What causes you to act a certain way?
Why are some of us willing to spend thousands on a designer bag, while some of us are happy to use brandless bags? And why do some people eat to live, while others live to eat?
Money aside, our cognitive behaviour is what differentiates all of us.
What then is cognitive behaviour?
It is the way that an individual thinks about and responds to their environment.
It involves the interplay between an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions.
It is influenced by a person's past experiences, 5 universal basic needs, and current circumstances.
5 Universal Basic Needs ^1
The strength of each of the 5 needs is fixed at birth and does not change. Their different degrees of strength are the reasons why we respond differently to the same situation (e.g. food,
material comfort).
Survival
The psychological component to this physiological need, involves feeling safe and secure.
Love & Belonging
The desire to be connected with others, such as friends, family, intimate partners, co-workers, pets and the groups we affiliate with.
Power
The desire to matter, make a difference, achieve, be competent, recognized and respected. It includes self-esteem and a desire to leave a legacy.
Fun
Fun encompasses pleasure, play humour, and relaxation. It is also our genetic reward for learning, even the most menial of tasks. More importantly, it is the glue that binds out basic needs together and allows us to satisfy several needs with the same behaviour.
Freedom
The need for freedom is about having choices, being independent and autonomous. Freedom is about being able to move freely without restriction. Creativity is a part of this need too.
Our five basic needs are the source of motivation that push our behaviours, where all of our behaviour, be it effective or ineffective, is consistently our best attempt in that moment in time, to satisfy one or more of our basic needs.
For example, impluse shopping is a behaviour that some of us may choose when we are unhappy (because 1 or more of our main basic needs have not been met over an extended period of time).
Behaviour
What then is behaviour? As shown in the picture above, it is made up of 4 inseparable components: acting, thinking, feeling, and physiology. We cannot choose to feel any emotion or physiology directly without concurrently changing one's actions and thoughts. Although it is not easy, but if we wish to change a behaviour, we much change the way we act and/or think.
Cognitive behaviour and how our 5 basic needs are interlinked, is a big topic that can span over months of this digest. If you'd like to find out more to gain deeper understanding of yourself and some of the habits that you have developed over time (e.g. online shopping every month), and what you can do to change them, PM Chloe for more information.
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