Human being is a social being unified by rationality and irrationality, and the educatees in ideological and political education are also an organic unity of rationality and irrationality. As the initiator of ideological and political education, we should not only pay attention to the indoctrination of the educated theory, but also start from the actual needs and emotional cognition of the educatees, cultivate their belief, sharpen their will, and stimulate their motivation. Motivation, desire, emotion, will and other irrational factors play an important role in the formation, development and transformation of the ideological and moral qualities of the educatees, which provides ideas for us to improve the effect of ideological and political education: emphasizing cognitive harmony, paying attention to value guidance, stimulating subjective initiative, and improving behavioral stability.