Motivation in Man
From the Hamptons to the slums of third world countries, people are molded by the conditions they find themselves in. The starving seek food, the suffering seek aid, but to what deeper, less obvious ends do surroundings shape people’s motivations in life? How drastically does situation alter people’s entire lives? Psychology provides strong factual support that environment affects human motivations, but extending that base to more complex desires, whether it is a desperate need to belong among others or to escape the confines that others set, reveals how deeply individuals are governed by their surroundings. The extent to which surroundings decide behavior is impossible to objectively measure and can only be extrapolated …show more content…
One of the most common human desires is for affection and companionship—a place to belong. In the DreamWorks film Anastasia, an orphan in Soviet Russia is seeking just that, “Home, love, family, [and] will never be complete until [she finds them].” Her upbringing in an emotionally abusive orphanage instills that desire so deep inside her that she risks imprisonment while illegally escaping Russia, and endures dangerous train and boat trips, both of which almost end in death. Her environment has such a profound effect on her motivations that she defies logic and instinctual self-preservation. The humanistic school of logic suggests Anastasia’s environment causes her to perceive what she needs in a certain way, despite the fact that objectively it is not worth risking death to obtain it, and the Drive Reduction Theory indicates that it is her family deficient circumstances that inspire her entire life changing journey. Had she grown up in a loving home, she would not have had to be so self-reliant, she never would have risked so much. She would be an entirely different girl. The importance of individual circumstances is also made clear in the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Although the monster’s basic desire (acceptance into a family) is the same as Anastasia’s, his environment leads to drastically different choices in pursuing the same goal. He grew up abandoned and physically abused by those who met him, and as a result became incredibly bitter at his failed search for approval. His drive is still caused by a lack of love and family in his environment, but his perception of reality is shaped by his surroundings, and leads to much more macabre behavior. Upon encountering the much-loved little brother of the man who abandoned him, the monster kills the boy, so embittered by his unfair lot
From the Hamptons to the slums of third world countries, people are molded by the conditions they find themselves in. The starving seek food, the suffering seek aid, but to what deeper, less obvious ends do surroundings shape people’s motivations in life? How drastically does situation alter people’s entire lives? Psychology provides strong factual support that environment affects human motivations, but extending that base to more complex desires, whether it is a desperate need to belong among others or to escape the confines that others set, reveals how deeply individuals are governed by their surroundings. The extent to which surroundings decide behavior is impossible to objectively measure and can only be extrapolated …show more content…
One of the most common human desires is for affection and companionship—a place to belong. In the DreamWorks film Anastasia, an orphan in Soviet Russia is seeking just that, “Home, love, family, [and] will never be complete until [she finds them].” Her upbringing in an emotionally abusive orphanage instills that desire so deep inside her that she risks imprisonment while illegally escaping Russia, and endures dangerous train and boat trips, both of which almost end in death. Her environment has such a profound effect on her motivations that she defies logic and instinctual self-preservation. The humanistic school of logic suggests Anastasia’s environment causes her to perceive what she needs in a certain way, despite the fact that objectively it is not worth risking death to obtain it, and the Drive Reduction Theory indicates that it is her family deficient circumstances that inspire her entire life changing journey. Had she grown up in a loving home, she would not have had to be so self-reliant, she never would have risked so much. She would be an entirely different girl. The importance of individual circumstances is also made clear in the story of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Although the monster’s basic desire (acceptance into a family) is the same as Anastasia’s, his environment leads to drastically different choices in pursuing the same goal. He grew up abandoned and physically abused by those who met him, and as a result became incredibly bitter at his failed search for approval. His drive is still caused by a lack of love and family in his environment, but his perception of reality is shaped by his surroundings, and leads to much more macabre behavior. Upon encountering the much-loved little brother of the man who abandoned him, the monster kills the boy, so embittered by his unfair lot