Frequently Asked Questions

Dr. Lester M. Sdorow, author of Psychology, answers questions about motivation.

1. What do you think of diet drugs like Phen-fen and Redux?

These drugs, as well as other diet drugs (such as amphetamines) are typically short-term solutions to obesity. That is, users typically regain any weight they have lost while on the drugs. Moreover, diet drugs can produce physical or psychological side effects, as demonstrated by the U.S. government's recall of Phen-fen in 1997 after evidence arose that it caused cardiac problems in many users. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to ingest fewer calories each day and to engage in regular aerobic exercise.

2. Young gymnasts often develop eating disorders because of the pressure they are under to stay thin. If they are starving themselves or bingeing and purging, how do they keep up the energy to remain competitive?

Unfortunately, young gymnasts, as well as other young people (including models and dancers), feel obliged to maintain dangerously low body weights while performing energetically. Because they cannot rely on food to provide them with energy, they often rely on stimulants (such as amphetamines) to provide them with an artificial energy boost. But stimulants can be addicting, cause insomnia, create symptoms of psychological disorders, and induce dangerously high blood pressure.

3. Is there really an achievement motive? Some people where I work really want to achieve, but it's just because they want everyone to like them. Isn't their motive to achieve just a reflection of their desire for social approval?

While some people desire to achieve because it might bring them social approval, others desire to achieve for its own sake--for the sense of accomplishment it brings them. Of course we sometimes desire to achieve because it brings us certain extrinsic rewards, such as fame, money, or power.

4. There seem to be huge gender differences in sexual motivation. I have read that men put up with intimacy to get sex, while women put up with sex to get more intimacy. Is this true? If so, how should heterosexual couples resolve this struggle between sex and intimacy?

Even if there are, on the average, differences between males and females in the relative importance of sex and intimacy in a relationship, you cannot presume that your romantic partner is "average." There are males with a stronger interest in intimacy than in sex, and females with a stronger interest in sex than in intimacy. The best thing is to realize that across the many people you will probably date in your life, there might be these gender differences. And, in any case, you won't know if any individual you date fits the norm until you've interacted with him or her for awhile. Moreover, you should be true to yourself. If your partner pushes sex too soon for you, perhaps because you do not feel that you have been emotionally intimate enough to engage in it, feel free to decline. Having sex before you're ready is rarely a successful way to initiate emotional intimacy.