On Anxiety Motivation

In an earlier postscript, I emphasized the essential role that motivation plays in getting us to work hard, to strive for goals and to persevere in spite of difficulties. In that context, I was con- cerned with motivation as an energizer of action. The message was that knowing what to do and how to do it is not enough; actual per- formance also requires a large measure of desire. But motivation is actually more complicated than just energizing behavior.

Principle of Motivation
Motivation serves both to energize and to guide behavior.

This principle says that motives not only arouse us to act, but they help determine which action we choose to make. For example, when you get hungry, you are not just motivated to do anything; your behavior is directed toward some kind of food-getting action. Alternatively, you may be equally motivated by thirst but now your behavior is directed toward getting water. In general, you tend to do something that is relevant to whatever motivates you. But of course, you had to learn what actions are relevant to which motives. One source of motivation is fearï (or anxiety). Two very common responses to fear are to freeze or to flee. To freeze is to stop on- going activity and to become immobile. In some situations, such as when a bee is flying nearby, freezing is adaptive. To flee is to to run away and this is also often a successful way to escape from a dangerous, fearful situation. Although we have all learned both the freeze and flee responses to fear, they are sometimes maladaptive. These are times when the îbest response is to fightï, to face the feared situation head-on. Consider, for example, a stage performer. To freeze would be to "draw a blank" and be unable to remember one's lines. To flee would would be to run away from one's responsibilities. The appropriate response is to get out on the stage and let one's fear mobilize a a good performance. Even the most experienced entertainers have butterflies in their stomachs before a show but they have learned to go on with the show. Indeed, a performer could not put on a very good performance without being aroused by anxiety. In this regard, taking a test is like putting on a show. It is appropriate to be apprehensive about an exam because your grade and, to some extent, your whole future are tied to your performance. The goal is not to cure yourself of test-anxiety; your goal is to cure yourself of the freeze or flee tendencies and learn to direct your energy toward relevant test-taking responses.