ABSTRACT
When Freud set out to develop a theory for motivation that would help explain human behavior and the formative elements that shape personality, he was largely influenced by his professional background and the science of his time. The laws of physics and thermodynamics were then developed, and Freud’s biological and medical background (which included the teachings of Ernest Brücke) induced him to consider drives of biological energy that underlay mental phenomena. This biological physical notion asserts that each drive has four components: aim, source, impetus, and object. The aim is satisfaction and discharge of the instinct (eating for hunger); the source is a bodily need (i.e., physiological condition); impetus is the force of the drive, and object is the entity or condition that will satisfy the drive (Freud 1915a: 122-123).
