What is it that motivates behaviour? Is how we behave Something something that develops as we age and because of the adventures we have? What evidence supports the cornerstone of motivation?

What’s the Instinct Theory?

According to the instinct concept of motivation, All organisms are born. This concept suggests that all behaviours are driven by instincts.

So just what is instinct?

Instincts are innate and goal-directed patterns of behaviour which aren’t caused by experience or learning.

For example, babies have an inborn rooting Seek a breast out and obtain nutrition, while birds have an innate need to construct a nest or migrate through the winter. Both of these behaviours happen mechanically and naturally. They don’t have to be learned to be exhibited.

The Power of Instinctive Behaviors

Instincts are tendencies to participate In a pattern of behaviour. Examples of this include a dog shaking after it gets wet, a sea turtle looking out the sea after hatching, or a bird migrating before the winter season.

Ethologist Konrad Lorenz famously demonstrated instincts’ power When he managed to become young geese to imprint on him. He noticed that geese would become attached to the first moving thing they struck after they hatched, which in many cases are their mothers. But by ensuring that he had been the very first thing the geese struck, they instead became connected or imprinted, on him.

In people, reflexes are examples of behaviours that are instinctive. The Rooting reflex, as mentioned earlier is one such example, as is the suckling reflex (a reflex where babies start sucking when a finger or nipple puts pressure onto the roof of the mouth,) that the Moro reflex (a startle reaction found in babies less than 6 months old ) and the Babkin reflex (a reflex where babies open their mouths and bend their arms in reaction to rubbing the palms of the hands)

When confronted by Babies display these reactions stimuli in their environment. By way of instance, brushing a baby’s cheek will get the child to turn their head and hunt for a nipple.

A Brief History of the Instinct Theory of Success

Psychologist William McDougall was among the first The instinct concept of motivation. He suggested that behaviour was composed of three elements: perception, behaviour, and emotion. He also outlined 18 distinct instincts that included fascination, maternal instinct, laughter, relaxation, gender, and hunger.

Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud used a wide view of inspiration and suggested that human behaviour was driven by two important forces: the life and death instincts. Psychologist William James, On the other hand, identified a range of instincts he thought were essential for survival. These included such things as fear.

Observations About Instinct Theory

The urge theory suggests that motivation is biologically based. Because they aid in survival, we engage in behaviours. Migrating before winter ensures the survival of the flock, so the behaviour has become intuitive. Birds who migrated were more likely to live and therefore more likely to pass their genes down to future generations.

So what qualifies as an intuition?

In his book Exploring Psychology, writer David G. Meyers Suggests that to be identified as intuition, the behaviour”should have a fixed pattern during a species and also be unlearned.”

The behaviour must occur mechanically and naturally In most organisms of the species. By way of instance, babies have an innate rooting reflex that leads them to root for and suck on a nipple. This behaviour is dumb and occurs in all babies.

To detect developmental difficulties doctors search for an absence of these reflexes.

Criticisms of Instinct Theory

While the instinct concept could be used to describe some behaviours, Critics believed that it had some limitations. One of these criticisms:

• Instincts can not explain all behaviours
• Instincts Aren’t something that can be easily observed and clinically tested
• Just tagging something as instinct does nothing to explain why some behaviours appear in certain cases but not in others

Bottom Line

This doesn’t imply while there are criticisms of instinct theory That psychologists have given up on trying to understand how behaviour can be influenced by instincts.

Modern psychologists know that while trends might Be programmed experiences may play a part in answers are displayed.

For example, while we are biologically prepared We’ll never exhibit if we aren’t exposed to those creatures that panic, to be fearful of an animal like a bear or a snake.

Other Truth About Motivation

There are. These include the bonus concept of motivation, where our behaviours are driven by the desire for benefits, the drive concept of motivation, where individuals are”driven” to act in certain ways to reduce the internal strain caused by unmet needs, the arousal theory of motivation, Which asserts that people behave in certain ways to either increase or reduce their stimulation, the humanistic concept of motivation, which asserts that behaviours are caused by a desire for self-actualization, and the expectancy theory which claims that we make decisions to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.

None of the theories, such as instinct theory, can Explain motivation. It is likely that elements of all of these Theories not suggested, in addition to theories, are incorporated in a manner That contributes to the motivation for humans’ behaviours.