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Abstract

[Fundamental Needs as a Further Goal Object of Conscious Aspirations]

This research looks into how the multitude of subjects’ concrete drives and aspirations are seen by them as means for a limited range of further goal objects which can be conceived as fundamental motivations. A sample of drives (first level) is collected using Nuttin’s Motivation - Induction - Method (M.I.M.) and subsequently the subjects describe why they strive to one or other of their drives (second level). Overall, the hypothesis of the fundamental needs is supported by the analysis at both individual and group levels. There are however a few reactions that show that not everything can be reduced to a few fundamental needs and that some concrete strivings are seen as goals in themselves. - The contents of the deeper level are dominated by a longing towards positive feelings (“happiness, pleasure, satisfaction”), the achievement of an ideal of human fulfillment, the longing to assert oneself, the fear of weakening ones personality, the tendency towards existential values and the wish that the well-being of others is as good as one’s own.