Psychology of Drive???

[PsychBA]

HI guys.

First post here. How is everybody? I just graduated with a BA in psychology.

I'm looking for books or whatever source of info on "drive" and people who are driven. Like what driven politicians, doctors, or sports players have in common. Guys who work out hours a day or have their life so well managed. I think maybe it ties in with Type A behavior or ambition or workaholism maybe they're not related, I don't know. I guess maybe workaholics actually like the work and maybe people who are driven have a goal and it's not about the work. In any case, it was not my area of study so I don't know where to start.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Ollie123]

Switch to keyword "motivation" and you will find an astonishing amount of literature. Though the way you frame it really refers to the extreme end of the spectrum so it may be difficult to locate topics limited exclusively to that (though I'd argue its a continuum and one needs to understand the whole). I don't frequently see "drive" used in the literature I'm familiar with - it may be used in that way in certain areas I'm not familiar with but I haven't come across it as much.

The I/O and sports psychology literatures will likely be better bets than clinical for the specific topics you are interested, though I'm not sure where you have been looking. Though I think neuroscience is the clear front-runner if you are interested in the full spectrum of motivation, given we've made huge progress in that area over the last decade or two.

 

[PsychBA]

Switch to keyword "motivation" and you will find an astonishing amount of literature. Though the way you frame it really refers to the extreme end of the spectrum so it may be difficult to locate topics limited exclusively to that (though I'd argue its a continuum and one needs to understand the whole). I don't frequently see "drive" used in the literature I'm familiar with - it may be used in that way in certain areas I'm not familiar with but I haven't come across it as much.

The I/O and sports psychology literatures will likely be better bets than clinical for the specific topics you are interested, though I'm not sure where you have been looking. Though I think neuroscience is the clear front-runner if you are interested in the full spectrum of motivation, given we've made huge progress in that area over the last decade or two.

I had been looking in clinical literature mainly because I thought I would find out about it in relation to Type A personality. I don't like the I/O literature because it always ends up relating concepts to work productivity and all that. It's utilitarian. I started by looking at Freudian idea of drive. Then I considered motivation but what makes some people so very motivated to do something? I have a feeling it must be something biological. Everybody likes sports to some extent but not everybody gonna spend ten hours a day working out and practicing and joining the NFL.

 

[IOPsych]

I had been looking in clinical literature mainly because I thought I would find out about it in relation to Type A personality. I don't like the I/O literature because it always ends up relating concepts to work productivity and all that. It's utilitarian. I started by looking at Freudian idea of drive. Then I considered motivation but what makes some people so very motivated to do something? I have a feeling it must be something biological. Everybody likes sports to some extent but not everybody gonna spend ten hours a day working out and practicing and joining the NFL.

have you looked at McClelland's research on need for achievement (nAch)?

If you are looking for traits that would impact motivation this may be a line of research to consider.

 

[PsychBA]

have you looked at McClelland's research on need for achievement (nAch)?

If you are looking for traits that would impact motivation this may be a line of research to consider.

Thank you IOPsych, very helpful. Any idea where to look for individual differences in nAch? Personality literature, Behavioral, or maybe neuroscience? Like I said before, I'm interested in people who are surprisingly driven, professionals who sacrifice family and personal time for their career. I have always been interested in this, like my friend's father who is a surgeon, or my psych professor who told me about all the sacrifices he made to get his PhD (he is disabled and is an immigrant). But I never got a chance to really pursue this while studying (because I changed majors three times). I want to find out if I'm interested enough to do research on it in grad school. So I'm doing some preliminary readings.

It's like the oversimplified explanation for interest in politics: power. Why? Inferiority complex? Trauma/helplessness in childhood? Because power is associated with other things like respect or money? And why some want so much, some so little? And they sacrifice so much (personal time, relationships, morals) to get it? Is it personality, like being antisocial or being Type A?

Sorry, this getting to be a long post. So in summary, I'm interested in individual difference in drive (or need for achievement) and reasons behind it. I appreciate your help.

 

[PETRAN]

Have you looked at literature and theories of motivation? Just a random presentation i found at the net.


http://www.slideshare.net/jtneill/psychology-102-motivation


Your question on "drive" is very general since "drive" canbelicited by many things and many factors depending on instincts context etc. As far as im aware there is no single theory that applies to all cases on the psychology of motivation

For more specific stuff like the relation of physiological drive and types of personality you have to do a lit. search. Sites and books on motivation are a good starting point though