Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I learned about Maslow's motivational hierarchy decades ago but found it not very useful for determining what an individual would do, particularly in a specific circumstance. This book provided a scientifically-appealing foundation for making that kind of determination. It well explained why I get along better with some people than others and what I can do about improving my relationships with those people with whom I don't seem to fit. After testing myself, spouse, children, and close friends and associates, I believe I better understand both myself and them. I can better predict what they might do and where they are going with their thought processes. I believe this book contains a revolutionary foundation for understanding the motives of people.

Who Am I is a great introduction into the core motivators of the human psyche. While this book may not be the end all on human motivation is does provide detailed insight to what motivates us based on scientific study. The most interesting and enlightening thing about the book is coming to the realization that we are all motivated and driven by different desires and that what motivates us in not by itself right or wrong. This not only helps you understand yourself and make effective changes in your life, it also allows you to understand others without judging them.

I have read a number of books which attempt to expand on the notion that people are (often irretrievably) unique individuals. I rate these works on their ability to explain real life relationships. Myers-Briggs is mildly useful, but I find Reiss's explanations much more useful in understanding and working with human individuals.

I've been tossed and turned by everything that seemed like a good idea, at the time ...job-wise, relationship-wise, and other-wise.

I now know to say "No, that's not me!", while appreciating the other persons' differences, without getting offended, anymore.

I can lose weight, without dieting, just by saying, "I don't have the desire to eat, right now"...and do something else, to help someone else. I'll just eat when I'm hungry, and not bored.

I don't feel weird, anymore, by not being a "social butterfly", but now I can appreciate the "social butterfly", without being envious...What a RELIEF!!!!!!!

We all have different gifts and talents and We All Need Each Other!

By far the best book on human behaviour I have read (and I've read a few). I use the principles to assess new staff and to help my existing staff achieve results based on their intrinsic motivations. From Fuller to Maslow I have often found the one size fits all theories to be lacking. Steven Reiss demonstrates there are many combinations and variations to 'motivation' and also teaches us that you are not 'defective' just because you are motivated in different ways to your peers.

I am a trainer/consultant with a academic degree in the area of adult-education. My work and "want-to-know drive" do put me in a constant search for the best way in guiding and coaching people; discover the truth about themselves. Reading ...Who am I? The 16 Basic Desires that Motivate our Actions and Define our....by Steven Reiss...was really a eye-opener.
I'm working with the ideas and the people I touch with the insights are baffled at the "thruth" of themselves.

Human motives are complex and modified by culture, experiences, beliefs and values. Embracing, to a certain degree, but surely extending A. Maslow's thinking with regards to needs and wants, Dr. Steven Reiss proposes a scientific research arguing that, because of genetic variations in basic desires, no two people enjoy the same experience in the same way.

According to his research 16 basic desires drive much of human behavior. Every desire creates an opposite desire and the experience has a subjective/relative importance depending on the intensity of the feeling and importance attached to it. Difference in basic desires between people might lead to miscommunication, misunderstandings and conflict.

With no significance in their order, as he presented them in the book, here are the 16 desires:

POWER The desire to influence others

INDEPENDENCE Desire for self-reliance

CURIOSITY Desire for knowledge

ACCEPTANCE Desire for inclusion

ORDER Desire for organization

SAVING Desire to collect things

HONOR Desire to be loyal to one's parents and heritage

IDEALISM Desire for social justice

SOCIAL CONTACT Desire for companionship

FAMILY Desire to raise one's own children

STATUS Desire for social standing

VENGEANCE Desire to get even

ROMANCE Desire for sex and beauty

EATING Desire to consume food

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Desire for exercise of muscles

TRANQUILLITY Desire for emotional calm

The book is easy to read, some may consider it too long or too repetitive but, sincerely, I enjoyed it over a couple of days spent at the beach during my holidays in the Philippines, Boracay Island.

I would recommend it to all the people interested in having a better knowledge of human nature. It is a point of view worth reading.

All the best,
Ciao
Francesco