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The MOTIVES Personality System

Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a particular way. - Aristotle

Abstract/Summary

There are seven personality traits, motivations that explain all human personality (admiration-seeking, experimenting, planning, helping, being-positive, relaxing, and tribal defense). Healthy people appreciate and are developed in one or more of these seven traits. Unhealthy people over value and/or under value, lack development in one or more of those same seven traits.

To better explain things through metaphor, if the whole world was a single city...

Materialists (admiration-seekers) would be in or trying to get into the expensive exclusive parts of the city, and if in the most exclusive parts of the city, they would try to be maximizing their position/rank.
Offbeats (experimenters) would be outside the city exploring the unknown or inside investigating, changing/innovating, and/or challenging the status quo of the city.
Thinkers (planners) would be organizing, planning, maintaining the functioning of the city
Interpersonals (helpers) would be serving, taking care of others throughout the city (at home, in schools, hospitals, stores, companies, etc.)
Vitalists (optimists) would be bringing life, positivity, enthusiasm to any environment they occupy
Easygoers (relaxers) would be lounging on their couch, at the beach, taking naps, chilling at the movie theater, bar, restaurants, or if they had to be at work or other less leisurely places, keeping things calm and peaceful there
Sectarians (conservatives) would be preoccupied with the defense of the city from outsiders / perceived threats inside and outside the city borders

All of the above roles / personality types are (or at least were at some point) needed, have a place in human culture / evolution (i.e. adaptive), that’s why they developed. Despite my personal opinions / biases, my data suggests it’s possible for some people to be happy and healthy following any of the above strategies. Now, I’m not sure I can say all of the above traits are positive for the health of the world (particularly the Materialist and Sectarian trait), but that’s something I’m still researching.

It should be noted, I've found very few counter type preference MOTIVES items with a positive (i.e. high Vital) factor correlation at least when looking at the general population of test takers as a whole. For example, the Materialist trait is the MOTIVES version of extroversion, so people who score low on that trait may identify as an introvert in other personality models (although modern notions of extraversion/introversion are hodge podge of traits, one of them being Vitality / Big Five Emotional Stability which is why it’s a flawed non-unidimensional trait as explained in depth here ). I’ve found very few items that correlated with low Materialism that correlate with Vitality (i.e being healthy/happy). While there are some people that don’t care about being admired (i.e Low Materialism scorers) that are happy, there are at least not enough of them that have taken my tests to show a potential significant trend association between being happy and not caring about admiration. On other MOTIVES traits I've found even less or more often no low scoring items which show a Vitality correlation. Vitality is orthogonal (non correlating) to the other six MOTIVES traits across the data as a whole so no association should be expected generally, but there are still many individual personality items that display associations between being higher or one or more particular MOTIVES items and Vitality.​

In any case, explore the vast catalog of MOTIVES items listed on this page, (such as in this list and also here). Take note of the respective factor correlations and decide for yourself. The core purpose of this site is to present the most scientifically accurate and neutral architecture of human personality and let you decide what aspects of personality you think are healthy and unhealthy, what traits you want to reinforce and/or change. The MOTIVES system should also help you understand others better and make better choices on the type of people you associate with.

The MOTIVES system

The MOTIVES personality theory is a refined hybrid of previous notions of personality (Big 5, Jung, Freud, Golden Rule) which posits that the entire spectrum of personality can be explained by seven independent, alterable, and empirically provable personality motivations / strategies.

The most empirically proven personality model, to date, is the Big 5. It is a lexical personality model, which basically means it is based on the premise that language is a good representation of reality (as words are merely intellectual tools created to describe reality). Essentially this makes the Big 5 a wisdom of crowds approach at explaining who/how people are. The limitation of this is that this makes the Big 5 compromised by whatever biases the crowd has. If most people have a more superficial understanding of what makes people and themselves tick than that is going to be reflected in the lexicon of words understood by most to explain how others and themselves are. I think most people (even very smart people) don't entirely know what makes them tick, why they do what they do.

Jung and Freud represent the expert approach, intelligent individuals with fairly extensive clinical experience treating individuals. However, they were also limited by the make up of their sample size, which was more disturbed (and wealthy) than average. They were also limited by their lack of empiricism. They spent more time formulating concepts/ideas than they spent vetting those concepts/ideas via the scientific method. It's entirely implausible to think that an individual no matter how intelligent can produce flawless personality theories solely based on their instincts, logical judgment, and/or unempirical observations. That's why Jung and Freud's ideas - while profound starting points in parts - don't tell the whole story. That's why people who are really into Myers-Briggs or the Enneagram are more like religious disciples, those systems are not sufficiently rational (empirically proven/provable), and so faith/belief/suspension-of-rationality is required to buy into them.

The solution to the aforementioned problems is to come up with a system applicable to the general and clinical population, which accounts for all aspects of personality, which can be proven empirically.

The MOTIVES theory is based around the idea of seven central reward drives. These are evolutionary hard wired and/or environmental adaptation styles to life.

Materialistic - by being more attractive / impressive, I will have a survival advantage
Offbeat - by being more novel / unconventional, I will have a survival advantage
Thinking - by being more thought out / systematic, I will have a survival advantage
Interpersonal - by being more selfless / helpful to others, I will have a survival advantage
Vital - by being more positive, energetic, I will have a survival advantage
Easygoing - by conserving my energy, relaxing, I will have a survival advantage
Sectarian - by prioritizing the strength of my group/tribe/country, I will have a survival advantage

Originally, I thought there were (or as theories often arise, 'should be') seven counter preferences to the above. However, I found (after testing that theory) that not to be the case exactly. For example, someone that scores low on Offbeat traits does not necessarily fixate on the opposite behavioral tendency, i.e. conventional behavior, they are just more likely to disprefer unconventional behavior or simply not expend effort being unconventional, different. What I've found in general is that while high trait scorers are heavily invested, and/or fixated, on the MOTIVES behaviors they score highly on, low scorers are characterized, on average, more by their absence of fixation on those behaviors (with the exception of Vital, the Depressed counter fixation appears to be equally strong if not stronger). This makes sense when you think it requires effort to be authentically attractive, or to be authentically different than others, or to be organized, or to be generous, versus simply not being any of those things. Someone with a low Materialistic preference (an Ascetic) is not preoccupied by being socially attractive but that doesn't mean necessarily they are as anti social attractiveness as most Materialists are pro social attractiveness (though some Ascetics certainly are).

So instead of counter preferences, it may be more accurate to view these as simply non preferences...

Ascetic - Less concerned with attractiveness, money, sex, mate value
Conventional - Less likely to be unconventional, curious, experimental
Haphazard - Less likely to follow a mental plan, more likely to be messy, disorganized, aimless
Withholding - Less likely to be selfless, less likely to be considerate, accommodating, supportive of others
Depressed - Sullen, negative, pessimistic, destructive, self sabotaging
Rigid - Less likely to prioritize relaxation, prone to be on edge, high strung, stiff
Globalistic - Less likely to be nationalistic, ethno-egotistical, tends to favor inclusion, unity, diversity; more likely to put the welfare of the whole world above the welfare of their tribe/culture/nation/race/etc.

Each person's distinct mix on these seven motivational spectrums result in an vast number of different personality orientations, as few as 128 if you consider a high/low preference on each, 2187 if you consider a high/middle/low preference on each, even more when you consider that some high/low preferences will be higher/lower than others. Although you will have a lot more insight into yourself or others if you are able to discern that one of the seven orientations is more dominant than the rest. Though it's certainly possible to have two or more equally dominant MOTIVES types, most people only have one or at most two dominant types.

So, there are seven Primary types - Materialistic, Offbeat, Thinking, Interpersonal, Vital, Easygoing, and Sectarian

When assessing yours or someone elses' personality across all seven traits...

A simple bipolar type can be coded as MCHIDEG (Materialistic, Conventional, Haphazard, Interpersonal, Depressed, Easygoing, Globalistic)
A more useful type can be coded as XOTWXES (middle preference on Materialism, Offbeat, Thinking, Withholding, middle preference on Vitality, Easygoing, Sectarian)
A more complex type coding would be Mox|I|drS, with upper case letter reflecting a strong preference, lower case reflecting a medium preference, || representing the dominant preference, and x representing a middle preference.

Another way to look at MOTIVES which is slightly different is that you really have six behavioral drives, with the seventh, Vital, being more of a scoreboard of the effect of the other six preferences. So everyone is somewhere on the following six spectrums...

  • I want to get preferential / special attention vs. I'm unconcerned with image / attention (Materialistic vs. Ascetic)
  • I want to try new things / new ways vs. I'm not a big fan of change (Offbeat vs. Conventional)
  • I want to live life by a mental plan vs. I am unplanned, disorganized (Thinking vs. Haphazard)
  • I want to help others vs. I'm not compelled to help others (Interpersonal vs. Withholding)
  • I want to take it easy vs. I don't prioritize relaxation (Easygoing vs. Rigid)
  • I put my tribe, culture, nation first vs. I don't prioritize nationalism (Sectarian vs. Globalistic)

Your distinct preference profile on the above six spectrums results in a certain happiness or unhappiness level which is a major aspect of your Vital score. If you are unhappy and you are not changing your preferences, then you are unlikely to change your happiness level. I think for some people Vitality is somewhat of a drive in itself but for others the Vital score is more of a reflection of the success or failure of their preferences on the other six drives. Some people spend their whole life being rewarded for their preference profile and suddenly it's no longer rewarded. If their happiness never recovers and they never make any changes to address that, they had the effect of Vitality (happiness) but they lacked the drive to maintain it (i.e. it was never really a drive for them).

To get a better sense of how significant these drives are, consciously and/or unconsciously, I explored many different angles of how people self rated on these MOTIVES traits in different contexts. The following are a sample of those along with their respective factor scores.

My identity is my appearance rank. 720
My identity is my experimental nature. 710
My identity is my organized nature. 780
My identity is my service to others. 760
My identity is my depressive nature. 750
My identity is my relaxed nature. 760
My identity is my-country-first. 587

Looks-centric would be a good description of me. 733
Experimenter would be a good description of me. 765
Organizer would be a good description of me. 755
Helper would be a good description of me. 737
Depressive would be a good description of me.- 780
Relaxer would be a good description of me. 714
My-country-first would be a good description of me. 523

I have a need to be attractive to everyone. 789
I have a need to experiment. 664
I have a need to follow a plan. 765
I have a need to help everyone. 806
I have a need for my life to be over.- 722
I have a need to always be relaxed. 541
I have a need to defend the honor/traditions of my country. 508

The most important quality in a friend is how attractive they make me look to others. 469
The most important quality in a friend is how curious they are. 519
The most important quality in a friend is how organized they are. 468
The most important quality in a friend is how considerate they are. 382
The most important quality in a friend is how depressed they are. - 503
The most important quality in a friend is how laid back they are. 421
The most important quality in a friend is how patriotic they are. 478

I believe happiness can be achieved through popularity. 638
I believe happiness can be achieved through discovery. 447
I believe happiness can be achieved through orderliness. 602
I believe happiness can be achieved through generosity. 642
I believe happiness can be achieved through rest and relaxation. 345
I believe happiness can be achieved through loyalty to one's country. 406

Clearly the seven MOTIVES drives result in distinctly different motivations, preferences, values, self identities that have real life effects on behavioral choices, life paths, etc.. If you don’t value generosity (and don’t want to change that about yourself), you will be unlikely to enjoy and thus probably to do well in a career which requires it. You will be less likely to form a close lasting friendship or maintain a long term significant romantic relationship with someone who does (a high Interpersonal scorer). Offbeat types desire an exploratory existence which can include endless philosophical conversations, changing careers, trying different life paths, moving to different cities. Someone lower on the Offbeat trait is not going to be very compatible with those preferences. High Materialistic scorers enjoy fancy things (nice cars, nice clothes, expensive restaurants). Ascetic types are unlikely to enjoy someone with those preferences, and vice versa. Thinkers enjoy a planned out, orderly, organized life, they are unlikely to tolerate a Haphazard type, and vice versa. Easygoing types like to keep things copacetic. Someone with a high strung personality is going to inhibit their preference for a perma-relaxed vibe. If you want to try to make a relationship work with someone with a conflicting personality preference it helps to have a framework to understand and discuss your personality preference differences and hopefully find workable, fair compromises... but that's often not possible, realistic. The middle ideal traits (Materialistic, Interpersonal, Easygoing, Sectarian) suggest that someone with an opposing preference could work if both parties desire being more in the middle. However, significant differences on the high ideal traits (Offbeat, Thinking, Vital) will likely doom a relationship. Once you learn, understand the aforementioned, you will save yourself a lot of time in failed friendships, relationships, ill fitting careers, etc..


MOTIVES key trait items (high factor loading item for each trait)
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Materialistic - I am compelled to be desirable.

Offbeat - I am preoccupied with discovery.  

Thinking - I prioritize being structured.   

Interpersonal - I must help others.

Vital - I struggle with depression.-    (negatively keyed item, i.e. score is reversed)

Easygoing - I have a tranquil nature.

Sectarian - Immigrants are a burden on my country.


The following items are examples of high(+), average(=), and low(-) vitality (health) items for each MOTIVES type based on user test data (in the case of two scores, xxx/xxx, the second score is the Vital score): 

[M]

+I'm very popular in mainstream society. 471/253

=I am preoccupied with my appearance rank. 770  

-I want to be liked so I'm not entirely honest about who I really am. 480/-460 

[O]

+I innovate. 596/254

=I feel best when I am taking risks. 676

-My identity is very much about being different/strange/mysterious compared to the majority. 565/-244 

[T]

+I'm focused. 672/289

=My life's work is staying organized. 784

-I hate how overly planned I am. 400/-200  

[I]

+I deeply care about community. 579/269

=I am preoccupied with serving others. 830 I'm biased to whatever path best helps others. 730

-I'm depressed that I'm not better able to help others. 532/-379

[V]

+I love my life. 750

-I feel that life has no meaning. 700 

[E]

+I love how peaceful I am. 568/325

=I'm the kind of person that likes to take it easy. 663 

-I am a bit of a slacker. 352/-451

[S]

+My culture would be a good role model for other cultures. 651/228

=My country cannot absorb any more immigrants from certain ethnic groups without causing problems. 794

-People from other cultures tend to act strange and unusual when they come into my culture. 526/-222


MOTIVES ultra short form personality test - http://similarminds.com/personality-research.html

answer key - [left item is very me][left item is somewhat me][i'm in between][right item is somewhat me][right item is very me]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) I find getting attention rewarding. [M][m][x][a][A] Social status doesn't mean much to me.
2) As soon as I'm not learning something, I change things up. [O][o][x][c][C] I usually avoid risky situations.

3) I maintain my spaces in an orderly way. [T][t][x][h][H] I tend to live life without a plan.
4) Short of putting myself in danger, I will help pretty much anyone, good or bad. [I][i][x][w][W] I don't live for others.

5) I frequently feel pleasant emotions. [V][v][x][d][D] I am not in the mood for anything.
6) I have a tranquil nature. [E][e][x][r][R] I rarely take it easy.

7) Immigration should be controlled. [S][s][x][g][G] I am politically liberal.

Answer the seven items above with the appropriate letter and then select whichever item fits you most and [bracket it]
Sample Result: aOhxx[E]g



The MOTIVES personality system is the macro (wide-angle) companion to the R-Drive personality system which covers a more detailed micro (zoomed in) approach to individual personality. The 14+ R-Drive motivations (as well as pretty much any personality characteristic, or personality model type /Big 5/MBTI/Enneagram/) can all be explained by high-neutral-low preference combinations of the seven MOTIVES drives much the same way that every color can be decoded by it's distinct mix of primary colors. (I recently created a fairly comprehensive chart of the MOTIVES factor loadings of various personality types/traits on this page.)

MOTIVES factor analysis

M O T I V E S
M 0.714 0.082 0.009 0.003 -0.063 -0.013 0.060
O 0.091 0.645 -0.017 0.008 0.046 0.061 0.034
T 0.010 -0.013 0.729 0.070 0.068 -0.028 0.080
I 0.004 0.009 0.070 0.746 -0.019 0.071 0.025
V -0.068 0.041 0.072 -0.018 0.705 0.055 0.016
E -0.012 0.057 -0.030 0.077 0.056 0.624 0.030
S 0.072 0.038 0.097 -0.027 0.019 0.034 0.597

*sample size 6675 (2308 men, 4367 women)

MOTIVES to Big 5 (TIPI) factor analysis

M O T I V E S
Extroversion 0.269 0.296 -0.046 0.140 0.398 -0.232 0.006
Conscientiousness -0.024 0.019 0.561 0.032 0.308 0.026 0.093
Emotional Stability -0.098 0.111 0.174 -0.104 0.591 0.318 0.117
Openness 0.069 0.411 0.010 0.011 0.214 0.049 -0.080
Accommodation -0.053 -0.073 0.016 0.369 0.245 0.155 -0.078

*sample size 3189, 10 test items from the TIPI Big Five test

MOTIV to Big 5 (BFI) factor analysis

M O T I V E S
Extroversion 0.258 0.211 -0.036 0.091 0.464 -0.161 0.035
Conscientiousness -0.062 0.033 0.519 0.035 0.241 -0.076 0.048
Emotional Stability -0.042 0.058 0.044 -0.065 0.618 0.233 0.059
Openness 0.035 0.456 0.004 0.021 -0.016 0.033 -0.053
Accommodation -0.069 -0.003 0.052 0.430 0.225 0.107 -0.035

*sample size 2888, 44 test items from the BFI Big Five test

The TIPI is a ten item Big Five test and the BFI is a 44 item Big Five test, both have been used frequently by academic researchers. Based on the correlations, Open-mindedness is analogous with Offbeat, Accommodation is analogous with Interpersonal, Emotional Stability and Extroversion are analogous with Vitality (which explains why the introvert self descriptions are more negative than extrovert self descriptions on this site as discussed in this article), and Conscientiousness is analogous with Thinking. All five Big Five traits show significant correlations to Vitality (except BFI Openness) which I think reflects a misalignment in the Big Five structure.

MOTIV to Myers Briggs / MBTI / Jung factor analysis

E/I N/S T/F J/P
M 0.367 -0.041 -0.044 -0.009
O -0.027 0.488 0.078 -0.176
T -0.222 -0.183 0.175 0.603
I 0.090 -0.038 -0.580 -0.015
V 0.624 0.015 -0.035 0.101

*sample size 1200, test items from an MBTI/Jung analog test on SimilarMinds

The MBTI is a forced choice personality test system which presents dichotomies a user has to choose between (I think the forced choice system offers limited personality clarity but I will discuss that in another article). The factor analysis reveals the Extroversion/Introversion dichotomy as a strong analog for MOTIVES Vitality and a medium analog for MOTIVES Materialistic, the Intuition/Sensing dichotomy is a strong analog to MOTIVES Offbeat, the Thinking/Feeling dichotomy is a strong analog to MOTIVES Withholding (i.e. low MOTIVES Interpersonal preference). The Judging/Perceiving dichotomy is a strong analog to MOTIVES Thinking. The standout issue in the above results is that a person can have a high Materialistic orientation and a low Vital orientation but you would not accurately be able to discern that from their MBTI/Jung type because MBTI/Jung Extroversion has a positive loading on Materialistic and Vital traits. This illustrates the central flaw in the MBTI system which is that it conflates unhappiness and introversion and happiness and extroversion (which I discuss at length in this article).

MOTIVES Drive Architecture

Materialistic vs. Ascetic Personality (Vanity vs. Austerity)

The Materialist is oriented towards wanting to be attractive and impressive to others. They are often externally narcissistic, seeking to be whatever the external world deems best. The most efficient way to do this is to be physically attractive to others, so the Materialist values beauty, attractiveness more than anything else. To the degree beauty is not enough or is difficult for them to cultivate, maintain, the less healthy Materialist is more likely to resort to other tricks/enhancements such as makeup, hair coloring, fashion, plastic surgery, etc. to make them appear to be more attractive than they actually are. Fancy cars, houses, baubles, also are used to advertise to other people how valuable and desirable less healthy Materialists wish to appear. Anything other people might think is valuable Materialists value. A less healthy Materialist might pursue a particular career because of it's prestige in the eyes of others more than because they have authentic internal interest in that career. They are more likely to borrow their taste from the desires of others so they are keen on following the latest trends and fashions.

The Materialist wants to resemble a mirrored reflection of what is considered most ideal/attractive by others, society, or their subculture. Money which is basically a social IOU is naturally prized by the Materialist, the more they have, the more they think they are worth, there value is drawn from the external instead of the internal. The Don Draper character in Mad Men exemplifies a less healthy Materialist personality, attractive, rich, and successful on the outside, something else entirely underneath the surface. This drive taken to an unhealthy extreme is what drives the growing wealth inequality phenomena, why when one person builds something of no practical value to existence like a 200ft super yacht, someone else will want to build an even less practical 300ft one, to appear better, more perfect/desirable. This is why a Depressive Materialist may not want to be friends with anyone so attractive they might attract/steal their significant other (or even just steal attention). Materialists tend to be more attractive than average, but their attractiveness can make them stuck developmentally, less likely to develop other aspects of their personality/life. One only has to think of the image of the prettiest caveman enchanted by their reflection in a river to understand that this personality tendency can overvalue a temporary advantage over others to no benefit to the individual or society in the long run.

On the other hand healthy Materialists can use their superior desirability for the good of the world much like attractive actors and actresses often serve as ambassadors for non profits. While certainly unhealthy Materialists can desire that no one is more attractive than them, the reality is everyone in theory can be more physically attractive. And authentic physical attractiveness reflects better physical health so this is certainly something worthwhile for everyone to aspire to, work towards/on. This personality type is also a core component to many that are in the entertainment industry. So if you enjoy music, movies, comedy, you can see the value in this trait. If people didn't enjoy entertaining others and being applauded for that, then there wouldn't be much of an entertainment industry.

While obviously there are many societal rewards to being higher on social attractiveness, it's telling that one of the few Materialist items that correlates with Vitality is "I'm popular with everyone." Therein lies the problematic nature of this personality type in relation to happiness since being popular with everyone is not an easy nor for many enjoyable long term path to pull off. In fact, people who self rate that most of their happiness is internal tend to self rate as being happy whereas people that self rate that most of their happiness is external tend to self rate as being unhappy.

The counter persona to the Materialist is the Ascetic personality. The Ascetic shuns the material world, external ideals, public opinion, and the need to find validation in their social rank/status, physical beauty. They could thus be considered internally narcissistic, only caring about what they think is valuable. They tend to want to live apart from society, outside of it, in the metaphorical or actual wilderness. Great ideas have come from Ascetic intellectuals (which not all Ascetics are) but Ascetics are not necessarily any less foolish in their life choices than unhealthy Materialist types who lazily, derivative adopt whatever is popular/attractive regardless of whether it is right. A drawback to being Ascetic is illustrated by Aristarchus who figured out the Sun was the center of our planetary system 1800 years before Copernicus readopted the idea and proved it. Had Aristarchus been more social connected, adept, maybe he could have convinced the public of his ideas and the world might be more advanced today as a result. On the other hand you can only convince people of so much, so being fixated on persuading others on ideas they will never understand or agree with is a recipe of futility. This may be why the most intelligent people tend to be ascetics because they inevitably are less capable of enjoying, connecting with, or influencing popular culture.

The whole underlying psychology of this orientation spectrum is how much one values social rank, status, society, and what society deems valuable. Now if you have a more Ascetic orientation then you may cringe at the notion of society (the unwashed masses) having good judgement on what has value. But the idea of the wisdom of crowds has a lot of compelling evidence behind it (the book The Wisdom of Crowds is a good overview). If you compare the dart accuracy of one random person selected at average versus the average of a group of people, the latter will always be more accurate. The larger the group of people shooting you average, the more accurate. This phenomena only breaks down on things that are too complex for most people to grasp, hence why advanced intellectuals tend to be Ascetics more often. While any one individual may possibly exceed society's collective wisdom on one topic, most of the time the collective, averaged intelligence of the group exceeds that of any one individual on most topics. The MOTIVES personality model is basically a refinement of the Big 5 academic personality model which was developed when researchers averaged the data on people's self ratings on a large pool of descriptive adjectives, finding five discrete personality traits. Although, ironically, some of the flaws of the Big 5 involve superficial errors in the collective understanding of personality (such as the problems with Extroversion/Introversion).

Ascetics, more free of social preoccupations, can be better able to focus more on whatever their internal interests might be but their social isolation can impair their cognitive capacity, greatly limiting the universe of ideas they are exposed to (in the same way one computer is less powerful than a network of computers). Also, since they are less connected to others and/or less able to connect to others, attract others, their ideas/work may never reach others / the world. This is why an Ascetic and a Materialist pair can work very well together, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs being a good example.

The dangers of an overly Ascetic existence is the rejection of the material nature of existence and the value of others, society, civilization. Physical attractiveness, physical symmetry does correlate to health to a fair degree, lack of social standing/awareness can endanger one's life, and on many topics society knows more than most individuals, so to shun, not attend to the external compromises your ability to be physically happy, healthy, not to mention harms the quality of society you are choosing to avoid, not contribute to. Having a partner/mate and good friends are a proven variable in being healthy, living longer, according to research studies. There are dangers to the Materialistic orientation too. Sacrificing (failing to develop) an internal identity as a result of focusing too much on external attractiveness/image/popularity, infidelity as the prioritization of the physical best and/or who values you most causes you to sabotage/stray from perfectly workable relationships you already have, having more kids than you or the planet can happily sustain (or even unhappily sustain), the aforementioned growing wealth inequality problem caused by unconsciously or consciously trying to maximize mating attractiveness in oneself or one's descendants. The less healthy Materialist is also more prone to substituting drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, gambling, and/or other external stimulation addictions as a substitute for the dopamine rush of external social validation. Coupled with the Depressive orientation, Materialists can be very controlling and manipulative of whatever the source of their external validation is, as they depend on this. Of course some unhealthy Materialists can be so charming, ideal seeming at first that it's hard to believe how ugly they actually are deep down, but in these cases their charm is merely a lure, their camouflage not the authentic (albeit sometimes generic) beauty you find in healthy Materialists.

Offbeat vs Conventional (New Ways vs. Old Ways)

Evolution / change seems to be the norm in human existence. There are certainly periods of cultural collapse which result in a more primitive existence than before but overall most newer cultural/intellectual/technological peaks exceed previous ones. The chase of the new, innovation, invention, is the driving force of human evolution. The Offbeat mindset seeks to live on the vanguard of existence, to step into the unknown. There are dangers to this approach, astronauts die, inventors explode themselves in their labs, revolutionaries are killed, athletes die from over-training, but there are clearly also rewards. What is the point of living a life that has already been lived before is the ethos of the Offbeat individual, to sacrifice who you were, are, to become something new, different.

The Conventional on the other hand is more likely to fear change and sometimes even desires an older more simple existence. The Amish are an example of a culture of Conventionals. Orthodox versions of any religious or cultural group are another example. The Flat Earth society is a humorous extreme. Someone who celebrates Christmas or any other cultural holiday is a more mainstream example of this mindset. Some conventions have their place and you can't constantly reinvent better ways to do things at every moment but erring on the side of the conventional is inherently stagnant, if not regressive. There is so much that hasn't been figured out, perfected, etc. that to be too conventional is to be against improvement, progress, a better life and a better world. There is nothing admirable in that and that is why no one typically admires the conventional.

So, this spectrum is about knowledge selection and discovery, experimental vs. conventional living. I think the ideal on this spectrum is to be as unconventional as you can be without risking your physical existence. I think it's really cool to watch someone do some physical stunt that no one has ever been able to do before but if they end up dying do it, it's doesn't seem as worthwhile. Maybe Marie Curie would have had an even more enjoyable and productive life had she been a little more cautious around the radium that eventually killed her. Realistically, she had no way of knowing with certainty the fatal risks of radiation based on what was known at the time, which is a danger of living more in the unknown.

Thinking vs. Haphazard (Planned vs. Unplanned)

The Thinker's prime motivation is to have a planned out, orderly life, to know where they are headed. Essentially, they desire predictability, security, certainty, order. It is not enough to understand that something feels good or that something works, the Thinker needs a more rational understanding so they can achieve reliable results in life. This mentality (coupled with an Offbeat orientation) is the foundation of science and has resulted in a much greater understanding of the world, and a vast number of improvements to the world. The only problem with this orientation is getting too stuck in a particular plan, not being open to updating, changing one's life plan based on poor results and/or new information. There is so much yet that we do not know and new information can change what we know as true. A Thinker can be hindered by their need for total certainty, order in what will likely always be a somewhat uncertain, disordered world, their need to understand things that remain indecipherable. A problem with Thinkers is analysis paralysis or simply over-analysis delays where the Thinker spends more time on a decision than the import of the decision merits or the information available on that decision justifies.

The Haphazard shuns or finds it difficult to be structured and orderly, to make and follow long term plans. Consequently, they tend to live a more unplanned, meandering life, relying more on chance. This makes them less stiff, less rigid than thinkers can be (at their worst). But it also makes them basically stuck in the mental development of a child. This is normal when you are a child and your brain is still developing, but a resistance, failure to plan, develop that ability/skill, becomes disabling as an adult. Like children, Haphazards are a bit lost, undifferentiated. They have a more amorphous identity as a result of their aversion or inability to focus, organize. They may prefer environments, situation that allow them to continue living as a child developmentally. They are more likely to be artistic but to the degree they don't plan, substantive artistic achievement is less likely.

This personality spectrum relates to the executive function located in the frontal lobes, the newest part of the human brain. I think like with the Offbeat trait the ideal is to be as Thinking as possible short of being too narrow minded, over-planned.

Interpersonal vs. Withholding (Othercentric vs. Selfcentric)

It is surprising the number of people, who identify as selfless/considerate with people close to them and selfish/inconsiderate with strangers, that consider themselves nice or consider themselves perfectly normal, ideal even. The latter type of people are not Interpersonal types. Interpersonal types care more about others than themselves and would rather hurt them-self than hurt another person. They don't help others to get something back, they help others because they are more wired to the needs/feelings/happiness of others than their own. They feel the hunger, pain, happiness in someone else more than in themself. A lot of good can come out of this orientation. It is the basis for a lot of the charitable and humanitarian causes which make the world a more hospitable place. However, there is also a negative to this orientation. A society of selfless people can be prime fuel for selfish people to take advantage of. Furthermore, you can unwisely avoid developing your own life by being overly devoted to the lives of others. If other people's lives are so worthy of attention, why isn't yours as well?

Withholding types are less common than Interpersonal types (at least in terms of self reports). If Withholding types are not hiding who they are (which they can certainly do) they kind of stand out since they are so much more disagreeable/unaccommodating/selfish than most people. Withholding types like to claim everyone is selfish as they can't imagine anyone not having their selfish orientation (and also use this fake claim as way to excuse their selfishness/inconsideration). An extreme Withholding preference is one aspect of all sociopaths of the world. They lack empathy towards others, which means they are ignorant or inconsiderate of the pain of others. One convicted serial killer murdered his first victim after a one night stand. His motivation was that he thought his victim looked so peaceful and pretty and he didn't want him to leave his bed, so he calmly strangled him to keep him there (interestingly, he, Jeffrey Dahmer, grew up with parents who had no regard for him as well, who basically abandoned him). A more common Withholding type is simply just looking out for their own interests a little more than other people's (sort of like the ideal of modern American capitalism). If you add a Materialistic and Depressive orientation you get fictional characters like Ebenezer Scrooge or Mr. Potter from It's A Wonderful Life.

Intelligence seems to be a limiting factor in people's capacity to want to help others, I think if people were more aware (for example of how everyone is connected, however remotely) they would be more altruistic. But most are not, and most people that are very nice even to strangers typically would still probably save a loved one over a stranger from a sinking boat, even if the stranger had more to offer the world (of course a Withholding type would save them-self over a loved one). This results in the kind of culture of selfishness and enabling selflessness (conscious or unconscious) that idly stands by while a majority of the world lives a far less humane life than most in the west (for now), even though in the long run that can hurt everyone as it destabilizes civilization.

The substance of this personality spectrum is about valuing others, empathy. I think the ideal is to be as Interpersonal as possible without hurting yourself and/or the world. If helping others hurts you (or doesn't even really help others in the case of enabling behavior), the world as a whole doesn't benefit. The wise approach is to look out for your interests and the interests of the world (as you can't survive without a world to live in).

Social scientists interested in game theory have found that a strategy where you always cooperate with others at first and only defect from others if they betray and never apologize is the best socially sustainable strategy Tit for Tat research). You can take consideration too far if you continue to be accommodating to a significant other, family member, offspring or even stranger who doesn't act accommodating to you or others (the principle of reciprocity) as that engenders/reinforces selfish behavior, an entitlement complex, which lowers the quality of the social ecosystem hurting you and everyone else. The healthy version of this behavior is about doing things that actually help others not simply doing whatever others want. Our happiness is more contingent on the health of society than individual health as the healthiest individual would not fair as well in an apocalyptic wasteland. Thus it is essential for the healthiest people to invest in helping others to make for a better society, world and not to live opportunistic selfish lives which is becoming all too common today.

Vital vs Depressed (Optimism/Happiness vs. Pessimism/Apathy)

This is one of the most important drives of the MOTIVES system, the desire to be alive. None of us chose to be born so it understandably makes sense that not everyone is fully on board with being alive. If you have ever been happy, grateful to be alive, even for a moment, then you know what it feels like for people that have a high Vital orientation, except for them, they are like that most of the time. There was an interesting article recently about a small percentage of the population that doesn't need much sleep.

Dr. Jones says he has identified only about 20 true short sleepers, and he says they share some fascinating characteristics. Not only are their circadian rhythms different from most people, so are their moods (very upbeat) and their metabolism (they're thinner than average, even though sleep deprivation usually raises the risk of obesity). They also seem to have a high tolerance for physical pain and psychological setbacks.

"They encounter obstacles, they just pick themselves up and try again," Dr. Jones says.

Some short sleepers say their sleep patterns go back to childhood and some see the same patterns starting in their own kids, such as giving up naps by age 2. As adults, they gravitate to different fields, but whatever they do, they do full bore, Dr. Jones says.

"Typically, at the end of a long, structured phone interview, they will admit that they've been texting and surfing the Internet and doing the crossword puzzle at the same time, all on less than six hours of sleep," says Dr. Jones. "There is some sort of psychological and physiological energy to them that we don't understand." (source)

Vital types self report as liking who they are, enjoying life, being optimistic, having a strong will to live, and being self motivated. Whereas Materialistic types report wanting to be liked the most, Vital types actually report being liked the most.

Depressed types on the other hand hate who they are while also reporting that they don't even know who they are. They lack motivation, feel they have no control over life, think most people are better than them, feel unable to change their circumstances, feel broken, don't like most people, feel that being optimistic leads to disappointment, are self destructive, and have a defeatist outlook on life.

Two of most interesting and highest factor scoring differences between Vital and Depressed types are the following items.

At a certain point in my life my parents distanced themselves from me (and they remain distant).
At a certain point in my life I distanced myself from my parents (and I remain distant).

Since no one chooses to be born, it makes sense that one's parents, one's maker / original propeller, appear to have a profound effect on a person's outlook on life, their will to live (both environmentally and genetically). Being distant is also a personality trait on it's own that's correlated with being Depressive and has a genetic component (source). Another significant item which correlated with being Depressed is "I cannot explain why my parents are they way they are (or were the way they are)." It seems growing up with parents that don't know who they are results in kids who don't know who they are, and as a result, Depression because having no sense of identity is basically a depression of the self. Regardless, unhealthy attachment issues (whether genetic or environmentally caused) appear to be a preeminent feature in whether a person has a Vital or Depressive orientation. Not all unhealthy attachment issues are about parental rejection or genetics, excessive coddling and/or closeness (over-parenting) can also result in a helpless disposition that defines the Depressive personality (as discussed in this article).

If you are someone who thinks they had/have healthy attachments BUT romantic relationship breakups are very difficult for you, break your will, then you need to reexamine your attachment history/reality because an authentic Vital type weathers romantic rejections very well, a Depressive does not. If the loss of a relationship ruins your will to live, you didn't have much of a will to live to begin with.

Serious trauma can also disrupt/injure/break someone's will to live. If something happens to you, like in war, that upsets your entire world view, that can stop the momentum of a person with even a fairly ideal background whose previous motivation was built on a lot of emotional and intellectual influences that have now been overshadowed by the greater impact of their trauma.

Certain behaviors, foremost of them developing/maintaining physical fitness, are essential to maintaining a Vital disposition to life (exercise is one of the few actionable behaviors I've found which correlates to the Vital disposition, which suggests you can improve your Vitality with regular exercise). But if you, in your head (consciously or unconsciously), don't want to be alive, lack a will to live, nothing else really matters. For example, if you are a great driver, as far as capability, but don't voluntarily choose to turn the steering wheel when you need to on a steep mountain road, you will plummet to your death. On a less dramatic level, someone who has less internal will to live won't do, consistently, all the things necessary to maintain a healthy functional life. That's basically what the Depressive personality is for a lot of people, a slow prolonged unpleasant death (often with collateral damage).

Depressives are the people that inspire zombie movies, droning through life, sometimes hungry for life in others and therefore potentially destructive of others, but lacking sufficient authentic life drive inside. Depressives who are also Materialistic and Withholding are the villainous despots of history, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot. They selfishly act out their self destructive death wishes on the whole world. To kill another person (or yourself) is a very easy thing to do if you simply don't value life.

I recently discovered that Depressives self report as being really hard on themselves which is ironic because they also self report as not really putting any effort into things. It would seem that what energy they have is devoted to self nullifying thinking patterns. This makes it particularly important to not be negative with Depressives as they are already too negative, and if you are a Depressive to stop being chronically negative and start putting your energy in actionable behaviors that improve Vitality like exercise and pursuing interests you care about, forming and following plans, and helping others, the world, leaving no mental energy left to be negative, self flagellating.

The historical antecedent to this personality spectrum is Freud's Death instinct. Freud came up with the Death instinct in an attempt to try to explain why trauma victims/survivors (many as a result of WW1) became fixated on self-destructive patterns, specifically they tended to repeat/re-enact their traumatic experiences (unknowingly). He found it connected to another phenomena he noticed in other patients which was a need to repeat past trauma (unhealthy experience) as a contemporary experience instead or remembering that it had actually occurred in the past. I think this repeating of patterns is a function of unhealthy neuropathways that exist due to genetics or unfortunate environment that Depressives by habit adhere to like hikers adhere to a park trail. The solution is to change the pathways/habits and improve energy via exercise so as to embark on, forge, stick to new healthier and more constructive pathways/habits.

Many Depressives are stuck / fixated on unhealthy attachment issues and/or trauma issues (consciously or unconsciously). They don't like most people because all they care about is their destructive course (which often involves re-enacting poor parental relationships), everyone/thing else is invisible / meaningless to them. This is why Depressives can be very inconsiderate (and often not intentionally). Depressives score highly (compared to the average) on wanting to be carried through life which again suggests a need for a replacement parent and/or a broken will. Materialistic Withholding Depressives like Stalin and Hitler managed to coax an entire nation to carry them (although even that wasn't enough, they wanted the whole world to carry them). Some Depressives though, as a result of their genetics, simply are born with a fragile will to live and might not have a particular trauma history. Again, genetics are not destiny, so a Depressive can choose to change their innate behavioral pattern if they want to (realistically, it will just be more difficult for them, and thus, less likely).

Depressives tend to over focus on one or more of the other MOTIVES drives with the notion that if only they are more of something, then they could be happy INSTEAD of focusing on actually living, being more alive.

Materialistic Depressive - focus excessively on being attractive/wealthy/perfect, tends towards narcissism, histrionicism
Offbeat Depressive - focus excessively on unhealthy experiments, paths, tends towards schizotypal behavior
Thinking Depressive - focus excessively on unhealthy plans/routines/systems, tends towards obsessive compulsive behavior
Interpersonal Depressive - focus excessively on serving unhealthy people or serving people in unhealthy ways
Easygoing Depressive - focused excessively on taking it too easy, perma-leisure-mode, i.e. slacker life
Sectarian Depressive - focused excessively on their tribe/nation/culture/race and dislike / hatred of out groups (other cultures, races, etc), i.e. xenophobia

These misperceptions of what will make them happy fuel their repetition of the same dysfunctional patterns. The Depressive thinks they can only be happy if they get that thing that was always missing or became broken and/or replace what their parents can't provide for them anymore (but that they still are dependent on), i.e. a surrogate will to live. Still other Depressives are just resigned to the idea that nothing will ever make them happy, they will never have a sustainable will/reason to live.

The notion of self medication, I think, is all about using external means as a substitute for your own lack of internal motivation, will power. Alcohol (liquid courage) can be a normal occasional fun part of life if you are not a Depressive. But if you are one, then you may not be able to get by without it. Anti-depressants prescribed in unprecedented numbers are nothing more than chemical exercise/motivation (i.e. a means to raise heart rate - source). An individual responded to their test results recently with the following:

Low Vitality score: Little doubt that reflects the fact that I have been diagnosed with depression. I am, however, medicated which ought to have overcome that outcome. Interesting.

As if the solution to happiness is passively ordering it on a menu at the pharmacy. I do think if you are unwilling to exercise, that anti-depressants may be better than the alternative, nothing, which will inevitably lead to more physical/mental deterioration. However, maybe more deterioration would prompt/force the individual to make changes to their behavior and all psychotropic medication does it trap the individual into not getting worse, but not getting better. Further, there's a lot written about serious withdrawal symptoms of anti-depressants which keep patients on them for no other reason than to avoid withdrawal (source). In any case, anything external that you rely on, on a regular basis, that if removed would make you less functional, less motivated, less alive, is an indication of your own fundamental lack of self propulsion. Thus external solutions even when they provide some organic benefit can serve to further weaken a Depressive's already weak internal will to live.

The best solution for the Depressive is to become aware of their unhealthy attachment issues, mindset, and/or trauma history and to give up on the need for an idealized parent/savior/love-interest/external-source-for-motivation, to look to them-self for support/healing. Only then can they begin actively living as a more independent self motivated Vital type (exercising regularly, pursuing a career / authentic interests, etc.) and no longer as a more dependent depressive unhealthy child or victim longing for something that won't sustainably fix their problem, which is that they lack the internal will to live. Only then can they actually have a chance at healthy friendships, romantic relationships, career, life.

Another item that divides Vitals and Depressives strongly is the notion that happiness is something one has control over. Depressives refuse to accept it because they consciously or unconsciously want to be saved by someone/something other than them-self or alternately they think there simply is no hope (which frees them of the responsibility of putting effort into life, i.e. active living). To admit that happiness is something you can have control over undermines their entire emotionally immature psychology, their genetic or learned helplessness. The internal will to live is something that needs to be internally worked for, developed, figured out, as no one is entirely born with it. If the Depressive is otherwise physically healthy, the transition to the Vital orientation won't be so hard. If the Depressive has poor physical health, it will be a longer transition to fix the years of physical neglect, poor habits, but if they move beyond the past unhealthy attachment / dependency issues / trauma fixation there is no reason they can't rebuild themselves in time.

Life is not fair at the start. We are not all created equal. A lot of Vital types merely had/have the fortune of good genes and/or parents which gave them a lot of healthy life momentum/modeling/skills. They may or may not sustain that momentum/modeling/skills, but their lack of unhealthy attachment issues and/or trauma makes it less likely for them to fall into self destructiveness, the grips of the death instinct. Anyone who is Depressive likely had parents who had their own share of problems with likely their own set of Depressive parents and/or trauma, so often there is really no one to blame. Even if there was, it doesn't solve the problem that the Depressive fundamentally lacks sufficient internal will to live. No amount of trauma (short of their own death), can keep someone with sufficient internal will to live permanently down, they will keep picking them-self up no matter what. Ultimately, for the Depressive every problem that occurs in life is a chance for them to choose to keep giving up, being helpless, acting dead, for Vital types it is simply a chance to choose to overcome another hurdle, to be resilient, to act/be alive. (Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, written on scraps of paper in a Nazi concentration camp, is a good read on the topic of the will to live.)

Easygoing vs. Rigid (Calm vs High Strung)

The Easygoing trait is linked to people’s drive to maintain calm, to avoid discord. The Keep Calm and Carry on meme phenomenon was likely because it exemplified this core human drive and thus resonated with lots of people. The Dude from the Big Lebowski is an iconic personification of this trait. People who have 'no chill', the Rigid personality type, are on the other end of this spectrum. The Easygoing trait has far less behaviors associated with it than the other MOTIVES which makes sense since this trait is all about turning things down cognitively and entering, remaining in a more parasympathetic restful state.

This trait has to do with one's capacity and preference in regards to relaxation. Some people are really good at relaxing, really enjoy it, and some people (Rigid types) are horrible at it, don't see the point. While you can certainly over relax, relaxation is an essential part of being a healthy human being as it enables the body to repair itself and it's important to learn to relax as much as you need to (but no more). Rigid types that don't know how to relax are more likely to experience stress related health consequences. Depressive Easygoing types self report spending a lot of time laying around when awake, suggesting you can relax too much. Similarly, Depressive Rigid types self report as never taking it easy.

Sectarian vs. Globalist (Nationalistic/Tribalist vs Cosmopolitan)

This trait has to do with whether you prioritize the welfare of your people/kind/culture or whether you value the welfare of everyone on the planet. In primitive times when humans lived in disconnected tribes it made evolutionary sense to put your tribe above of outsiders. But now as humans live more interconnected with everyone on the planet, and there are far more of us, the benefits and consequences of not working together are more serious. Sectarians tend to be politically or economically conservative, concerned with keeping their country/nation how it is or returning it to how it used to be. They are attracted to strong leaders, tend to prefer authoritarian style government to democracy. They don't believe everyone should have an equal vote likely due to the fact that they don't think people are very equal. They tend to be xenophobic and worry about immigration changing the nature of their country/culture.

Sectarians tend to be practical and weary of anything too complex. They tend to think intellectuals are dangerous. They think their country/culture is best and other countries and cultures are problematic. They favor a world where men (not men and women) run things, i.e. male hegemony. They tend to be very hierarchical and believe those at the top of the hierarchy should not only have special rights, but that they shouldn't have to abide by the same rules/laws the people lower in the hierarchy should. They have a soldier at war mindset making them overly loyal to their leadership and their people and overly weary of outsiders, basically a bias towards the similar and against the disimilar.

Globalists favor a multi-cultural society and tend to be politically liberal. They prefer living in diverse environments, cities. They are skeptical of capitalism, anti-war, and believe women should play a more equal role in society. They are very sympathetic to minorities, the disabled... or anyone that's experienced misfortune especially as a result of systematic oppression. They are more tolerant of others and more likely to endorse the importance of art and philosophy. They favor finding peaceful solutions to international disagreements versus resorting to war and think that coexisting with people of different ideologies is a normal way to live.

Like many MOTIVES traits, a middle preference may be more realistic for many in a world where internationalism is still relatively new as far as human organization and there probably isn't yet enough agreement on core values to sufficiently get along in harmony. In kind, a low preference on this trait seems unrealistic for the aforementioned reasons, and a high preference seems problematic too as that was the norm when the world was stuck in international warfare for half a century and of course the obvious genocidal tendencies that stem from nationalism/ethnocentrism.

Concluding Thoughts

While none of the MOTIVES types individually correlate with Vitality (i.e. scoring highly in Materialistic, Offbeat, Thinking, Interpersonal, Easygoing, or Sectarian, does not indicate whether you will score highly on Vitality, on average), there are enough high scoring Materialistic, Offbeat, Thinking, Interpersonal, Easygoing and Sectarian items I have run across that are associated with Vitality that it would appear developing any or all of those traits can make one healthier (for example the item "I am very popular in mainstream society" correlates with Materialistic and Vitality). On the other hand I've found very few to no low scoring Materialistic, Offbeat, Thinking, Interpersonal, Easygoing or Sectarian items associated with high Vitality, suggesting that an Ascetic, Conventional, Haphazard, Withholding, Rigid, or Globalistic personality orientation tends to be detrimental to one's Vitality and thus maybe should be changed, not reinforced. However, when you group people by personality preference subtypes only Offbeat and Thinking groups show a higher average Vitality score. On most other MOTIVES traits groups scoring in the middle of the each spectrum have higher Vitality (despite the fact that when you look at the average of all individual scores, all six traits are orthogonal to Vitality).

Therefore, I speculate that emulating / modeling / reinforcing Offbeat and Thinking traits more often and moderating Materialistic, Interpersonal, Easygoing, Sectarian traits may improve one's chances of happiness.

Vitality is an essential check against exploring doomed paths/plans (if a new idea/plan does not further one's health/happiness/prosperity/life-enthusiam in the long term, it should be abandoned and something new should be tried), maximizing Offbeatness is a check against progressing too slowly, maximizing Planning is a check against disorder, being semi-Interpersonal is a check against being too selfless or too unhelpful. Being semi-Materialistic you avoid being too out of touch, unattractive to the world or too fake, inauthentic, pandering.

Below is a list of personality items which correlate with the XOTXVXX personality orientation (many of which are actualizable)...

I exercise every day.
I am driven by my life path.
I am driven by my life interests.
I am preoccupied with challenging myself.
I refuse to let the fear of failure inhibit my trying.
My life's work makes me happy.
I am making great progress on my life plan.
I accomplish a lot of work.
I am self disciplined and intrinsically motivated.
I have a life purpose.
I tend to select the life path that offers the most learning opportunity.
I develop life plans.
I do everything I can to better myself.
I am determined.
I'm constantly evolving.
I am very focused.
I am very goal oriented.
There is nothing better in life than making a new discovery.
It is more fun to tackle a complicated problem than to solve a simple one.
More than anything I just want to be who I am.
There is really no such thing as a problem that can't be solved.
I am open to new things.
I know exactly what my long term goals are.
I know how to keep myself healthy.
I have a strong desire to pursue whatever benefit my life interests.
I walk a lot.
I am independent.
Exercise is everything.
The best solution to unhappiness is exercise.
I pursue my interests with everything I have.
Every day I work harder on myself than anything else.

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MOTIVES drive descriptions can be found here - http://similarminds.com/motiv/materialist.html

MOTIVES personality tests

normal version - http://similarminds.com/motiv.html
hybrid version - http://similarminds.com/motiv1.html

In any case, understanding the system and determining your own current type introspectively and/or with those that know you well may be more accurate than any test can be.

Reading List

Here are some books which relate, elaborate on the six MOTIVES traits. While I don't agree with everything in these books, they give a more robust overview of what each MOTIVES trait is all about.

Materialistic - Survival of the Prettiest, The Wisdom of Crowds
Offbeat - The Roadless Traveled
Thinking - The Power of Habit
Interpersonal - Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World
Vital - Man's Search for Meaning, The Power of Positive Thinking, Spark ? The Revolutionary Science of Exercise and the Brain
Easygoing - Relaxation Revolution: The Science and Genetics of Mind Body Healing


Comprehensive Google doc on the MOTIVES personality system.

MOTIVES items with full type notation and factor scores (xxtxves 230 169 520 190 means the Thinking trait had a factor score of 230, Vitality had a factor score of 169, Easygoing had a factor score of 520, and Sectarian had a factor score of 190, each x means that the factor score was below 150 for that respective MOTIVES trait, i.e. not significant)


I often lecture my friends. moxxxxx 220 280

You should always challenge others. moxxxx 310 390

Someone not liking me does not affect my consideration of them. soxxxex 220 240 200

I lie a lot. moxwdxx 290 360 290 380

I tend to think out loud. moxixxx 190 290 170

I enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people. aotxdex 150 200 320 360 280

I live life as it is rather than trying to change the world. xxxxxes 350 290

I enjoy talking to strangers. moxivxx 270 320 230 440

I value cooperation over competition. xxtixex 170 460 290

I would describe my personality as reserved. xxtxdex 400 300 470

I would describe my personality as restrained. xxtxdex 350 390 390 

I have a good word for everyone. xxxivex 520 290 260

I am a vegetarian. xoxxxxg 220 170

I am sexually attracted to members of my gender. xoxxdxg 210 370 150

I will always have a passport. motxvxx 200 320 210 160

I would never cheat on my taxes. xxtivxx 240 350 150

I think marijuana should be legal. xoxxdex 300 160 250 

I want to make my country proud. xxtivxs 160 320 240 280

I am a slave to curiousity. xoxxxex 490 210 

It is very important to be able to put words to feelings. moxixxx 270 170 400

I feel like I constantly have to prove my worth. moxidxx 340 160 260 340

I will always have a smartwatch.  motxxxx 180 160 240

I will always have an automobile.  mxtivxs 210 250 150 240 190

I exercise every day. motxvxx 180 230 250 290 

I tend to feel hostility towards people who are different. mxxxxxs 200 540

I tend to perceive people who are different as a threat. mxxxdxs 180 189 540

Might makes right. moxxxxs 230 240 360 

I have a fitness wearable. motxvxs 200 200 200 220 190 

I will always have a fitness wearable. motxvxs 220 220 190 230 230

I will always wear a watch. xxtxxxs 240 190

I am always trying to figure out how I fit in this world. moxidxx 200 260 230 400

I am very aware that there are long term consequences to my daily choices. xotixex 240 380 260 180

Prayer should be required in school. xxxivxs 260 230 360

I will always have a cell phone. mxtixex 360 220 180 190

I have a smartwatch. mxtxxxx 170 190 

There is nothing better in life than making a new discovery. xotxvex 530 210 150 190 

If I can get away without paying the fare on a subway, bus, etc. I'll do it. moxwxex 210 260 150 180 

I trust experts. mxtixex 280 240 260 210 

I'm more likely to prefer a doctor with eight years experience to one with four years experience. mxtxxxs 190 190 270

I behave in traditional ways. xctivxs 160 390 310 270

The most important thing about a person is their taste. moxxxes 330 230 190 200

The ends justify the means. moxxxxs 200 270 400

I operate more on instinct than planning. mohxxex 150 390 350 240 

The strong must overcome the weak. moxxxxs 200 220 510

In the long run it is possible to get more done by tackling small, simple problems rather than large and complicated ones. xxtixes 200 210 210 160

At my worst, I can be a bully. moxxdxs 200 230 250 250 

If you want to win, there is no room for mercy. moxwxxs 180 290 170 550

I'm a big fan of studying people who have been successful. motivxs 300 340 230 170 150 160

I like to get as much from others while giving as little as back as possible. moxwdxs 270 150 280 190 310

Everything I do has a practical purpose. xotivxs 240 450 150 200 290

If lots of people like something, I usually will too. mcxixxx 290 150 320 

I seldom toot my own horn. xotixex 150 210 180 280

I hate to seem pushy. xxxixex 410 380

I like people being jealous of me. mxxwdxx 580 210 180

I like to get as much reward from the world as possible while giving as little as possible back. mxxwdxs 350 360 220 200

I would like people like me to be the majority in any community I reside in. mxxxxxs 310 280

I am attracted to introversion. xotxdex 200 230 340 260

I can be a bully. moxwdxs 320 160 240 180 230

Human activity is causing climate change. moxxdeg 160 360 190 170 170

People who insist upon a yes or no answer just don't know how complicated things really are. xoxides 250 150 210 190 160

Teachers and supervisors who hand out vague assignments give one a chance to show initiative and originality. xoxixxx 430 160

Emotions can't be allowed to interfere with what is right. xotxxes 260 210 170 160

People look up to me. motivxx 210 340 260 210 380 

Often the most interesting and stimulating people are those who don't mind being different and original. xoxixex 540 170 270

It is more fun to tackle a complicated problem than to solve a simple one. xotxvex 540 160 170

People who fit their lives to a schedule probably miss most of the joy of living. xohxxes 350 350 210 240

I believe that others have good intentions. xxxivex 450 380 220  

I hesitate to criticize other people's ideas. xxxixex 460 300

I just want everyone to be equal. xxxixeg 460 210 260

I phrase things diplomatically. xotixex 230 200 270 280

I hate seeing a signifigant other happy when I'm not the cause of that happiness. mxxxdxs 280 290 210 

I generally prefer to work through ideas by thinking about them first, before expressing them out loud.  xotxxex 180 410 350

More than anything I just want to be who I am. xotxvex 410 200 180 320

I prefer to be with people who are quiet. aotxdex 150 180 320 300 280 

I hold back my opinions. xxtidex 180 180 240 350 

An external negative comment about me has more effect on me than an internal negative thought.  mxxidxx 350 210 200 

What I internally think is desirable, matters more, than what most people think is desirable. xotxxes 440 200 200 180

The more off/insecure I feel the more arrogant I become with others. moxxdxs 250 210 280 210  

Some causes are worth killing for. xoxxxxs 340 350 

I am obedient. xxtixex 430 450 200 

I love order and regularity. xxtixxs 180 670 180 

I get jealous of other people's friendships. mxxidxx 370 160 440

I think some people are just better than others. mxxxdxs 320 170 410

Sometimes I have a hard time taking my eyes off of an attractive person. moxxxex 430 170 180

I ask why things really happened. motidex 160 330 280 160 160 170

I have a very wide circle of friends. moxivxx 240 230 250 400 

I respect my elders and those in authority. xxtives 350 510 200 190 150

I've always been a polarizing figure. moxxxxs 240 410 170

My trust gets broken a lot. moxidxx 200 250 180 450 

Sometimes you have to force people to do the right thing. motxxxs 240 280 190 320 

Some of my relationships are more about me getting/needing attention than me caring about the other person.  mxxwdhs 430 220 170 170 260

I exercise every day. xotxvx 172 201 215

I would describe myself as detached. xoxxdes 200 500 200 230 

I wait for others to lead the way. xcxidex 280 240 390 230 

I live for pleasant situations. mxxixex 390 210 370

I'm always trying to find pleasant situations. mxtixex 310 150 240 420 

I seek out potentially rewarding situations. motxxxx 460 250 230

I often need to be alone to recharge my batteries after vigorous social interactions. xxtxdex 310 410 300

It is important to date around. moxxxxx 340 220

I read the fine print. xotxdxx 200 420 160 

I lose my patience when I get tired. mxxxdxs 210 270 170 

I don't like people who dress messy. mxtxxxs 390 280 310 

I always remember when someone compliments me. motixex 370 150 230 310 170

I like to do nice things for people even if I get no credit. xotixex 220 230 670 230 

I prefer to make friends with people exactly like me. mxxxdxs 180 260 210 

I hate it when people want to make changes for no reason. xxtxdxs 250 400 250

I love order and regularity. xxtidxx 660 170 170

I do not like small talk. xotxdxx 220 200 420 

I don't ever litter. xotixxx 150 420 190 

I avoid mistakes. mxtxdxx 160 480 260

I prefer to participate fully rather than view life from the sidelines. moxxvxx 260 460 470

I rarely spend time alone. mxxivxx 300 350 380

I am emotionally reserved. xxtxdex 250 460 220

I have a strong need for power. moxwxxs 430 320 250 240

I joke around a lot. moxixex 280 420 220 200

I laugh aloud. moxivxx 270 360 280 330 

I would describe my personality as reserved and restrained. xxtxdes 360 310 380 170 

I willing to try anything once. moxixex 160 580 160 160

I seek adventure. moxxvxx 210 660 190

I'm better at paying attention to details than seeing the big picture. mxtxdxs 150 240 170 170

It's unwise to call attention to yourself with fancy dress. axtxdes 150 210 160 220 250 

It is sometimes necessary to do some bad to achieve a greater good. moxwxxs 210 390 180 250 

I find humour in everything. moxivex 180 450 170 180 300

I love large parties. mohivxx 440 310 160 170 390

I make lots of noise. mohivxx 370 290 240 170 170

I want strangers to love me. moxidxx 580 170 160 170

I enjoy being part of a loud crowd. mohivxx 420 310 170 220 340

I always prefer being with others to spending time alone. mxxivxx 470 380 390

I prefer to be with people who are quiet rather than exciting. axtxdxx 

I like doing exciting things with people more than just talking quietly. moxxvxx 490 300 350 

I am sensitive to rewards in my environment.  mxtixxx 390 220 160

I reveal little about myself. xxxxdes 200 320 150

I put people under pressure. moxxxrs 380 340 280 190 

I run to get where I am going faster. motxxxx 300 340 150 

I like to call people by their last names. moxxxxs 170 240 190 

I am always on the look out for ways to make money. motxxxx 410 290 160

I boast about my virtues. moxxxxx 470 270

I like to surround myself with things that are familiar to me. mxtides 150 360 300 190 270 350

I would like to live in a foreign country for a while moxxxex 190 540 220

A good teacher is one who makes you wonder about your way of looking at things. xotixex 520 220 230 250

If given a choice, I will usually visit a foreign country rather than vacation at home. moxxvex 230 470 190 180

The sooner we all acquire similar values and ideals the better. mxtxxxs 260 150 370

I avoid settings where people don't share my values. mxtxdxs 200 210 240 290

I can be comfortable with nearly all kinds of people. xoxivex 360 240 450 250

External validation means a lot to me. mxxixxx 630 290 

I can enjoy being with people whose values are very different from mine. xoxivex 400 270 340 190 

What we are used to is always preferable to what is unfamiliar. xctixxs 250 320 250 360

A good job is one where what is to be done and how it is to be done are always clear. mxtxxxs 200 390 360 

A person who leads an even, regular life in which few surprises or unexpected happenings arise really has a lot to be grateful for. xxtixxs 300 310 280

An expert who doesn't come up with a definite answer probably doesn't know much mxtixxs 220 160 410

I like parties where I know most of the people more than ones where all or most of the people are complete strangers. xxtixex 250 190 230 

Many of our most important decisions are based upon insufficient information. xoxxdex 320 160 170

There is really no such thing as a problem that can't be solved. xotxves 400 160 360 150 190 

I call people out when they tell fake or exaggerated stories. moxxxxx 230 370

I often prefer doing things alone or with one or two people I feel comfortable with. xotxdex 290 330 280 220

I am very ambitious. motxvxx 170 460 260 200 

You have to help yourself before you can help others. motwvex 180 260 250 190 220 170

I would like my people to be the majority in any community I reside in. mxxxxxs 310 500

I speed up to avoid being passed. moxxxxs 460 250 220

I demand the recognition I deserve. moxxxxs 540 260 150 

I have a strong need for power. moxxxxs 610 360 170

My relationships tend to define me. mxxixxx 360 380 

I don't really care if I get public credit for my accomplishments.  axtixex 290 170 230 280

I try to outdo others. motxxxx 570 340 170

I am a rage-aholic. moxxdrs 240 480 190 220 210

I dislike open plan offices (i.e. no work space privacy).  xoxxdxs 150 210 170 

I take pleasure in solitary activities xotxdex 190 240 250 310

I prefer to communicate by talking. moxivxx 200 260 200 500

If people annoy me I do not hesitate to tell them so. xoxxxxs 550 250 

I prefer to communicate in writing. xxtxdex 200 370 220 

Facts are more important than feelings. xxtwxes 390 470 340 170

I need to prove how great I am to others. moxxdxx 630 200 160

Being around other people is boring. xoxwdxx 150 240 430

I am an extraordinary person; modesty doesn't become me. moxxxxx 390 450

I tend to be jealous in relationships. mxxxdxs 370 380 180

Sometimes I get so angry I break or smash things. moxxdxx 160 200 450

I tend to freak out when I feel abandoned. mxxidxx 400 350 270

I indulge in random dangerously self-destructive behaviour. mohxdxx 200 230 270 510

There is no one I know whose death would make me sad. xoxwdxs  150 230 370 160

I have almost no internal reaction to most stimuli unless it interests me. xoxxdes 180 430 230 290 

Right and wrong mean nothing to me. xoxwdxx 390 210 390 

I am preoccupied with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency. mxtxxxs 180 510 190

I have no moral reservations with doing whatever is necessary to get what I want.  moxwdxs 170 370 230 420 190

I experience instability in my relationships, self-image, and emotions. moxxdxx 250 160 600

Deep down, I'm a selfish jerk. mxxwdxx 220 210 530

While I tend to be inconsiderate of the needs/feelings of others, I am an amazing unique person with an overwhelming need for admiration. moxwdxs 440 230 160 200 180

While I am inconsiderate of the needs/feelings of others, I am an amazing unique person with an overwhelming need for admiration. moxwdxs 320 200 200 160 300

People have the right to get whatever they want, if they have the guts to do anything to get what they want. moxxxes 200 300 180 340

Jungle law rules the world. xoxxdxs 270 150 330 

When I hurt someone I don't tend to care. xoxwdxs 310 460 290 280

I tend to believe that other people’s motives are suspect or even malevolent. xoxxdxs 210 470 300

I need to be taken care of and fear being abandoned or separated from the people that take care of me. mxxidxx 340 250 450

I am an attention seeker with extreme emotionality. moxidxx 490 210 190 320

Losers deserve to lose. motwxxs 230 180 160 210 430

I am coldhearted. xoxwdxs 360 380 350 340 

I'm capable of sympathy, but empathy is beyond me and I don't see any use for it. xotwdxs 260 170 270 230 420 

Most people are very boring to me. xoxwdxs 330 250 380 290

Good music makes me feel more connected to my self. moxixex 150 360 360 220 

Good music makes me feel more connected to others. moxixex 190 320 440 190

I believe that other people's motives are suspect or even malevolent. xoxxdxs 240 420 320 

I enjoy frustrating others and making them feel powerless. moxwdxs 160 300 400 370 330 

My friends have strong personalities and strong opinions. xotixex  320 200 310 170

I have little interest in social relationships, I prefer a more solitary existence. aotwdes 240 180 310 210 500 220 260 

I don't see the appeal of social relationships, I prefer a more solitary existence.  aotwdes  230 190 300 260 500 190 250 

I disregard other people’s rights, often crossing the line and violating those rights. moxwxxs 170 230 250 390

I experience strong, sometimes overwhelming desire for instant gratification. mxxidxx 480 300 170

I really do not care for other people at all. xxxwdxs 360 560 190

I can see why what someone else is going through might be unpleasant, but there's never been a reason for me to try to pretend to put myself in someone else's shoes. xxxwdes 290 330 150 300

I only invest my time in things I care about. motxdes  210 250 160 240 190 150

It takes a lot of willpower for me to really focus in on other people. xoxwdxs 280 350 220 270

I'm convinced there is a conspiracy behind many things that happen in the world. moxxdxs 180 250 380 200

I behave in extravagant ways in order to attract attention. mohxdxx 480 280 170 180 

I can create an image of being an extremely charming, exciting and eccentric romantic partner. moxxxxx 420 340 

I argue or fight when people try to stop me from doing what I want. moxxdxx 280 390 320

I don't believe most people are fair and honest with me. xoxxdxs 190 590 170

It's very important to me to stand out, and have my achievements recognized. moxxxxx 640 300

I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve. motxdxs 450 280 160 260 160

I tend to sacrifice future gain/reward for present enjoyment. mohxdex 270 190 230 240 280 

I'm more energized by internal things than external things. aotxxxx 200 420 260  

Experience speaks to me louder than words. motixxx 230 230 360 180

I prefer to get things decided, locked in, over staying perpetually open to new information, options, what-ifs. mxtxxxs 260 500 210 

I believe telling the truth is more important than being tactful. aotxvxs 150 360 250 190 260

I tend to make decisions based on logic and facts. xotxxes  260 680 180 220 

I create drama in order to get attention. moxxdrx 560 180 170 220 

I associate loving someone with being addicted to them. moxxdxx 310 250 240

I believe being tactful is more important than telling the 'cold' truth. xcxxxxg 270 220 

When dealing with information, I prefer to interpret and add meaning to it versus just taking the information for what it appears to be.  xotxxxx 410 230

My interest and focus is more inward, towards myself, than outward, towards the outside world. xotwdex 460 280 210 250 220 

My interest and focus is more outward, towards the outside world, than inward, towards myself. xcxivxs 150 370 310 290

I'm more aware of what's going on in the outside world than what's going on in my head. xcxivxs 170 220 180 340 

I'm more aware of what's going on in my head than what's going on in the outside world. xotxdex 520 310 200 210

Every day I work harder on myself than anything else. xotxxxx 370 310  

I prefer to spend time in my inner world of ideas and images than in the outer world of people and things. xotxdex 390 170 370 210 

I sometimes jump too quickly into an activity and don't allow enough time to think it over. moxixxx 330 290 230 

I prefer to focus on the outer world than my own inner world.  mxxivxx 230 230 340 

I hate lying. xxtixxx 280 270

I'm excited when I'm around people and I like to energize other people.  mxxivxx 450 230 440 

I cannot try something until I understand it. xxtxwes 330 190 200 180 

I cannot understand something until I've tried it. moxixxs 160 170 250 170

I am observant at the expense of imagination. xxtxxes 190 260 310

I tend to pay more attention to my thoughts than my feelings. xotxxes 320 500 170 200 

I tend to analyze things objectively and critically. xotxxxs 310 580 260

I tend to value competence more than compassion. xotwxxs 280 470 280 280 

I avoid conflict at all costs.  xxtixex 210 350 300 

Sometimes I like the idea of something better than the real thing. motxdxx 240 390 230 20

Ideas are almost solid things for me. xotxxex 450 330 190  

I believe that God has a plan for me. xxxivxx 360 300 

I put more weight on personal concerns and the people involved than on objective principles and impersonal facts.  mxxixxx 230 480

I'm always looking to make things better, as I think nothing is ever quite good enough. xotxxxx 450 290

I desire to reform and improve. xotxxxx 300 450 

I need to understand the world. xotidxx 420 380 210 180

I need to succeed. motxxxx 350 240 400 

I take advantage of others. moxwdxx 270 420 450 270

I am manipulative.  moxwdxx 300 480 310 260 

I am unique. motxxex 210 470 220 220

I am skeptical. xotxdxs 350 350 380 180

I am at peace. xotivex 240 200 179 590 370

I am open to new things. xotxvex 590 150 210 310 

I get into very intense relationships that don't last. moxxdxx 240 200 330

I go to extremes to try to keep people from leaving me. mxxidxx 310 270 380

I haven't had close relationships that have lasted a long time. xoxwdxs 180 160 390 220

In general, I do not trust other people. xoxwdxs 300 190 420 190

In general, I have difficulty making and keeping friends. xoxxdxx 180 550

I will lie to or con someone if it serves my purpose. moxwdxx 280 440 400 350 

I will lie to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations. moxwdxx 290 390 340 360 

I prefer to focus on my own inner world than the outer world. xotxdex 260 250 250 190

I try everything to make sure I know what is best. xotxxxx 410 270

I lack empathy for the needs and feelings of others. xoxwdxs 330 510 290 200 

I am a thrill seeker. moxxxxx 290 510 

I must be strong. motxxxs 220 380 260 160

I don't usually feel bad when I hurt or mistreat someone. xoxwdxx 350 500 250 

I lose my temper easily. moxxwrx 190 360 340 240 

I am impulsive. mohxxxx 200 550 150 

I'm enthusiastic about almost everything that catches my attention. moxivex 190 430 190 210 200

I get anxious when I don't get enough stimuli from the outside world. moxixxx 330 250 160 

I'm always mapping and planning my next great adventure. motxvxx 190 430 240 310 

I strive to make order out of the omnipresent chaos. xotxxx 220 470

I tend to be more practical than abstract. xctivxs 200 430 200 190 310 

I tend to be more comfortable with the known than the unknown. mxtixxs 190 350 210 210

I tend to be more down-to-earth than head-in-the-clouds. xctivxs 160 390 230 230 280 

I tend to be more realistic than conceptual. xctixxs 170 430 220 340 

I know exactly what my long term goals are. xotxvxs 250 470 270 200

I prefer living in a big city. moxxxxg 470 250 190

I only need enough money for room and board. aoxxdxx 420 220 240

I don't want to stand out. acxxdxx 290 230 470 

I would rather have a more flexible and adaptable lifestyle than a more structured and decided lifestyle. xohxxex 420 200 260 

I would enjoy working in marketing. moxxvxx 230 420 270

I'm learning driven. xotxxxx 290 330 

I am right where I need to be. xxtxvxx 220 440

Every one of us has greatness. xoxivxx 240 400 350

I am more dominant than submissive. xotwvrs 500 170 220 190 230 170 

I am aggressive. xoxwdrs 390 180 160 300 220 

I am a domineering person. moxwxrs 160 440 190 250 180 

I am assertive. xotxvrx 460 190 260 200

I value sentiment above logic. moxixxx 200 200 530 

I value logic above sentiment. xxtwxes 300 300 210 310 

I prefer to keep things open than have matters settled. xoxxxex 330 320 

I prefer to have matters settled than keep them open. xxtivxs 430 200 160 200 

I'm more interested in things than human relationships. xotwdxs 190 190 330 240 330 

I'm more interested in human relationships than things. mxxivxx 220 540 260 

I think rules and regulations are necessary. mxtixes 170 510 270 190 220  

I have a strong immediate reaction against anything that threatens to harm my security in any way. xxtxxxs 330 230 

Fun is the most important thing in life. moxxxex 250 260 340

Making sure I'm constantly in an enjoyable state of mind is extraordinarily important to me.  moxxvex 270 250 170 350

I think if it's not exhilarating, I would rather not do it. moxxxxx 200 420 

I prefer to keep things open and flexible. moxixex 200 370 220 440 

I am somewhat disorganized. mohxdex 190 200 410 290 420

It's important to keep a detailed record of one's experiments. xotxxxx 220 460 

I tend to be spontaneous.  moxxxex 250 520 270  

Making money is more important than changing the world. mxtwxxs  330 220 150 280

I frequently do things without a specific schedule or plan. mohxxex 180 370 330 400

I often start/do things at the last minute. mohxdex 270 210 340 230 460 

I am far more casual than orderly. xohxxex 260 200 580 

I pursue new, intense experiences in the hopes of finding that next rush. moxxxxx 250 640

I constantly seek new and exciting experiences. moxxvex 210 650 190 190 

I tend to err on the side of security even if it means playing it too safe. xctxdxx 350 450 230 

I'm always trying to be healthier than I am.  xotxxxx 280 380

I know how to keep myself healthy. xotxvxx 180 270 340

I want to blend in and not be noticed. acxxdxx 250 180 560

I always put myself first. moxwxxx 280 220 590

I have a strong desire to pursue atever benefitmy life interests. xotxvxx 250 380 280

I'm the person least likely to be forgotten.  moxxvxx 250 320 210

My primary motivation is whs the world. xoxixxx 240 500

The most important thing to me is what I like. moxwdxx 223 221 380 163

My internal interests are the most important thing to me. xotwdxx 214 162  401  160

I enjoy deceiving people. moxwdxx 265 285 301 267

I want to be successful. mxtxxxx 390 220

I never exercise. xchxdxx 210 230 380 

I am very social. moxivxx 360 170 260 480 

Without a new challenge I feel off. xotxxx 620 280

I walk a lot. xotxvxx 310 230 170

I am hands-on. xotixxx 280 260 260

I am intellectual. xotwxxx 470 410 170

I am analytical. xotwdxx 360 450 200 200 

I am scientific. xotxdxx 350 340 160 

I am a thinker. xotxdxx 370 330 210

I am independent xotxvxx 370 330 190 

I am chaotic xohxwxx 300 360 390

I am tool-oriented. xotxxxs 280 320 200

I like to minimize the amount of attention I get. actxdex 430 190 200 290 240

I am machine-oriented. xotxxxs 240 270 210 

My humorous outlook on life keeps me from getting overly upset or depressed about things. xoxxvex 280 230 330

I analyze. xotxxxx 250 340

Exercise is everything. xotxvxx 200 370 200

Polyamory (open romantic relationships) appeals to me. moxxxx 200 260

I would prefer a job with lots of social interaction. moxivxx 240 240 290 420

I don't care whether I'm considered special. sxxixxx 500 230

I have highly developed personal interests. xotxxxx 369 214 

I have highly developed personal taste. motxxxx 196 324 207

I believe in letting people be who they are even if that means they become someone I don't like. xoxxxeg 180 220 230

I have a purpose in life. xotivxx     241 229 183 593 

The best solution to unhappiness is exercise. xotxvxx 154 231 203 

I love to win people over romantically that may not be interested at first. moxxxxx 390 340

I like being really physically sore. moxxxxx 197 239 

The most important quality in a romantic partner is how attractive they are to me. mxxxxxs 430 210 

The most important quality in a romantic partner is how attractive they find me. mxxxxxs 480 240 

I pursue my interests with everything I have. xotxvxx 449 207 247

I have a romantic preference for people that look like me. mxtxxxs 236 172 240

I'm very interested in the values and customs of other cultures. xxxixxg 372 301

I respect the values and customs of other cultures. xxtixxg 169 332 432

I am not compelled to be patriotic. xoxwdxg 166 201 217 377

I am compelled to be patriotic. xxxivxs 298 257 390

I learn better by just jumping into a new situation versus doing a lot of preplanning/preparing. xohxxxx 390 320

I have little respect for the values and customs of other cultures. xxxwdxs 284 204 567

I have a lot of pride in my country. xxxivxs 198 309 402

I have a lot of pride in my culture. xxxivxs 234 406 337

I admire soldiers' sacrifices for my country. xxxivxs 393 294 196

I always prefer to go to public events with my crew rather than alone. mxxixxx 219 192

I'm not violent but if someone hurts my family I would be. xoxxxxs 172 176

People in my culture could learn a lot from people in other cultures. xoxixxxg 149 184 332

Lifestyles in other cultures are just as valid as those in my culture. xxxixxg 213 493

Loyalty is everything to me.  xxtixxx 168 321 

Minorities are minorities for a reason. xoxwdxs 155 174 182 483

My religious faith is important to me. xxtivxs 216 272 229 250

An insult to our honor should always be punished. moxxdxs 188 191 153 386 

I think my culture is great. mxxxvxs 193 385 400 

I prefer team sports to individual sports. xxxivxx 203 246

I like being part of a culture.  mcxivxs 280 182 264 310 205 

My culture is important to me. mcxivxs 180 212 240 384 377

I dislike political correctness. moxxxxs 149 174 346

I dislike people preoccupied with social justice.  xxxwxxs 169 468

I'm more likely to marry someone that shares my culture.  xxtxxxs 170 460

People are too sensitive these days. xoxwxxs 198 187 385

I tend to pursue pleasurable things without considering whether they actually are good for me. mohxdxx 248 272 222 382 

I don't like to follow the rules. xohwdxx 441 350 167 224

Nothing is more important than family honor. xxtivxs 213 321 182 298 

I value my country's cultural norms. xxtivxs 148 175 203 467

There is nothing worse than being a traitor to your country. xxtivxs 182 228 189 552

I'm not a fan of special protections for minority groups. xxxwxxs 197 593

I prefer clarity and unity to ambiguity and difference. xxtxxxs 274 242

In children, good manners are more important than curiosity. xxtixxs 216 202 415

In children, respect for elders is more important than independence. xxtixxs  203 262 496

I believe in law and order. xctivxs 216 345 154 364 2.43

Relationships are secondary to my life's work. xoxwxxx 165 220  

I strongly support the police. xctivxs 186 224 191 229 419  

I self promote. moxxvxx 393 320 207

Patriotism is essential to the development of local culture. xxxivxs 171 179 567

I'm prone to addiction. moxxdxx 196 160 370

I am unhappy when not in a romantic relationship. mxxidxx 346 215 187

I need something I'm fighting for. motixxxx 167 308 157 148

I'm aimless. xxhxdxx 277 580

It is very difficult for me to sit still. xoxxdrx 216 175 145

If people would talk less and work more, everybody would be better off. xxtxxxs 253 365 

Every day I work harder on myself than anything else. xotxvxx 277 264 155

I love the uncertainty of what will happen. xohxvex 480 190 149 199 

Life problems are a good thing. xoxxvex 372 299 165 

My country's flag is sacred.  xxxivxs 250 250 453

Pornography is wrong. axxivxx 160 192 171

Having a family is the most important thing to me.  xxxivxs 327 335 145 

I have a pretty face. moxxvxx 361 176 415

Adulthood is the best time of life. xxtxvxx  182 370

I have a strong need for power. moxwxxx 441 383 201 

I manipulate others to accomplish my objectives. moxwdxx 352 292 305 215

I enjoy conflict. 179 339 234 213 moxwdxx 

I am open about myself to others. xxxivxx 320 400 

The flag of any country is sacred. xxxivxs 285 176 350

Public shame can drive a lot behavior. mxxxxxs 245 185

Avoiding punishment is central to how I act. mxxxdxs 289 258 145

I tend to ignore the faults of people I admire. mxxidxx 233 215 211

I tend to ignore the virtues of people I dislike. mxxwdxs 224 149 305 149

I avoid losses at all costs. mxtxdxx 300 157 231 

I too easily follow orders. xcxidxs 266 374 160 165

I would like to be the leader of a great tribe. moxxvxx 245 338 161

It makes sense to be more cooperative with those who share your culture than those that don't. mxxxxxs 187 380

It disturbs me the types of people that have children. xxxxdxs 219 172

Minor forms of military training, obedience, and discipline, such as drill, marching and simple commands, should be made a part of the elementary school educational program. xxtxxxs 204 407

One main difficulty with allowing the entire population to participate fully in government affairs (voting, jobs, etc.) is that such a large percentage is innately deficient and incapable. mxxwdxs 157 223 180 408   

A large-scale system of sterilization would be one good way of breeding out criminals and other undesirable elements in our society and so raise the general standards and living conditions.  xxxwxxs 182 482 

When I travel, I like to do what tourists do. mxxixxx 197 257 1.64 

When I travel, I like to do what the locals do. xoxivxg 227 169 149 150  

A good system is better than good instincts. xxtxxxs 330 181 

I have many friends from other cultures. xoxivxg 329 248 190 157

Patriotism and loyalty are the first and most important requirements of a good citizen. xxxixxs 230 566 

I see people who are similar to me as virtuous. moxxxxs 187 187 202 

I can be vindictive. moxxdxs 276 171 374 183 

Might makes right.  moxxxxs 180 175 380 

I trust the government. xxtivxx 164 188 264 

Trust in government is important. xxxivxx 240 172  

I am romantically attracted to members of my own gender. xxxxdxg 311 177   

I do not cooperate with people who are different. xxxwxxs 211 439

I believe in 'survival of the fittest' more than 'we are all in this together'. xoxwdxs 185 335 170 389

Patriotism is the most important requirement of a good citizen. xxxivxs 199 242 505

Diversity is overrated. xxxwxxs 225 573 

Everyone should be willing to fight for their country. xxtixxs 152 211 484

My country should be willing to accept the cultures of immigrants. xxxixxg 241 672 

Individual rights and liberties are more important than community life. xoxwxxx 167 217

I am more concerned with physical comforts or the acquisition of wealth and material possessions, than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values. mxxwdxs 314 234 215 198

I have a genuine desire to unite people. xoxivxg 163 505 194 214 

It is important to protect cultural diversity. xxxixxg 287 481 

I love travelling to foreign countries. moxivxg 146 242 156 171 171 

Taxes should be far lower. xoxxdxs 166 157 282 

My country is extremely important to me. xxtivxs 237 242 246 242  

Having a biased emotional allegiance to one's favored political party is normal. mxxxxxs 153 169

I think I am a superior role model. motxvex 196 202 209 280 145  

I am gifted at making people laugh. moxixex 185 185 142 179

I'm a big sports fan. xxxxxes 166 147

My culture is extremely important to me. xxxivxs 164 243 146

There is nothing more important to a functioning society than justice for everyone. xxxixxg 201 202

There is nothing more important to a functioning society than freedom for everyone. xxxixxg 156 209

I frequently assess other people's emotional states by watching their behavior. mxxixxx 165 211

It is very important for me to maintain my preferred internal feeling state(s). mxtxxex 143 170 158

I drink alcohol or smoke. mxxxxxx 175

I am thin moxxxxx 214 161

I rarely depend on anyone else to get things done. xotxxxx 164 221 

I readily admit when I'm wrong. axxxvex 183 141 181

I remain calm under pressure. xotxvex 280 157 296 332

I enjoy exercising. xotxvxx 226 185 267 

Not contributing to your country makes you a bad citizen. xxxivxs 242 179 237 

I prefer clear lines of social authority. mxtixxs 213 244 153 390  

Strict social norms can be a good thing. xxtxxxs 171 426  

The powerful will always rule the weak. mxxxdxs 224 162 439 

It is best to be on the side of the powerful. mxxwxxs 395 211 410  

Force is the best way to deal with conflict. moxwdxs 219 226 226 160 459  

There are two types of people, predators and prey. xoxxdxs  227 261 428  

I'm more likely to want those I disagree with punished than to try to understand them. mxxwdxs 192 238 292 332  

I am more interested in intellectual pursuits than anything else. xotxxxx 337 273

I tend to err on the side of security even if it means playing it too safe or alternately confronting danger. xctidxx 319 154 254 259 

I believe all cultures can coexist peacefully with each other. xxxixxg 203 520  

I am constantly moving toward that sense of intense stimulation in my relationships. moxxxxx 317 253 

Raising children is essential to my happiness. xxxivxx 326 190  

When I did something wrong growing up I was punished physically. xoxxxex 166 183  

If you want wealth, you take it. moxwxex 298 284 249 196

I find analytical living rewarding. xotxxxx 252 379

Fun is the most important thing in life. mohxxex 236 150 172 283 

I see other people's success as my failure. mxxxdxx 285 537  

I defend my countrymen and my history because that's how nations survive. xotxxxs 181 179 541  

If an alien race came to earth tomorrow and was superior based on the values I hold dear, I would adopt their culture. xoxxdxx  143 220 

Rules are important. xctixxs 372 494 189 207 

Rule of law is important. xctixxs 350 413 162 265 

I think we may be heading for a race war.  xoxxdxs 269 316 306 

I think we may be heading for a culture war.  xoxxdxs 310 337 354 

I think we may be heading for a class war.  xoxxdxx  315 312 

I am very traditional. xctixxs 180 305 218 345  

People are responsible for one another. xxxixxg 330 250 

I am very nostalgic. xxxidxx 193 211

I'm a company man/woman. mxtivxx 240 220 181 179

I've bullied people. moxwdxs 187 150 249 185 162 

Justice is more important than humility. xxxwxxs 144 205  

War is beautiful. xoxwdxs 249 177 201 247 

The normal have exactly zero responsibility to bend reality to cater to the mentally ill.  xxxwxxs 166 448

I'm restless. xoxxdxx 212 476

I'm uptight. xxtxdrx 169 414 339

I am unsettled. xxxxdrx 699 174

I am uneasy.  xxxxdrx 740 187

My country should accept the cultures of immigrants more often than not. xoxxxxg 183 639  

Freedom isn't free, it requires change and sacrifice. xotxxxs  153 168 296

I'm open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. xoxxxeg  405 309 216

You can't be nice and get ahead in the world. xoxwdxs 150 216 318 307 

Not all people are equal. xoxwxxs 174 174 517 

I prefer suburban living to urban living. axxxxxs 179 177 

The ends justify the means. moxxdex 167 143 192 263  

There is no point in helping if the help does not really make a difference. xxxwdxs 287 235 300 

Wanting to be the best at anything, even being a country, shouldn't be looked at as a bad thing. mxxxxxs 200 429 

Selfishness is the natural state of the human condition. mxxwdxs164 238 249 251

Full list of MOTIVES coded items that is updated regularly (every few weeks) with new experimental items can be found on this page.

Comprehensive Google doc on the MOTIVES personality system is available here.