Seeking Motivation Research Articles

The dual orexin receptor antagonist TCS1102 does not affect reinstatement of nicotine-seeking.

The orexin/hypocretin system is important for appetitive motivation towards multiple drugs of abuse, including nicotine. Both OX1 and OX2 receptors individually have been shown to influence nicotine self-administration and reinstatement. Due to the increasing clinical use of dual orexin receptor antagonists in the treatment of disorders such as insomnia, we examined whether a dual orexin receptor antagonist may also be effective in reducing nicotine seeking. We tested the effect of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of the potent and selective dual orexin receptor antagonist TCS1102 on orexin-A-induced food self-administration, nicotine self-administration and reinstatement of nicotine-seeking in rats. Our results show that 30 μg of TCS1102 i.c.v. abolishes orexin-A-induced increases in food self-administration but does not reduce nicotine self-administration. Neither i.c.v. 10 μg nor 30 μg of TCS1102 reduced compound reinstatement after short-term (15 days) self-administration nicotine, but 30 μg transiently reduced cue/nicotine compound reinstatement after chronic self-administration (29 days). These results indicate that TCS1102 has no substantial effect on motivation for nicotine seeking following chronic self-administration and no effect after shorter periods of intake. Orexin receptor antagonists may therefore have little clinical utility against nicotine addiction.

Dairy cows with prolonged calving seek additional isolation

In modern calving facilities, dairy cows either calve in a group pen or are moved to a separate individual pen when calving is imminent. In practice, cows are often moved too close to calving, which poses a health risk to cow and calf. Thus, a need exists for new calving facility designs and management practices that better align with the motivations of the cow. This study examined dairy cow preferences for individual calving pens by offering 3 different levels of isolation (tall and narrow, low and wide, and tall and wide) by analyzing the association between precalving behavior, choice of degree of isolation, and the progress of calving. The hypotheses were that cows would prefer the highest level of isolation when giving birth, and that calving in a high level of isolation would be associated with less restlessness and a shorter calving duration. Contrary to these hypotheses, no specific preference between degrees of isolation or difference in calving behavior in the different calving pens was found. However, cows experiencing a longer calving duration chose to calve in the most secluded calving pen (tall and wide). These results cannot determine cause and effect, but may suggest that interactions between motivation for isolation seeking and calving behavior exist.

Motives of Poland’s Outward Direct Investments from the Lodz Region: Results of a Direct Study

Objective : The objective of the paper is to identify motivation behind FDI followed by enterprises from the Lodz Region and to find out if these motives are similar in companies different in size, share of foreign capital and internationalisation path. Research Design & Methods : Empirical research was based on questionnaire-based interviews and in-depth interviews which covered 80% of outward direct investors from the Lodz Region. It provided grounds to assess the importance of their motives. Findings: Enterprises from the Lodz region which decided to get involved as FDIs most often pointed to market seeking motives. The significance of other motives was secondary. With several exceptions (mainly with respect to cost) the size of an enterprise, foreign capital holdings and internationalisation path did not differentiate motives that encouraged respondents to engage their resources abroad. Implications & Recommendations: The study is explorative, and its results should be understood as the starting point for further studies. Results suggest that, firstly, at the present stage of internationalisation the state should offer possible support to all operators on equal conditions. Secondly, if already some enterprises invest abroad seeking better and cheaper employees, it may be profitable for the state to take upgrade the quality of workforce and reduce its relatively high costs in Poland. Contribution & Value Added: The main input delivered by the study to the current body of knowledge about OFDI motives consists in trying to identify relationships between motives followed by the Polish direct investors and their selected characteristics (size of a firm, share of foreign capital holdings, and internationalisation path).

Social media engagement: What motivates user participation and consumption on YouTube?

This study unearths the motives for YouTube user engagement that has been conceptualized as active participation and passive content consumption. In light of the Uses and Gratifications framework, a sample of 1143 registered YouTube users completed online surveys that helped gauge user behavior. Results showed that for participation on YouTube, the strongest predictor for liking and disliking videos was the relaxing entertainment motive; commenting and uploading being strongly predicted by social interaction motive; sharing being strongly predicted by information giving motive. Passive content consumption in the form of video viewing was most strongly predicted by relaxing entertainment motive, and reading comments predicted by information seeking motive. Greater YouTube experience negatively predicted liking, and anonymity played a role in sharing and uploading videos. Males were more likely to dislike YouTube videos in comparison with females.

Consequences of constitutive deletion of melanin-concentrating hormone-1 receptors for feeding and foraging behaviors of mice

In order to decipher the functional involvement of melanin-concentrating hormone 1 (MCH1) receptors in the control of feeding and foraging behaviors, mice with constitutive deletion of MCH1 receptors MCH1R −/− or knockout (KO) were studied and compared to age-matched littermate control mice (MCH1R +/+ or wildtype (WT)). Several challenges to food-motivated behaviors of food-restricted WT and KO mice were implemented. There were no differences between genotypes in the acquisition of a nose-poke response that produced food or in a discrimination between a response that produced food and one that did not. There were also no genotype differences in the rate of extinction of a food-motivated response. However, during the first day of extinction, foraging behaviors were increased significantly more in KO than in WT mice. Likewise, when the response requirement to obtain food was progressively increased, KO mice made significantly more food-directed responses than WT mice. Although adulteration of food with quinine did not suppress food-directed behavior in either genotype when the mice were food-restricted, manipulation of the degree of food-deprivation resulted in suppression of behavior of WT mice without suppressing the behavior of KO mice. Although response-produced foot shock suppressed food-maintained responding of both WT and KO mice, equipotent levels of shock (based upon psychophysical thresholds) suppressed behavior of WT mice without suppressing behavior of the KO mice. Finally, under a Vogel conflict procedure, KO mice had significantly higher levels of both punished and non-punished food maintained responding. Thus, the data from challenges with both appetitive and noxious stimulus challenges support the conclusion that mice with constitutive deletion of MCH1Rs have increased food seeking motivation that is coincident with their higher metabolism. The data also highlight important differences in the biological impact of MCH1 receptor KO and MCH1 receptor antagonism.

Assessing Faculty Members' Levels of Information-Seeking Motivation:A Case of MSRT and Medical Universities of Iran

This study assesses the faculty members' levels of motivation for seeking and collecting multi-purpose information in the Iranian contexts of Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) and Medical universities (Ministry of Health and Medical Education). The randomly-selected respondents included 140 from MSRT and 105 from Medical universities. The data collection and analysis instruments consisted of a questionnaire and descriptive statistics. Results revealed higher levels of information-seeking motivation for MSRT faculty members pertaining to their research, visibility among peers, departmental promotions, project reviews, knowledge update, professional competence, and educational pursuit. The faculty members of Medical University had higher motivation for information-seeking to meet competition, recognition, and personal factors.

Focused maternity care in Ghana: results of a cluster analysis.

BackgroundGhana missed out in attaining Millennium Development Goal 5 in 2015. The provision of adequate prenatal and postnatal care remains problematic, with poor evidence on women’s views on met and unmet maternity care needs across all regions in Ghana. This paper examines maternal care utilization in Ghana by applying WHO indicators for focused maternal care utilization.MethodsTwo-step cluster analysis segregated women into groups based on the components of the maternity care used. Using cluster membership variables as dependent variables, we applied multinomial and binary regression to examine associations of care use with individual, household and regional characteristics.ResultsWe identified three patterns of care use: adequate, less and least adquate care. The presence of a female and skilled provider is an indicator of adequate care. Women in Volta, Upper West, Northern and Western regions received less adequate care compared with other regions. Supply-related factors (drugs availability, distance/transport, health insurance ownership, rural residence) were associated with adequacy of care. The lack of female autonomy, widowed/divorced women, age and parity were associated with less adequate care. Care patterns were distinctively associated with the quality of health care support (skilled and female attendant) instead of with the number of visits made to the facility. Across regions and within rural settings, disparities exist, often compounded by supply-related factors.ConclusionsEfforts to address skilled workforce shortages, greater accountability for quality and equity, improving women motivation for care seeking and active participation are important for maternity care in Ghana.Electronic Supplementary MaterialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1654-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Automatic attitudes and health information avoidance.

Early detection of disease is often crucially important for positive health outcomes, yet people sometimes decline opportunities for early detection (e.g., opting not to screen). Although some health-information avoidance reflects a deliberative decision, we propose that information avoidance can also reflect an automatic, nondeliberative reaction. In the present research, we investigated whether people's automatic attitude toward learning health information predicted their avoidance of risk feedback. In 3 studies, we gave adults the opportunity to learn their risk for a fictitious disease (Study 1), melanoma skin cancer (Study 2), or heart disease (Study 3), and examined whether they opted to learn their risk. The primary predictors were participants' attitudes about learning health information measured using a traditional (controlled) self-report instrument and using speeded (automatic) self-report measure. In addition, we prompted participants in Study 3 to contemplate their motives for seeking or avoiding information prior to making their decision. Across the 3 studies, self-reported (controlled) and implicitly measured (automatic) attitudes about learning health information independently predicted avoidance of the risk feedback, suggesting that automatic attitudes explain unique variance in the decision to avoid health information. In Study 3, prompting participants to contemplate their reasons for seeking versus avoiding health information reduced information avoidance. Surprisingly, it did so by inducing reliance on automatic, rather than controlled, attitudes. The data suggests that automatic processes play an important role in predicting health information avoidance and suggest that interventionists aiming to increase information seeking might fruitfully target automatic processes. (PsycINFO Database Record

Linking Psychological Attributes, Gratifications and Social Networking Site Use to Social Capital of the Net Generation in China

How narcissism, communication anxiety, and gratifications impact SNS use and social capital was examined through a survey of Net-geners in China (N=568). Firstly, factor analysis identified four gratifications-sought from SNS: self-presentation, peer pressure, social network maintenance, and information seeking. Then regression analyses showed that narcissism significantly predicted all gratifications and intensity of SNS use, while communication anxiety only related to peer pressure and information seeking motivations. Narcissism, network maintenance motive, and intensity of SNS use were positively related to social capital, whereas communication anxiety and peer pressure motivation negatively predicted social capital. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Nucleus Accumbens: Mechanisms of Addiction across Drug Classes Reflect the Importance of Glutamate Homeostasis.

The nucleus accumbens is a major input structure of the basal ganglia and integrates information from cortical and limbic structures to mediate goal-directed behaviors. Chronic exposure to several classes of drugs of abuse disrupts plasticity in this region, allowing drug-associated cues to engender a pathologic motivation for drug seeking. A number of alterations in glutamatergic transmission occur within the nucleus accumbens after withdrawal from chronic drug exposure. These drug-induced neuroadaptations serve as the molecular basis for relapse vulnerability. In this review, we focus on the role that glutamate signal transduction in the nucleus accumbens plays in addiction-related behaviors. First, we explore the nucleus accumbens, including the cell types and neuronal populations present as well as afferent and efferent connections. Next we discuss rodent models of addiction and assess the viability of these models for testing candidate pharmacotherapies for the prevention of relapse. Then we provide a review of the literature describing how synaptic plasticity in the accumbens is altered after exposure to drugs of abuse and withdrawal and also how pharmacological manipulation of glutamate systems in the accumbens can inhibit drug seeking in the laboratory setting. Finally, we examine results from clinical trials in which pharmacotherapies designed to manipulate glutamate systems have been effective in treating relapse in human patients. Further elucidation of how drugs of abuse alter glutamatergic plasticity within the accumbens will be necessary for the development of new therapeutics for the treatment of addiction across all classes of addictive substances.

The use of ayurvedic medicine in the context of health promotion--a mixed methods case study of an ayurvedic centre in Sweden.

BackgroundAyurveda has its historical roots in India, but has also been internationalised, partly via migration and partly through an increased interest in alternative medicine in the West, where studies point toward increased use. However, there is to date scarce knowledge about the use and experiences of ayurveda in Sweden.MethodsWe have conducted a case study of a center for ayurvedic healthcare in Sweden. We have collected information on client background data from the center’s documentation, and compiled data from all clients who visited the centre for ayurvedic consultation during spring 2014. In total, 55 individuals were included in the study, and 18 of them were chosen for individual semi-structured interviews, to gain a deeper understanding of their motives for seeking, and experiences of ayurvedic health care. The material was analysed and compiled through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.ResultsAmong the 55 clients, 91 % were female the mean age was 47 years, and 64 % gave a specific illness as a reason for seeking ayurveda. The most common illnesses were respiratory, musculoskeletal, circulatory, tumor, and cutaneous illnesses. The qualitative results showed that ayurveda was being used in combination with other methods, including various diets, other alternative medicine methods and conventional medicine. Some participants recounted having sought ayurveda as a complement to conventional medicine, or in cases when conventional medicine had been experienced as insufficient in terms of diagnosis or treatment. However, some participants experienced it as difficult to follow the ayurvedic life-style advice in the midst of their everyday life. Many participants reported positive experiences of pulse diagnostics, which was the main diagnostic method used in ayurvedic consultation. Some reported concrete, physical improvement of their symptoms.ConclusionsThis study points towards important aspects of participant experience of ayurveda, that may be subject to further research. The positive effects experienced by some clients should be studied more systematically in order to discern whether they are specific or non-specific. In addition, interesting knowledge may be gained through further study of the reported positive experiences of pulse diagnosis.

Examining Patterns and Motivations for Drug-Related Information Seeking and Scanning Behavior: A Cross-National Comparison of American and Israeli College Students

The current study uses a grounded theory approach to explore dimensions and bi-national comparisons of active information seeking efforts (seeking) for and passive information acquisition (scanning) of drug-related information among two college student samples from the United States (N = 25) and Israel (N = 39). Specifically, the study focuses on seeking and scanning related to amphetamines and marijuana, two frequently used drugs among college populations, about which information is easily accessible. Results of semi-structured interviews suggest that information scanning and seeking about marijuana and amphetamines are common, particularly from peers and from the Internet. The analysis uncovers themes relating to young adults’ drug-related, information-seeking behaviors, including cross-source information acquisition across interpersonal and media sources, and motivations for engaging in active efforts to seek drug-related information. These findings extend research on information seeking and scanning and suggest future research should examine predictors and effects of these behaviors in the context of substance use.

Finding Motivation: Online Information Seeking Following Newborn Screening for Cystic Fibrosis.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that has no manifestations for carriers but is terminal for those diagnosed with it. CF is identified through newborn screening (NBS) tests, and most families have no knowledge about CF before their contact with a NBS program. Acknowledging the Internet as a popular health information source, this study examined information exchange about CF in online community forums. This article, guided by self-determination theory, aimed at providing understanding of psychological needs and motivation for health information seeking and active communication about CF. Through online communication with other families who share similar experience, caregivers of newborns diagnosed with CF sought and received support for their competence, autonomy, and relatedness needs during the initial CF testing and diagnosis reconciliation process. Online communities play an important role in the information seeking related to CF diagnosis and could become active partners in strategic knowledge dissemination efforts.

Location Strategies of Multinationals from Emerging Countries in the EU Regions

This paper contributes to the current debate in both Economic Geography and International Business on the nature and strategies of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) from emerging countries (EMNEs). The paper fills a relevant gap in the existing literature by shedding new light on the location strategies of EMNEs at the national and regional level, looking at their investment drivers and systematically comparing them with those of multinationals from advanced countries (AMNEs).The empirical analysis looks at the location choices of MNEs in the European Union (EU-25) regions and unveils that EMNEs follow distinctive location strategies. Their attraction into large regional markets is similar to AMNEs as well as their irresponsiveness to efficiency seeking motives. Conversely, the most knowledge-intensive investments of EMNEs respond mainly to two ‘attraction’ factors: strategic assets (in the form of local technological dynamism) and the agglomeration of foreign investments in the same business functions. In addition, both the national and the regional levels are simultaneously relevant to EMNEs decisions.

The Role Of Attachment Style And Marital Quality In Attachment Injury Couples

The attachment system is thought to facilitate relationship goals by motivation seeking and bonding activities with significant others, particularly under times of stress (Bowlby, 1982). Attachment theory has also contributed to further understanding the marital relationship in terms of profound psychological and physiological interdependence. It is perhaps this interdependence that causes damage to the quality of the attachment relationship. Hence, attachment injury is defined as “a specific incident or event in which one partner is unresponsive and inaccessible when one partner cries out for help in extreme need” (Johnson & Makinen, 2001). Therefore, marital distress or breakup in couple’s relationships does not happen suddenly, so understanding of attachment injury in relation to individual’s marital quality and attachment style would help practitioners to be equipped for appropriate and effective inventions. Further, it would also help counselors and mental health professionals to be familiar with the complexities of the topic by dealing with consequences of an attachment injury ethically and competently, Therefore our study aimed at examining the prevalence and nature of attachment injury and its effect on marital quality, in a group of married heterosexual couples. It also attempted to associate attachment styles with and without attachment injury in couples. The study employed a cross-sectional exploratory design with a set of self-administered measures. The sample comprised of 400 married individuals from urban Bangalore. Statistical results showed those individuals who were experiencing attachment injury are associated with poor marital quality. It was also seen that attachment injury was found to be associated with gender and insecure attachment style. Therefore our findings suggest that poor marital quality with an insecure attachment style plays an important role in attachment injury over time. Based on the attachment style, further intervention strategies and effective programs should be designed for marital counseling. And marital enrichment programs may be useful to enhance marital quality to prevent marital distress or breakups.

Indian Foreign Direct Investment: A Way to Africa

Indian companies are entering into African domain largely guided by the market and resource seeking motives which promotes potential forward and backward linkage. Indian FDI to Africa is concentrated in oil, gas and mining in the primary commodities market. In the manufacturing sector, a dominance of automobile and pharmaceutical firms is seen. Most of the Indian FDI in African countries is through Greenfield investments and joint ventures that are desired by the host countries due to their contribution in creating new production capacity and generating employment, transfer of technology, etc. The identified factors that motivate Indian investors to invest in Africa are socio-cultural, host country policies, regional integration agreements, bilateral investment treaties, gross domestic product growth etc. Also language, culture, presence of Diaspora does play a significant role in attracting FDI in Africa countries. The relationship between India and Africa exists and functions at these multilateral levels that includes commerce converge.

Exploring motivations to seek and undergo prosthodontic care: an empirical approach using the Theory of Planned Behavior construct.

Motivations for seeking and undergoing prosthodontic care are poorly understood and are not often explored for clinical purposes when determining treatment need and understanding the factors related to the demand for health care and effective use. This article uses the Theory of Planned Behavior construct to identify factors related to the motivations of edentulous subjects to seek and undergo prosthodontic treatment. The conceptual framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior includes attitude toward behavior, an individual’s positive or negative evaluation of self-performance of the particular behavior; the subjective norm, an individual’s perception of social normative pressures or relevant others’ beliefs that he or she should or should not perform such behavior; and perceived behavioral control, or an individual’s perceived ease or difficulty in performing the particular behavior, determined by the total set of accessible control beliefs. These components mediate a subject’s intention and behavior toward an object and may also explain health-related behaviors, providing strong predictions across a range of health behaviors. This study suggests categories for each component of the Theory of Planned Behavior, based on clinical evidence and practical reasoning. Attitudes toward behavior include perceived consequences of no treatment, perceived potential benefits and risks of treatment, dental anxiety, previous experiences, and interpersonal abilities of the health care providers. The subjective norm includes the opinions of relevant others, advertisement, professionally defined normative need, perceived professional skills, and technical quality of care. Perceived behavioral control includes subject’s time, availability and opportunity, treatment costs, subject’s perceived need, and accessibility to dental care. This conceptual model represents a theoretical multidimensional model that may help clinicians better understand the patient’s treatment behaviors and provide additional information for clinical research on patient’s adherence to interventions in prosthodontics.

Sociosexual attitudes and dyadic sexual desire independently predict women's preferences for male vocal masculinity.

Research suggests that the desire to behave sexually with a partner (dyadic sexual desire) may reflect desire for intimacy whereas solitary sexual desire may reflect pleasure seeking motivations more generally. Because direct reproductive success can only be increased with a sexual partner, we tested whether dyadic sexual desire was a better predictor of women's preferences for lower pitched men's voices (a marker of relatively high reproductive success) than was solitary sexual desire. In Study 1, women (N=95) with higher dyadic sexual desire scores on the Sexual Desire Inventory-2 preferred masculinized male voices more than did women with lower dyadic sexual desire scores. We did not find a significant relationship between women's vocal masculinity preferences and their solitary sexual desire scores. In Study 2, we tested whether the relationship between voice preferences and dyadic sexual desire scores was related to differences in sociosexual orientation. Women (N=80) with more positive attitudes towards uncommitted sex had stronger vocal masculinity preferences regardless of whether men's attractiveness was judged for short-term or long-term relationships. Independent of the effect of sociosexual attitudes, dyadic sexual desire positively predicted women's masculinity preferences when assessing men's attractiveness for short-term but not long-term relationships. These effects were independent of women's own relationship status and hormonal contraceptive use. Our results provide further evidence that women's mate preferences may independently reflect individual differences in both sexual desire and openness to short-term relationships, potentially with the ultimate function of maximizing the fitness benefits of women's mate choices.

Information seeking and avoidance throughout the cancer patient journey: two sides of the same coin? A synthesis of qualitative studies.

Understanding what motivates patients to seek or avoid information beyond the medical consultation is essential for effective information provision that will be relevant to patients' needs and preferences. We conducted a synthesis of published qualitative research to provide insight into patients' motivations for cancer information seeking and avoidance. We searched five electronic databases: Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Communication and Mass Media Complete, and Sociological Abstracts. We complemented this process by reviewing reference lists of relevant articles and searching in Google Scholar. We independently assessed the quality of selected studies and used the technique of meta-ethnography to synthesize available findings. Eighteen articles that reported the information-seeking experiences of 650 patients diagnosed with more than 20 different types of cancer were included. Key concepts were experience of diagnosis, sense of control, trust in medical expertise, hope and fear, and need to resume normality. The synthesis revealed the fluid boundaries existing between information seeking and avoidance throughout the cancer journey and pointed toward the exploration of factors that could influence patients' motivations to engage in information seeking. Patient characteristics, disease characteristics, characteristics of incoming information, and the context of cancer care were found to facilitate or hinder individuals' willingness and potential to assume the role of 'informed patient'. This meta-ethnography suggests that information seeking and avoidance should not be necessarily considered as two distinct behaviors pertaining to different groups of patients; rather, a number of personal and contextual characteristics should be taken into account when evaluating patient desire for information.

Contribution of nucleus accumbens core (AcbC) to behavior control during a learned resting period: introduction of a novel task and lesion experiments.

In recent years, the study of resting state neural activity has received much attention. To better understand the roles of different brain regions in the regulation of behavioral activity in an arousing or a resting period, we developed a novel behavioral paradigm (8-arm food-foraging task; 8-arm FFT) using the radial 8-arm maze and examined how AcbC lesions affect behavioral execution and learning. Repetitive training on the 8-arm FFT facilitated motivation of normal rats to run quickly to the arm tips and to the center platform before the last-reward collection. Importantly, just after this point and before confirmation of no reward at the next arm traverse, locomotor activity decreased. This indicates that well-trained rats can predict the absence of the reward at the end of food seeking and then start another behavior, namely planned resting. Lesions of the AcbC after training selectively impaired this reduction of locomotor activity after the last-reward collection without changing activity levels before the last-reward collection. Analysis of arm-selection patterns in the lesioned animals suggests little influence of the lesion in the ability to predict the reward absence. AcbC lesions did not change exploratory locomotor activity in an open-field test in which there were no rewards. This suggests that the AcbC controls the activity level of planned resting behavior shaped by the 8-arm FFT. Rats receiving training after AcbC lesioning showed a reduction in motivation for reward seeking. Thus, the AcbC also plays important roles not only in controlling the activity level after the last-reward collection but also in motivational learning for setting the activity level of reward-seeking behavior.