Motivation Theories

Many people have different motivations for the things that they do. There are three different theories that help to determine why it is that they do what they do, psychoanalytic, humanistic, and diversity theories. I will be using these three theories to determine why Angelina Jolie adopts children from other countries, much like Madonna does.

The psychoanalytic view states that there are four basic propositions: determinism, drive, conflict, and the unconscious. Determinism revolves around the things that we do not control. Next is our drive, which is the force that pushes us to do things that are our basic instincts. For example, Angelina Jolie as a woman has maternal instincts. She, like most women (though not all), has the natural instinct to want to protect and nourish a child. Perhaps this is why she adopts children that cannot be adequately cared for. The third part, conflict, may play a part in her life because she feels the maternal instinct to adopt the children that she wants to take care of, but socially it is not acceptable to adopt many children, regardless of the amount of funds available to give children the best life possible. The last and final part of the psychoanalytic theory is the unconscious. Though she does have control over her life and can make these decisions, it is probably some unforeseen force that guides her to do the things that she does.

The humanistic views believe that we are motivated by a higher purpose. The reasons behind Angelina's actions might be for selfish reasons; perhaps she is trying to feel accomplished or to feel a void in her life. Her reasoning and her desires for whatever it may be are not as easy to determine as other, her personal life, though in the limelight, it decently hidden behind walls and publicists. It is hard to determine why people do the things they do, unless the motivation is outwardly present and easily seen with the naked eye. This is not to say that what she is doing is not good for the children that she is adopting, but the light and life style that she is putting them in might be dangerous to their development and adjustment to their new lives, but I digress!

Lastly, we have the diversity theory. This theory leans more towards different types of motivations that lead to different goals. Perhaps she is only trying to advance her view in the public view, maybe to establish a better reputation for herself. As I said before there could be different reasons behind her actions. It is easy to speculate all of the reasons, whether they are selfish or selfless, but only she could know for sure.

There are three different theories that can help to speculate why people do the things that they do. I am not sure anyone could honestly say what makes someone do the things that they do, I am not sure I can say why I do what I do, much less what would make Angelina Jolie adopt children from around the world. All I can do is speculate, speculating - to me - is useless because anyone can do it, but that does not mean that they are right or even close to the actual reasoning.