PSY 203 Week 4 Motivation, Emotion and Stress Example

Burned Out Before Thirty: Motivation, Emotion and Stress in a Restaurant Shift Lead

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

PSY/203: Foundations of Psychology

Week 4 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The employee and the restaurant are composites written for a model paper; theories and research come from the sources listed.

Motivation is what starts, directs and sustains behavior. Emotion is a response that involves the body, thoughts and expression. Stress is the process by which people respond to events they see as threatening or challenging. These three ideas together explain why a worker who once loved a job can come to dread it. This paper applies them to a composite shift lead at a restaurant in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Case

Marcus is twenty-nine and has worked at the restaurant for five years, the last two as a shift lead. He took the job because he enjoyed the fast pace and the team, and he was proud when promoted. Over the past year, the restaurant cut staff, schedules began changing week to week and the new manager rarely thanks anyone. Marcus now sleeps poorly, snaps at coworkers during rushes and has called in sick four times in two months. He says he feels "used up," and he has started to wonder whether he chose the wrong line of work.

Motivation: Two Theories

Maslow (1943) proposed a hierarchy of needs, beginning with bodily needs like rest and food, moving up through security, belonging and esteem and topped by self-actualization, with lower needs generally taking priority when they are threatened. Marcus's unpredictable schedule disrupts sleep and makes his income less certain, threatening physiological and safety needs. With those needs under pressure, the belonging and esteem the job once provided matter less in his daily experience. Maslow's model has been criticized because people do not always meet needs in strict order, but it helps explain why Marcus's focus has narrowed to getting through each shift.

Ryan and Deci (2000) proposed self-determination theory, which holds that people are most energized from within when three basic needs are met: autonomy, feeling that one's actions are chosen; competence, feeling capable; and relatedness, feeling close to others. Their review linked support for these needs to intrinsic motivation, well-being and performance, and their frustration to lower motivation and well-being. When Marcus started, he chose his shifts, felt skilled and enjoyed the team. Now schedules are imposed, staffing shortages make it hard to do the job well and appreciation is gone. All three needs are frustrated, which explains why motivation that once came from inside has faded to a paycheck alone.

Emotion: How the Same Rush Feels Different

Emotions involve physical arousal, thoughts about what is happening and outward expression. The Friday rush produces the same racing heart and quick movements it did years ago. What has changed is Marcus's interpretation. Appraisal theory holds that emotions depend on how people evaluate events, whether as challenges they can meet or threats they cannot. Years ago, Marcus appraised the rush as a challenge, and it felt exciting. Now, short-staffed and tired, he appraises it as a threat, and the same arousal feels like anxiety and anger. His irritability with coworkers is an expression of that threat appraisal.

Stress: Adding Up the Changes

Holmes and Rahe (1967) built a checklist of common life changes, each given a point value, such as a change in work hours or responsibilities, trouble with a boss or a change in sleeping habits, and found that people with many changes in a year were more likely to report later illness. Marcus has experienced several such changes in one year: new responsibilities, changing hours, trouble with a manager and disrupted sleep. Life-event scales have limits, since they count events without asking how people interpret them, but the total suggests his stress is high.

Lazarus and Folkman (1984) argued that stress arises from the relationship between a person and the environment, when demands are appraised as exceeding resources. Their model explains why Marcus, with fewer staff and less sleep, experiences demands that he once handled easily as overwhelming. Chronic stress keeps the body's stress response active, which over time can disrupt sleep, weaken immune function and contribute to irritability and illness, consistent with his sick days.

The Friday rush did not change; Marcus's resources did, and with them his appraisal of the rush.

Coping: Matching Strategy to Stressor

Lazarus and Folkman distinguished problem-focused coping, which tries to change the situation, from emotion-focused coping, which aims at the distress itself. The first suits stressors a person can alter; the second suits those that must be endured.

Some of Marcus's stressors can be changed. He can ask the manager for a fixed schedule two weeks in advance and propose a staffing plan for Friday rushes, using data from recent weekends. If the restaurant cannot change, he can begin looking for a position elsewhere. These are problem-focused steps, and they work best when he brings specific proposals rather than general complaints.

Other stressors cannot be changed quickly, such as the pace of a busy restaurant. For those, emotion-focused strategies help: a short walk before shifts, a set bedtime on days off, talking with a friend who works in hospitality and reframing the rush as a challenge he has handled many times.

Restoring Motivation

Self-determination theory suggests changes that would also restore motivation. Choosing some shifts would support autonomy; adequate staffing would let him feel competent again; and regular recognition from the manager would support relatedness. If Marcus raises these points with the manager, he is advocating for conditions that research links to engaged, healthy workers.

When to Seek More Help

If Marcus's sleep problems, irritability and dread continue for weeks despite these steps, or if he begins to feel hopeless, talking with a doctor or counselor would be appropriate. Burnout can overlap with depression and anxiety, which respond to professional treatment. Recognizing when self-help is not enough is part of coping well.

Conclusion

Motivation, emotion and stress theories together explain Marcus's slide from enthusiasm to exhaustion. Frustrated needs drained his motivation, changed appraisals turned excitement into anxiety and accumulated changes raised his stress. A plan that combines problem-focused steps with emotion-focused care gives him the best chance of recovering, whether at this restaurant or a new one.

References

Holmes, T. H., & Rahe, R. H. (1967). The social readjustment rating scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 11(2), 213-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(67)90010-4

Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. Springer.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68