Motives/Needs

Motives = internal forces that help determine
particular behavior; internal source of motivation


Based in both psychology and biology patterns
Forces pushing for expression within an individual

Needs = readiness to respond in a particular
way; responsible for pushing us into action

“Personal Striving = goals we want to achieve
Basic Question

What do people want?

4 approaches to answering this question
1.
2.
3.
4.
Optimistic tradition
Pessimistic tradition
Neutrality
diversity
Optimistic tradition

People are basically good
 People capable of rational thought
 Reason guides behavior
 People act in accord with conscious goals, which
makes them happy
Carl Rogers, Maslow – humanistic approach
 George Kelly and cognitive approaches

Pessimistic tradition
 People
are mainly bad and often
miserable (because they want bad things)
 Behavior is motivated by irrational and
bodily instincts
 Human reason is overrated
 E.g.
Old Testament idea of original sin;
Freud; evolutionary psychology
Neutrality
 People
(at birth) are blank and unformed
 Environment shapes goals and motives
 E.g.
John Locke (tabula rasa);
behaviorism; Skinner
Diversity
 People
want different things
 Different people have different goals
 E.g.
Henry Murray; contemporary goal
theories
Henry Murray



Needs – located within
an individual
Press – the
environmental factors
that impact the
expression of needs
Needs>>>Motives>>>>
Behavior
Childhood Press
Resulting Motive
Lack of
companionship
Desire to make new
friends
Family discord
Desire to be
comforted
Friendships
Desire to be
nurturing
Confinement
Desire for freedom



Needs are best understood as a personal
hierarchy
i.e. compare needs within an individual rather
than across individuals
E.g. friends having party night before exam
• Need for achievement or need for affiliation –
which is stronger?
Important Needs (the Big Three)

Need for achievement

Need for intimacy/affiliation

Need for Power

Others: Need for autonomy, dominance, harm
avoidance, nurturance, understanding, exhibition
Need for achievement
to achieve success – engage in task
oriented behavior
 Doing things better than before or
surpassing some standard of excellence
(can be an internal standard or external
standard)
 Correlates
 Need
Need for Power
 Need
to have an impact on other people,
influence other people
 Strive to wield power and to feel more
influential than others
 Correlates
Need for Intimacy
 Motive
to have close and warm
relationships with others.
 (slightly different and more valid than
Murray’s original need for affiliation =
motive to spend time with others, to be
involved in social relationships)
 Correlates
Personal Strivings- Emmons

Characteristics, recurring goals that a person is
trying to accomplish

Strivings are more specific than needs/motives
and offer concrete information about a person

E.g. person with need for power:
“Persuading my daughter she should stay away from
drugs” “Becoming president of the local school
council” “Getting to the top of my company.”
Personal Strivings

About ½ of reported strivings fit into big 3 motive
categories of achievement, power, and
intimacy/affiliation.

Other goals include:




Avoidance “To avoid letting anything upset me.”
Personal growth and health “To eat more vegetables”
“To get in better shape” “To learn more about
gardening”
Generativity “To make a lasting contribution to
society”
Spirituality “To deepen my relationship with God”
Correlates of personal strivings
 Intimacy&
generativity strivings assoc. with
independent ratings of psychological wellbeing.
 Power strivings & avoidance strivings
assoc. with lower levels of well-being and
higher levels of anxiety.
 Spiritual strivings assoc. with low levels of
conflict among life goals.