COLUMBUS, Ohio – Professor Steven Reiss says there's nothing wrong with workaholics, uncurious schoolchildren and anxious people.
While much of society may think these people have problems that need to be solved, Reiss says his research suggests they are probably happy the way they are. They just have personalities that don't fit in with much of society.
Reiss, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University, spent five years developing and testing a new theory of human motivation. The results of his research have been published in the new bookWho am I? The 16 basic desires that motivate our actions and define our personality(Tarcher/Putnam, 2000).
After researching more than 6,000 people, Reiss discovered that 16 basic desires drive almost all meaningful behavior. The desires are power, independence, curiosity, acceptance, order, salvation, honor, idealism, social contact, family, status, revenge, romance, food, exercise and rest.
“These desires drive our daily actions and make us who we are,” Reiss said. “What makes individuals unique is the combination and arrangement of these desires.”
Reiss said that at least 14 of the 16 basic desires appear to have a genetic basis. Only the desire for idealism and acceptance does not seem to have a genetic component. "Most of these desires are similar to those in animals and appear to have some survival value," Reiss said. "This indicates that they have a genetic origin."
The research is bound to be controversial, as many researchers try to reduce all human behavior to just one or two basic desires — such as pleasure, pain or survival — or say there are some desires that all humans share equally, Reiss said. But by looking at how people differ in these sixteen desires, Reiss concluded that "we are individuals to a much greater extent than psychologists have previously realized."
For example, Reiss said that our education system is built on the premise that all children are naturally curious (curiosity is one of the 16 basic desires) and have the same potential desire to learn. But Reiss found that people can vary considerably in their maximum potential to enjoy learning.
“Not everyone is naturally curious,” Reiss said. “A child can be very smart, but still not interested in school. But our education system cannot cope with the idea that there is someone who cannot and never will enjoy learning. Educators make a mistake if they think that all children are born with more or less equal opportunities to enjoy learning.”
Reiss said parents of non-curious children need to realize that they will never be able to change their child's fundamental nature. “It's okay to be non-curious. As long as the child doesn't falter and meets some minimum standards, parents should temper their expectations. Pushing a non-curious child to become more curious is all a parent does ruin his own life." relation."
According to Reiss, the same applies to every basic desire. Workaholics may work a lot, not because they have a void or a problem in their lives, but because they naturally have a strong desire for power and status.
IWho am I?, Reiss uses the term “self-hugging” to describe the assumption that what is potentially best for me is potentially best for everyone. “Self-hugs make us think that workaholics would be happier if they worked less, even though workaholics say they are happy as they are,” he said.
The inability to understand individual differences causes problems in everything from marital relationships to business partners. “People know that other people have different values and ambitions, but they cannot understand how that is possible. Self-huggers waste enormous energy trying to change people who do not want to be changed.”
How did Reiss arrive at the 16 basic wishes? He and Susan Havercamp, a former graduate student, have compiled a list of more than 300 statements that refer to specific desires people may have. Subjects in their study were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed with statements such as "I like to learn new skills," "I need to avoid pain," and "I would rather lose my life than lose my honor." After testing more than 2,500 people, the researchers used a mathematical technique called factor analysis, which grouped responses into 15 basic desires. After testing another approximately 3,500 people, the factor analysis revealed a 16th wish (savings).
Based on this work, the researchers developed a test, called Reiss Profiles, that can measure individual differences in these 16 desires. Reiss said a key to the test forces people to think about priorities in their lives. For example, if you ask people if sex is important to them, almost 100 percent will agree. But in determining people's desire for romance, the Reiss profilers ask people whether they agree with statements like "I want all the sex I can get." “It's a very different, very direct question,” Reiss said. "It will predict whether sex will play a more or less dominant role in someone's life. Sex can be enjoyable for everyone, but it is not equally motivating. We want to discover what actually motivates people."
Reiss said the research presented in Who Am I? shows that psychologists cannot reduce the human experience to just one or two basic desires that we all share equally. He noted that 2 trillion different profiles can be evaluated by the Reiss profiles. “Each person has a unique desire profile,” he said.
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Contact: Steven Reiss, (614) 292-2390;Reiss.7@osu.eduWritten by Jeff Grabmeier, (614) 292-8457;Grabmeier.1@osu.edu
