Motivation and emotion/Book/2026/Pleasure anticipation and dopamine

Pleasure anticipation and dopamine :
How does the brains reward system generate motivation through expected rather than experienced pleasure?

Overview

Scenario - Wanting without liking

A university student is up late studying for their final exam, they're under considerable stress and are experiencing a strong desire to use their vape (Figure One). They anticipate that using their vape will feel satisfying and rewarding as they can not focus on anything else. Eventually they use their vape, however the experience is disappointing and uncomfortable. The taste is unpleasant and they now feel nauseous, the expected satisfaction is breif. Despite this, the craving later returns. Why can the anticipation of a experience create such a strong motivation when the experience itself involves little pleasure?

What is pleasure anticipation? - Anticipatory pleasure is epxerienced when thinking about or expecting a future reward. Gard et al. (2006) described anticipatory pleasure as the pleasure experienced in anticipation of an enjoyable stimuli and associates it with the feeling of 'wanting'. While consummatory pleasure is the pleasure experinerenced when the rewarding stimuli is actually taking place, often described as the in the moment experience of pleasure.
How does pleasure anticipation motivate behaviour? - Anticipating pleasure can influence motivated behaviour by increasing a persons willingness to put effort into obtaining a potential future reward. Geaney et al. (2015) exmained aticipatory pleasure along with participants willingness to expand their efforts for rewards. In doing this it was found that higher aticipary pleasure was associated with more effortful choices for potially greater rewards. This now suggests that pleasure anticipation can influence reward seeking motivation, rather than simply being a positive feeling.
What role does dopamine play in reward anticipation? - Dopamine plays a key role in reward anticipation by assisting the brain in learning and predicting, which cues signal future rewards. Nasser et al. (2017) describes dopamine reward prediction error signalling as reflecting differences between expected and received rewards. This allows reward expectations to be updated through learning. This process helps the brain learn which cues are associated with rewards, which can motivate future reward seeking behaviour.
What is the difference between wanting vs liking? - Berridge and Robinson (2016) study distinguishes between the two components of reward (Wanting vs Liking). The literature explains that incentive salience (wanting), is a form of motivation associated with mesolimbic dopamine systems, compared to 'liking' which refers to the pleasurable feeling experienced when a reward is consumed. Crucially, Berridge and Robinson state that the brain mechanisms responsible for 'wanting' and 'liking' are seperate, meaning a person can strongly want a reward without necessarily experiencing the same level of pleasure when they actually receive it.

Focus questions

How does anticipating pleasure influence motivation and behaviour?
What role does dopamine play in reward anticipation, prediction and learning?
How can incentive salience explain the difference between 'wanting' and 'liking' a reward?
How does pleasure anticipation influence behaviours such as sexual desire, gambling and substance use?

Pleasure anticipation and motivation

Pleasure anticipation is a key component of reward based motivation.
Experiencing reward can involve anticipatory pleasure even prior to receiving a reward while consummatory pleasure occurs while experiencing the reward.
Expectations of future pleasure can motivate individuals to engage in behaviours directed towards obtaining a potential reward. (Gard et al. (2006)

Anticipatory and consummatory pleasure

Anticipatory pleasure is referring too the pleasure experincned when tanticipating a future reward or pleasurable feeling. Gard et al. (2006) associates anticipatory pleasure with the motivation process of 'wanting'
Consummatory pleasure refers to the pleasure experienced while the rewarding event is actually happening. Gard (2006) refers to this as an 'in the moment' experience of pleasure.
Anticipatory and consummatory pleasure are related but are two seperate experiences. Gard (2006), found that the two components are positively correlated however they represent seperate constructs.

Pleasure and motivated behaviour

Anticipating pleasure can motivate reward seeking behaviour. The expectation of a future rewarding experience can increase the motivation and willingness of an individual to put more effort into obtaining that suspected reward. (Geanney et al. (2015)
Anticipatory pleasure predicts effort towards rewards. In Geanney, et al. (2015)'s study it was found that higher anticipatory pleasure was linked to greater effort for rewards, especially when the predicted chances of the reward was low.
These findings suggest that expected pleasure can influence motivation and behaviour prior to a reward being experienced. Geanney et al. (2015)

Dopamine and reward anticipation

Dopamine plays an key role in reward anticipation, learning and motivated behaviour.
Dopamine activity can respond to cues that predict future rewards, allowing these cues to gain motivation significance.
Errors in reward prediction can help individuals learn differences between expected and experienced rewards. (Nasser et. al., 2017)

The dopamine reward system

Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter involved in the brains connected reward systems in the limbic regions and contributes to reward related learning and motivation. (Nasser et. al., 2017)
Dopamine neurons in the midbrain respond to unexpected rewards. As learning takes place, dopamine activity can begin responding to the cue that signals the upcoming reward. (Nasser et. al., 2017)
Reward predicting cues can then therefore become motivationally significant. Once a cue becomes associated with a reward it can then encourage future behaviour in regards to obtaining a reward. (Nasser et. al., 2017)

Reward prediction and learning

Reward prediction error occurs when there is a difference between the expected reward and the reward thats actually received. (Nasser et. al., 2017)

When a reward is greater then originally predicted, that is described as the positive prediction error, while when a reward is less than predicted, a negative prediction error is produced. (Nasser et. al., 2017)
Prediction errors support learning by updating an individuals predictions of future rewards. Overtime, this can allow cues to become associated with particular rewards and either positively or negatively influence future decisions. (Nasser et. al., 2017)

Wanting, liking and incentive salience

Reward involves seperate processes of 'wanting' and 'liking', which often influenced reward seeking behaviour.
'Wanting' refers to the motivation to pursue a reward, whereas 'liking' refers to the pleasure experienced when the reward is received.
Incentive salience can influence motivational value of rewarding cues, meaning an indivdual may strongly 'want' a reward without necessarily experinecing that same level of 'liking' for the reward. (Berridge & Robinson 20016)

Wanting versus liking

'Wanting' and 'liking' are two seperate components of the rewarding feeling. 'Wanting' refers to the motivation to obtain a reward, while 'liking' refers to the pleasure felt once the reward is experienced. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)
The systems in the brain involved in 'wanting' and 'liking' can operate separately. Individuals can strongly desire something even when the actual experienced provides little pleasure. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)
Dopamine is more strongly linking with wanting than liking, challenging the idea that dopamine simply produced pleasure and rather highlights its role in reward motivation. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)

Incentive salience theory

Incentive salience theory explains how reward related cues can strongly motivate behaviour. Cues associated with reward can trigger a 'wanting' for the reward. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)
Mesolimbic dopamine systems play a key role in incentive salience through increasing the motivational value of these reward related cues. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)
Incentive salience can often help explain why the feeling of 'wanting' may continue or increase while the feeling of 'liking' can decrease. This can lead to an individual to remaining highly motivated to seek a rewards despite receiving limited pleasure from it. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)

Pleasure anticipation and human behaviour

Pleasure anticipation can motivate individuals to seek rewarding experiences.
Reward related cues can increase motivation when pleasure is expected.
Sexual desire, gambling and substance abuse demonstrate how anticipated rewards can influence motivation and reward seeking behaviour. (Agmo & Laan, 2023)

Sexual desire and pleasure

Sexual desire can be seen as a form of incentive motivation. Sexual cues can active motivation and encourage individuals to approach or seek sexual experiences. (Agmo & Laan (2023)
Expecting sexual pleasure can make sexual cues more motivating. Previous pleasurable sexual experiences can make related cues more incising and increase future sexual desire. (Agmo & Laan (2023)
Sexual motivation can often occur prior to experienced pleasure. Individuals may seek sexual experienced because they expect them to be rewarding, even before they feel pleasure. (Agmo & Laan (2023)

Gambling, reward, and uncertainty

The uncertainty of whether a reward will be granted may increase an individuals motivation to gamble. Unpredictable rewards may make gambling related cues more motivating, further inspiring one to seek rewards or success. (Clark et. al. (2009)
This study found that 'near misses' in gambling increased participants motivation to continue playing, despite the 'near misses' being experienced as unpleasant. (Clark et. al. (2009)
Near misses illustrate how 'wanting' can occur without 'liking'. Individuals can continue to feel motivation to gamble even when they do not receive an immediate reward of enjoy the outcome. (Clark et. al. (2009)

Substance use and addiction

Substance use further demonstrates how 'wanting' and 'liking' can be seperate. An individual may develop a strong motivation to use a substance even when the pleasurable effects have decreased or do not exist. ( Berridge & Robinson (2016)
Repeated drug use can sensitise brain systems involved in incentive motivation. This can lead to drug related cues becoming more powerful leading to a trigger in 'wanting' and drug seeking behaviour. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)
Drug related cues can therefore continue to trigger strong cravings, even when the experience of the substance is no longer considered pleasurable. This can explain how excessive 'wanting' can contribute to persistent substance seeking and relapse. (Berridge & Robinson (2016)

Quiz

Conclusion

Pleasure anticipation can generate motivation prior to actually experiencing the reward. Expectations of future pleasure can encourage reward seeking behaviours and increase an individuals willingness to chase a reward.
Dopamine contributes to reward anticipation through reward prediction, learning and incentive motivation. Reward related cues can become significant and often influence behaviour towards obtaining rewards.
Anticipated and experienced pleasure do not always correspond. There is a key distinction between 'wanting' and 'liking' which helps explain why individuals may remain heavily motivated to pursue pleasurable experineces such as sexual pleasure, gambling and substance use, even if the reward only provide limited pleasure.

References

Ågmo, A., & Laan, E. (2023). The sexual incentive motivation model and its clinical applications. The Journal of Sex Research, 60(7), 969–988. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2134978

Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (2016). Liking, wanting, and the incentive-sensitization theory of addiction. The American Psychologist, 71(8), 670–679. PubMed Central. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000059

Clark, L., Lawrence, A. J., Astley-Jones, F., & Gray, N. (2009). Gambling near-misses enhance motivation to gamble and recruit win-related brain circuitry. Neuron, 61(3), 481–490. PubMed Central. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2008.12.031

Gard, D. E., Gard, M. G., Kring, A. M., & John, O. P. (2006). Anticipatory and consummatory components of the experience of pleasure: A scale development study. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(6), 1086–1102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.11.001

Geaney, J. T., Treadway, M. T., & Smillie, L. D. (2015). Trait anticipatory pleasure predicts effort expenditure for reward. PLOS ONE, 10(6), e0131357. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131357

Nasser, H. M., Calu, D. J., Schoenbaum, G., & Sharpe, M. J. (2017). The dopamine prediction error: Contributions to associative models of reward learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00244

External links

	Experienced pleasure only AFTER receiving a reward
	Pleasure associated with expecting a future reward
	The lack of motivation for a reward
	Pleasure that is only experienced while experiencing a pleasurable reward

	When a reward is greater than expected
	When a reward is equally to what was expected
	When a reward is less than what was expected
	When there is no reward granted

	The pleasure experinced when receiving a reward
	The absensce of reward anticipation
	Having a fear of rewarding stimuli
	The motivation to pursue a reward

	Enjoying a reward you originally weren't anticipating you would enjoy
	Avoiding the reward as you don't anticipate you will enjoy it
	Strongly cravings a substance despite experiencing little pleasure from it
	Receiving an pleasurable unexpected reward