Ethological needs in Humans - Motivation in Humans for social behaviour, autonomy, competence, exploration and occupation

Abstract

Behaviour falls into two categories: 1) appetitive and 2) consummatory behaviour. Appetitive behaviour is behaviour that leads up to need fulfillment. So if an individual is hungry it will start to move around and forage in order to obtain food. The actual food ingestion will satisfy the need to forage for food and is called a consummatory behaviour. In ethological needs the emphasis is on appetitive behaviour. In my thesis ethological needs are defined as: " The need to perform a behaviour that is rewarding in itself. The need for performance of this behaviour, even if appropriate substrate is absent, is so strong that thwarting it too long leads to stress and stereotypies. If a possibility is offered to perform the behaviour after extensive periods of deprivation a rebound effect occurs." The fact that ethological needs for animals are partly included in the law system by promoting normal natural behaviour, stresses their importance. But it also raises the question if perhaps we humans also have ethological needs.In order to answer this research question, I looked into animal ethological needs as well. Ofcourse it is impossible to include all needs of all animal species therefore in this thesis I have focused mainly on well researched farm and/or pet species, such as horses and pigs and for a small part on a few non-human primate species. In animals I have found needs that can be categorized as: nesting needs, social behaviour and foraging and exploration needs.There are many more behaviours that individuals feel they should express but I have chosen these needs as a basis. Some have parallels with behaviours that humans express. For instance humans have a strong desire to be social, to feel autonomous and competent. Evidence for a need to explore and being occupied is a little thin spread for humans, but does exist. The ethological needs that I have found can be traced back (in part) to behavioural patterns seen in primitive man. In modern man the behaviours seem to be harder to pinpoint due to uncontrollability of the environment but also due to cultural differences across populations.