Drive Reduction Theory

What is drive reduction theory?

Drive reduction theory is Clark Hull’s historical account of motivation and learning. An unmet biological need produces a drive, such as hunger. An action followed by a reduction in that need becomes more strongly linked with the situation in which it occurred.

How it works

A hungry animal obtains food after making a response. In Hull’s theory, reducing the food-related need reinforces that response. Drive supplies the motivation to act; reinforcement helps explain what gets learned.

Hull’s 1943 book develops this connection between need reduction and learning.

Primary drives, secondary drives and homeostasis

Primary drives are associated with biological needs, such as hunger and thirst. A secondary drive is learned through association with a primary drive; learned fear linked to pain is one example.

The homeostasis connection concerns maintaining internal physiological conditions. As OpenStax explains, drive theory links a departure from that balance with a need and behavior that reduces it.

Limitations of drive reduction theory

The theory offers a specific answer to why a behavior gets repeated. It is easier to apply that answer to hunger than to curiosity, achievement, or the desire for approval. Those motives require further explanations about learning and incentives.