Motivation may be regarded as an internal force that plays an immeasurably significant role in every person’s life. Defined as “the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met,” motivation is essential for goals’ achievement and personal satisfaction (Ciccarelli & White, 2020, p. 348). Although motivation may be extrinsic and intrinsic, it is inseparably bound with emotions. The purpose of the paper is to examine the influence of emotions on people’s motivation and behaviors based on a peer-reviewed article and apply received knowledge to the current situation related to the pandemic.
In their article “When we want them to fear us: The motivation to influence outgroup emotions in collective action,” Hasan-Aslih et al. (2018) introduce the concept of emotional regulation and address the influence of emotions on the members of one group and the behavior of the outgroup’s members. The scientists conducted three independent trials with Palestinian citizens of Israel involved recruited with the use of snowball sampling and social media (Hasan-Aslih et al., 2018). Each participant completed a questionnaire dedicated to collective actions to measure his motivation to take part in them. Motivation for outgroup emotions, goals, and collective action intentions was assessed and subsequently analyzed. According to the study’s findings, people may be motivated to participate in collective activities to modify the behaviors and emotions of another group’s members, especially in the case of confrontation. In addition, people frequently control their own emotions according to the purpose of their actions to receive more beneficial outcomes.
In general, the study aimed “to expand current knowledge on collective action by exploring emotion regulation motives underlying violent and nonviolent collective action” (Hasan-Aslih et al., 2018, p. 741). It examined how the motivation of group members to evoke and change opponents’ emotions predicts their violent and nonviolent collective actions and how pursuing individual goals through collective actions affects motivation. The research has considerable practical importance and may be used for further researcher in various areas of psychology, for instance, for the examination of social change goals not connected with motivation and emotions. In addition, it will be useful for the investigation of third parties and different target audiences.
At the same time, the results of this research may be applied to the current situation related to social distancing initiated due to the pandemic and social response to this measure. First of all, social media aims to change people’s emotions concerning the significance of the virus and impact their behaviors motivating them to keep social distance. However, in the United States, society has divided into people embarrassed by controversial information who remained socially active and people who preferred to keep distance. Thus, the confrontation between members of both groups motivated by people’s intentions to evoke opponents’ emotions and change their behaviors in their favor may be noticed. Finally, in every group, people are affected by the emotions and behaviors of others and correct their behavior on this basis.
In the last case, it is possible to talk about the social influence that forces individuals in groups to change their ideas and conform to the actions of other group members. In general, several factors determine the scale of social influence and members’ conformity, including the group’s size and its perceived higher status, high group cohesion, and members’ unanimity (Ciccarelli & White, 2020). Other essential factors associated with public influence are people’s age, gender, character, education, and whether stimuli are important or not. Individuals traditionally conform to the group’s norms to gain its members’ acceptance and achieve common goals. In relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, people who choose social distancing believe that the same actions performed by other people will lead to successful results – avoidance of the disease and the stop of the pandemic all over the world.
Multiple psychological theories address needs that trigger motivation. For instance, the drive-reduction approach assumes that “behavior arises from internal drives to push the organism to satisfy physiological needs and reduce tension and arousal” (Ciccarelli & White, 2020, p. 349). David McClelland identified three essential needs that motivate individuals for actions aimed at these needs’ satisfaction (Ciccarelli & White, 2020). The self-theory of Carol Dweck considers a person’s self-control and the impact of his personality on motivation and achievement. Thus, these theories may be applied for the explanation of why some people follow official orders during the pandemic while others ignore them.
First of all, individual peculiarities may determine priorities that form behaviors – the priority of health for one individuals and their motivation to stay at home for well-being against the priority of social contacts for others. In addition, one group is driven by fear of being infected, and this fear may be either individual or accumulated by other people’s emotions. In addition, brain structures, specifically including the amygdala, are responsible for fear in the case of a potential threat that motivates them to act in a way that will allow avoiding this threat (Ciccarelli & White, 2020). In turn, another group may be less persuaded by mass media and outgroup’s emotions to develop fear and conform with official policies.
References
Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2020). Psychology (6th ed.). Pearson Education.
Hasan-Aslih, S., Netzer, L., van Zomeren, M., Saguy, T., Tamir, M., & Halperin, E. (2018). When we want them to fear us: The motivation to influence outgroup emotions in collective action. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(5), 724-745. Web.