Symbolic Thinking, Values, Motivation, and Religion

Motivation Analysis is looking for a few good minds

New - an essay discussing basic problems of world cultures: "The Combative Dominance Syndrome"

This essay considers how the human ability to substitute symbols for percepts enables us to analyze the past and present, anticipate the future, develop religious, philosophical, scientific concepts, and communicate moral values and beliefs. Our freedom from real time mental restriction combined with our knowledge and beliefs leads us to search religious and philosophical sources for purpose and meaning in life.

First, an analysis of symbolic thinking and its relationship to perception:

Differences Between Perception and Symbolic Thinking

Over the last three and a half billion years living systems on earth have developed from single cell organisms to humans. This development has been made possible by the increasing complexity and capacities of the central nervous systems of living organisms. From what we know of the universe at this time, the human brain is probably the most complex and highly developed living system in existence. As humans, we share with all animals a capacity to convert sensory processes into percepts. However, humans alone have a well developed capacity to replace percepts with symbols. These symbols enable us to think about objects and events that are not part of our immediate perceptual reality. Religion, philosophy, and science have been made possible by these symbolic thought processes.

Perception

A primary function of the neural systems of living organisms has always been the sensing and interpretation of internal and external stimuli. These perceptual processes establish and maintain meaningful contact with immediate reality and are necessary to enable living organisms to meet their needs. Sights, sounds, scents, and other internal and external stimuli direct animals to food, sex, and safety. The sensory reception and perceptual judgment capabilities of many animals are superior to corresponding human abilities (birds of prey see better and further; dogs have superior olfactory senses, etc.).

For stimuli to become converted into percepts the stimuli must develop meaning. Meaning is based on a systematized set of associations. To say that certain stimuli have no meaning is to say that we have no established associations with the stimuli. Stimulus meaning is developed as we acquire associations to the stimulus. As a child receives the sensations of its mother's face at different times and in different situations, similarities between the stimuli and differences with other stimuli are sensed by the child and this discrimination enables it to develop a constant percept of the mother's face so that it can re-cognize the face each time it appears.

Although necessary and vitally important for living creatures, communication based on perception is limited to signs (see Philosophy in a New Key by Susanne Langer). A sign is a stimulus that tells us to do something now in this place (a red traffic light is a sign that tells us to stop; the image of an arrow shows us which way to turn). Experiences based on signs can be recorded in memory and can thus affect our responses to similar situations but mental processes based only on signs cannot enable us to think in abstract terms about experiences. Though necessary for our existence, perception is not sufficient for religious, philosophic, and scientific thinking and understanding.

Symbols and Symbolic Thinking

A quantum leap (metaphorically speaking) occurred in neural development when the human brain acquired the capacity to think with symbols. A symbol is any kind of percept that stands for or represents something else. All words are symbols although symbols are not limited to words or to visual or aural percepts. Symbols can represent events and objects (real or imagined) in far places and distant times. Scientists can use symbols (including mathematical symbols) to gain and record knowledge of our world. Novelists use symbols to create fantasy worlds for escape, entertainment, and moral instruction. Historians use symbols to study the past. Philosophers use symbols to examine fundamental beliefs. Psychologists use symbols to analyze and predict behavior. Religious concepts, such as a concept of God and our moral values would not be possible without symbolic thinking.

We learn to convert percepts into symbols by association. When a symbol (a word, for example) is synchronically associated with an object, humans can learn to mentally equate the word with the object and can thus think about the object whether or not it is present. Children develop the capability for symbolic thinking and communication at an early age.

Symbols and Language

Words provide the building blocks for language. Rather than just representing specific objects and events, word symbols can be combined to describe a complex set of events. Language is a mental system that enables us to record and report complex ideas and experiences. The fact that almost all observations and ideas expressed in one language can be translated to most other languages indicates the universality of both human experience and the human capacity for language.

Ludwig von Bertalannfy, a biologist who pioneered systems theory (see General Systems Theory by Bertalannfy) believed that humans, through their ability to symbolize objects, events, and concepts and to communicate ideas through language, occupy a special place in the world. With conceptual symbols to represent future events, a person can act with true intention and purpose and is not bound to immediate reality.

In Sum: Symbols expand our control over our environment, free us from immediate temporal limitations, and enable us to record and communicate complex events and ideas.

Self Consciousness and Consciousness

Another important benefit of symbolic thinking has been the development of self consciousness. The ability to create symbols that represent our self makes it possible to think about our self as an object. Thus, we can think in abstract terms about improving or changing our identity. Lacking symbolic thinking, lower animals do not possess this ability. They do not even respond to images of themselves (as exemplified by a bird attacking its reflection in a window).

Since we can also think about the symbols "in our head" we develop an awareness of our symbolized thoughts and ideas. This awareness that our symbolized processes are taking place in our mind is the basis for mental consciousness. Perceptual consciousness, in contrast, has us believe we see and hear things "out there." Our mental consciousness adds to our awareness of our personal existence with resultant concerns about death and the purpose and meaning of life.

Play and Symbolic Thinking

Playfulness is related to symbolic thinking although there are important differences. Both play and symbolic thinking require us to assume an "as-if" mental set. Play and symbolic thinking allow us to practice and develop skills in a pretend situation that does not have serious consequences while we are learning ("don't feel bad - it was only a game"). However, in play, the "as-if" applies only to the immediate situation. Symbolic thinking can occur independently of the situation we are in. The whole person is involved in play - motivations, emotions, and actions. Symbolic thinking is a mental activity that may or may not involve other parts of our personality. (However, symbolic thinking can be used playfully as with jokes and puns.) Play promotes social relationships and is restorative and re-creational. Symbolic thinking helps us analyze and mentally construct models for learning, thinking, planning, and experimenting.

Symbolic Thinking and the Arts

Appreciation of the fine arts is based more on perceptual processes than symbolic thinking. Great art presents us with sights and sounds that satisfy our emotional needs to experience harmony and perceive beauty. We also experience intellectual satisfaction from an intuitive recognition of the highly complex systematized composition of the art. (This is related to Ruskin's pathetic fallacy.) We respond to art in immediate real time, primarily via the distance receptors of sights and sounds. Even poetry and literature, although communicated by symbols, are appreciated as events or images taking place in imagined real time. Although animals sometimes appear to appreciate colors, forms, and sounds, their responses are probably associated more with food and sex than with aesthetic appreciation. Thus, the appreciation of art is a very advanced human capability that differs from symbolic thinking.

Beliefs and Values

Values are a type of belief. Beliefs are mentally recorded in symbolic forms such as: 'I believe that - - -' or 'I believe in - - -' or 'a person should ---.' Beliefs are ideas that initiate actions when the beliefs are considered relevant to the situation. For example, we can hold a belief that we should not cross a street when there is heavy traffic but this belief does not stop us from crossing streets when there is no traffic. There are reality beliefs that direct our actions relating to the natural world (e.g., don't plant your garden in the winter). There are conscious beliefs that we can state (e.g., a hot stove will burn your hand). There are unconscious beliefs that affect our behavior and emotions although the beliefs may not be available to our conscious mind (e.g., "I don't know why I'm afraid to get in an elevator because I know they are quite safe"). Unconscious beliefs often become absolutes ("elevators will always destroy me"). There are value (evaluative) beliefs that primarily indicate whether we judge that something is good or bad (e.g., love is good; hatred is bad).

The Human Motivation System

Motivation combines with our beliefs to select and direct our behavior (e.g., if we believe we are capable of obtaining a desired goal, we are motivated to seek the goal). Motivation is based on physical and psychological needs but we are primarily concerned with the latter in this essay. A group of psychologists, psychiatrists, and social scientists at Harvard University under the direction of Henry Murray developed a taxonomy of psychological needs called the Murray need system. The Murray need system has been widely used in personality tests, research, and clinical practice. The following analysis is based on multidimensional need scaling of 22 Murray based needs used with the Picture Identification Test. Multidimensional scaling is a mathematical process that reduces relationships between the elements in a system to locations on a relatively small number of dimensions (e.g., we can locate 100 cities on a two dimensional map rather than list all their distances and directions from each other in a table).

Multidimensional scaling applied to Picture Identification Test need measures has produced three dimensions for our human motivation system. The three dimensions are labeled:

1. The combative dimension

2. The personal-social dimension

3. The competitive dimension.

These dimensions are quite stable for normal populations. They have remained constant with correlation coefficients greater than .80 between averaged measures of normal groups for over 8000 male and female subjects including various ethnic and racial groups.

The Combative Dimension

The combative dimension is the strongest (most frequently activated) human motivation dimension. In the combative dimension, power and force are used to obtain goals. Combative dimension needs move us to seek material goals and control over people and things (e.g., money, land, political power). The combative dimension was probably the first motivation dimension to evolve among animals. It was rough out there in the jungle and there weren't judicial systems to arbitrate between different interests. Aggression and power versus submission or escape are the primary motives for survival in combative situations. Our daily news indicates that there is still a lot of jungle mentality in the modern world.

Some of the key needs in the active part of the combative dimension are the needs for aggression and rejection. Key needs in the reactive part of the dimension (where we seek to avoid combat) are needs to avoid harm and blame and to express abasement and deference.

The Personal-Social Dimension

The second most active dimension is the personal-social dimension. This dimension probably developed with the advent of mammals since by nature offspring had to be nursed and cared for over a long period of time (relatively long as compared to insects and reptiles). An extended nurturing period for offspring also provides opportunities to replace hard wired genetic ("instinctive") behavior with learning. Social organization becomes possible with the personal-social dimension.

Some key needs in the active part of the personal-social dimension are play and affiliation (we enjoy friendships and social relationships). Also active are the nurturance and succorance needs (we mutually trust and depend on each other). Key needs in the reactive pole of the personal-social dimension are the understanding, order, and achievement needs. These needs enable us to rationally analyze, organize, and work out solutions to personal-social conflicts rather than have us resort to destructive combativeness.

The Competitive Dimension

The competitive dimension is not as active as the combative or personal-social dimensions but it is a very important motivational dimension in the modern world. Symbolic thinking is most at home in the competitive dimension. This is the dimension in which the arts and sciences flourish. People sometimes expect the competitive and combative dimensions to be similar because the terms are frequently (mis)used interchangeably in popular speech (e.g., "the physician treated the patient aggressively"). The derivation of the word "combat" indicates moving against or battering or fighting others. The derivation of the word "compete" indicates meeting with or striving with others. Multidimensional scaling analyses have shown that the need structure of the competitive dimension is quite independent of the need structure of the combative dimension. Below are some basic differences between the two dimensions:

1. Competitive goals are symbolic and not transferable. An "A" given by a teacher to a student is a symbol of excellence. The symbol only has value for the selected student. Combative goals are material and transferable. Money or land, for example, can be exchanged, stolen, or captured without losing value.

2. Competitive goals are attained by skill, ability, work, and knowledge (e.g., Sally was the best speller in the spelling contest and was given first place). Combative goals are attained by force and power (as in war) and there are no referees or judges as in competitive sports.

3. In competitive contests, there are scores, rules, judges, and sometimes time limits, to determine winners and losers. Combative issues are resolved solely by the opponents when one side overpowers the other so that the loser does not have the strength or will to continue.

Some key needs in the active area of the competitive dimension are the exhibition, dominance, and understanding needs. These needs motivate competitors to seek recognition for their accomplishments, to excel as leaders and authorities, and to acquire knowledge that will improve their competence. Key needs in the reactive area of the competitive dimension are the needs to avoid harm, blame, and inferiority. These needs serve to inhibit competitors from attempting goals where their lack of competence might subject them to injury, criticism, and failure (e.g., "My parents told me not to drive the car until I've had lessons").

Ethical and Moral Values

Moral values are usually established by religious, political, or cultural authorities. Religion is probably the strongest and most pervasive creator of values. Values are usually in the form of conceptual generalizations, master symbols or narratives (e.g., teachings and actions of Jesus and Bhuddha). Values can motivate either beneficial or destructive behavior. Values help select and direct our needs and motives.

Below are listed the values and characteristics of the normal motivation system:

Constructive Motives and Values

1. Combative behavior is valued negatively.

2. Combative actions are expressed only when they are necessary and appropriate.

3. Personal-social behavior (love, friendship, intimacy, and affection) is actively expressed and very positively valued.

4. Competitive efforts to learn and discover new knowledge and skills are actively pursued and are positively valued.

Destructive Motives and Values

1. Combative behavior is valued positively.

2. Almost all goals are sought combatively.

3. The active personal-social dimension needs are inactive and not valued positively.

4. Technical competence is sought only if it can be used combatively (e.g., how to use weapons and how to obtain information that can be used against enemies).

Establishing the Constructive Motivation Approach in Society

Perhaps the first step toward establishing the constructive motivational approach in a society is to teach its members to consciously recognize their own needs and the needs of others in the situations they encounter. This will enable them to identify which motivational dimension is appropriate for the situations they encounter. The ability to consciously recognize needs and motivational dimensions can greatly improve people's judgment as to what actions and reactions are most appropriate and effective in the situations they encounter. Conscious motivational awareness could rationally resolve many personal and social conflicts. Our present education system does not provide this type of teaching.

The Sources of Value Beliefs

As previously stated, value beliefs are usually established by those in positions of religious, social, political, and judicial power and authority. Political and judicial beliefs are limited to social interactions and are subject to change with changes in socioeconomic conditions. Science establishes values having to do with the integrity of scientific knowledge but scientists are not expected to propose values having to do with moral, ethical, religious, and political matters. Philosophers and social scientists have proposed values for social guidance but in the past there has not been enough unanimity and authority behind their proposals to command general acceptance. Religion has long been considered a source of satisfaction for needs for security, power, acceptance, and superiority. The promise of eternal life in paradise along with freedom from damnation in hell offered by some religions (e.g., Christian and Islamic) provides extremely powerful motivation to accept religious beliefs and direction.

The nature of religion and the values it has provided for various cultures have changed over time. Early religions characterized their gods as human or animal in nature but with superhuman powers. These gods were often limited to specific areas of control. People had to curry their favor and appease their displeasure which in some cases required human sacrifices. In Greek and Roman mythology there were some gods who had personal interests and relationships with people but most primitive deities were distant, often capricious, and had some of the worst combative personality qualities of humans.

Monotheism

Judaism brought a marked change in the character of religion. First, it proposed a universal ethical monotheism. Another basic change was in the relationship between God and humanity. The Israelite God was a father figure who was just but benevolent and demanded a paternal familial relationship with Israel. He was demanding in his requirements that his people should acknowledge his ultimate dominion and will. The world at the time Judaism was developing (1500 BCE - 200 CE) was especially combative and Judaism had to cope with this reality but the belief in a universal ethical monotheism and God's ultimate benevolence was revolutionary.

Jesus carried the Judaic religious revolution further. He rejected the role of a military Messiah. He had little use for those who combatively used religious power for personal or political gain (e.g., his aggressive treatment of the money changers in the temple). He radicalized Judaic ethical monotheism by publicly socializing and eating with outcasts, sinners, and prostitutes. He experienced human suffering and thus knew from personal experience the emotions and motives of his people. Although he recognized combative needs ("render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's"), Jesus emphasized what we refer to in this study as the personal-social motivation dimension. He was particularly concerned about the poor and needy. He also recognized the importance of children and their need for nurturing.

Another feature of Jesus' teachings was his concern for moral intentions and general moral principles rather than legalistic regulations He used metaphors and parables to present his teachings to "those with ears to hear." This general abstract approach to teaching falls in the competitive motivational dimension. Thus, we can say that Jesus proposed and taught a three dimensional approach to religious beliefs and values. A similar approach is evident in the teachings of other religious seers such as the Buddha and Mohandas Gandhi.

Problems in Religion

Religion has its dark sides. As with most human problems, these difficulties originate in the combative motivation dimension. In most religions, exclusive elite groups act as liaisons, interpreters, guardians, or promoters of religious beliefs and the will of their god(s). Human nature being what it is, it is not surprising that the unique power of these religious mediators has sometimes corrupted their values. They often tend to adopt the destructive motivation and value syndrome and become driven by combative needs for autonomy, dominance, and aggression . Personal-social motives of abasement, nurturance, succorance, and affiliation are rejected or overridden. One of Jesus' battles was against this type of religious corruption. There have been periods in the history of the Christian Church when its leaders used religious power to attain personal material power and to initiate combative assaults on others. The crusades were largely motivated by combative needs for religious dominance. Sinclair Lewis' portrayal of Elmer Gantry provides a good literary description of another type of religious corruption.

Theocracy

Political government operates in the combative dimension. Those who govern create the laws that regulate society and they control the power that enforces the laws. To counteract negative reactions to their power status, political leaders in democratic societies strive to present their personal-social side (they remember names, provide assistance to constituents, kiss babies, etc.) However, when religion takes over the governing powers of a state or society, religious leaders hold an almost absolute power. This combination of political and moral power has a strong corrupting influence on the leaders and under these conditions religion tends to adopt the destructive motivation syndrome. The Taliban in Afghanistan is a recent example. Theocracy is not good for religion or for society.

Religious Fundamentalism

In her book The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong has impressively analyzed the values and motives of religious fundamentalists. Her thesis is that when there are profound socioeconomic changes in a culture (resulting in what she calls modernity), those in positions of established religious power become fearful that they will be replaced by new leaders who are more in accord with the modernists. To defend and justify their positions of power and authority, Christian fundamentalist leaders use selected texts of the Bible to combat the threatening modernist practices. Armstrong traces fundamentalist movements back to the late 1800s with precursors extending back to the 15th century

Fundamentalist leaders also work to increase the religious zeal and fervor of their followers to help them maintain their own power and status. They often fail to promote positive personal-social motives in their efforts to advance their combative agenda. Armstrong cites the rejection by religious conservatives of the League of Nations and other forms of social and political centralization as examples of their defensive reactions to modernity. More recently, fundamentalists have verbally attacked modern culture for its tolerance of racial intermarriage, homosexuality, access of women to the clergy, and other modernist life styles.

Fundamentalist Conflicts With Modernists

Conflicts with modernists arise primarily over the fundamentalists' narrow selection or interpretation of religious texts. They tend to select only those religious texts that appeal to the combative prejudices of people who feel socially and politically alienated or rejected. Fundamentalism promotes the personal combative use of power by its leaders. These leaders are often quite positive about the combative use of their religious status and power and vigorously attack those who do not share their beliefs and values.

In Karen Armstrong's terms, one of the primary problems faced by religion is "the battle for God." When religions operate in the combative dimension and attack one another, the results can be devastating due to the extreme motivating power of religion (e.g., the crusades). In the personal-social dimension, when religions have imposed or supported rigid social stratification, society has suffered (e.g., caste systems, slavery, gender discrimination). In the competitive dimension, when religions have opposed scientific theory and findings with proof texts or censorship, society and religion have both suffered (e.g., Galileo, Darwin).

Terrorism

Terrorists have a similar destructive motivation and value syndrome as religious fundamentalists (al Qaeda terrorists claim to hold extreme Islamic fundamentalist views). However, most religious fundamentalists are less extreme and mostly inclined to use verbal or political attacks on their modernist enemies whereas terrorists use violent physical aggression in attempts to impose their will on entire cultures. Terrorists sometimes operate in the competitive dimension but only to obtain technical expertise that can be used for combative purposes (e.g., weapons and information).

The Benefits of Religion

On the positive side, major world religions have generally acclaimed the desirability of peace and good will among people (opposed combativeness), they have extolled affection and friendship and promoted care and concern for the oppressed and unfortunate (personal-social relations), and they have supported scholarly pursuits and education (competitive dimension). Religion broadens our view of ourselves and the universe and this motivates us to think of the ultimate meaning and purpose of life and the universe.

Overview

The development of human symbolic thinking has made religion, philosophy, and science possible. The ability to symbolize percepts has expanded our control over our environment and freed us from the limitations of immediate real time.

Human behavior is determined by needs, values, and situation stimuli. The normal constructive motivational approach to life is the balanced and appropriate use of combative, personal-social, and competitive needs. Also normal is a negative attitude toward combative behavior and positive attitudes toward personal-social and competitive behavior.

A destructive syndrome of motives and values is contrary to the constructive normal pattern. The destructive syndrome places strong positive emphasis on combative actions to attain goals and rejects personal-social and competitive needs. Religious fundamentalist leaders too often use the destructive motivational syndrome to promote their interests. Terrorists also operate in the destructive mode but with much greater use of physical aggression.

Most of the teachings of the major world religions (Buddhist, Judaic, Christian, Islamic) are consistent with the constructive motivational model. In the West, this model closely corresponds to the teachings of Jesus, Bhudda, St. Thomas and other religious leaders who universalized the needs for love and compassion and condemned self-centered aggression. Jesus, in particular, also demonstrated the value and effectiveness of teaching general religious principles and values rather than legalistic regulations. It is quite likely that the constructive motivational model was formed by these religious leaders through their profound influence on their cultures.

The Picture Identification Test (PIT) is a psychological instrument based on the Murray need system. The PIT uses multidimensional scaling to provide an analysis of needs (motives). It indicates needs that are being met or expressed ineffectively. The PIT can be administered to subjects ages twelve and older.

• Motivation Analysis - Theory developed from Picture Identification Test research and from the general systems point of view.
• Essays - Observations and thoughts about motivation, beliefs, values, purpose and meaning.
• Needs (Motives) - Discussion of 22 Murray based needs as they relate to three major motivation dimensions.

For further information about the Picture Identification Test contact
Jay L. Chambers, PhD: ibis@kalexres.kendal.org
160 Kendal Drive Apartment #205
Lexington, Virginia 24450
Phone: 540.462.3874

The Motivation Analysis web site has three sections:

Motivation Analysis: General Systems Point of View | Combative Dimension | Personal Social Dimension | Competitve Dimension | PIT Scores | PIT Publications | PIT Dissertations | Motivation System Target Model | Target Model Reliability | GPA Predications | Need & Cluster Definitions | Links

Essays: Combative Dominance Syndrome (new) | Political Motivation | Mental Sets | Symbolic Thinking, Values, Motivation & Religion | Needs, Values, Philosophy & Religion

Needs (Motives): Abasement | Achievement | Affiliation | Aggression | Autonomy | Blame Avoidance | Counteraction | Defendance | Deference | Dominance | Exhibition | Gratitude | Harm Avoidance | Inferiority Avoidance | Nurturance | Order | Play | Rejection | Sentience | Sex | Succorance | Understanding

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