Who We Are

New Ways of Thinking About People

by Steven Reiss, Ph.D.

American Economy Will Roar Again

I have been one of the few PT bloggers who has been optimistic about the U.S. economy. We are solving our problems. Read and cheer up. Read More

Measuring Intrinsic Motivation Scientifically

This is the second in a series of blogs comparing on scientific criteria the Deci-Ryan model of intrinsic motivation with my theory of 16 basic desires. My previous blog showed that, like mind-body dualism, intrinsic-extrinsic motivation is construct invalid. Here we learn that the free choice measure of intrinsic motivation may be unreliable. Read More

Two Models of Intrinsic Motivation

Here I begin an analysis of two theories of intrinsic motivation on four scientific criteria. The brutal truth is that the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is invalid. Read More

Lives Worth Saving

Linda Jones (a former head of an organ procurement organization) and I (professor, liver post-transplant patient) started "Live Worth Saving" at the Ohio State University Medcial Center to address the national issue of organ transplantation and intellectual disabilities. Here are my thoughts on this topic. . Read More

Amelia Belongs on The Transplant List

She is only three but her doctors have decided to let her die rather than place her on the list for a kidney transplant. The reason: She has an intellectual disability. Here is some information and how to find our 2006 literature review. Read More

Correcting Media Reports on Sports Motivation

I respond to NBC's report on the application of my theory of motivation to sports. Read More

With World Is On Fire, USA Could Roar Back

Many bloggers have suggested that the U.S. is in economic decline. They are wrong. The world is on fire right now, and the USA is the obvious safe haven where rich people everywhere are going to ship and invest their wealth. Read More

Private Equity to Buy North Pole, Layoff Santa

BREAKING NEWS: After centuries of red ink, North Pole Enterprises is sold to a private equity firm. Santa accepts head football coaching job at Penn State. Read More

Self-Discovery in Leadership Training

How a business school uses self-discovery methods to train future business leaders. Read More

From D's to the Honor Roll without Focusing on Grades

Dr. John Mark Froiland's case study of how motivational psychology was used to raise a student's grade without focusing on grades. The key was to connect the study behavior with deep motives and needs. Read More

Two Views of a Workaholic

Psychodynamic theory says that workaholism is motivated by an unconscious effort to escape from personal problems. Motivation analysis says it is the result of normal variations in achievement motivation (which falls under a larger motive for influence). Read More

Psychodynamics and Motivation: the Science of Nymphomania/ Promiscuity

I respond to Dr. Diamond's comments on my blog comparing psychodynamics versus motivation theories of nymphomania/ promiscuity. His belief that needs aren't wholly biological in origin is tangential to the issues, namely, that strong need for sex, combined with expedience, motivates, predicts, and explains promiscuity, not (as Rollo May thought) need for love. Read More

Athletes Don't Turn Themselves in

If someone says they don't value being truthful, why would you expect that person to be honest? Motivational psychology is a powerful predictor of behavior in the real-world. Read More

Two Views of Promiscuity

Psychodyamic theorists such as Rollo May wrote that promiscurity is motivated by an unconscious need to compensate for the love the parents never showed. I think they are wrong. It is motivated by a strong conscious need for sex combinated with a weak need for honor. Read More

Intrinsic Motivation and Penn State Football Scandal

Taking young boys to bowl games to use them sexually? What is going on in college sports? A motivational personality psychologist looks at how human needs play out in sexual abuse. Read More

The 40-Year Debate on Motivation

These days advocates of intrinsic-extrinsic motivation tend to ignore criticism or even attack critics for their style or personality. What they don't do is respond to substance, perhaps because they can't. The alternative model of 16 human needs is very powerful and shows that extrinsic motivation doesn't exist. Read More

Recent Motivation Post Overlooks Key Studies, Ideas

In the last twenty years needs/instinct theory has been supported by scientific research while intrinsic-extrinsic motivation was disproved. Read More

Should Students be Paid for Good Grades?

Education only works for some students because it is based on invalid ideas about human nature. Students are individuals to a much greater extent than teachers are trained to recognize. Read More

3 Pillars of Motivational Psychology

Four generations of Harvard psychology professors thought that human "needs" (universal goals) explain behavior in natural environments. They were right. We define needs based on empirical derivation; we propose that universal goals motivate different traits for different people; and we have a method to assess how an individual values each universal goal. Read More

Are We Talking Ourselves into a Recession?

Never before have social scientists devoted so much time and energy to touting the benefits of positive thinking. So why do we have an epidemic of negativity? Read More

Letter to Editor of Scientific American

Some social psychologists don't want you to receive the bonuses or salary enhancements you might have earned. They think the money is toxic and bad for you. Is it really? Read More

Gen Y and America Have a Bright Future

Gen Y and the USA have a bright future in what will be a booming global economy. Get ready for it now. Read More

How to Identify People Motivated To Kill Strangers

The motivational profile of a killer is high prioritzation of vengeance, low priority for honor, low priority for idealism, and low need for tranquility. Read More

Madness

Did the U.S. government save the banks in 2008 order to sue them into oblivion in 2011? Read More

Grade Inflation Is About Money

Grade inflation is a symptom of the great sell out of academics in America. Parents will pay much for an education system that grades easily. Read More

Everyday Tyranny

People resist change because often it contradicts their values. We have developed a technology for matching people to situations where they can thrive without having to change who they are. This technology leads to true intrinsic motivation. Read More

Pink's Book (Intrinsic-Extrinsic Motivation) Self Contradictory

The social psychological research Pink cites does not support his advice to business. Actually, Pink misinterpreted intrinsic-extrinsic motivation. Read More

Why Extrinsic Motivation Doesn't Exist

When I do something to get something else, ultimately I am seeking something of intrinsic value to me. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it. Read More

Motivating Workers: "Drive" Presents Only One Side of Disputed Issues

Daniel Pink, Al Gore's former chief speech writer, mis-states science to advance his anti- materialism politics. He says that bonuses undermine intrinsic motivation in work, but they don't. He thinks human motives divide into just two kinds (intrinsic and extrinsic), but they don'. There are at least 16 -- not two -- psychometric/genetic motives. Read More

Economic Headlines Often Misleading

It is not true that young people are condemned to a weak economy because of the U. S. federal debt. The name of the game, though, is globalization, and young people need to learn skills relevant to the global economy. Read More

Steven Reiss is Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at The Ohio State University.

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About Who We Are

Steven Reiss blogs mostly on how 16 human needs play out in real-world behavior. This is a new model of motivation with very broad relevance, everything from personality to business and religion. Occasionally he comments on other issues he has studied, especially anxiety disorders and developmental disabilities. A few times each year he comments on financial markets.