Needs and Values Expressed in the Pentateuch and Gospel Bible Books

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The study was limited to the five books of the Pentateuch in the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and the four Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) in the New Testament. A modified version of the Murray need system was used to classify needs or motives. The NIV (New International Version) and the King James Version (KJV) were the Bible versions used for this research. Although it is generally recognized that the authorized modern versions (especially the RSV translation) are more accurate in their use of language, the NIV and KJV are perhaps more popularly used by lay people. With regard to need expression, the author found few significant differences between the NIV and KJV and assumes that this is also the case for other accepted translations.

Each verse in the selected books was examined and rated for an expression of need(s) and for the source of the expression. The sources were classified as expressions by God, Jesus, or by a person. The persons were not sub classified as to their status or function. The need classifications were made by only one researcher (the author) and this raises questions about the validity and reliability of the findings reported in this study. The author has over 40 years experience and a number of publications in the area of psychological motivation (see Picture Identification Test Publications) so it is hoped that the results are sufficiently valid for an initial attempt at this sort of analysis. It is also hoped that the study will motivate others to pursue this line of religious inquiry.

Two examples of need classification are presented below:

Genesis 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
Need = dominance; Source = God

Luke 18:16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."
Needs = dominance, nurturance, understanding (teach); Source = Jesus

Twenty-five modified Murray based needs employed for classification are listed and defined below:

Abasement: The need to admit faults and weaknesses.
Achievement: The need to work hard to achieve goals.
Affiliation: The need to be friendly and sociable.
Aggression: The need to be forceful and to criticize and attack others.
Note: The aggression need was subdivided into three levels for this study.
Low: verbal criticism
Medium: aggressive activity but not physically violent.
High: physical violence.
Autonomy: The need to be free, independent, and uninhibited.
Blame Avoidance: The need to avoid doing things that might arouse criticism or disapproval.
Defendance: The need to defend against criticism, accusation, or personal attacks.
Deference: The need to follow the advice and guidance of those with experience and authority.
Dominance: The need to assert leadership and act in a commanding and persuasive way.
Exhibition: The need to express ideas and exhibit talents and abilities.
Gratitude: The need to be appreciative, thankful, and grateful.
Harm Avoidance: The need to avoid harm and danger.
Inferiority Avoidance: The need to avoid failure, inadequacy, and inferiority.
Nurturance: The need to give aid and comfort to others.
Order: The need to systematize, organize, and put things in order.
Play: The need to play, have fun, and enjoy life.
Rejection: The need to resist pressures and say no to requests or demands.
Sentience: The need to experience beauty, harmony, and esthetic satisfaction.
Sex: The need to satisfy sexual desires.
Succorance: The need to receive help, support, and assistance.
Understanding: The need to learn, understand, and find the meaning of things.
Note: The understanding need was subdivided into four types:
Comprehend: The need to perceive comprehensive meaning in stimuli.
Proclaim: The need to declare specific rules and orders.
Question: The need to seek answers and information.
Teach: The need to impart knowledge that can be generally applied.

Details of the design and statistical analyses may be obtained from the author for those who wish more information (see web site for address and phone number). For the cluster analyses presented in Tables 1 and 3, the need frequencies were standardized for each need so the analyses could be more meaningfully applied to the data in a search for similar patterns of need frequencies of the Bible books regardless of whether they were from the Pentateuch or Gospels.

Four tables of results are presented below followed by an interpretation of the results.

Table 1. Cluster Analysis of Need Frequencies Expressed by God and by Jesus in the Pentateuch and Gospel Books

Table 2. Frequency of Needs Expressed by God and Jesus in the Pentateuch and Gospel Books

The underlined frequencies indicate which source had the larger frequency for the need.

Table 3. Cluster Analysis of Need Frequencies Expressed by Persons in the Pentateuch and Gospel Books

Table 4. Frequency of Needs Expressed By Persons in the Pentateuch and Gospel Books

Table 1 Results

The cluster analysis results presented in Table 1 grouped the Bible books that had similar patterns of need frequencies regardless of whether the source was God or Jesus. The "Cen-Per" Score under the book header is an indicator of the centrality (or peripherality) of the book in the cluster. The smaller the score, the more central the need in the cluster. The most central need is the closest, on average, to all the other needs in the cluster and the most peripheral is the most distant, on average, to all of the other needs.

All six of the cluster 1 books were from the Pentateuch except for the Gospel book of Mark.
Mark was written for a Roman (Gentile) audience but it may be that Mark was more influenced by Old Testament motivational thinking than were the later Gospels written for Jewish communities of Christians. Numbers was the most central book in cluster 1 (Cen-Per = 3.74) indicating that it is the closest book, on average, to the other books in the cluster with regard to similarity of need frequencies. Genesis was the most different or peripheral book included in the cluster (Cen-Per = 5.83).

All three books in cluster 2 of Table 1 are Gospel books. Luke was the most central book in the cluster and Matthew was the most peripheral.

Table 2 Results

For Table 2, Chi Square analyses were used to order and indicate the strength of differences in need frequencies between God and Jesus in the Pentateuch and Gospel books. Only needs that differed significantly (statistical probability less than .05) for the two sources are presented in the Tables 2 and 4.

Table 2 shows that 15 of the 25 needs differed for frequency of expression by God and Jesus in the Pentateuch and Gospel books. The "frequency" column shows the number of occurrences of the need. The "expected" column shows the number of occurrences statistically predicted by "chance" on the basis of the overall number of needs expressed by each source. For example, God's actual frequency of the dominance need (1716) is higher than the expected frequency (1261). This means that, allowing for differences in overall need expression, God expressed the dominance need more than did Jesus. The reverse is indicated when the actual frequency is less than the expected. Chi Square analyses show strong differences between God and Jesus for frequency of expression of these 15 needs.

At the top of the list in Table 2 is the understanding teach need. Jesus expressed this need 1115 times as compared with God's expression of the need only 13 times. Jesus also expressed the understanding question need more frequently than God (95 to 13). On the other hand, God expressed the understanding proclaim need much more frequently than did Jesus (1177 for God versus 205 for Jesus). These results indicate that God was proclaiming absolute rules and laws to direct and control the beliefs and actions of followers. By contrast, Jesus was teaching general principles and motivating followers to use their judgment to guide their actions.

The three levels of the aggression need in Table 2 show interesting differences between God and Jesus. Jesus expressed low aggression more frequently than God (281 to 67) but God expressed high aggression more frequently than Jesus (177 to 3) and medium aggression more frequently than Jesus (134 to 30).

Consistent with the aggression need results is the greater frequency of the dominance need expressed by God as compared with Jesus (1716 to 605). Somewhat inconsistent with the above, however, is that Jesus expressed the rejection need more frequently than God (173 to 74) and the defendance need more frequently than God (45 to 3). Rejection and defendance are combative needs but they are more reactive than aggression and dominance and therefore not as contentious as aggression and dominance. Perhaps Jesus was demonstrating that one may reject and resist attacks but should seldom initiate violent attacks. Consistent with Jesus' milder expression of aggression is his greater emphasis, compared to God, on personally oriented needs such as succorance, gratitude, nurturance, affiliation, and deference (see Table 2).

Much of the Old Testament was written in very combative times and this may account to some extent for the differences discussed above. Jesus emphasized love, compassion, nurturance, and affection more than any religion of his time and this is consistent with his lower levels of aggressive expression.

The remaining need that differentiated God and Jesus in frequency of expression is the harm avoidance need. The Gospels report that constant threats were directed toward Jesus culminating in his crucifixion. It is not surprising, therefore that Jesus felt a need to avoid harm at times (14 expressions) whereas God, the all powerful being, was immune to harm (0 expressions) and did not need to avoid danger.

Table 3 Results

A cluster analysis was applied to the frequency of need expressions by persons recorded in the Pentateuch and Gospel books. As with Table 1, the aim was to look for similarities and differences in frequency of need expression in the Bible books.

Only one cluster was produced by the analysis. This cluster was composed of all four of the Gospel books (all nine books analysed were eligible for clustering). Mark was the most central book in the cluster and John was the most peripheral. The order of the books based on cluster centrality (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John) corresponds to the order of their time of origin. Perhaps Christianity changed in motivational emphases as it developed over time. A change in motivational emphasis is quite noticeable between Mark and John.

Table 4 Results

To interpret the results presented in Table 4 it is important to know that the total number of need expressions of persons in the Pentateuch was over two and a half times the number of need expressions for persons in the Gospels. (This was not the case for comparisons of God and Jesus [Table 2] for which the frequencies were more equal.) Thus, for evaluation of the differences between Pentateuch and Gospel need frequencies for persons in Table 4, one should evaluate the frequency of a need in relation to its corresponding expected frequency. For each need, the source whose need frequency is greater than the need expected frequency is the source with the relatively greater frequency.

It was expected that the differences in need frequencies of persons in the Pentateuch and Gospel books (Table 4) would correspond to the differences in need frequencies of God and Jesus in the Pentateuch and Gospel books (Table 2). Of the 10 needs that were common to Tables 2 and 4, seven had frequency differences for persons that were parallel to those of God and Jesus and three had differences opposite to those of God and Jesus.

The understanding question need provided the greatest discrimination between persons in the Pentateuch and the Gospels. Persons in the Gospel books expressed this need 191 times (expected = 83) whereas persons in the Pentateuch books expressed the understanding question need 109 times (expected = 217). This is consistent with Table 2 results that show that Jesus expressed the understanding question need more frequently than God. Also consistent with the God and Jesus comparisons was the greater frequency of the understanding proclaim need for persons in the Pentateuch books as compared with persons in the Gospel books. However, the results were different for the understanding teach need. Jesus expressed this need much more frequently than God (see Table 2) but persons in the Pentateuch expressed the need more frequently than persons in the Gospels. This difference may be due to God's practice of proclaiming laws and directions to selected leaders such as Moses who then taught or "spread the word" whereas Jesus taught or presented his messages directly to all who would listen. Perhaps later books of the New Testament will show more teaching on the part of persons (such as Paul) who carried Jesus' messages to distant audiences.

The results for low and medium expression of aggression by persons correspond to the results for God and Jesus. Persons in the Gospel books expressed low and medium levels of aggression more than persons in the Pentateuch. The difference between the expression of high aggression, for persons in the Pentateuch and Gospel books, however, was not significant.

Persons in the Gospel books expressed the succorance, deference, and harm avoidance needs more frequently than persons in the Pentateuch. Jesus expressed these needs more frequently than God. Perhaps these results relate to Jesus' emphasis on dependency, obedience, and protection in relations with God. The Lord's Prayer contains the following expressions:

"Give us this day our daily bread" expresses the succorance need.

"Thy will be done" expresses the deference need.

"Deliver us from evil" expresses the harm avoidance need.

The results for expression of the nurturance need by persons were not consistent with the results for God and Jesus. Persons in the Pentateuch expressed the nurturance need more frequently than persons in the Gospels. For the author, no ready explanation for this difference comes to mind.

The needs for dominance and sex were expressed more frequently by persons in the Pentateuch than by persons in the Gospel books. Dominance and sex are "ego" needs that relate strongly to the self (see the Combative Dimension and turn to The Ego Needs). Jesus de-emphasized ego centered motivation and these results may reflect those values. The dominance need was expressed more frequently by God than by Jesus but the sex need was expressed very infrequently by both and was not a discriminator.

The remaining need listed in Table 4 is the achievement need. This need was more frequently expressed by persons in the Pentateuch books than by persons in the Gospel books. Perhaps the Jews at the time the Pentateuch books were written were oriented toward working to establish their social order whereas persons selected for quotes in the Gospel books were oriented more toward acquiring the ideas and values Jesus was teaching.

It is important to again note that persons in the Pentateuch and Gospel books were not differentiated by their status, function, religion, or ethnic class. Analyses based on the above classifications of persons might reveal more meaningful data about the motivation of persons in the Old and New Testaments.

The Dimensional Structure of the Motivation System

The Murray needs used to classify motivational expressions in this study have been extensively analyzed to determine their interrelationships and systems organization. Below are brief descriptions of the three basic motivation dimensions disclosed by multidimensional scaling analysis of Murray needs (see General Systems Point of View). This dimensional structure has remained constant over 30 years with several thousand subjects. It will be used in the following analyses to provide more general understanding of the results of this study.

The three basic motivation dimensions provide the primary ways our needs are organized to cope with the situations we encounter. Each dimension has a proactive area comprised of needs that promote the objectives of the dimension and an opposite reactive area with needs that oppose, inhibit, and control the proactive needs.

1. The combative dimension: This dimension is activated by situations that promote the use of power to attain material possessions and control over others. The proactive needs in this dimension (e.g., aggression, rejection and other combative needs) are generally valued quite negatively.

2. The personal-social dimension: This dimension is activated by situations calling for positive relationships and interactions with others. The needs in the proactive area of this dimension (e.g., affiliation, nurturance, and others) are very positively valued.

3. The competitive dimension: This dimension is activated by situations requiring the use of knowledge and ablility to attain goals and recognition. The needs in the proactive area of this dimension (e.g., understanding, exhibition and others) are positively valued.

Changes in Motivation and Values Initiated by Jesus

Because there are definite values or attitudes associated with each need, the motivational changes Jesus created were accompanied by changes in the values of those who accepted his teachings. There are different types of values but the dominant value by far is the evaluative (good vs bad) dimension (see Osgood's Semantic Differential). The value associated with individual needs provides the values associated with the proactive and reactive areas of the motivational dimensions (see above). By emphasizing certain needs and their accompanying values, Jesus shaped the dimensional motivation and values of his followers.

Some General Questions and Thoughts About Religion

The search for supernatural powers that will provide security, meaning, and direction has been active over the course of recorded human history. In early times people worshipped and feared multiple gods that were in animal, human, or natural forms (the sun, mountains, etc.) A basic change in religious thinking occurred when Judaism proposed a universal ethical monotheism with a supernatural, eternal, unchanging, and in some accounts, omnipotent and omniscient God. The Judaic God was a stern but just father figure who provided for his people and required their obedience and love in return. However, followers were also commanded to fight and conquer (sometimes violently) those who opposed their will. The combative dimension was strongly emphasized in the Pentateuch as indicated by the emphasis on strong aggression and dominance in those books.

Jesus de-emphasized the combative dimension and placed more emphasis on the personal-social and competitive dimensions. In so doing he changed the values of his followers. He placed emphasis and value on moderate aggression rather than strong or violent aggression and he placed special emphasis and value on the nurturance and understanding teaching needs. He did not urge followers to fight for political power or rebel against the political establishment ("Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's"). He understood that religious leaders are easily corrupted when they are able to combine governing power with religious power. He taught that love and compassion would overcome evil. Although he de-emphasized aggression, he was not passive and encouraged his followers to assert the defendance and rejection needs when they were unjustly attacked.

In addition to placing emphasis and value on proactive personal-social dimension needs, Jesus placed positive value on the proactive competitive dimension needs that motivate people to discover and share knowledge. His parables and similes promoted his beliefs and values in ways that provided general abstract comprehension of his messages. His approach to learning sharply contrasts with that of fundamentalists who require literal absolute acceptance of their selected dogma.

In contrast to the authoritarian commands of religious fundamentalists, those inspired by Jesus, Bhudda, St. Thomas, Ghandi, and other religious seers, have emphasized the importance of seeking meaning and purpose in life. Thus, religion provides answers for some people but raises questions for others. Below are three long debated religious questions.

1. Was the universe created by God or by "natural" forces?

2. Is religion the ultimate determiner of the value, meaning, and purpose of human existence?

3. Assuming a supernatural power (God), is God omnipotent (does God have absolute power) or is it more realistic to conceptualize God as the most powerful being in the universe who must struggle with lesser forces to create our universe?

Summary

In the Pentateuch and Gospel books, there are marked differences between God and Jesus in the expression and promotion of knowledge and understanding. Jesus placed a heavy emphasis on teaching general principles for application to everyday life. In the Pentateuch, God proclaimed "laws" to literally and specifically direct people's actions. God emphasized strong aggression and dominance whereas Jesus' combative need expressions were milder and took the more reactive forms of rejection and defendance. Jesus emphasized personal-social needs more than God (e.g., succorance, gratitude, nurturance, affiliation). However, he strongly proclaimed the need to worship and obey God. Jesus was occasionally forced to take precautions to avoid hostile attacks (harm avoidance) whereas God, the all powerful being, was immune to harm.

The results for the tabulation of need expression frequencies by persons in the Gospel books as compared with persons in the Pentateuch generally parallel the results for Jesus in the Gospel books and God in the Pentateuch books. The most notable exception is the nurturance need. Jesus expressed this need more frequently than God but persons in the Pentateuch expressed nurturance more frequently than persons in the Gospels.

Knowledge of historical events and understanding of natural phenomena have not been sufficient to provide general well being and happiness or to satisfy desires to understand the purpose and meaning of life. When we look to political leaders to provide satisfaction of these basic needs we find that most are too concerned with expanding their own or their party's interests to be concerned with values that support the needs of all people. Likewise, most business leaders are too concerned with profits and personal power to actively develop and promote values that contribute to the general welfare. Scientists are taught that value concerns might distract them from seeking better understanding of nature and natural processes (values not always practiced, of course). Educators and teachers are in a strategic position to teach values and raise questions about the purpose and meaning in life but they have shown little desire to pursue such nontraditional and probably controversial subjects. Humanistic philosophers have proposed general value concepts but they have lacked the unity among themselves and the recognition beyond their discipline to gain general acceptance of their proposals.

It appears that religions are the most powerful and effective institutions for establishing general social values. More knowledge and understanding of the values held by major religions might enable us to select, combine, and integrate these values in a system that can better serve general human needs. A recent book is titled: Why Does Religion Matter? Perhaps an answer to this question is: Religion is the most powerful force available to establish the values we need to best motivate and guide human activities and to ponder the question of purpose and meaning in life.

The Picture Identification Test (PIT) is a psychological instrument based on the Murray need system. The PIT uses multidimensional scaling to provide an analysis of needs (motives). It indicates needs that are being met or expressed ineffectively. The PIT can be administered to subjects ages twelve and older.

• Motivation Analysis - Theory developed from Picture Identification Test research and from the general systems point of view.
• Essays - Observations and thoughts about motivation, beliefs, values, purpose and meaning.
• Needs (Motives) - Discussion of 22 Murray based needs as they relate to three major motivation dimensions.

For further information about the Picture Identification Test contact
Jay L. Chambers, PhD: ibis@kalexres.kendal.org
160 Kendal Drive Apartment #205
Lexington, Virginia 24450
Phone: 540.462.3874

The Motivation Analysis web site has three sections:

Motivation Analysis: General Systems Point of View | Combative Dimension | Personal Social Dimension | Competitve Dimension | PIT Scores | PIT Publications | PIT Dissertations | Motivation System Target Model | Target Model Reliability | GPA Predications | Need & Cluster Definitions | Links

Essays: Combative Dominance Syndrome (new) | Political Motivation | Mental Sets | Symbolic Thinking, Values, Motivation & Religion | Needs, Values, Philosophy & Religion

Needs (Motives): Abasement | Achievement | Affiliation | Aggression | Autonomy | Blame Avoidance | Counteraction | Defendance | Deference | Dominance | Exhibition | Gratitude | Harm Avoidance | Inferiority Avoidance | Nurturance | Order | Play | Rejection | Sentience | Sex | Succorance | Understanding

URL: http://www.overbooked.org/motivation/essays/bibmot.html

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