Theories of Personality, Summer Class of 2018

Holy Name University

FEAR MOTIVATION THEORY

Xyza Joy O. Espinosa, LPT

Holy Name University

Introduction

Fear is powerful and a great motivator. May it be an animal or human being, all of

us feel what we called fear in our everyday life and it is one of the things we used as a

motivation in order for us to thrive on this planet. On an evolutionary level, fear makes

sense. Back when like was far more dangerous and far more survival-centred, a keen

sense of fear was effective at keeping humans out of dangerous situations. Now that we

are generally free from large predator-related threats, our fears often manifest in ways

that keep us from moving forward.

Fear is an emotion and evolutionary advantage felt by humans and animals in

response to a perceived threat. It is used to motivate a person or animal into engaging

in a behaviour that is most likely to allow them to survive. Though Xyza believes that

fear is often considered a negative emotion, she wanted to offer a different perspective

on how fear can be useful in people’s lives. She believes that fear is useful as a

motivator as it is an emotion that occurs in response to a threat that requires action of

some sort. It is a feeling that urges someone to react. As we go along this theory, it will

help us to understand what fear is, why we feel fear and how it motivates us.

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Holy Name University

Biography

On a lovely day of September 19, 1991, an

infant was born at Candabong, Anda, Bohol. She

was the eldest child of Victoria O. Espinosa and

Willie H. Espinosa. Her name is Xyza Joy O.

Espinosa. Her mother was a housekeeper that

time and her father was part of Arm Forces of the

Philippines (AFP). Xyza has only limited

memories of her childhood with her father since

her father was always away at home most of the

time due to his line of work. Some of the memories that she can remember with her

father were that he was strict, shy type, responsible and thrifty. Her mother was the one

who were with them most of the time. She described her mother as loving, motherly,

supportive and responsible.

When Xyza was only nine months old, her mother got pregnant and on February

25, 1993, her younger sister was born. According to Xyza, having a sister was both a

joy and a pain. They quarrel most of the time but comprehend at the end. She described

her sister as spoiled, harsh but with soft heart.

With short interval of years with her younger sister, she was detached to her

mother at an early age. She learned to do things on her own as a child like helping with

chores and sleeping alone in a room compared to her sister who was always beside her

mother. She was sent to school when she was only three years old. She was

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Holy Name University

participative in class and was a consistent honor student. In fact, she became the class

valedictorian in their class in elementary. Though timid, she was most of the time

preferred by her classmates as their President in the class. Her sister also was an

achiever and they have their tradition to count their medals and ribbons at the end of the

school year.

When she was ten years old, her mother decided to went back to school to study

Education at Holy Name University. Together with her sister, they were left with their

Nanay at home, their grandmother in her mother’s side. Her mother would only be there

during Friday night to Sunday afternoon because she still needs to travel for about three

hours to reach Tagbilaran City from Anda and vice versa to study. With just ten months

after her mother went to school, her mother got pregnant again and temporarily stopped

schooling.

On August 4, 1999, her younger brother was born. It was a joyous moment for

them for they longed to have an additional boy in the family especially her father.

Ten months after giving birth to her baby brother, her mother went back to school

to finish her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. On the year 2003, her mother

graduated, passed the board exam a year later and became a permanent teacher at a

public school near their home on that same year.

Sadly, on 2004, her father died due to cardiac arrest. Though it was a sad year

for the family, with the support of the people around them, they made it through.

Her mother decided to transfer her together with her younger sister to Holy Name

University to continue their studies in high school. It was a difficult transition for Xyza

since it was the first time to be away from home and her family. Xyza was only fourteen

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Holy Name University

years old that time and had a hard time adjusting to her new environment. Budgeting

was also a challenge she experienced. Adjusting from city life was a bit difficult for her

since she grew up in a small town. Life in the public school and private school was

different. Though faced with this kind of problem, she still gained new friends and

adapted to her surroundings that made her an independent person.

After she graduated in high school, she proceeded to study college in the same

university. Though a little bit confused as to what she would take, her mother suggested

that she might try Psychology course. She has less knowledge on the course but still

pursued.

On the year 2013, she graduated Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She

applied for work right after and luckily was hired as Human Resource Assistant at

Dranix Distributors Incorporated – Bohol Branch. She worked there for two years before

resigning to pursue Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. She took qualifying

units in Secondary Education at Holy Name University. Right after schooling, she began

reviewing in preparation of Licensure Examination for Teachers. Luckily, she passed the

LET exam. A year after that, she began applying to the Department of Education as a

teacher and fortunately, she was hired on that same year.

Xyza is currently teaching Araling Panlipunan subjects as her major and other

minor subjects in the junior high. She is presently connected at Candabong National

High School in Anda, Bohol. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Education

major in Guidance and Counseling because she wanted to become a Registered

Guidance Counselor in the near future. Xyza believes that with her experienced in the

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Holy Name University

school setting as a teacher/faculty and as a human resource assistant, she can relate

more on the students and the people working in the school as well. 

Overview of the Theory

Fear motivation theory simply explains that our behaviour is motivated by fear.

Xyza categorizes her fear motivation into two. She classified them into healthy fear and

unhealthy fear. According to her, healthy fear can result into positive behaviour while

unhealthy fear can result into negative behaviour.

However, fears need to be kept in check as they can manifest themselves into

phobias and cause people to avoid things with no actual risk to them. If fears are kept in

check then it can be useful in motivating us to better ourselves and keep us alive.

Structure of Personality

FEAR MOTIVATION BEHAVIOUR

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Holy Name University

Explanation

According to encarta, motivation is a force for determining behaviour: the

biological, emotional, cognitive or social forces that activate and direct behaviour. In

other words, it is a driving force for someone to do something or behaving in a particular

way.

Xyza believes that people are motivated by fear. Though fear is associated with

negative emotion, Xyza considered that fear can be put into positive aspect. She

wanted to imply in her theory that though fear is linked with negative emotion, it can be

a source of driving force that directs someone to do certain behaviour which can lead to

a positive outcome. One example of this is studying for exams. A student studies for an

exam because of fear of failing grades. The result of fear of failing grades resulted to

being motivated to study and prepare well for the exam, which is the outcome

behaviour.

Xyza categorizes her fear motivation into two. She classified them into healthy

fear and unhealthy fear. According to her, healthy fear can result into positive behaviour

while unhealthy fear can result into negative behaviour.

Healthy fear. Healthy fear is a type of fear that leads to positive behaviour. An

example of this is exercising. People often exercise mainly because they wanted to be

physically fit. However, according to Xyza, there is an underlying reason for them to do

that and that is fear. Fear of dying soon or fear of being physically ill helps to motivate

people to exercise. Xyza often hear people say something like “Let’s exercise to

become physically fit and to live a longer life”. This kind of fear is a healthy fear since it

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Holy Name University

motivated the person to be physically fit thus resulting people to be productive in their

daily lives.

Unhealthy fear. Unhealthy fear is the type of fear that leads to negative

behaviour. An example of this is the fear of socializing. People are motivated to avoid

social situations because of fear of socializing. Unhealthy fears, such as avoiding

socializations that have negative effects on a person’s life are ones we do not need.

According to Xyza, Unhealthy fear can make a person unproductive in some ways that

can hamper his growth as a person.

Conclusion and Recommendation

Fear can be a strong motivator in people’s lives. It can easily shape what a

person does and how they react in a situation. Fear can be useful in surviving and

improving a person’s life by helping them and motivating them to react to risks

appropriately. Fear has being useful in motivating people to change their lives for the

better. For example, many studies show that fear campaigns such as the anti-smoking

campaigns have helped to reduce the number of smokers.

However, fears need to be kept in check as they can manifest themselves into

phobias and cause people to avoid things with no actual risk to them. In order to prevent

this, people need to be aware of the reasons behind any fears they experience. There

needs to be rational reasons for experiencing fear. As well as this, people’s level of fear

needs to suit the situation. Fear sometimes helps us to avoid situations in which we may

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Holy Name University

be harmed physically or mentally. However feeling fearful all the time can be harmful to

our health and cause more negative than positive effects.

If fears are kept in check then it can be useful in motivating us to better ourselves

and keep us alive. Fear is not something to be afraid of. It is an evolutionary adaptation

that many humans and animals use in order to survive. Fear is the ultimate motivator

and that it motivates people and animals to survive. So when is fear an acceptable

motivator? The answer for this is that fear should be considered an acceptable

motivator when the behaviour it motivates is in the best interest of the individual.

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