The main topics covered in chapter ten are motivation (what gets you started and keeps you going towards a goal) and emotion (the feelings you experience along with a behavior). Over the next day or two, monitor your own behavior. Think of the motivation you have for your various behaviors and the emotions that you experience. Answer the following questions. Be sure to give enough detail that a reader has a clear understanding of what you did and what factors might have influenced your behavior.
- Describe something that you did in the past few days where it felt relatively easy to explain your motivation for the behavior. Explain your motivation for the behavior, and suggest a theory that backs up your explanation.
- Describe something that you did in the past few days where it was difficult to explain your motivation. Try to explain your motivation for the behavior and suggest a theory that backs up your explanation.
- Describe an experience where you felt a strong emotion. What emotion did you experience? Try to explain how you came to experience the emotion. Was a lot of thinking involved? Was it a quick “gut reaction?” Did the reactions of other people influence the way you felt? Which theory of emotion best fits your experience?
