Psychology: A Self-Teaching Guide

Motivation: Why Do We Do What We Do? 103

importance to other individuals or to humanity in general. This may seem very

exalted, but in practice it can be very basic. Being fair and decent in one’s deal-

ings with friends and relatives is an example of a value. Raising one’s children

in a loving way is another example. For most people, meaning can readily be

found in living traditional social roles—being an effective teacher, parent, nurse,

auto mechanic, loving partner, and so forth. Note that in all of these social roles

there is some service or contribution to others. The will to meaning reaches

beyond the self.

For some people, humanity in general is served by the will to meaning. When

we think of great authors, scientists, or leaders, we see that their contributions to

life extend beyond an immediate family to the larger human family. But the basic

theme is the same—a concern with the welfare of others.

Frankl argues that values do not have to be invented. They need to be discov-

ered. He says that a person suffering from an existential vacuum is like a person in

a room with the lights out. The individual thinks that there is no furniture in the

room because he or she can’t see it. Then the lights are turned on and the furni-

ture becomes visible. Values, like the pieces of furniture in the room, are real and

present. But they have to be discovered by the light of human consciousness in

order for the individual to have a meaningful life.

(a) Values are perceived aspects of the world that seem to have or

to other individuals or to humanity in general.

(b) Frankl argues that values do not have to be invented. Instead, they need to be

.

Answers: (a) worth; importance; (b) discovered.

SELF-TEST

1. From the point of view of psychology as a science a motive is
   a. a dependent variable
   b. an independent variable
   c. a radical variable
   d. an intervening variable


2. A physiological process characterized by a tendency for biological drives to
   maintain themselves at optimal levels of arousal is called
   a. homeostasis
   b. metamotivation
   c. hyperstatic integration
   d. heterostasis