Susan Fiske’s 5 Core Social Motives

Susan T. Fiske, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, pioneered a popular theory of social psychology, the 5 Core Social Motives theory.

This theory posits that patterns of social behaviors reveal a set of recurring themes (Fiske, 2010). The five themes are “belonging, understanding, controlling, enhancing self, and trusting others (also known as a BUC(k)ET of motives)” (Stevens & Fiske 1995, p. 189).

The theory is based on the notion that we all apply a BUC(k)ET of motives in order to “enhance social survival” (Stevens & Fiske 1995, p. 189). Also, we can observe how each core motive applies to a person, a couple of people, or a group of people (Fiske, 2001).

In other words, this theory speaks to how and why we want to fit in with other individuals and within groups. Below is an in-depth account of each of Susan Fiske’s five core social motives.

The 5 Core Social Motives Belonging Belonging is defined as being recognized and accepted by a person, group, and/or society (American Psychological Association, 2020b). The motive of belonging is a person’s intent to interact and work with other people; it also relates to the Maslowian belonging need to fit in (Fiske, 2001).

Our need to be recognized as a group member is deeply embedded as a core personality need, which then extends into our social identity (Fiske, 2010).

Socially, for example, we want people to recognize all of our different social identity aspects as important to society; we want a small community of people to accept us no matter how our prevailing beliefs, norms, or culture are perceived by others in society. In addition, feeling that we belong positively correlates with better health (Fiske, 2010). Belonging serves as a foundation that “underlies the remaining motives” (Fiske, 2010, p. 534), which are explained below.

Understanding Understanding is the practice of acquiring insight about yourself or others and comprehending the significance of it (American Psychological Association, 2020c). The desire to be understood underlies a person’s motive to share social narratives about themselves, other people, and things in their environments (Fiske, 2001). We want people to ask questions about our personal identity so that they may understand us—but not have them be fearful or denigrate our beliefs, norms, or culture in order to gain knowledge about us as an individual (Fiske, 2010, p. 536). Socially, we also want others to sincerely understand aspects of ourselves associated with our social identity. Understanding allows us to share interactions in a coherent, socially acceptable manner that facilitates growth in the knowledge of ourselves and others (Fiske, 2010).

Controlling Controlling is defined as a person’s motive to perform efficiently in order to predict the outcome of actions performed by ourselves and others (Fiske, 2001). In controlling, we weigh the potential pros and cons in our interactions with other people, and try to take full advantage to increase the desirable outcomes of those interactions in our favor (Fiske, 2010, p. 537).

Personally, people want to be able to control the outcome of their relationships with other people as it pertains to our personal identity. For instance, someone may be motivated to marry a wealthy person in order to control outcomes that relate to a certain quality of life. Socially, some people may want to be in control of certain stereotypes that factor into their interactions

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with others (e.g., men are smarter than women). “People do not want to be stereotyped because it limits their freedom and constrains their outcomes, even their lives” (Fiske, 1993, p. 621).

Stereotypes wield some control over social interactions; most of us want to mitigate the control of stereotypical thinking and its effect on our lives (Fiske, 1993). Overall, we want to increase the positive aspects of ourselves and our place in society, and decrease the negative aspects. Controlling helps us do that.

Enhancing Self Self-enhancement can be defined as the motivation to bring the view of ourselves in alignment with our desired state, idyllic self, or ambitions in terms of our self-views (Giacomin & Jordan, 2017).

Self-enhancing includes working on oneself (Fiske, 2001). Personally, for example, the motive of enhancing self is primarily focused on “self-interest” (Fiske, 2010, p. 539). Socially, for example, “it takes varied forms, from inflated self-esteem to self-sympathy to self-improvement, the self’s special place guides people’s social responses” (Fiske, 2010, p. 539). Ultimately, enhancing self or self-improvement has an effect on others around us, but it starts with a desire to be better for ourselves, and then spreads out to others with whom we interact.

Trusting Trust is defined as the sentiment that something or someone is respectable, dependable, and efficient in meeting future expectations based on a record of prior behavior (Lasky, 2020).

Trusting relates to a person’s motive to see others positively, especially in that person’s group (Fiske, 2001). Personally, for example, trusting your own in-group is rooted in attachment theory, which provides an explanation as to the level of trust a person shows others (Fiske, 2010). Socially, for example, when a person’s allegiance and feelings for a particular in-group are closely aligned with the person’s allegiance and feelings about themselves, there is trust (Fiske, 2010).

Our attachment to specific people changes during our lifetime, but the intimacy that trust provides is one of the main reasons we continue to create bonds with other people. Simply, we are motivated to feel safe but also vulnerable in disclosing personal aspects about ourselves, especially when self-disclosure is reciprocated; this can strengthen social bonds and our trust in others.

Motives and Social Change I dentity As an agent of social change, you must have an awareness of the personal and social motives that drive your behavior; this is essential to your ability to effect change in your life and the world around you.

From leading advocacy campaigns to engaging in interactive dialogues on social media, the personal and social factors that guide your attitudes, beliefs, and actions significantly influence your ability to embrace individual differences, commit to social causes, engage in meaningful collaboration, and lead with empathy and compassion.

By reflecting on how your personality traits and lived experiences compel you to belong, understand, control, self-enhance, and trust, you can answer the question: How do these motives contribute to my social change identity?

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References

American Psychological Association (2020a). Social motive. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/social-motive

American Psychological Association (2020b). Belonging. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/belonging

American Psychological Association (2020c). Understanding. In APA dictionary of psychology. https://dictionary.apa.org/understanding

Duncombe, S. (2007, February 15). Cultural resistance. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosc178

Fiske, S. T. (1993). Controlling other people: The impact of power on stereotyping. American Psychologist, 48(6), 621–628.

Fiske, S. T. (2010). Social beings: Core motives in social psychology (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Fiske, S. T., (2001). Theories of social psychology. In International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences, pp. 14413–14421. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/01648- X

Giacomin, M., & Jordan, C. (2017, July 14) Self-enhancement motives. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of personality and individual differences. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1168-1

Lasky, J. (2020). Trust (emotion). Salem Press encyclopedia.

Stevens, L. E., & Fiske, S. T. (1995, September). Motivation and cognition in social life: A social survival perspective. Social Cognition, 13(3), 189–214. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.1995.13.3.189

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