ive behavior, which
may be labeled as follows:

{162}

1. Defensive reaction to things, overcoming obstruction, putting
through what has been undertaken--the success motive.

2. Defensive reaction to persons, resisting domination by them--the
independence motive.

3. Aggressive reaction to things--seeking for power.

4. Aggressive reaction to persons--seeking to dominate. We will take
these up in order, beginning with the most elemental.

1. Overcoming obstruction. The stimulus here is much the same as that
which induces fighting, but the response is simpler, without anger and
without the impulse to do damage. Take hold of a baby's foot and move
it this way or that, and you will find that the muscles of the leg are
offering resistance to this extraneous movement. Obstruct a movement
that the baby is making, and additional force is put into the movement
to overcome the obstruction. An adult behaves in a similar way. Let
him be pushing a lawn-mower and encounter unexpected resistance from a
stretch of tough grass; involuntarily he pushes harder and keeps on
going--unless the obstruction is too great. Let him start to lift
something that is heavier than he thinks; involuntarily he "strains"
at the weight, which means that a complex instinctive response occurs,
involving a rigid setting of the chest with holding of the breath, and
increased muscular effort. This instinctive reaction may be powerful
enough to cause rupture.

Other than purely physical resistance is overcome by other
self-assertive responses. When the child's toy will not do what he
wants it to do, he does not give up at once, but tries again and puts
more effort into his manipulation. When, in school, he is learning to
write, and finds difficulty in producing the desired marks, he bends
over the desk, twists his foot round the leg of his chair, screws up
his face, {163} and in other ways reveals the great effort he is
making. An adult, engaged in some piece of mental work, and
encountering a distraction, such as the sound of the phonograph
downstairs, may, of course, give up and listen to the music, but, if
he is very intent on what he is doing, he puts more energy into his
work and overcomes the distraction. When he encounters a baffling
problem of any sort, he does not like to give it up, even if it is as
unimportant as a conundrum, but cudgels his brains for the solution.
As a general proposition, and one of the most general propositions
that ps