Steven Reiss, an Ohio State University, researcher says any one of these 15 desires can drive our behavior:
- Avoidance: Desire to avoid pain and anxiety.
- Citizenship: Desire for public service and social justice.
- Curiosity: Desire to learn and explore.
- Family: Desire to spend time with relatives.
- Food: Desire to eat.
- Honor: Desire to adhere to a code of conduct
- Independence: Desire for autonomy.
- Order: Desire for organization and coherence.
- Physical Exercise: Desire for movement and exercise.
- Power: Desire for control.
- Rejection: Desire to avoid social rebuffs.
- Sex: Desire for sexual gratification.
- Social contact: Desire for companionship.
- Social prestige: Desire for recognition.
Vengeance: Desire to retaliate.[i]
[i] Your Heart’s Desire,” Psychology Today, September/October, 1999, p. 12.