Summary: Researchers analyzed human motivations from an evolutionary perspective and identified 15 important motivations that drive behavior. These motivations are grouped into five categories: environmental, physiological, reproductive, psychological and social, avoiding adaptations that help early humans survive.
This study used a network analysis of survey responses to clarify how these motivations connect with each other and influence each other. In particular, status and play emerged as the centre of motivational structures, promoting resource access and skill development.
The findings also showed age and gender differences in motivational priorities as younger people focus on status and play, while older people prioritize comfort and fear. The results include a wide range of applications in marketing, AI, and mental health that can help you adjust your strategy to suit your various motivational needs.
Important facts:
15 Core Motivations: Human behavior is driven by environmental, physiology, reproduction, psychological and social motivations. Stuttering and play are central: these motivations influence multiple behaviours, shaping resource access and adaptability. , the elderly focuses on comfort and fear.
Source; HSE
The issue of motivating human behavior has long intrigued psychologists. Various approaches have been used to assess these underlying motivations. The best known theory is the hierarchy of Abraham Maslow’s needs, introduced in the mid-20th century.
However, most approaches emphasize the social aspects of motivation, while overlooking the fundamentals of evolution.
A group of researchers from the University of HSE and the Faculty of Hygiene in London proposed to analyze the motivations of human behavior from an evolutionary perspective.
In the proposed framework, all motivations are viewed as evolutionary adaptations that survive in the early human environment and continue to influence today’s behavior.
Scientists move on with the assumption that if a particular evolutionary mechanism triggers a particular behavior, standard psychometric techniques can be used to identify underlying motivations.
To achieve this, the study authors conducted an online survey with over 500 participants who were asked to assess 150 statements about daily preferences, fear, desires and social aspirations.
The statement was previously identified from other studies that reflected physical, reproductive or social needs, such as “I enjoy going on a roller coaster” and eating is less important than most people.” It was based on the motivations that were made. I spend a lot of time staying in touch with friends.
Using network analysis, researchers identified stable clusters of motivation. This study found that human behavior is driven by 15 important motivations. This can be grouped into five broad categories: environment (reservoir, creation), physiological (fright, disgust, hunger, comfort), and reproduction (desire, attraction, love, nurturing). , psychological (curiosity, play), and society (affiliate, status, justice).
The researchers also identified functional relationships between motivations and contributed to a deeper understanding of motivational structures. For example, justice has strong connections with nurturing and curiosity, both as a function of concern about the welfare of others, and as a need to keep up with places where antisocial behavior may be occurring. It suggests that there is.
Interestingly, play and status motivation emerge as a pivotal point of connectivity, and suggests that it interacts extensively with other nodes and affects the broad impact of related motivations.
Status appears to be important as it encourages the achievement of other goals by providing access to resources that increase your chances of success in life, such as attracting partners.
Maintaining status involves storing resources, fearing loss of these resources, and using them effectively in a variety of situations. Play motivation helps you develop the skills needed to maintain your status and adapt to changing situations.
Albina Gallyamova
“We were able to observe how motivations interact with each other using network-based psychometric techniques. For example, love and nurturing motivations are placed close to each other within the network. This is what happens when you look at them. , care for offspring increases the likelihood of survival, meaning from an evolutionary perspective.
Conversely, motives of fear and curiosity often have opposite effects. Fear keeps us away from danger, but excessively we can curb the curiosity that promotes knowledge and innovation,” explains Albina Gallyamova, junior research fellow at the HSE Center for Social and Cultural Studies. .
The study also revealed age- and gender-related variation in the importance of various motivations. While women tend to show a greater interest in motives for childcare and comfort, men are more likely to focus on motives for status and attraction. Researchers note that these differences are related to the traditional roles played by men and women in our evolutionary past.
Age also contributes to the formation of priorities. Young people tend to focus on status and play, but age, fear and concerns about comfort become more pronounced. “These changes reflect different life stages. We initially strive to ensure our position in society, and then we focus on safety and survival,” adds Gallyamova.
This finding is valuable in a variety of areas, from marketing to that. For example, advertising allows for more accurate and effective communication by understanding the motivations of different social groups.
Young people focused on status and play are more likely to respond to incentives related to fame and entertainment, with more mature audiences prioritizing safety, reliability and comfort.
In the field of AI, an understanding of evolutionary motivations provides gamification and social interaction to younger users, while emphasizing the convenience and simplicity of older generations, while also providing older users with a more human-centered approach It enables.
In therapy, understanding the underlying motivations helps to provide a more accurate response to the client’s needs. For example, dealing with anxiety can take into account evolutionary mechanisms that help avoid danger and balance safety and curiosity.
“Ultimately, by understanding the evolutionary motivations that drive our actions, we can create solutions that make people’s lives more comfortable, safer and more interesting,” Gallyamova says. I’ll explain it.
About this behavioral neuroscience research news
Author: Liudmila Mezentseva
Source: HSE
Contact: Liudmila Mezentseva – HSE
Image: Image credited to Neuroscience News
Original research: Open access.
Albina Gallyamova et al. Personality and individual differences
Abstract
Network psychometric-based identification and structural analysis of an evolved set of human motivations.
Establishing a limited set of distinctive motivations for human species has become a psychology goal from the beginning of discipline. This paper uses network-based analysis of previously published psychometric data to establish the existence of predefined human motivations.
This set was derived by using evolutionary theory to identify what goals humans need to achieve.
The analysis reported here is based on responses to 150 items from an online sample of 510 representative UK residents.
The analysis shows that all 15 of the identified motivations are isolated, and the expected relationships can be shown to each other (based on common functions), and differences in gender-based motivational attention are seen during human evolution. Although reflecting traditional gender-based role-playing in , age-related differences are consistent with expectations from life history theory.
A reduced set of 45 items identified by genetic algorithm-based analysis could form the basis of the psychometric scale.
Knowing the set of motivations behind goal-oriented behavior should benefit a great deal for a variety of psychological applications, including relationships, educational strategies, marketing, and behavioral change.
