The weird 16 things you can want!

In trying to figure out what motivates characters, I did the mature thing and searched online typing, “What do people want?” and read articles. I found a few theories that I had heard of before; personality types, Maslow’s’ hierarchy of needs, and the big 5 (or big 10) traits used by psychologists. But then I found a theory I had never heard of before in Dr. Steve Reese’s book, Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities.

Dr. Reese asked tens of thousands of people what they wanted, and then used computers to analyze their answers and find patterns. His research sorted people’s desires into 16 distinct categories.

The 16 desires:

• Honor (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition)
• Romance (Beauty, Art, Attraction)
• Family (Nurturing, raising offspring)
• Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play)
• Acceptance (Attention, Approval, Inclusion)
• Social Status (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation)
• Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
• Independence (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination)
• Tranquility (Preparation, Comfort, Calm)
• Saving (Collecting, Preserving, Valuing)
• Eating (Food, thinking about food and planning meals)
• Physical Activity (Exercise, Active, Moving)
• Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
• Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)
• Curiosity (Explore, Analyze, Discuss)
• Order (Organize, Plan, Clean)

The book has changed my view of the world, how I understand people, cultures, our progression through life, and more.

It frustrates me that Steven Reiss spends a portion of his book ‘watering down’ his theory because this lens of understanding humans is groundbreaking. By watering down the theory, I am talking about the tests he includes to see how you rank in all 16 desires. But, I’m afraid I have to disagree with the idea that because you want something, you will get it, which seems to be the basis for his evaluation.

I do not think our desires can be determined by taking an inventory of our belongings. There is no guarantee that someone who wants a family will have one or that someone who wants beauty will have it. I think our desires go much deeper than our possessions or relationships. I think our desires play into every decision we make.

I also think our personalities are not just a little different from person to person. We can want entirely different things or the same things for entirely different reasons.

The theory of the 16 desires is so strong I think it deserves a deep analysis.

In my estimation, I think most people, you included, probably have three fundamental desires that can describe almost all their motivations. But one of those desires reigns supreme, governing most of the things you do and almost everything you want. I think I only have two dominant desires, Curiosity, and Romance. I’d like to say I have another, but I can’t find a clear winner. That might make me a two-dimensional character, but I do not know what I could do about that. As far as I can tell, our desires seem locked to our personalties.

I will discuss this topic much more later, but I think this post will be a handy reference to get started on analyzing desires, whether for real people, fictional characters, age groups, or cultures.