate each person.
Kellie has a history of test anxiety. Her final is coming up and instead of studying for the exam she goes out and gets wasted. She missed her exam and failed the class.
Jordan had a kidney stone and was put on pretty strong narcotics for pain. He enjoyed the way the narcotics made him feel so when his prescription ran out he started “borrowing” his father’s prescription, when that ran out he had to turn to getting the drugs off the street. Every day Jordan would say this was the last day but then by noon time he was looking for more pills.
Denise is a senior in high school, is going to college as an early admission student, is on the dance competition team, a member of the chorus, a star in the school plays, and on the brain bowl team. She comes from a stable home and feels as if she accepted by her peers. Her friends sometimes tease her because she is such an over-achiever.
3) Why do you think some people are energized by fear while other people avoid it? What makes one person a daredevil while another person is very cautious? What happens to each one physiologically when faced with fear?
4) Watch the Tedtalk which deals with stress and perception. According to Dr. McGonigal, in her opinion what is the most UNDERAPPRECIATED side of stress? Share with the class a personal stressful experience. What behaviors did you engage in to get through the experience? Did Dr. McGonigal have any insights that you found to be helpful? https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare
5) Read pages 397-400. After reading this information, give your definition of “happiness”. Also, share one thing that you feel that you do to increase your own happiness.
