SAGE Reference - Encyclopedia of Social Psychology

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Drive Theory

In: Encyclopedia of Social Psychology
Edited by: Roy F. Baumeister & Kathleen D. Vohs
Subject:Social Psychology (general)
Keywords:drive theory

Definition

Drive refers to increased arousal and internal motivation to reach a particular goal. Psychologists differentiate between primary and secondary drives. Primary drives are directly related to survival and include the need for food, water, and oxygen. Secondary or acquired drives are those that are culturally determined or learned, such as the drive to obtain money, intimacy, or social approval. Drive theory holds that these drives motivate people to reduce desires by choosing responses that will most effectively do so. For instance, when a person feels hunger, he or she is motivated to reduce that drive by eating; when there is a task at hand, the person is motivated to complete it.

Background

Clark L. Hull is the most prominent figure from whom this comprehensive drive theory of ...

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  Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Drive theory. In Encyclopedia of social psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 266-267). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412956253.n162
  
  Baumeister, Roy F., and Kathleen D. Vohs. "Drive Theory." In Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, edited by Baumeister, Roy F., and Kathleen D. Vohs, 266-67. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2007. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412956253.n162.
  
  Baumeister, R. F. and Vohs, K. D. 2007. Drive Theory. In: Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen D. Vohs Editors, 2007. Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. pp. 266-267 Available at: <https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412956253.n162> [Accessed 3 Jul 2022].
  
  Baumeister, Roy F. and Kathleen D. Vohs. "Drive Theory." Encyclopedia of Social Psychology. Edited by Vol. 1. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2007, pp. 266-67. SAGE Knowledge. 3 Jul 2022, doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412956253.n162.
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