The terms drive theory and drive reduction theory refer to a diverse set of motivational theories in psychology. Drive Reduction Theory, developed by Clark Hull in 1943, was the first theory for motivation (Dewey, 2007). Drive is an “excitatory state produced by a homeostatic disturbance” (Seward, 1956). Drive theory is based on the principle that organisms are born with certain psychological needs and that a negative state of tension is created when these needs are not satisfied. When a need is satisfied, drive is reduced and the organism returns to a state of homeostasis and relaxation. According to the theory, drive tends to increase over time and operates on a feedback control system, much like a thermostat.
Read more about Drive Theory: Psychoanalysis, Learning Theory, Early Attachment Theory, Social Psychology
Famous quotes containing the words drive and/or theory:
“Did I make you go insane?
Did I turn up your earphone and let a siren drive through?
Did I open the door for the mustached psychiatrist
who dragged you out like a golf cart?
Did I make you go insane?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The theory [before the twentieth century] ... was that all the jobs in the world belonged by right to men, and that only men were by nature entitled to wages. If a woman earned money, outside domestic service, it was because some misfortune had deprived her of masculine protection.”
—Rheta Childe Dorr (1866–1948)