The Mastermind of Motivation

For most people, elemental activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene, are often completed without a great deal of concentration, as well as internal motivation. Right?

However, increasingly challenging tasks such as habit breaking, avoidance of favorites, or engaging and continuously participating in a new unfamiliar task may require internal motivators which an individual may not have known existed.

The brain, along with its mental processes, is responsible for producing those internal motivators, as well as customizing them for particular tasks and activities. The customization of these motivators is developed from particular areas of the brain in reference to the specific task which is to be accomplished; in other words, each area of the brain can be considered a different motivational source.

The motivational sources which influence an individual’s decision to engage in a physical fitness/exercise program, for example, often stimulates the areas of the brain which control memory and/or past experience, emotions, and environmental perception.

Studies have shown that the majority of the U.S. population does not participate in regular physical activity or exercise. Furthermore, approximately 50% of individuals who begin an exercise regimen tend to discontinue the program during the first three-six months. Physical activity, along with the term ‘exercise’ can often depict a negative connotation to its name. A ‘four-letter-word’ if you will.

But physical activity isn’t the malicious entity many people believe it to be. It is simply any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles resulting in energy consumption and disbursement, to get technical; and the term ‘exercise’ merely describes a regularly structured program of physical activity.

Brain Structures

As previously stated, the decision to engage in a physical fitness/exercise program is often stimulated by the areas of the brain which control memory and/or past experience, emotions, and environmental perception. It is a common conclusion among psychologists that memory and/or past experience are closely linked to emotion and emotional significance.

One of the key areas of the brain that relates to both memory and emotion is the limbic system; the limbic system, which is considered the ‘emotional’ or ‘affective brain’, coordinates and organizes the development and presentation of our emotions.

Anatomy Alert: The limbic system contains the brain structures known as the hippocampus and the amygdala.

The hippocampus is considered part of the limbic system because it is responsible for the consolidation and access of memories. The amygdala is responsible for the expression of emotion through gestures and the resolution of mental frustrations. In addition to the limbic system and its structures, the temporal lobe of the brain is also associated with long-term memory capabilities.

Hormones

Physiology Alert: Hormones and biological chemicals, which are constantly released an absorbed within the body, can cause emotional and physical responses as well.

Psychological functions of these elements may include the emotional development of pleasure, fear, anger, sexual arousal, and pain. Furthermore, these hormones help to stimulate brain structures that are responsible for the production of sensation and ultimately associating that sensation with an emotion or thought process, such as judgment, attention, awareness, abstract thinking, mood, and aggression.

Although it may seem as though many of the structures of the brain are often performing similar functions simultaneously, it is important to identify which structures are utilized in exercise motivation in order to determine likelihood of engaging and continuous participation.

Benefits and Discouragements

The purpose of the involved brain structures is to ultimately determine two conclusions: (1) Identifying the benefits, as well as gauging the draw backs associated with participation in this activity, and (2) Deciding whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, or vice-a-versa.

Similar to any situation or decision, the choice an individual makes regarding participation in an exercise program has both beneficial aspects, which could be considered motivators, as well as barriers or reasons to refrain from the activity, which could be considered discouragements.

Some of the more common motivational sources or beneficial reasons to participate in an exercise program include maintaining or improving overall physical health, becoming physically tone and outwardly attractive, relieve stress or mental frustration, and the psychological benefits of attaining self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their ability to successfully perform a specific behavior.

Self-efficacy is often believed to be what determines an individual’s attempt at a particular task, the level of perseverance the individual will portray during times of challenge or difficulty, and the ultimate accomplishment or disappointment at the conclusion of the task. These motivational sources all fall into the category of extrinsic motivators.

Extrinsic motivators stem from motivational sources which come from an external origin, or a place outside of our own internal self, which pose a possibility of materialistic rewards. While self-efficacy is seemingly a personal motivational source, it too is extrinsic. For instance, external motivators such as friends and family relaying kind words and encouragement, help us to develop the belief in ourselves. Success in achieving worldly goods or accomplishing external goals can also give us self-efficacy.

Intrinsic motivators are usually behaviors associated with the simple pleasure or enjoyment of an activity; not necessarily goal oriented or intention of attaining conclusive results. A method which is frequently utilized to determine whether a motivational source is extrinsic or intrinsic is the reasoning behind the behavior or performance of the activity. Often times if there is a specific desired outcome, product, or result intended for the behavior, it is considered an external motivator.

Incentives

In addition to the basics of motivators and discouragers, both of these factors can be strengthened through incentives. For instance, a positive incentive often becomes a reinforcer, and a negative incentive can become a discourager. In regards to participation in an exercise program, positive reinforcers may include noticeable improvements, convenient resourceful environment, and/or encouragement from friends, family, and health care providers; on the flip side, negative reinforcers may include lack of time, lack of energy due to hectic work or lifestyle, and/or past experience with negative outcomes.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, the sources of motivation and the positive and negative incentives that go along with the decision to engage and continuously participate in a physical fitness/exercise program, are also endorsed through the personality traits and characteristics of each person. Personality traits can contribute to habitual behaviors, as well as reasoning for changing those habits.

Personality traits can also be used to explain the rationale behind the different methods individuals take when faced with the same situation as their neighbor, along with what causes and individual to engage vs. avoid certain situations. The most widely accepted answer to these questions is that personality traits assist in the determination of the value of motivating sources.

It is the value of the motivational source which will begin the process of the follow-up behavior.

References

Deckers, L. (2010). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Marcus, B. H., Selby, V. C., Niaura, R. S., & Rossi, J. S. (1992). Self-efficacy and the stages of exercise behavior change. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 63(1), 60–6. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218490007?accountid=35812

Marieb, E. N. & Hoehn, K. (2007). Human Anatomy and Physiology (7th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Martin, S. & Kessler, M. (2007). Neurologic Interventions for Physical Therapy (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Saunders Elsevier.

Schutzer, K. A. & Graves, B. S. (2004, Nov). Barriers and motivations to exercise in older adults. Preventive Medicine, 39(5), 1056–1061. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2004.04.003

Thibodeau, G. A. & Patton, K. T. (2000). Structure and Function of the Body (11th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc.