Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation: Definition & Examples

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  • 0:41 What Is Normal?
  • 1:12 Homeostatic Shift
  • 2:11 Drive Reduction
  • 2:40 Primary vs. Secondary Drives
  • 3:44 Drive Examples
  • 4:58 Lesson Summary
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Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Devin Kowalczyk

Devin has taught Psychology and has a master's degree in Clinical Forensic Psychology, and will earn a PhD in 2015.

There is nothing as motivating to you as the need to eat and drink. You are driven by these biological needs, but why do you work? You are sitting at this computer, not out there finding deer to hunt or edible plants to eat. Why?

What Is the Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation?

Are you hungry right now? Maybe you should go get a snack. Thirsty? Go get a drink of water. If your chair is uncomfortable and causing you pain, you'll need to find a new chair. When your body tells you that you 'need something,' or that you need to 'change something,' this is your body giving you a drive.

Drive reduction theory of motivation can be simply described as you don't want to be hungry, thirsty, in pain, or horny. If your body wants something, that want is the drive. You are motivated to reduce the drive.

What Is Normal?

The title of this section is a little misleading. 'Normal' here means that your needs have been met, so you are not wanting anything like food, water, or sex. When one of these is wanted or needed, it means you are not operating at your homeostatic norm. Your homeostatic norm is when you don't need or want anything; you are satisfied. Homeostasis is a balancing act where every need tilts and unbalances the system. When there is a drive, it means your body wants a certain something to continue functioning.

Homeostatic Shift

Your homeostatic norm can be shifted. Sometimes this can occur due to brain damage but most often occurs because a person begins taking drugs. Homeostatic shift is when your body begins to crave substances it does not originally need but over time has come to depend on them. For example, certain drugs cause the brain to release large amounts of brain chemicals. Over time, the brain only releases these chemicals when the drug is present, and in smaller and smaller amounts. At one time, the drug made them high, but after several dozen uses, they need the drug to feel normal.

This means their homeostatic norm has shifted. The drug becomes another need, like food or water. Without the drug, they are in agony because the drug has artificially changed the structure of the brain so the need for the drug is stronger than the need for food, water, or sex. Anyone's body can go a day or two without food and they will be unhappy; similarly, the changes made in the brain of a drug user make quitting extremely painful.

Drive Reduction

Drive Reduction Theory was first established by Clark Hull. Hull was interested in applying mathematical formulas to psychology, and it is simple to see how this works with the Drive Reduction Theory.

If you have achieved homeostasis, your motivation is zero, since you have no drives to reduce. If you are hungry, then your drive is increased to one. If you are really hungry, your drive becomes two. If you are thirsty, your drive to satisfy the hunger and thirst becomes three. As drives accumulate, your overall motivation increases.

Primary vs. Secondary Drives

You may have noticed that human behaviors go far beyond getting food, water, and sex, and being comfortable. If you are reading this right now, you are literally not obtaining any of those. But you are working towards them by way of a secondary drive.

Primary drives are biological needs that provide you motivation. If you are hungry, you look for food. If you are thirsty, you look for water. These drives keep you alive.

Secondary drives are drives that are associated with the primary drives. Going to work is not fun, or not as fun as running around and doing whatever you want. But working gets you money, and money gets you food, water, and more. You have been conditioned to link the primary drives to the secondary drives. This means that you are driven to accomplish secondary drives, like work for money, to satisfy your primary drives, food and water. Your brain has been conditioned so thought pathways make these secondary drives nearly as powerful as your primary drives.

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