The Relationship Between Motivation, Anticipation, and Frustration in Animals: A Scoping Review

Authors: Jasmine Muszik and Nadége Aigueperse and Marjorie Cellier and Abdoulay Baniré Diallo and Elsa Vasseur

Date: 2025-06-01

Status: Published

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Motivation, anticipation, and frustration, are important concepts for understanding animal emotion. Denying or delaying an outcome that an animal is motivated for, expects, and performs specific behavior in preparation of, can cause frustration, impacting the emotional welfare of the animal. However, diversity in the definitions and methodology related to these concepts can lead to confusing or conflicting results, and may complicate replication of previous work. A scoping review (conducted according to PRISMA guidelines) was completed where a multi-step screening process identified 112 final primary research papers. The objectives of the review were to determine the ways in which the three concepts have been studied in previous literature, the relationship between the main concepts, and the gaps in knowledge regarding these concepts. Advantages and drawbacks of tests and variables used in the selected papers were explored, along with the repeatability, the applicability within and between individuals or species, and the interpretation of results. There were no universally accepted definitions of motivation, anticipation, or frustration, and the methods used to find or show evidence of the concepts varied, even within a species using the same test. However, a clear connection between concepts was confirmed, where it was suggested that authors develop a framework to measure the concepts together to understand the full scope of how different decisions or practices may impact animal emotion.