Universal Motives

It is interesting for me to learn what is behind motivation. Before this class I never really thought about what made people do certain things. I would not have even classified food as a motivation; just as something that is craved and fulfills hunger. I never thought to take a deeper look into the motivation aspect of people's actions. I also would have certainly never thought about the universal motives that people share around the world. Sex, fear, food, and music are all important parts of people's lives and have been for an incredibly long period of time.

The process of selecting a mate is shared not only by people around the world, but also animals. Every species has a different way of trying to impress a mate, but in the end they are all looking for one thing--someone who will pass down their good genes to their offspring. The good genes hypothesis states that men and women prefer attractive partners because of the assumption that attractiveness signals genes for health, fertility, and intelligence. Individuals also reject those whose physical appearance suggests the possibility of bad genes like bad health and low intelligence. The point of selecting a mate is to ensure survival and longevity ( Deckers pg 55). While selecting a mate, men and women look for things to establish a relationship, but might look for different characteristics when it comes to maintaining that relationship.

The universal motive behind selecting a mate is only one portion of all universal motives. Learning the logic behind these motives is interesting and helps me to understand the concept of motivation in ways that are very relevant to everyday life.


Source - Motivation by Lambert Deckers