Follow TopicFollow Contributor Share Feedback
An Interview with Professor Roy Baumeister

An Interview with Professor Roy Baumeister

by Roy F. Baumeister

Author and Psychologist

Jun 23, 2025

Compendium

A: Wants and needs are the basic driving forces in the human mind. What are the main ones? Sigmund Freud said there were mainly two: sex and aggression. Other thinkers have proposed others, like the desire for power. Most thinkers did acknowledge that people have some desire to connect with others, but it was mostly a minor afterthought.

I don’t think our 1995 paper discovered a new need so much as moved it from the background to the foreground: This is what gets people out of bed in the morning, drives their joys and sorrows, lends meaning to life or destroys it, and so forth.

This content is available to paid Members of Starling Insights.

If you are a Member of Starling Insights, you can sign in below to access this item. 

 

If you are not a member, please consider joining Starling Insights to support our work and get access to our entire platform.  Enjoy hundreds of articles and related content from past editions of the Compendium, special video and print reports, as well as Starling's observations and comments on current issues in culture & conduct risk management.

Join The Discussion

See something that doesn't look quite right?

We strive to provide high quality and accurate content at all times. With that said, we realize that sometimes links break, new information becomes available, or there is something that you feel we may have missed.

If you see something that you think we should be aware of, we would love to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a note below and leave your name and contact info if you'd like to hear back from us.

Thank you for being a key part of the Starling Insights community!