The Reiss Profile
by Eric STERN

The Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivational Sensitivities is a comprehensive measure of human motivation. This scientifically validated instrument is based on a theory that has similarities to the works of Gordon Allport and Abraham Maslow. The inclusion of this instrument in a test battery adds important information to assessment aimed at understanding motivational traits. In many situations the assessment provides accurate predictions of behaviour.

The 16 strivings assessed in the Reiss profile are:

Power, the desire for influence; Independence, the desire for self-reliance; Curiosity, the desire for knowledge; Acceptance, the desire for approval; Order, the desire to organize; Saving, the desire to collect and hoard; Honor, the desire to adhere to traditional codes of morality; Idealism, the desire for social justice; Social Contact, the desire for interaction with other people; Family, the desire to raise one’s own children; Status, the desire for prestige; Vengeance, the desire to get even with others; Romance, the desire for sex; Eating, the desire to consume food; Physical activity, the desire to move one’s muscle; Tranquility, the desire for emotional calm. These are defined as elemental end motives or basic strivings. In other words most other desires are only means for achieving one or several of these ends.

The team of dr. Reiss arrived to these by condensing the research on over 300 desires expressed by several thousand people that they studied. They have successfully used the assessment to predict the behaviour in a variety of life situations.

The theory of 16 basic desires is a scientific approach to the broader aspects of human behavior. The Reiss Profile is a summary of the strength of each one of the 16 basic desires for a person. Generally, the unusually strong or unusually weak basic desires of a person explain the behaviour of that person.

An introduction to the theory is available in the book of dr. Stephen Reiss “Who am I”.
A more thorough analysis of the strengths of each individual’s strivings is available using a questionnaire associated with a quantitative output and a summary interpretation of the relative strength of the striving.

The output is a comparison of the strength of the desires of the individual compared with the average response of North-American adults. The strength of the strivings is an indicator of the core motivation that drives many of the actions of people, sometimes at an unconscious level. The output of the assessment contains statements aimed at helping users find possible insights. In the final analysis, test users decide for themselves which statements are valid or invalid. The book gives many examples of applications in different life and work situations.

Knowledge of the strengths of their strivings can guide people in choosing activities that best match their core desires or in fine-tuning strategies for interacting with people having different strivings.

Eric Stern, MBA, CQA, coach certifié
www.iseffective.com