What drives me? What made me choose my major? What motivates me to excel in my classes? Where does this energy and drive come from? Are my drives different from others? Psychologists answer these questions by looking at the concept of motivation, “the factors that direct and energize the behavior of humans and other organisms” (Feldman, 2015, p. 287).
Chapter 8 of Essentials of Understanding Psychology and the McGraw-Hill online lab focused on many topics, such as the major approaches to motivation, biological and social factors underlying hunger, motivation behind sexual behavior, various types of needs, and the functions and explanations of emotions. The McGraw Hill online lab started with an activity allowing me to explore motivation through …show more content…
Most of the focus in today’s society is the overwhelming problem of obesity and everyone raving about the newest diet plans. Sometimes, we do not take the time to reverse the table and look at those who have the opposite problem: eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, “an estimated 10 million women and 1 million men in the U.S. battle anorexia or bulimia” (Khorram, 2012). The complete explanation behind eating disorders is unknown, but they are believed to be the result of both biological and social factors. Possible biological causes include “a chemical imbalance in the hypothalamus or pituitary gland, perhaps brought on by genetic factors”(Feldman, 2015, p. 300) and the differences in how information about food is processed in the brain. Society also plays a role in the “valuation of slenderness and the parallel notion that obesity is undesirable” (Feldman, 2015, p. 300) as well as demanding parents and other family problems Part of the McGraw-Hill online lab was an article about Kirsten Haglund, a girl who won the title of Miss America at the age of nineteen. When she was twelve, she left home to attend the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet School (Khorram, 2012). Her self-esteem soon dropped due to the pressures of being away from home, the onset of puberty, and the stress of trying to stay thin. Her anxiety increased even more when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She started to severely restrict her food intake which gave her “a sense of triumph” (McGraw-Hill, 2015). Her obsession with thinness worsened over the next three years, until she finally left the dance school and started the road to recovery for her anorexia which lead her to begin pageants. She used this as a “platform to publicly speak about her struggles, hoping to de-stigmatize the illness” (Khorram,
Chapter 8 of Essentials of Understanding Psychology and the McGraw-Hill online lab focused on many topics, such as the major approaches to motivation, biological and social factors underlying hunger, motivation behind sexual behavior, various types of needs, and the functions and explanations of emotions. The McGraw Hill online lab started with an activity allowing me to explore motivation through …show more content…
Most of the focus in today’s society is the overwhelming problem of obesity and everyone raving about the newest diet plans. Sometimes, we do not take the time to reverse the table and look at those who have the opposite problem: eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, “an estimated 10 million women and 1 million men in the U.S. battle anorexia or bulimia” (Khorram, 2012). The complete explanation behind eating disorders is unknown, but they are believed to be the result of both biological and social factors. Possible biological causes include “a chemical imbalance in the hypothalamus or pituitary gland, perhaps brought on by genetic factors”(Feldman, 2015, p. 300) and the differences in how information about food is processed in the brain. Society also plays a role in the “valuation of slenderness and the parallel notion that obesity is undesirable” (Feldman, 2015, p. 300) as well as demanding parents and other family problems Part of the McGraw-Hill online lab was an article about Kirsten Haglund, a girl who won the title of Miss America at the age of nineteen. When she was twelve, she left home to attend the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet School (Khorram, 2012). Her self-esteem soon dropped due to the pressures of being away from home, the onset of puberty, and the stress of trying to stay thin. Her anxiety increased even more when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. She started to severely restrict her food intake which gave her “a sense of triumph” (McGraw-Hill, 2015). Her obsession with thinness worsened over the next three years, until she finally left the dance school and started the road to recovery for her anorexia which lead her to begin pageants. She used this as a “platform to publicly speak about her struggles, hoping to de-stigmatize the illness” (Khorram,