Emotional Compromised (Spoilers!!)
Jim Kirk (Chris Pine) is the first officer to Spock (Zachary Quinto) in the U.S.S. Enterprise. Vulcan, Spock's home planet, is destroyed by Nero (Eric Bana). Spock's mother was on the planet when it was destroyed. Kirk is to emotionally compromise Spock in order to become captain of the ship, even when Vulcans are able to hide their emotions. In the clip below, Kirk is able to enrage Spock by attacking him with the facts that Vulcan and his mother are dead. Spock was able to layer his emotions until the point he physically attacks Kirk. According to Wilmot (2011), layering emotions helps us understand why we feel a certain way.
Motivation
George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), Jim Kirk's father, sacrificed himself so Jim and his mother would survive Nero's attack. This prevented Kirk from enlisting in Starfleet. One night in Iowa, Kirk gets into a fight with some Star Fleet recruits. While Kirk is losing, Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) stops the fight. After the fight (the clip below), Pike tries to influence Kirk to enlist in Starfleet but Kirk would not budge. Pike brings up that Kirk's father was a captain for only twelve minutes but saved 800 lives. He says, "I dare you to do better." This line is the breaking point motivation Kirk needed to be influenced. Wilmot (2011) found that motivation helps emotions with decision-making. Pike's motivation helps Kirk calm his emotions and succumb to enlisting in Starfleet.
*For more information, see the "notes" page