Instincts are the basic elements of the personality, the motivating forces that drive behavior and determine its direction. Instincts are a form of energy- transformed psychological energy- that connects the body’s needs with the mind wishes.
The stimuli for instincts are internal. When a need such as hunger is aroused in the body, it generates a condition of physiological excitation or energy. The mind transforms this bodily energy into a wish. It is this wish-the mental representation of the physiological need- that is the instinct or driving force that motivates the person to behave in a way that satisfied the need. A hunger person, for example, will act to satisfy his or her need by looking for food. The instinct is not the bodily state; rather, it is the bodily need transformed into a mental state, a wish.
When the body is in a state of need, the person experiences a feeling of tension. The aim of an instinct is to satisfy the need and thereby reduce the tension. The theory suggests that we are motivated to restore and maintain a condition of physiological equilibrium or balance to keep the body free of tension. We always experience a certain amount of instinctual tension and we must continually act to reduce it. It is not possible to escape the pressure of our physiological needs as we might escape some annoying stimulus in our external environment. This means that instincts are always influencing our behavior, in a cycle of need leading to reduction of need.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment