Motivation and Attachment
Abraham Maslow suggested that people were motivated to act according to a certain order of priorities.
The prioritisation of needs is declared in Western psychological knowledge via the Hierarchy of Needs model and also Alan Revich’s Three
Fundamental Needs model. The Hierarchy of needs was suggested by others whereas Maslow believed the needs could be prioritised in any
order, they simply defined key needs that drove human motivations. Maslow also coined the term Metamotivation to describe the motivation of
people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. Latest theories of Clinical Psychology look at how
behaviour is set according to what a person has Attachment to (like their parents, friends, an idea or the environment) rather than Motivation to
meet needs.
Revich says,
“People are motivated by three types of fundamental needs; Security, Status, and Stimulation. Individual behaviour can be explained by the weight that a person
gives to each of the three needs at any point in time. Graphically one can imagine the circles in the illustration below shifting in size and in position as the perceived
importance of each need changes for different individuals, and also within each individual at different points in time or stages of life.”
Figure 1. below illustrates these concepts.
From the time you are born your developmental sequence as an
evolving human being and survival priorities are encoded in your
DNA.
Following the energy of your conception and development in your
mother’s womb, you are born and immediately your physical
survival, defence, and development are a priority. Enhancing your
ability to survive you build emotional and communal relationships
with your family and community. You then develop your wisdom
through intellectual education that allows you to refine your
emotions and to build life skills. Finally as your life completes its
physical, emotional and intellectual development you explore its
meaning and spiritual significance. This process is utilised in
training martial artists and healers by developing their mind, body
and spirit through developmental sequence of Energetic, Physical,
Emotional, Intellectual and Spiritual advancement. This is an ideal
depiction of growth. In reality all aspects develop together but some are just more dominant and relevant at certain times in establishing later
growth.
Stimulation
Security
Status
It is more meaningful to have all these aspects of development included in every
period of your life. Any given year, month, week, day, hour, minute or second needs
all these activities. A proportioned balance and order, or harmony, is required between
each activity but is not often achieved with a resulting disharmony or inertia in Life’s
development and progress. This is where apathy, a ‘block’ or ‘the doldrums’ may
emerge.
Harmony and Happiness for a given individual can be determined by the Energy
Diamond approach that combines Maslow’s Hierarchy with Revich’s circular Spaces
(Figure 2. left). Values determine the prioritising of needs and the proportions of
energy used to meet them. This ordering of a person’s needs may not follow
Maslow’s Hierarchy and could begin with any need and move through remaining
needs according to what aligns with the persons values.
The needs take up spaces, the proportions and overlaps of which are shaped by a
person’s set of values, values being defined and shaped by morals, culture, purpose,
character, society and environment. Figure 2. shows a person who considers Status
to be of most significance, then Security and finally Stimulation to be of the least
priority. The person’s values link Status to Security and Stimulation but don’t mix
Security with Stimulation. The positions and proportions can change with life experiences but some people can grow old fashioned or
dogmatic and become fixed in their motivations and refuse to change despite new awareness or not adapting to changing circumstances. This
attachment can begin in infancy and can be altered but often becomes fixed for people who stop learning new things as they age.
Figure 2.
The Energy Diamond approach combines Maslow’s
Hierarchy with Revich’s circular Spaces
(c) Jazz Rasool 2003, Energy Diamond Ltd, www.energydiamond.com