Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities [Paperback]

Steven Reiss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 5, 2002

Sex? Social standing? Social justice? With this breakthrough study of the motivational forces behind human behavior, and grounded in the most up-to-date psychological research available, Dr. Steven Reiss explains the 16 desires and values that shape our behavior-and shows how the ways we prioritize them determines our personality.

"Well-explained in lay readers' terms." (Library Journal )

"An exciting new way to think about ourselves, an authoritative, research-based understanding of why we do the things we do." (Ellen Langer, Ph.D., author of Mindfulness)

"Offers valuable insight into such matters as why some interpersonal relationships are enduringly satisfying and others are not." (Professor Richard J. McNally, Harvard University)

"Reiss' system can improve our working relationships and enhance our professional lives." (Ruth Luckasson, J.D., Regents' Professor and Professor of Special Education, University of New Mexico)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Reiss, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Ohio State University, and the director of the Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. His Anxiety Sensitivity Index, Screen for Maladaptive Behavior, and Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivational Sensitivities are all world-renowned and universally used. He is a keynote speaker at professional conferences in the U.S. and around the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (March 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425183408
• ISBN-13: 978-0425183403
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,548 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading, but repetitive, May 3, 2004

By 

Alan Nicoll (real name) (Lake of the Woods, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities (Paperback)

I have read many books about self help, psychology, and human behavior, and I believe I learned more from this one than from any other book. Reiss's theory is that all human beings are motivated by sixteen basic desires, and your personal prescription for happiness depends on the relative strengths of these desires. He argues that these desires are genetically determined. I believe that the science behind the "Reiss Profile" is sound, unlike the many other similar books that claim to tell you about yourself. The theory of personality originated with William James; Reiss has extended this work and in this book makes his important findings available to the general reader.

My only complaint about this book is that it is very wordy, which is so absolutely typical of self-help books. He presents the theory concisely and clearly, then goes on to apply the theory to many different areas of human behavior. This seems excessively detailed and it makes for tiresome reading, so I skimmed much of the second half of the book. At times the book approaches a catalog in unreadability.

By all means get the book and answer the questions to determine your own desire profile. I believe you will learn more about yourself, more quickly, than you have ever done before.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not such a bad book., August 6, 2009

By 

J. Lyons "James L." (Davis, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities (Paperback)

For those of us unlucky enough to have read various MA Theses or Ph.D Dissertations, the construction of Reiss' book will appear eerily familiar. The book is long-winded and repetitive with little room spent on introspection or variety. The basis of the book is that we are genetically programed to prefer certain values over others,e.g., romance over conservation, status over honor, etc. Our individuality is made up of the combination of things we highly value as well as those we don't. While I enjoyed reading about the basic desires, I found it silly and sophomoric to deny how life's experience affect somebody's personality. After all, no matter how social somebody may "genetically" be, a long history of child abuse will no doubt curb many of the behaviors associated with social people.

Dr. Reiss presents an evolutionary psychological perspective that I found to be more distracting than illuminating. However, that being said, the concept that a person's life is judged by the satisfaction of values close to an individual was something that I enjoyed reading. The book functions well as a quick character study. These are the major flaws as I see it.

1. Repetitive with unimaginative writing.
2. Reiss subjects each "value" to his criticism. Some traits are given moral equivalency,e.g., a high desire for honor implies that somebody is moral (example given: soldier), somebody with a low desire for honor is immoral(example given: bank robber). Under Reiss' definition, a value of honor was defined by upholding ethnic, religious, and traditional duties. The concept of putting morality to the values is my greatest criticism.
3. One very important value: Family, is absolutely off limits to those without children. Family was defined as how important it is to you that you raise children. However for people without children there was no way to "record" our family rating as without children the Family value was moot.


Overall the book is a nice read but not worth a buy.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful exercise for understanding teammates., August 27, 2003

By 

Michael Chiodi "author, The Art of Building P... (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities (Paperback)

Give Dr. Reiss a chance, and he will tune you in to what really turns you on. We each have a distinctive motivational profile, but this book is really about relationships. Learning about what motivates others, and how they differ from us, goes a long way towards building better relationships -- regardless, of whether we're working as part a team or trying to understand our own family. I recommend this book to everyone I can. I also use it in my professional business coaching practice as a tool to help team members know each other better.