Basic Motivation and Human Behaviour

Motivation is the engine behind everything people do, yet the reasons for an action often hide behind what it looks like from the outside. This book sets out to trace behaviour back to its roots, showing how the true sources of an action can differ sharply from its surface. Kovac brings together what is already known about motivation and arranges it within a single theoretical framework, approaching the subject through both analytical and holistic lenses.

The framework proposes that all human behaviour grows out of three basic tendencies, linked to control, affiliation and self-expression. These tendencies are shaped by a mechanism the author calls balanced dual tension. Each one is described as a network of interrelated psychological needs that steer and regulate a wide range of human actions.

Written for an academic readership, the book is aimed at upper-level students and researchers in cognitive and social psychology, as well as any scholar studying human motivation more broadly.