What do you do when you’re hungry? You eat! This concept is not rocket science; however, scientists have taken decades to find an exact explanation for why we, as humans, feel hungry. People eat out on dates, on holidays, and simply to feel closer to one another. There are multi-million dollar businesses founded on the impetus of eating. Something this important to the human experience must be studied, and this explanation will help you digest information regarding the definition of hunger motivation, the psychological theories, and the role biological mechanisms play in hunger.
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Sign up for freeTrue or false? Hunger only refers to when humans need to consume food
According to the stomach contraction theory, if you drink enough water so that your stomach is full of water, will you still be hungry?
True or false? The incentive theory of hunger says that people are motivated to eat by external stimuli.
Would eating more food to conform to your friend group be explained by incentive theory or arousal theory?
Can you eating food that you don't like be explained by the arousal theory of hunger motivation?
Which hunger motivation theory would explain eating when you're bored?
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Bob eats cookies every day because he loves sweets.
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Fred wants to bulk up for football season so he eats past the point of him being full.
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Joe eats because he feels hungry.
True or false? Hunger only refers to when humans need to consume food
According to the stomach contraction theory, if you drink enough water so that your stomach is full of water, will you still be hungry?
True or false? The incentive theory of hunger says that people are motivated to eat by external stimuli.
Would eating more food to conform to your friend group be explained by incentive theory or arousal theory?
Can you eating food that you don't like be explained by the arousal theory of hunger motivation?
Which hunger motivation theory would explain eating when you're bored?
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Bob eats cookies every day because he loves sweets.
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Fred wants to bulk up for football season so he eats past the point of him being full.
Which form of hunger motivation is this? Joe eats because he feels hungry.
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Team Hunger Motivation Teachers
Before understanding the many theories and explanations regarding the motivation behind hunger, we must empirically define and operationalize the relevant terminology.
Fg. 1 Eating, pexels.com.
Hunger itself can have multiple scientific definitions depending on how a study intends to measure and observe the presence of hunger.
The medical dictionary provides a basic definition explaining that hunger is simply the desire or need to consume food.
Motivation is defined by the American Psychological Association (2007) as the force that gives direction and purpose to an individual's behavior regardless of their own awareness.
The topic of motivation is a widely researched concept with several valid theories. Hunger and motivation are some of the most crucial correlational factors within these studies and provide both biological and psychological perspectives.
There is no one explanation or theory for motivation and hunger. Many early psychologists and scientific studies suggest that hunger motivation is solely a biological and physiological process. However, since these theories were founded, there have been many contradictory factors involving the motivations behind hunger.
Many ideas surrounding the late hunger motivation theory beg the question - is hunger an internal or external motivation?
A case for both explanations can be made. Some theories of motivation support hunger as a biological occurrence which would be an example of internal motivation.
One hunger motivation example supporting the biological perspective is the local theory of hunger and stomach contraction theory (Cannon & Washburn 1995). This theory is founded on the idea that hunger comes from the biological process of stomach contractions that signal to the brain when we are hungry.
Psychologist Al Washburn tested his stomach contraction theory by inflating a balloon-type material in his stomach. When the balloon had become fully inflated, he reported this diminished his feeling of hunger (Hara 1997). This proved his theory that internal motivation uses biological signals of hunger by stomach contractions.
Early biological explanations for the motivation of hunger also included drops in glucose levels or even a decrease in fatty acids resulting in hunger signals. Over time, these theories have been proven insufficient as the main motivators of hunger.
While they make sense in terms of the biological and primary physiological needs of humans, they cannot account for several other external motivators behind feeling hungry.
A few of the main causes of hunger motivation include external factors. These are akin to psychological theories of hunger.
Often, people find themselves eating even when they are not hungry. This is precisely what contradicts the previously mentioned biological drive theories. If the only motivator to eat is to reduce feelings of hunger, then why do so many admit to eating despite the lack of hunger?
General theories that may account for the external motivation of hunger are incentive and arousal.
Incentive theory (1940) states that motivation can stem from external stimuli that provide reinforcement for behavior. When applying this theory to hunger motivation the act of eating must be reinforced by some sort of external motivator or stimulus as an incentive to continue the behavior.
One example of hunger motivation based on incentive theory can be seen in bodybuilders. Usually, people who want to maintain or gain weight will eat in a calorie surplus. The motivator in this situation is the external desire to achieve a certain physique or weight goal. This reinforcer causes the individual to increase the behavior of eating thus supporting the incentive-based theory.
Arousal theory (1908) was founded on the idea that motivation comes from the desire to reach a level of sensation. Of course, this would make sense in the motivation for hunger due to our natural willingness to satiate taste receptors.
Think about how good it feels to indulge in a big slice of chocolate cake, a juicy steak, or a bag of salty fries. You may enjoy eating these not just because you are hungry, but because it is pleasurable.
It is no secret that eating can produce feelings of pleasure and there is an abundance of psychological studies to support this. One study explores the brain’s pleasure cycle in relation to eating and concludes that the cycle “links pleasure with the cyclical changes in hunger levels related to the initiation and termination of meals” (Kringelbach, 2015).
Studies like this support the external motivation of hunger as well as the implications behind theories of the biological processes of hunger motivation.
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What is hunger motivation in psychology?
Hunger motivation in psychology is the motivation or drive that causes the feeling of hunger, whether it is an internal physiological or external process.
What kind of motivation are hunger and thirst?
Motivation on a physiological basis.
What psychological factors influence hunger?
Both internal and external psychological factors influence hunger motivation.
Is hunger an external motivation?
Many theorists believed that hunger was solely an internal motivation; however, there are also many external factors of motivation as well.
What part of the brain motivates hunger?
Both the hypothalamus and the amygdala motivate hunger.
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