Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/Functionalist theory and self-tracking

Tutorial 5: Functionalist theory and self-tracking
This is the fifth tutorial for the motivation and emotion unit of study.

Overview

This tutorial:

explores motivational theory and practical applications using:
1. functionalist theory of motivation with university student motivations as an example
2. self-tracking as a form of feedback and self-regulation
demonstrates use of Google Scholar to identify the top references on a topic

Functionalist theory

Models of motivation considered so far (e.g., models of needs) assume universality of motivation, and mostly don't recognise two key issues:
1. People may perform the same behaviour but with different motivations
2. There is often more than one motivation (reason) why someone performs a behaviour
The functionalist perspective of motivation (Clary & Snyder, 1999) proposes that:
1. Behaviours serve different functions (or goals) for different people
2. The match between a person's: (a) motivations and (b) outcomes determines (c) satisfaction and likelihood of continuing
A good match between motivations and outcomes leads to satisfaction and retention (or intention to continue), whereas if motivations are not well matched by corresponding outcomes this will lead to low satisfaction and heightened risk of drop-out
The take-home messages about motivation from a functional perspective are that:
1. Motivations are multiple and complex (not singular and simple)
2. Motivational profiles differ between people
3. The match between motivations and outcomes predicts satisfaction which predicts likelihood to continue
In addition, our motivational profiles fluctuate over time and between contexts
The following exercise demonstrates how a functionalist approach to motivation can be applied

University student motivations

Activity: University student motivations

Consider:
1. "Why are you at university?"—or, more generally,
2. “Why do students go to uni?”
Develop a class mind map of the main underlying motivations for attending university. Think and respond honestly—why are students really at university?
1. Answers are likely to cover a wide range of human motives, but as the map develops, look for underlying themes and group similar motivations together.
2. Past experience and previous research finds that the motivations are likely to fall within these six categories:
  - Career/Qualifications - for the degree, so I can get a better job etc.
  - Self-Exploration/Learning - for the learning, curiousity, knowledge-seeking etc.
  - Social Opportunities - to meet people, make and explore friendships, enjoy social environment
  - Altruism - to become better able to help people, help society, help the planet etc.
  - Social Pressure - expectations of family, friends, society etc.
  - Rejection of Alternatives - better than doing nothing, working etc.
Complete the University Student Motivation survey
Discuss results

Self-tracking

What are these objects? What do they have in common?

The objects are:
1. mirror
2. bullet-journal
3. stop watch
4. mood ring
5. bathroom scales
6. blood pressure monitor
7. heart rate variability monitor
8. exercise activity tracker
9. blood glucose monitor
What they have in common:
1. They are self-tracking tools
What are they for?
1. Learning about and improving ourselves
21st century mobile technology tools offer an expanding array of self-monitoring tools. This presents an opportunity and a challenge:
How can optimal use be made of self-tracking?
Discuss:
1. What is self-tracking?
  1. Self-tracking turns aspects of everyday life into data that can inform self-regulation
  2. Self-tracking can be used as feedback to guide self-regulation and behaviour change
2. What are some examples of self-tracking? What self-tracking do you do? What are you curious to try?
Watch:
1. The quantified self (Gary Wolf, TED@Cannes, 2010, YouTube, 4:49 mins (finish at 5:05 mins))
2. The quantified self: Data gone wild? (PBS NewsHour, 2013, YouTube, 5:45 mins)
Discuss:
1. What are the potential benefits?
  1. enhanced self-awareness, self-knowledge, empowerment
  2. steady stream of data-driven feedback
  3. positive effects of social comparison (e.g., increased motivation)
2. What are the potential problems?
  1. externalises motivation
  2. can heighten sense of overwhelm and distress
  3. can become obsessive/addictive
  4. negative effects of social comparison (e.g., low self-esteem)
Key idea: Self-tracking turns aspects of everyday life into data that can inform self-regulation. It involves observing and recording your own behaviour, thoughts, feelings or performance.

Google Scholar

Goal: Identify the best academic resources about a target topic, using these Google Scholar search tips:

Citation rates - focus on sources with high citation rates (# of citations / years since published)
Authors - check the publications by top authors on the topic
Related articles - for top sources, check out "related articles"
Link to libraries - sync search results to UC Library holdings for quick access to restricted publications
1. Login using Google Account
2. Settings: Three bars (top-left) - Settings - Library links
3. Search for institution name ("UC Library" is the main one, but also "University of Canberra" for Proquest)
4. Select target libraries
5. Save
6. Search results will now show links to full-text resources held in the institutional library
Storing citations - save favourite publications to a folder. They can be found via My Library.
APA style citations - double-quote button. Provides a good start, but may need correcting, italics, and doesn't provide doi
Setting up alerts - follow new publications about topics or authors of interest. "Create alert" at bottom of search.
Advanced search - Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and wildcards (?, *)
Major reviews - Search for meta-analyses and systematic reviews
1. Include "review" or "meta-analysis" in the search term to identify major reviews on the topic
More info about Google Scholar:
Other possibly useful search strategies:
1. Search directly in key journals
  1. Topic-specific - e.g., Motivation and Emotion
  2. Major psychological review journals e.g., Annual Review of Psychology
2. Scopus
3. scite.ai

References

Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., Ridge, R. D., Copeland, J., Stukas, A. A., Haugen, J., Miene, P. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 516–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1516

Clary, E. G., & Snyder, M. (1999). The motivations to volunteer: Theoretical and practical considerations. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 8(5), 156–159. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00037

Recording

Tutorial 5 (2026)

External links

Bob Troia (X)
Bullet journals (Google image search)
Do fitness trackers make you more active? (ABC Radio National - Sporty podcast, 2021)
The rise of the quantified self (Mashable Brand X, 2014, YouTube, 1:48 mins)