Is Motivation Distinguishable From Cognition and Emotion?

• In Event: Controversial Questions in Contemporary Motivation Science: Insights From the Leading Voices

Abstract

Objectives
Even among motivation scientists, separating motivation from associated cognitions and emotions can turn complicated. In this presentation, we will hear three different answers to this controversial question.

Perspectives
One perspective argues that variable-focused approaches to research tend to create a theoretical illusion that motivation, emotion, and cognition can be measured and studied separately (Schutz et al., 2010). However, when the research is focusing on actual transactions occurring within particular activity settings nested within social-historical contexts, it becomes hard to distinguish where motivation ends and emotion or cognition begins.
A second perspective claims that the answer is different depending on whether one examines the issue as a researcher, a theorist, or a teacher (Alexander, 2021). As a researcher, one knows that it is possible to conceptualize and operationalize motivation, cognition, and emotion in a manner that either highlights or minimizes areas of distinction. As a theorist, one can model the interrelations among motivation, cognition, and emotion and position these complex and multidimensional constructs in nuanced ways that allow for both their convergence and divergence. As a teacher, one is far less concerned about whether it is possible to draw clear empirical and theoretical distinctions among these three constructs. Instead, one is far more invested in harnessing their collective power to promote learning and academic development.
A third perspective is that cognition, emotion, and motivation are mental processes that have considerable overlap but can be separated conceptually (Pekrun, 2006). Together with perception, they are typically—although not always—integrated in our minds. Most motivational processes involve cognition, and that cognition typically is motivated. Similarly, motivation often comprises emotion, and emotions can include motivational components. Nevertheless, given that they represent different facets of the mental system, it is still useful to distinguish between the three constructs.

Summary
For some scholars, merely asking this question is both problematic and misleading. For these researchers, the controversy is in the asking of the question. To ask this question, one needs to first presume the a priori existence of these three separate mental states. The first perspective thinks this is merely a linguistic convenience—even a misleading illusion. For the second perspective, the question is valid sometimes but impractical at other times. Yet the third perspective believes that emotion and cognition are part of motivation but also distinct from it. When all three facets of the mental process work together synergistically, learning proceeds at its best. When these facets work in isolation, things do not go so well.

Significance
Emotional desire without a cognitive goal produces not motivation but something else (e.g., hyperactivity). This means that motivation, cognition, and emotion can and do have their own separate occurrences. Nevertheless, when these three facets work together, they merge into something special. The three answers will allow the audience to see the distinction and connection between motivation, cognition, and emotion and organize their own thoughts on this controversial question.

Authors

• Paul A. Schutz, University of Arizona

• Patricia A. Alexander, University of Maryland - College Park

• Reinhard Pekrun, University of Essex