Motivation, Emotion, Stress and Coping

This chapter answers Section XH5.7 of XH5 Psychology, one of the six optional sections of the Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) paper, chosen at application: “Approaches to understanding motivation: Instinct, Drive-reduction, Arousal, Incentive, Humanistic, Achievement motivation, Intrinsic motivation, Aggression, Curiosity and Exploration. Emotions: Nature of emotions; Theories of emotions. Definition of stress, what are stressors, cognitive factors in stress. Factors in stress reaction: General adaptation syndrome, Effect of stress. Coping with stress: Problem-focused coping and Emotion-focused coping.” It teaches what energises and directs behaviour, how the major theories of emotion disagree about the order of arousal, cognition and feeling, and how stress is appraised, how the body reacts to it, and how people cope.

1. Approaches to motivation: instinct, drive, arousal and incentive

Motivation is the process that initiates, directs and sustains behaviour toward a goal. The earliest instinct approach (championed by William McDougall and, in a different form, William James) held that behaviour is driven by inborn, unlearned, species-typical patterns. It fell out of favour because naming an instinct for every behaviour explains nothing, but the idea survives in ethology's fixed action patterns. The drive-reduction approach (Clark Hull) replaced it: a biological need creates an unpleasant internal tension called a drive, and behaviour acts to reduce that drive and restore homeostasis, the body's steady internal state. Eating reduces the hunger drive; the reduction is reinforcing.

Drive reduction cannot explain why people seek stimulation when no need is pressing. The arousal approach fills the gap: organisms act to keep arousal near an optimal level, raising it when bored and lowering it when overwhelmed. The Yerkes-Dodson law states that performance is best at a moderate level of arousal, following an inverted-U curve, and that the optimum is lower for difficult tasks than for simple ones. The incentive approach adds the pull of the environment: behaviour is drawn by the reward value of external goal objects (incentives), not only pushed by internal drives, which is why a full person still eats an attractive dessert.

⚠️ Push versus pull
Keep the direction straight: a drive pushes from inside (a need state), while an incentive pulls from outside (a goal's reward value). The same act of eating can be driven by hunger (push) or drawn by a tempting cake (pull). An item that describes behaviour energised by an external reward with no internal deficit is incentive, not drive reduction.

2. Humanistic, achievement, intrinsic motivation, aggression and curiosity

The humanistic approach (Abraham Maslow) arranges needs in a hierarchy: physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and at the top self-actualisation. The lower four are deficiency needs, felt as a lack and generally taking priority; self-actualisation is a growth (being) need, the drive to realise one's potential. Carl Rogers' humanistic theory likewise posits an inborn actualising tendency. Achievement motivation (studied by David McClelland and John Atkinson, and measured by scoring the stories people tell to ambiguous pictures on the Thematic Apperception Test) is the need to meet a standard of excellence; high-nAch people prefer moderately difficult tasks where effort decides the outcome.

Motivation also has intrinsic and extrinsic forms. Intrinsic motivation pursues an activity for its own inherent satisfaction; extrinsic motivation pursues it for a separable reward. Rewarding an already-enjoyed activity can backfire through the overjustification effect: the external reward comes to be seen as the reason for acting, and intrinsic interest falls once the reward stops. Curiosity and exploration are intrinsically motivated behaviours that reducing a biological drive cannot explain — organisms seek novelty and information for their own sake, consistent with an optimal-arousal account.

🎯 Why frustration can motivate aggression
The frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard and colleagues, 1939) proposed that blocking goal-directed behaviour creates a readiness to aggress. Leonard Berkowitz revised it: frustration produces an aggressive urge through the negative affect it generates, and this turns into aggression mainly when aggressive cues are present in the situation. Older instinct views (Freud's death instinct, Lorenz's ethological account) treated aggression as an inborn drive instead.

3. Emotions: nature and theories

An emotion is a brief, patterned response with three components: physiological arousal (heart rate, hormones), a cognitive-subjective feeling, and an expressive-behavioural display (face, posture, voice). Research on facial expression (Paul Ekman) supports a small set of basic emotions — happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust — recognised across cultures. The theories of emotion disagree about the order in which the components occur.

Four theories of emotion and the order they propose
TheoryProposed sequenceKey claim
James-LangeStimulus → bodily change → emotionThe emotion is our perception of the bodily change; we are afraid because we tremble
Cannon-BardStimulus → arousal and emotion togetherArousal and the felt emotion occur simultaneously and independently
Schachter-Singer (two-factor)Stimulus → arousal + cognitive label → emotionA single arousal is labelled using situational cues to become a specific emotion
Cognitive appraisal (Lazarus)Stimulus → appraisal → emotion and arousalHow the situation is interpreted determines which emotion results

Cannon attacked the James-Lange theory with several arguments, among them that visceral changes are often too slow and too similar across emotions to tell fear from anger, so bodily feedback alone cannot specify the emotion. Schachter and Singer's two-factor theory answers this by adding cognition: arousal supplies the intensity, and a cognitive label supplied by the situation supplies the quality. Lazarus pushed cognition further still, arguing that an appraisal of the situation's meaning precedes and shapes the emotion itself.

4. Stress, stressors and cognitive appraisal

In the transactional model (Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman), stress is not a property of an event but a relationship: it arises when a person appraises the demands of a situation as taxing or exceeding their resources and endangering their well-being. A stressor is any event or condition that places such a demand. Stressors differ in scale: major life events (studied by Holmes and Rahe, who assigned life-change units on a social-readjustment scale), chronic strains, and the everyday daily hassles that Lazarus showed predict distress as well as, or better than, rare catastrophes.

Stressors can be sorted by duration and reach. Acute stressors are short and sharp (a near-miss on the road); chronic stressors persist (caregiving, poverty, a hostile workplace) and do the most lasting harm. Cataclysmic events strike many people at once (a disaster), personal life events strike an individual (bereavement, divorce), and background stressors or daily hassles are the low-grade, repeated frictions of ordinary life. Ambient stressors such as noise and crowding act without being the focus of attention.

Because stress depends on interpretation, cognitive factors are central. Lazarus distinguishes primary appraisal — judging whether an event is irrelevant, benign, or stressful (and if stressful, a harm/loss, a threat, or a challenge) — from secondary appraisal, judging what coping resources and options are available. The same examination is a threat to an unprepared student and a challenge to a confident one, which is why appraisal, not the event alone, drives the stress reaction. Perceived control, predictability and social support all lower appraised threat.

5. The stress reaction: general adaptation syndrome and the effects of stress

Hans Selye described the body's non-specific physiological reaction to any prolonged stressor as the general adaptation syndrome (GAS), which unfolds in three stages. In the alarm reaction the body mobilises for emergency — the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal glands release adrenaline, raising heart rate and readying fight-or-flight. In the stage of resistance arousal stays elevated while the body copes with the continuing stressor, drawing on hormones such as cortisol. If the stressor persists, resources are depleted and the stage of exhaustion follows, in which vulnerability to illness rises. Selye stressed that this sequence is the same whatever the particular stressor.

  • Physiological effects: prolonged stress raises cardiovascular risk and, through sustained cortisol, can suppress immune function (the field of psychoneuroimmunology), slowing healing and raising susceptibility to infection.
  • Psychological effects: anxiety, irritability, and, under chronic work stress, burnout — emotional exhaustion, cynicism and reduced accomplishment.
  • Individual difference: the Type A behaviour pattern (Friedman and Rosenman) — competitiveness, time urgency and hostility — was linked to higher coronary heart disease risk, with hostility later identified as the most toxic component.
⚠️ Alarm is not exhaustion
A common slip is to place the surge of stress hormones in the exhaustion stage. It belongs to the alarm reaction: the body releases adrenaline to meet the sudden demand first. Exhaustion is the late stage in which those resources are depleted and illness becomes likely.

6. Coping with stress: problem-focused and emotion-focused

Coping is the changing effort to manage demands appraised as stressful. Lazarus and Folkman draw the central distinction by what the effort targets. Problem-focused coping targets the stressor itself: making a plan, gathering information, removing the obstacle, or renegotiating the demand. Emotion-focused coping targets the emotional response to the stressor: relaxation, seeking comfort, reappraising the situation, or acceptance. Neither is always better. Problem-focused coping suits controllable stressors, where action can change the situation; emotion-focused coping suits uncontrollable ones (a bereavement, an incurable illness), where the situation cannot be changed and the feelings must be managed.

🧠 Classify by the target, not the comfort
To classify a coping act, ask what it is trying to change. If it acts on the situation (a timetable, a conversation with the boss, finding out the facts), it is problem-focused even if it also calms you. If it acts on your feelings (reframing, relaxation, acceptance, distraction), it is emotion-focused even if the situation stays the same.

Key takeaways

  • The approaches to motivation progress from push to pull: instinct (inborn patterns), drive-reduction (reduce an internal need to restore homeostasis), arousal (keep stimulation optimal; Yerkes-Dodson's inverted U, with a lower optimum for hard tasks) and incentive (pulled by external reward value).
  • Maslow's hierarchy has four deficiency needs below one growth need (self-actualisation); achievement motivation (McClelland, TAT) is the need to meet a standard; intrinsic motivation, curiosity and exploration need no biological drive, and rewarding an enjoyed activity can lower interest through the overjustification effect.
  • The four emotion theories differ by order: James-Lange (body change first, emotion is its perception), Cannon-Bard (arousal and emotion together), Schachter-Singer two-factor (arousal plus a cognitive label from the situation) and cognitive appraisal (interpretation shapes the emotion).
  • In Lazarus and Folkman's model, stress is a person-environment transaction: primary appraisal judges harm, threat or challenge; secondary appraisal judges coping resources. Stressors range from major life events to daily hassles, and appraisal, not the event alone, drives the reaction.
  • Selye's general adaptation syndrome runs alarm (hormone surge, fight-or-flight), resistance (sustained coping) and exhaustion (resources depleted, illness likely), the same sequence for any stressor. Chronic stress suppresses immunity and raises cardiovascular risk; the Type A hostility component is linked to heart disease.
  • Coping is classified by its target: problem-focused coping acts on the stressor (planning, information, negotiation) and suits controllable situations; emotion-focused coping acts on the feelings (reappraisal, relaxation, acceptance) and suits uncontrollable ones.

Practice questions (17)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

  1. A person feels hungry, and this unpleasant internal tension pushes them to eat until the tension subsides and internal balance is restored. Which approach to motivation does this best illustrate?

    1. The incentive approach, in which behaviour is drawn by the external reward value of a goal object
    2. The arousal approach, in which behaviour aims to keep stimulation at a moderate, optimal level
    3. The instinct approach, in which behaviour merely follows the fixed inborn patterns that are shared by every single member of the species
    4. The drive-reduction approach, in which a need creates a drive and behaviour acts to reduce it, restoring homeostasis
    Show answer

    Answer: D — The drive-reduction approach, in which a need creates a drive and behaviour acts to reduce it, restoring homeostasis

    A need (hunger) produces an internal drive whose reduction restores homeostasis — the definition of the drive-reduction approach. The incentive approach is the tempting wrong choice because eating is involved, but incentive describes behaviour pulled by an external reward with no internal deficit (eating cake when already full); here the push is an internal need. Arousal and instinct describe different mechanisms entirely.

  2. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, how does arousal relate to performance, and how does task difficulty change this?

    1. Performance rises steadily with arousal, so the most highly aroused people always perform best regardless of the task
    2. Performance is best at a moderate level of arousal (an inverted U), and the optimal level is lower for difficult tasks than for simple ones
    3. Performance is best when arousal is at its lowest, and difficult tasks require even lower arousal to be performed well
    4. Performance is unrelated to arousal and depends only on the incentive value attached to the task, so changes in arousal make no difference
    Show answer

    Answer: B — Performance is best at a moderate level of arousal (an inverted U), and the optimal level is lower for difficult tasks than for simple ones

    The Yerkes-Dodson law describes an inverted-U: too little or too much arousal both hurt performance, which peaks at a moderate level. The optimum is lower for difficult or complex tasks and higher for simple, well-learned ones. The steady-rise option is the classic error — more arousal is not always better.

  3. The need for achievement, assessed by scoring the themes in stories that people make up about ambiguous pictures (the Thematic Apperception Test), is a line of work principally associated with which psychologist?

    1. Clark Hull, known for the drive-reduction theory of motivation
    2. Konrad Lorenz, known for ethological studies of instinctive behaviour
    3. David McClelland, known for research on achievement motivation and the need for achievement
    4. Abraham Maslow, known for the humanistic hierarchy of needs that culminates in self-actualisation
    Show answer

    Answer: C — David McClelland, known for research on achievement motivation and the need for achievement

    David McClelland (with John Atkinson) developed the study of achievement motivation and used the Thematic Apperception Test to measure the need for achievement from the themes in people's stories. Hull is drive-reduction, Lorenz is instinct/ethology, and Maslow is the humanistic hierarchy.

  4. Which sequence of events does the James-Lange theory of emotion propose?

    1. An emotion-arousing stimulus first produces a conscious emotion, which then causes the bodily changes that accompany it
    2. An emotion-arousing stimulus produces bodily changes, and the emotion is our perception of those bodily changes
    3. An emotion-arousing stimulus produces physiological arousal and the conscious emotion at the same time and independently
    4. An emotion-arousing stimulus produces arousal that must be cognitively labelled using the situation before any emotion is felt
    Show answer

    Answer: B — An emotion-arousing stimulus produces bodily changes, and the emotion is our perception of those bodily changes

    James-Lange reverses common sense: the bodily change comes first and the emotion is the perception of it — we are afraid because we tremble, not the other way round. The simultaneous-and-independent option is Cannon-Bard; the labelling option is Schachter-Singer; the emotion-then-body option is the everyday intuition the theory denies.

  5. In Schachter and Singer's two-factor theory, what determines which specific emotion a person experiences?

    1. The specific pattern of facial muscles that the stimulus happens to activate, which is read off directly as the emotion felt
    2. The pattern of physiological arousal alone, which differs sharply from one emotion to another
    3. A cognitive label that the person applies to general physiological arousal, using cues from the situation
    4. An inborn affect programme that fixes the emotion before any arousal occurs at all
    Show answer

    Answer: C — A cognitive label that the person applies to general physiological arousal, using cues from the situation

    The two factors are (1) general physiological arousal and (2) a cognitive label drawn from the situation; the same arousal becomes fear or euphoria depending on how it is interpreted. The arousal-alone option is wrong because the theory holds arousal is fairly undifferentiated, so cognition is needed to specify the emotion.

  6. In Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model, primary appraisal is the process of judging:

    1. Whether an event is relevant to one's well-being and, if so, whether it is a harm, threat or challenge
    2. Which coping resources and which response options are actually available to the person for dealing with the event
    3. Whether the body has physiologically returned to homeostasis after the event has ended
    4. How the other people present in the same situation are reacting to the event
    Show answer

    Answer: A — Whether an event is relevant to one's well-being and, if so, whether it is a harm, threat or challenge

    Primary appraisal asks ‘is this relevant and threatening to me?’ and classifies a stressful event as harm/loss, threat or challenge. Judging the available coping resources is the definition of secondary appraisal — the tempting distractor — which follows primary appraisal rather than being it.

  7. In Selye's general adaptation syndrome, which stage is characterised by sustained elevated arousal while the body keeps coping with a continuing stressor, before its resources are eventually depleted?

    1. The alarm reaction
    2. The stage of resistance
    3. The stage of exhaustion
    4. The stage of appraisal
    Show answer

    Answer: B — The stage of resistance

    Resistance is the middle stage: after the initial alarm surge, the body stays mobilised and copes with the ongoing stressor until, if it persists, exhaustion sets in. Alarm is the initial mobilisation and exhaustion is depletion. ‘Appraisal’ is a Lazarus term, not a GAS stage, so it cannot be correct.

  8. A student anxious about an upcoming examination draws up a detailed revision timetable and begins working through the hardest topics first. In Lazarus and Folkman's framework this is an example of:

    1. Emotion-focused coping, because it is directed at reducing the student's feelings of anxiety
    2. Problem-focused coping, because it is directed at changing or managing the stressor itself
    3. The alarm stage of the general adaptation syndrome, because arousal has risen sharply
    4. Secondary appraisal, because the student is only listing the coping resources available
    Show answer

    Answer: B — Problem-focused coping, because it is directed at changing or managing the stressor itself

    Making a plan and acting on the material tackles the stressor itself, which is problem-focused coping. It is tempting to call it emotion-focused because the student is anxious, but the act targets the situation (the exam preparation), not the feeling, and classification is by the target. Listing resources would be secondary appraisal, but the student is acting, not just appraising.

  9. Which of the following actions is best classified as emotion-focused coping?

    1. Renegotiating a deadline with one's manager so that an overwhelming workload becomes manageable
    2. Breaking a large, daunting task into smaller steps and tackling them one after another
    3. Practising relaxation and reframing a setback as a chance to learn, in order to ease one's distress
    4. Gathering detailed information about a medical condition in order to choose a treatment plan
    Show answer

    Answer: C — Practising relaxation and reframing a setback as a chance to learn, in order to ease one's distress

    Relaxation and reappraisal act on the emotional response rather than on the stressor, which is emotion-focused coping. Renegotiating the deadline, breaking the task into steps and gathering information all act on the situation itself and are problem-focused, however calming they may also feel.

  10. Children who already enjoy drawing in their free time are given a certificate every time they draw for several weeks. When the certificates are stopped, they draw noticeably less than a comparison group that was never rewarded. Which account best explains this result?

    1. The overjustification effect, where a reward for an already-enjoyed activity becomes the perceived reason to act, so interest drops once the reward stops
    2. Drive reduction, because once the certificates ended, the act of drawing no longer served to reduce any ongoing biological need
    3. The Yerkes-Dodson law, because removing the certificates lowered the children's arousal below the level that is said to be optimal for an activity such as drawing
    4. Instinctive drift, because drawing is not part of the species' fixed inborn action patterns
    Show answer

    Answer: A — The overjustification effect, where a reward for an already-enjoyed activity becomes the perceived reason to act, so interest drops once the reward stops

    Rewarding an already-enjoyed activity can shift the perceived cause of behaviour from inner interest to the external reward; when the reward stops, intrinsic motivation is lower than before — the overjustification effect. Drawing reduces no biological need, so drive reduction does not apply; Yerkes-Dodson is about arousal and performance, not reward and interest; instinctive drift concerns conditioned animals reverting to instinct.

  11. Two hikers on separate trails each feel their hearts pound in exactly the same way as a large dog bounds toward them. The first, seeing a wagging tail and an owner jogging up behind, feels delight; the second, seeing bared teeth and no owner, feels terror. Which theory most directly explains why identical arousal produces opposite emotions here?

    1. The James-Lange theory, because each hiker reads the emotion directly off an identical bodily state
    2. The Cannon-Bard theory, because the arousal and the emotion arise at the same time and quite independently in each of the two hikers
    3. A cognitive-appraisal account, in which how each hiker interprets the situation determines which emotion the shared arousal becomes
    4. The opponent-process theory, because the first response is automatically followed by its emotional opposite
    Show answer

    Answer: C — A cognitive-appraisal account, in which how each hiker interprets the situation determines which emotion the shared arousal becomes

    The arousal is identical, so the difference must come from interpretation — exactly what cognitive-appraisal (and the related two-factor) accounts claim. James-Lange fails because identical bodily states should give identical emotions on that view; Cannon-Bard says nothing about why the interpretations diverge; opponent-process concerns a response and its later rebound, not two people reading one event differently.

  12. In Berkowitz's revision of the frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration is most likely to lead to actual aggression when:

    1. The frustration generates negative affect and aggressive cues are present in the situation
    2. The frustrated person has an unusually high need for affiliation with others
    3. Physiological arousal is kept below the optimal level set by the Yerkes-Dodson law
    4. The blocked goal had only extrinsic value and no intrinsic value to the person
    Show answer

    Answer: A — The frustration generates negative affect and aggressive cues are present in the situation

    The original hypothesis said frustration leads to aggression; Berkowitz qualified it: frustration produces negative affect that creates a readiness to aggress, which becomes overt aggression chiefly when aggressive cues are present. Need for affiliation, Yerkes-Dodson arousal and the intrinsic/extrinsic value of the goal are not part of this account.

  13. Consider these four statements, labelled P, Q, R and S. Which are correct about approaches to motivation?
    P: Instinct theories explain behaviour by inborn, species-typical patterns and were championed by early theorists such as William McDougall.
    Q: In incentive theory, motivation is a push from internal need states rather than a pull from external goal objects.
    R: Maslow's humanistic approach arranges needs in a hierarchy, with lower deficiency needs generally taking priority over higher growth needs.
    S: Curiosity and exploratory behaviour show that organisms can be motivated even when no biological drive is being reduced.

    1. P
    2. Q
    3. R
    4. S
    Show answer

    Answer: A — P; C — R; D — S

    P, R and S are correct. Q reverses the definition: incentive theory is precisely the pull from external goals, while the push from internal needs is drive theory. P correctly names the instinct approach and McDougall; R correctly describes Maslow's hierarchy with deficiency needs prioritised; S correctly notes that curiosity and exploration need no drive reduction.

  14. Consider these statements about theories of emotion, labelled P, Q, R and S. Which are correct?
    P: The James-Lange theory holds that we experience an emotion as our perception of bodily changes that a stimulus has already produced.
    Q: The Cannon-Bard theory proposes that physiological arousal and the subjective emotion occur at the same time rather than one causing the other.
    R: The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory claims that the pattern of physiological arousal alone, with no cognitive interpretation, fixes which specific emotion is felt.
    S: Cognitive-appraisal theories hold that how a person interprets a situation shapes the emotion that results.

    1. P
    2. Q
    3. R
    4. S
    Show answer

    Answer: A — P; B — Q; D — S

    P, Q and S are correct. R is false: the two-factor theory holds that arousal is fairly general and needs a cognitive label from the situation to become a specific emotion, so arousal alone cannot fix it. P states James-Lange accurately, Q states Cannon-Bard's simultaneity, and S states the cognitive-appraisal position.

  15. Consider these statements about stress and the general adaptation syndrome, labelled P, Q, R and S. Which are correct?
    P: The general adaptation syndrome describes a non-specific sequence of alarm, resistance and exhaustion that occurs regardless of the particular stressor.
    Q: Prolonged stress can suppress immune function and contribute to cardiovascular problems.
    R: In the general adaptation syndrome, the exhaustion stage is where the body first releases stress hormones to meet a sudden demand.
    S: Daily hassles, not only major life events, are a recognised source of stress.

    1. P
    2. Q
    3. R
    4. S
    Show answer

    Answer: A — P; B — Q; D — S

    P, Q and S are correct. R is false: the initial surge of stress hormones belongs to the alarm reaction, not the exhaustion stage, which is the late stage of depleted resources. P correctly states the non-specific three-stage sequence, Q the physiological toll of chronic stress, and S that daily hassles as well as major events are stressors.

  16. Consider these statements about coping with stress, labelled P, Q, R and S. Which are correct?
    P: Problem-focused coping is directed at altering or removing the stressor itself.
    Q: Emotion-focused coping is directed at managing the emotional response to the stressor.
    R: Emotion-focused coping tends to be more useful than problem-focused coping for stressors the person cannot control.
    S: Any act that happens to calm a person down is, for that reason alone, classified as emotion-focused coping.

    1. P
    2. Q
    3. R
    4. S
    Show answer

    Answer: A — P; B — Q; C — R

    P, Q and R are correct. S is false: coping is classified by its target, not by whether it happens to be calming — a problem-focused act such as making a plan may calm the person yet remains problem-focused. P and Q state the two definitions, and R correctly notes that emotion-focused coping suits uncontrollable stressors while problem-focused coping suits controllable ones.

  17. Maslow's classic hierarchy of needs has five levels. Every level except the highest is a deficiency need (D-need), while the highest level, self-actualisation, is a growth or being need. How many of the five levels are deficiency needs? Give your answer as a whole number.

    Numerical answer — type the value.

    Show answer

    Answer: 4

    The five levels are physiological, safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualisation. The first four are deficiency needs and only self-actualisation is a growth (being) need, so 5 - 1 = 4 levels are deficiency needs.