Experiencing and dealing with desire is a central part of our daily life (e.g., food, sleep, social contact, and media use). Desire provides motivational force for pursuing our goals. Desires are directed toward specific objects (or people) with a promise of gain in pleasure (or relief from discomfort). However, there are circ*mstances where spontaneous desire stands in conflict with painful goals (e.g., a short-term pleasure of enjoying chocolate versus a long-term goal of weight loss). The formation of desire can be broken down into five steps, which results in behavior that people may later regret. Simply being aware of these factors can protect us from making rash decisions.
1. Automatic occurrence.
In general, desire begins in a relatively automatic manner as the brain pleasure centers evaluate external incentives against the state of mind (e.g., hungry, craving, or feeling lonely). For example, negative mood can be a cue that triggers desires to improve one’s current state. In the case of impulse buying, the consumer responds spontaneously when exposed to desirable objects without any further hesitation.
2. Situational cues.
Temptations (problematic desires) are triggered by situational cues (stimuli), by means of Pavlovian conditioning, that promise immediate satisfaction at the cost of important long-term rewards. Our preferences are sensitive to cues like the smell of cookies baking or sight of a bowl of ice cream. These cues are associated with past consumption of habit-forming goods.
3. Elaboration.
As the desire gains access to working memory, the person becomes conscious. The more people elaborate on their desires, the more likely it becomes that people will generate justifications that allow them to indulge. For example, they may say, “this is definitely going to be my last indulgence before I start my diet.” Elaboration may involve generating expectancies about the consequences of desire enactment (“A drink would make me feel relaxed, sociable or happy”).
4. Attention focus.
Biased attention (fixation) for food cues trigger food cravings. The opposite is also possible: craving for food grabs attention for food cues. Craving result in attention being drawn preferentially to the desirability of the stimulus (e.g., palatability of high-caloric foods) making it harder to resist the desire. The more attention a person allocates to a rewarding stimulus (a high-caloric food), the more likely he will be to experience a subjective feeling of craving.
5. Opportunity to act.
When you know a reward is unavailable, you stop craving and shifts your attention elsewhere. For example, when the smoker is placed in a context in which the substance is not available (during a nine-hour flight), but the craving will intensify at the airport where there is an opportunity to smoke. Thus, craving is eliminated or at least blunted when smokers believe that they will be unable to smoke in the near future.
Whether people will give in to the desire in any given time depends on two things: the strength of the desire and the ability (strength) of the self to resist the urge. The stronger desire may make people more vulnerable to its motivational power. If a desire is weak, then resisting it will be relatively easy. Sometimes it may look like people are doing an impressive job of resisting something, when really they simply aren’t tempted by it. For instance, your friend who is so good at resisting cookies is just not that into cookies. It does not count as self-control if you did not want the thing in the first place.
FAQs
Again we find our author dividing the objects of human desires into five classes: happiness, virtue, disciplined mind, health, external goods (Con. Gen. 3, c.
What are the 5 categories of desires? ›
Again we find our author dividing the objects of human desires into five classes: happiness, virtue, disciplined mind, health, external goods (Con. Gen. 3, c.
What are the components of desire? ›
The Components of Desire
Desires are multifaceted phenomenon combining affective, motivational, and cognitive components that can interplay together and hence influence each other (Hofmann et al.
What are the stages of desire? ›
Desire motivates us in many important ways: physical desire, for example, is called hunger or thirst; intellectual desire is called curiosity; sexual desire is called lust; economic desire is called consumer demand.
How are desires formed? ›
While desires are often classified as emotions by laypersons, psychologists often describe desires as ur-emotions, or feelings that do not quite fit the category of basic emotions. For psychologists, desires arise from bodily structures and functions (e.g., the stomach needing food and the blood needing oxygen).
What are the 5 steps of human desire? ›
From Survive to Thrive: Maslow's 5 Levels of Human Need
- Physiological Needs. Food, water, clothing, sleep, and shelter are the bare necessities for anyone's survival. ...
- Safety and Security. Once a person's basic needs are satisfied, the want for order and predictability sets in. ...
- Love and Belonging. ...
- Esteem. ...
- Self-Actualization.
Kathy Caprino
- #1: Happiness. Biggest challenge: “Not knowing what I want, and the confusion, fear and unhappiness that causes.” ...
- #2: Money. Biggest challenge: “Not having enough money or time to accomplish the things I want to do.” ...
- #3: Freedom. ...
- #4: Peace. ...
- #5: Joy. ...
- #6: Balance. ...
- #7: Fulfillment. ...
- #8: Confidence.
five desires ［五欲］ ( go-yoku): (1) The desires that arise from the contact of the five sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body) with their respective objects (color and form, sound, smell, taste, and texture). (2) The desires for wealth, sexual love, food and drink, fame, and sleep.
What are our core desires? ›
Core Desires are the emotions behind our deepest longings and biggest dreams. Every time we feel an emotion, our brain fires corresponding pathways within its neurological network. The more powerful the emotion, the more our brain solidifies that particular pathway.
What is the triangle of desire? ›
The mimetic desire is triangular, based on the subject, model, and object. The subject mimics the model, and both desire the object. Subject and model thus form a rivalry which eventually leads to the scapegoat mechanism.
In general, desire begins in a relatively automatic manner as the brain pleasure centers evaluate external incentives against the state of mind (e.g., hungry, craving, or feeling lonely). For example, negative mood can be a cue that triggers desires to improve one's current state.
What are the six desires? ›
The term “six desires” first appeared in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, referring to human desire for life, desire against death, and the desires of human organs such as ears, eyes, mouth and nose for sound, color, taste and aroma.
What are the three levels of desire? ›
I've taken to thinking of desire and sexuality as inhabiting three realms:
- The Fantasy. ...
- The Physical. ...
- The Psychological.
The root of all desires is the one desire: to come home, to be at peace. There may be a moment in life when our compensatory activities, the accumulation of money, learning and objects, leaves us feeling deeply apathetic. This can motivate us towards the search for our real nature beyond appearances.
How does desire begin? ›
All desires originate at the thought level but are fueled by our Emotions. Emotions are “Energy in Motion”. Emotion takes the thought and feeds it with the energy that is required to make it happen. Our base desires, or the lower consciousness desires come from a wanting, a need, a lack ….
How do you generate desire? ›
Desire can dwindle for many reasons, but there are also many ways you can rekindle it in a long-term relationship. Here are our tips:
- Have 'me time' and 'us time'. ...
- Touch each other. ...
- Be present. ...
- Look good. ...
- Indulge each other. ...
- Sleep. ...
- Have date nights. ...
- Communicate.
So those are my 10: the desire to be taken seriously, the desire for my place, the desire for something to believe in, the desire to connect, the desire to be useful, the desire to belong, the desire for more, the desire for control, the desire for something to happen and the desire for love.
What are the basic desires of humans? ›
There are four basic Desires that define us as humans: Power, Attraction, Comfort and Play.
