According to the Value Drive Theory, the main motivation for people is to seek value. People want to feel valuable. Of course, there are other needs people have. Safety, food, sleep and so on. But humans usually have those basics things under control. And then we focus on the value drive to give us those nice emotions to make us feel good about ourselves.
Animals also have the value drive, but animals are far more concerned with getting food, sleep and safety. So the value drive is more important to humans. In addition, human society have evolved to a huge system of different ways to be valuable. We all have different roles, jobs and functions that make us important to others in lots of different ways. Animals doesn’t have that. Their value drive is limited to feeling value in relationships and hierarchies. I’ll write more about the value drive in animals later.
Humans have relationships where love and friendship are important and that’s constant source of value drive stimulation, but people have jobs and roles that we define ourselves by. Most people would like some recognition for being clever in whatever job, hobby or role they have spent time being good at.
Bakers, air line pilots, teachers, police, marketers, designers, engineers and architects all want positive feedback every day from colleagues and customers that they’re doing. And as mothers and fathers we want praise. We take pride in our opinions. And if we paint a picture or play a chess game we praise. Even if we loose the chess game, we’d like some praise for leading early on or making a good move.
Here I’d like to quote Blaise Pascal from his book “Thoughts” from 1670:
“Vanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a soldier’s servant, a cook, a porter brags and wishes to have his admirers. Even philosophers wish for them. Those who write against vanity want to have the glory of having written well; and those who read it desire the glory of having read it. I who write this have perhaps this desire, and perhaps those who will read it.”
And this is the way the world works. We humans want to have recognition for how we look, act, for our skills, for the quality of our family and friends, for the country we live in and the group of people we belong to. The value drive sits inside our heads and want to feel greatness. We think about past successes and image how well others will speak of us if we deliver great work, make a nice meal or give a great advise.
As mentioned, there is more to motivation that the value drive, but our need to get recognition by our peers – to feel valuable – is our greatest motivational factor. We can starve ourselves to death to feel valuable. We can go to war or sacrifice our lives.
We don’t always need the recognition from others. Sometimes it’s enough just knowing you’re terrific. But you get a bigger buzz from a standing ovation then just silently taking pride in your own achievements. Admit it!
Some call what I’m taking about: “creating meaning in their lives”. This is just another way of saying “creating something lasting that makes me feel valuable”. It can be a family or being important for animals, having hobby that makes others happy, doing a sport that’s fulfilling or having a job that have some positive affect on society. But it’s all about making the value drive inside your head give you positive feedback when you think about yourself. It’s nothing wrong with it. It’s good.
We’re all part of systems that intertwine and make up the world. We have different jobs and roles and we strive to look good in at least one of these jobs or roles. We want that positive feedback from the value drive. We get stuff done and the value drive gives us a little boost. The systems we are in work, and the world moves forward.
Of course, even thought we all want the value drive boost, that’s no guarantee for happiness. I’ll write about happiness later. And there are other motivation factors at work besides the value drive. I’ll write about that later as well.
The Value Drive Theory 