Early in this century, most empirically oriented psychologists believed that all motivation was based in the physiology of a set of non-nervous system tissue needs. The theories of that era reflected this belief and used it in an attempt to explain an increasing number of phenomena. It was not until the 1950s that it became irrefutably clear that much of human motivation is based not in these drives, but rather in a set of innate psychological needs. Their physiological basis is (...) less understood; and as concepts, these needs lend themselves more easily to psycho logical than to physiological theorizing. The convergence of evidence from a variety of scholarly efforts suggests that there are three such needs: self-determination, competence, and interpersonal relatedness. This book is primarily about self-determination and competence (with particular emphasis on the former), and about the processes and structures that relate to these needs. The need for interpersonal relat edness, while no less important, remains to be explored, and the findings from those explorations will need to be integrated with the present theory to develop a broad, organismic theory of human motivation. Thus far, we have articulated self-determination theory, which is offered as a working theory-a theory in the making. To stimulate the research that will allow it to evolve further, we have stated self-determination theory in the form of minitheories that relate to more circumscribed domains, and we have developed paradigms for testing predictions from the various minitheories. (shrink)

Drawing from religion and the human sciences, particularly psychology after Freud, the author attempts to demonstrate that the fear of death is man's central ...

Originally published in 1928 this book was an attempt to acquaint the general public with the fundamentals of Individual Psychology. At the same time it is a demonstration of the practical application of these principles to the conduct of everyday relationships, and the organization of our personal life. Based upon a years’ lectures to audiences at the People’s Institute in Vienna, the purpose of the book was to point out how the mistaken behaviour of the individual affects harmony of our (...) social and communal life; to teach the individual to recognize their own mistakes; and finally, to show them how they may effect a harmonious adjustment to the communal life. Adler felt that mistakes in business or in science were costly and deplorable, but mistakes in the conduct of life are usually dangerous to life itself. This book is dedicated by the author in his preface ‘to the task of illuminating man’s progress toward a better understanding of human nature.’. (shrink)

Frankl's elaboration of his theory that man's primary motvational force is the search for meaning.

Provides a comprehensive report on the mother-child bond and the emotional effects of and behavioral response to maternal deprivation.

Chapter One THE MAN-APES A Lesson for Thomas Hobbes Probably the most exciting development in modern anthropology is the discovery of the australopithecines ...

This book presents a thorough overview of a model of human functioning based on the idea that behavior is goal-directed and regulated by feedback control processes. It describes feedback processes and their application to behavior, considers goals and the idea that goals are organized hierarchically, examines affect as deriving from a different kind of feedback process, and analyzes how success expectancies influence whether people keep trying to attain goals or disengage. Later sections consider a series of emerging themes, including dynamic (...) systems as a model for shifting among goals, catastrophe theory as a model for persistence, and the question of whether behavior is controlled or instead 'emerges'. Three chapters consider the implications of these various ideas for understanding maladaptive behavior, and the closing chapter asks whether goals are a necessity of life. Throughout, theory is presented in the context of diverse issues that link the theory to other literatures. (shrink)

An old woman walks slowly up the hill from the store to her house. The hill is quite steep and the packages she carries, heavy. The two ten-year-olds watching her feel sorry for her and, moving toward her, ask if they might help carry the packages. They easily lift them and with almost no effort bring the shopping bags to the top of the hill. After receiving all A's in his first term in college, F. finds that this term is (...) much harder, especially his physics courses, in which he is failing. He has talked to his professor twice, but finds he cannot understand what she is teaching. "Somehow," he thinks, "if she could only present the material in a different way, I could understand it better!" A month ago, as B. lay playing quietly in his crib, a toy key slipped out of his hand onto the floor. Almost immediately he turned his attention to another toy, close by, which he took up and put into his mouth. Yesterday, very nearly the same thing happened, except this time as soon as the toy key fell, he began to cry loudly, forcing me to stop what I was doing and retrieve it for him. It seemed in the first case that he forgot it, while yester day, even though it was gone, out of his sight, he still remembered it and wished it back. (shrink)

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.