Chapter 3.Theories of Motivation
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McKay (1989) asserted that “psychoanalytic theory is above all a theory of motivation” (p. 6). Others have made similar comments. For example, Lichtenberg (1989) stated that “psychoanalytic theory at its core is a theory of structured motivation” (p. 1), and Rubinstein (1976) observed that “in one sense, the whole of psychoanalytic theory is a theory of motivation” (p. 68). Indeed, what is referred to as “psychic determinism” in Freudian theory is more accurately called motivational determinism. After all, one does not have to be psychoanalytically oriented to accept the idea that, like physical events, all psychological events are determined; all one needs to be is a strict determinist. The more distinctively psychoanalytic contribution to the principle of psychic determinism is the claim that all meaningful behavior (other than, say, reflexes) is motivated—by wishes and desires.
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