What is motivation? At Harvard four generations of psychologists said that motivation is about needs and instincts. At Yale the Hull-Spence psychologists – my academic parents, so to speak -- said it was about drive. Both were right, but missed key points.
Certain motives – those common to the species -- come and go. They can be satiated only for short periods of time, never permanently. They turn on, turn off, and come back, over and over, from adolescence to grave. We experience hunger; eating satiates us; a few hours later we become hungry again. We are bored; we read a book or think about current affairs; we become tired thinking and behave mindlessly; in the next day or two intellectual curiosity re-asserts itself and again we seek out learning opportunities.
Intrinsic motivation often can be thought of as a desired rate of experience with a universal goal.
So what does it mean when I suggest that the Boston bombers were motivated by revenge. Does it mean they were two nice boys who were insulted for being Muslims so they decided to bomb the runners to get even? Not exactly.
Some people value revenge much more than do others. They are motivated to seek out insults so they can experience the desire for revenge. If they read in the newspaper and learn that the USA did this or that, they are motivated to perceive insult, so they can experience vengefulness at the uncommonly desired high level.
Why doesn't the motive for revenge satiate? Because motives are the assertion of core values. We are a species motivated to assert our values. The Freudians erred when they suggested that blowing up innocent runners in a marathon releases psychic energy and reduces future vengeful violence. Vengeful behaviors are motivated to occur at certain rates that are more or less stable throughout the adult years. How do I know this? It is how all intrinsic motives work. My colleagues and I might be the only ones asking people what motivates them. (The other psychologists are telling them what their motives should be.)
How valid is my theory? It excels in predicting how people behave in the real world.
In the next week or two at the most, I will release as an e book an updated statement of my theory, titled “The Reiss Motivation Profile: What Motivates You.” Meanwhile, I have made available an ebook on the social psychology of motivation, “Myths on Intrinsic Motivation.”
Now available at www.amazon.com
Soon to be avaliable at www.bn.com
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