( music playing )
- How are you? -
Hi, guys, I'm Camila Mendes,
and today I'm your celebrity substitute.
Have you been wondering why it's so hard
to get motivated during these challenging times?
I'm Christina Costa, I teach Psychology,
I'm from Detroit, Michigan,
and today we're going to be talking all about
motivation and needs.
And joining me to help teach this lesson,
we have a celebrity substitute.
Camila Mendes!
- Hi, Christina. - Hi, Camila! How are you?
I'm super excited to help you with this lesson today.
Yeah, I'm so excited to have you.
Let me ask you about your interest in psychology.
I took psychology in college and I really loved it.
I mean, every actor kind of says
if they weren't actors, they would be psychologists.
I mean, acting, essentially, is an exercise in listening.
It's just one of those topics that you can apply
to literally anything in your life.
You're gonna be a great teacher.
I get to live out my failed dream
of becoming a teacher.
You'll be great.
- Should we get started? - Let's do it.
Now, when you hear the word "motivation,"
you probably think of TED talks,
#MondayMotivation pictures on social media,
and posters of cats hanging in there.
But motivation is so much more than that.
The entirety of human behavior,
that's every single thing you do,
has some kind of motivation behind it.
So how should we define motivation in the context of psychology?
Motivation is anything that drives you to do something.
So in a textbook, you might see motivation
defined as something like a need or desire
that gives purpose or direction to behavior.
And guess what.
We put it on a motivational cat poster
so it's easier to remember.
Camila, I want to let you know
that I have a student standing by
that's gonna join the lesson with us today
and she has no idea that you're helping me teach.
Yeah, let's do it.
- Hi, Ai'jah. - Hi!
I'm so happy to have you here to help me with this lesson.
- Mm-hmm. - But there's something you don't know.
I have a celebrity substitute.
So I want to introduce you to actress Camila Mendes.
- Hi, Ai'jah. Hi! - Oh, wow. Hi!
Thank you for joining us today.
It's a pleasure. I don't care.
This is-- I'm happy to be here.
I wanted to ask you what are you doing
to stay motivated these days?
I like to draw, so I'm practicing different mediums.
- You like to draw? - Yeah.
- She's an artist. - Thank you.
- I did this glitch effect. - I love that.
It's so cute. I love it.
It's like "Adventure Time."
I do realistic pictures on my iPad.
That looks really cool.
Whoa. That is talent, girl.
I also do nails.
You did those nails yourself?
Yeah. Quarantine gives you a lot of time to practice.
These are my nails right now. What's up?
So, Ai'jah, thank you so much for showing me your drawings.
You've very talented, and it's awesome
- to see that you're staying motivated. - Thank you.
And I hope you enjoy our lesson about motivation and needs.
I think you're gonna like it.
I most definitely will. I like to learn.
Bye, Ai'jah. Thank you so much.
- Bye, Ai'jah. - It was nice to meet you.
Bye-bye.
Okay, so let's get back to the lesson.
We've already defined motivation,
so let's talk about something that drives motivation-- need.
Like "motivation"
the term "need" is pretty intuitive.
It's a requirement for survival
or something that fulfills us emotionally.
But there's a theory that's helpful
for understanding how our needs all fit together
and motivate our behaviors,
so let's give credit where credit is due.
This Abraham Maslow,
the owner of an excellent mustache
and a popular theory of human motivation,
which he wrote about in a paper called
"A Theory of Human Motivation."
The title was a little on the nose,
but it laid out a powerful framework of human needs.
Cue the free sound effect!
( drumroll )
( cheering )
Now, some modern psychologists
say that Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
is not a perfect theory,
but it is a good starting point.
Camila: At the base, we have our more critical needs,
things we literally could not live without.
And as it tapers toward the top,
you can find psychological needs
that aren't a requirement for survival,
but are, in Maslow's view, still essential.
So we're going to go up
Maslow's hierarchy tier by tier.
Why are we moving from the bottom to the top?
This theory says that the lowest level needs down here
must be fulfilled before moving on to higher level needs.
And to demonstrate, I have someone here to help me.
This is my dog Truffle!
Hi, Truffle.
She's a six-month-old maltipoo mix.
And she got fixed the other day,
so she's got this cone on her head
and she hates me for it.
- ( barks ) - Oh!
I actually have someone I want to introduce you to.
- ( gasps ) Oh, my God. - This is Buggy.
That's Buggy?
Buggy, say hi to Truffle.
She's a queen, like you.
Hi, Buggy!
Oh, my God, I'm living for Buggy.
She's amazing.
Anyway, she has a very intense passion
for motivational theory,
so we're gonna walk through Maslow's Hierarchy.
So let's start at this bottom tier,
physiological needs.
These are things like food,
water, sleep, oxygen--
anything that keeps your body alive.
And here's Truffle demonstrating a physiological need.
Truffle, down.
Truffle, paw. ( gasps ) Good girl!
For Truffle, whenever I ask her to sit and give her paw,
she knows she's about to get a treat.
- ( barks ) - She needs food to survive
and she is motivated to obtain it.
And once that need is met,
it's easier for her to move on to the next tier.
- ( barks ) - Safety needs.
These are the needs that keep us safe
from physical harm.
And if you think about it, many of our actions
are motivated by safety.
For example, having a stable,
well-paying career directly and indirectly
affects our security and our health.
Truffle doesn't have a career, per se,
but she does have shelter.
That's a great example of a safety need
because it keeps her safe from physical harm.
Now that this need is fulfilled,
she'll feel more motivated to move beyond basic needs
and onto more psychological needs,
such as love and belonging.
If needs like family, intimacy, and community
aren't sufficiently met, especially in childhood,
it can lead to depression, anxiety, loneliness,
and the inability to form meaningful relationships.
Luckily, Truffle makes social connection a priority.
( barking )
Just to be clear, they're not dating.
They're just friends, all right?
They're figuring it out day by day.
But that's okay, because friendship
fulfills a crucial need for love and belonging.
So let's see the next tier on the hierarchy--
This includes needs like confidence,
status, and respect.
That means respect from others, but also self-respect.
Now, Truffle is a pretty smart dog,
but I can't in good conscience
tell you that she's motivated by status or ego.
( barks )
However, I can put a little gold medal around her neck
because it is objectively adorable.
And now, with her esteem needs fulfilled,
Truffle can move on to the top of the pyramid,
self-actualization.
To describe this tier, Maslow used the quotation,
"What a man can be, he must be."
That's because this tier
is all about realizing your full potential--
morally, creatively, athletically,
any arena in which you can achieve.
Again, most dogs probably don't experience self-actualization
- in the way Maslow intended... - ( barks )
...but Truffle? Truffle isn't most dogs.
That's right. Truffle is writing a novel.
- ( barking ) - ( keys clacking )
Trying to be the best Truffle she can be.
Okay, so now that we understand all the layers of human needs,
let's talk about what drives our behavior.
There are two basic kinds of motivators--
intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation means a person
does something for an internal reward,
like joy or curiosity.
Let's use my job as an example.
I got into acting because I derived
so much satisfaction from telling a story
and expressing myself onstage.
Extrinsic motivations are a little different.
Those provide an external reward,
like money, praise, recognition.
Classroom environments are really great examples of extrinsic motivators
because students are motivated by different things.
As much as I would love for my students
to be motivated by the actual subject
that they're learning and the things we do in class,
they're also really motivated
by their grades and test scores.
Whatever it takes, am I right?
All right, let's get back to the question
I asked when we first started today.
Why is it so hard to get motivated these days?
I think what we've learned today can help us answer that question.
Obviously, it is a pretty crazy time in the world right now
and I think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
can help explain why it might be difficult to stay motivated.
We're all trying to figure out the best way
to stay safe and help others
and plan for an uncertain future.
In other words, we're expending
a lot of energy fulfilling our safety needs.
So with our collective health, security,
and financial resources a little up in the air,
it's harder to focus on work or school or hobbies
that only fulfill higher level needs
for esteem and self-actualization.
It doesn't help that social isolation
makes it difficult to fulfill our need
for love and belonging.
So if you're having trouble feeling motivated,
don't feel bad.
There's a very good reason for it,
and you're definitely not the only one.
I think that analysis was pretty spot on.
- What do you think, Buggy? - What do you think, Buggy?
( exhales )
( barks )
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