PSY 102 Week 5 DQ 1: Motivation and Emotion
The prompt asks for two examples pointing opposite ways: emotion causing action, and outcome causing emotion. Getting the direction right in each is the marking scheme.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 16, 2026
Two examples running in opposite directions
Read the two example requests carefully, because they run in opposite directions and posts frequently give the same one twice. The first asks how an emotion motivated you to act — emotion as cause, behaviour as effect. The second asks how achieving or failing to achieve something provoked an emotion — outcome as cause, emotion as effect. That is the relationship the first question is really about: motivation and emotion form a loop rather than a line. Both words share a Latin root meaning to move, and that is not decoration. Emotions are action tendencies with a physiological component: fear prepares avoidance, anger prepares confrontation, disgust prepares rejection, and anticipated pride or shame shapes behaviour before any outcome has occurred. Say which theory of emotion you are working from as well, since the James-Lange and Cannon-Bard accounts disagree about the order of the physiological and the felt components.
Make each example unambiguous about direction and specific enough to be yours. For emotion driving action, anxiety before an assessment producing preparation is a clean case, and it lets you make a more interesting point: the relationship is not linear, since moderate anxiety improves performance while high anxiety degrades it, which is why the same emotion can produce either revision or avoidance. For outcome driving emotion, cognitive appraisal is the mechanism worth naming — the emotion follows from how the outcome is interpreted rather than from the outcome itself, which is why the same grade produces relief in one student and disappointment in another depending on what each expected. Close the loop explicitly, because the emotion produced by an outcome becomes the motivation for the next attempt, and that is the relationship the first question asked about. Name the emotion precisely rather than settling for good or bad, because relief, pride and satisfaction lead to different next actions.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Describe motivation and emotion as a bidirectional relationship.
- 02Explain emotions as action tendencies.
- 03Apply cognitive appraisal to explain outcome-driven emotion.
- 04Recognise non-linear effects of arousal on performance.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours. Grading Rubric Guidelines Performance Category 10 9 8 4 0 Scholarliness Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic decisions. Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry clearly stating how the evidence informed or changed professional or academic decisions Evaluates literature resources to develop a comprehensive analysis or synthesis. Uses valid, relevant, and reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion Provides relevant evidence of scholarly inquiry but does not clearly state how the evidence informed or changed professional or academic decisions. Evaluates information from source(s) to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. Uses some valid, relevant, reliable outside sources to contribute to the threaded discussion. Discusses using scholarly inquiry but does not state how scholarly inquiry informed or changed professional or academic decisions. Information is taken from source(s) with some interpretation/evaluation, but not enough to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. Little valid, relevant, or reliable outside sources are used to contribute to the threaded discussion. Demonstrates little or no understanding of the topic. Discusses using scholarly inquiry but does not state how scholarly inquiry informed or changed professional or academic decisions. Information is taken from source(s) without any interpretation/evaluation. The posting uses information that is not valid, relevant, or reliable No evidence of the use of scholarly inquiry to inform or change professional or academic decisions. Information is not valid, relevant, or reliable Performance Category 10 9 8 4 0 Application of Course Knowledge – Demonstrate the ability to analyze, synthesize, and/or apply principles and concepts learned in the course lesson and outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations Posts make direct reference to concepts discussed in the lesson or drawn from relevant outside sources; Applies concepts to personal experience in the professional setting and or relevant application to real life. Posts make direct reference to concepts discussed in the lesson or drawn from relevant outside sources. Applies concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life Interactions with classmates are relevant to the discussion topic but do not make direct reference to lesson content Posts are generally on topic but do not build knowledge by incorporating concepts and principles from the lesson. Does not attempt to apply lesson concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life Does not demonstrate a solid understanding of the principles and concepts presented in the lesson Posts do not adequately address the question posed either by the discussion prompt or the instructor’s launch post. Posts are superficial and do not reflect an understanding of the lesson content Does not attempt to apply lesson concepts to personal experience in their professional setting and or relevant application to real life Posts are not related to the topics provided by the discussion prompt or by the instructor; attempts by the instructor to redirect the student are ignored No discussion of lesson concepts to personal experience in the professional setting and or relevant application to real life Performance Category 5 4 3 2 0 Interactive Dialogue Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts a minimum of two times in each graded thread, on separate days. (5 points possible per graded thread) Exceeds minimum post requirements Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts three or more times in each graded thread, over three separate days. Replies to a post posed by faculty and to a peer Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. Replies to each graded thread topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT, of each week, and posts a minimum of two times in each graded thread, on separate days Replies to a question posed by a peer Summarizes what was learned from the lesson, readings, and other student posts for the week. Meets expectations of 2 posts on 2 different days. The main post is not made by the Wednesday deadline Does not reply to a question posed by a peer or faculty Has only one post for the week Discussion posts contain few, if any, new ideas or applications; often are a rehashing or summary of other students’ comments Does not post to the thread No connections are made to the topic Minus 1 Point Minus 2 Point Minus 3 Point Minus 4 Point Minus 5 Point Grammar, Syntax, APA Note: if there are only a few errors in these criteria, please note this for the student in as an area for improvement. If the student does not make the needed corrections in upcoming weeks, then points should be deducted. Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing. The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition 2-3 errors in APA format. Written responses have 2-3 grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. Writing style is generally clear, focused, and facilitates communication. 4-5 errors in APA format. Writing responses have 4-5 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. Writing style is somewhat focused. 6-7 errors in APA format. Writing responses have 6-7 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. Writing style is slightly focused making discussion difficult to understand. 8-10 errors in APA format. Writing responses have 8-10 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. Writing style is not focused, making discussion difficult to understand. Post contains greater than 10 errors in APA format. Written responses have more than 10 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. Writing style does not facilitate communication. The student continues to make repeated mistakes in any of the above areas after written correction by the instructor 0 points lost -5 points lost Total Participation Requirements per discussion thread The student answers the threaded discussion question or topic on one day and posts a second response on another day. The student does not meet the minimum requirement of two postings on two different days Early Participation Requirement per discussion thread The student must provide a substantive answer to the graded discussion question(s) or topic(s), posted by the course instructor (not a response to a peer), by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of each week. The student does not meet the requirement of a substantive response to the stated question or topic by Wednesday at 11:59 pm MT.
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A statement of the bidirectional relationship.
- 02One example with emotion as cause of action.
- 03One example with outcome as cause of emotion.
- 04An appraisal explanation for the second example.
- 05A closing of the loop between the two.
The relationship, then each direction worked
A loop, not a line
Establish the bidirectional relationship.
Emotions as action tendencies
Explain the mechanism by which emotion moves behaviour.
Example one: emotion drives action
Work a personal case with emotion as the cause.
Appraisal and the second direction
Explain why outcomes produce emotion through interpretation.
Closing the loop
Show the resulting emotion feeding the next motivation.
Theories that make the link explicit
Recommended databases
- OpenStax Psychology
- PubMed Central
- APA Dictionary of Psychology
- PsycINFO
Search sequence
- 1.Read the motivation and emotion chapters together rather than separately.
- 2.Search appraisal theory for the second example's mechanism.
- 3.Look for the arousal-performance relationship and its evidence.
- 4.Check that your two examples genuinely differ in direction before writing.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Ch. 1 Introduction - Psychology 2e | OpenStax
OpenStax, Rice University · 2020
A standard treatment of motivation and emotion as related systems.
- 02
Moral emotions and moral behavior
Annual Review of Psychology · 2007
Emotions functioning as action tendencies, which is the mechanism the first example needs.
- 03
APA Dictionary of Psychology
American Psychological Association · 2024
APA's own definitions, useful for using appraisal and coping terms precisely.
- 04
Motivational Interviewing
StatPearls, NCBI Bookshelf · 2024
Motivational interviewing, where the emotion-to-motivation link is used deliberately.
- 05
Empathy, sympathy and compassion in healthcare: Is there a problem? Is there a difference? Does it matter?
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, via PubMed Central · 2016
Empathy, sympathy and compassion distinguished — precision about what an emotion actually is.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Giving two examples that run in the same direction.
- Describing motivation theories without ever mentioning emotion.
- Treating the outcome as directly causing the emotion, with no appraisal step.
- Assuming more arousal always produces more effort.
Submission checklist
- Do your two examples run in opposite directions?
- Is appraisal present in the second example?
- Have you stated the relationship as a loop?
- Are the examples specific rather than generic?
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Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
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Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

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