Dr Tehrim Fatima
An instinct is a complex and innate behaviour pattern triggered by specific stimuli and serves a distinctive biological or evolutionary operation. An instinct is universal among members of the same species, regardless of individual or environmental differences. It is unlearned and does not require conscious thought or deliberation. Furthermore, it is adaptive and helps the organism to survive or reproduce in its natural habitat. Then, it is irresistible and difficult to suppress or modify by voluntary control. Instincts are recurring structural patterns. However, human instincts are not as rigid or dominant as in other animals, and higher cognitive and social factors often influence them. Therefore, some psychologists prefer to use other terms, such as drives, needs, motives, or goals, to describe human motivation.
The primary instincts are also known as the emotional systems or the elemental effects, and they are innate, universal, and evolutionarily conserved across mammals. These include seeking, anger, fear, panic-grief, care, pleasure/lust and play. Seeking is the instinct to explore, learn, and anticipate rewards. Anger is the instinct to defend oneself, one’s territory, or one’s resources from threats. Fear is the instinct to avoid or escape from danger or harm. Then, panic-grief is the instinct to seek comfort, attachment, and social support. Care is the instinct to nurture, protect, and bond with offspring or mates. Furthermore, pleasure/lust is the instinct to engage in sexual or sensual activities that promote reproduction or physical gratification. Play is the instinct to have fun, socialize, and practice skills.
These primary instincts are said to be mediated by different brain regions and neurochemicals, and they can interact with each other and with higher cognitive processes to produce complex emotions and behaviours. However, there are some limitations and criticisms of this approach. The concept of instinct is vague and controversial, and it may need to capture the diversity and flexibility of human motivation. Accordingly, some psychologists prefer to use terms such as drives, needs, motives, or goals instead of instincts.
Then, all researchers do not agree upon the number and nature of the primary instincts. Some have proposed more or fewer instincts or different categories or labels for them. For example, some have suggested that curiosity, love, power, achievement, affiliation, and self-actualization are also critical human motives. The evidence for the primary instincts is mainly based on animal studies, which may not generalize to humans. Humans have more complex social and cultural influences on their emotions and behaviours than animals. Moreover, animal studies may reveal a partial range of emotional expressions and experiences that humans can have. Hence, human instincts are hard to negate whatever the dissection is.
The primary instincts may not account for individual differences in personality, temperament, preferences, values, and beliefs. People may vary in how strongly they feel or express each instinct or how they balance or prioritize them in different situations. For example, some people may be more adventurous, aggressive, fearful, compassionate, sensual, or playful than others. The primary instincts may not explain how people regulate their emotions and behaviors in response to internal and external factors. People may use various strategies to cope with or modify their instinctual impulses, such as reasoning, planning, self-control, moral judgment, social norms, or cultural values. For example, people may suppress anger or fear in specific contexts, enhance their pleasure, or play with others. The difference between humans and animals is that animals can not regulate their instincts, but humans can regulate them depending on their faiths, cultures, laws and other motivations.
Finally, the primary instincts are a valuable framework for comprehending some of human motivation’s fundamental biological and evolutionary aspects. However, they cannot explain human emotions and behaviours’ concentrated complexity and diversity. Therefore, they need to be complemented by other psychological and sociocultural perspectives that can account for human motivation’s higher cognitive and social dimensions.
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Can Humans regulate their instincts? This complex question requires a critical evaluation of how humans can regulate their instincts, which are innate and often unconscious impulses or drives that influence behaviour. Instincts are not necessarily fixed or rigid but can be modified or overridden by various factors, such as learning, experience, reason, culture, and faith. Regulating instincts is the paramount challenge; however, humans can regulate their instincts through societal regulations, administrative laws, cultural habits and faith practices. Societal regulations are the norms and expectations that govern the behaviour of individuals and groups within a society. They are often based on shared values, beliefs, traditions, customs, or morals that define what is appropriate or inappropriate, acceptable or unacceptable, right or wrong in a given context. Societal regulations can influence how humans regulate their instincts by providing guidance, feedback, rewards, or sanctions for conforming or deviating from the norms. For example, societal regulations can discourage aggression, violence, or selfishness by promoting desirable traits of cooperation, peace, or altruism. Societal regulations can also encourage curiosity, creativity, or exploration by fostering education, innovation, or discovery as beneficial outcomes.
Administrative laws are the rules and regulations that govern the actions and decisions of public authorities and agencies that carry out the functions of the state. They are often derived from statutory laws enacted by the legislature or executive orders issued by the executives or other officials. Administrative laws can influence how humans regulate their instincts by creating and enforcing a system of public administration under law, which aims to ensure accountability, transparency, fairness, efficiency, and effectiveness in delivering public services and protecting public interests. For example, administrative laws can regulate food and drug safety, environmental protection, civil rights, education standards, or financial transactions by setting standards, procedures, and mechanisms for monitoring, evaluating, and regulating these domains.
Cultural habits are the patterns of behaviour learned and repeated by individuals and groups within a culture. They are often influenced by a culture’s history, geography, language, religion, art, and values. Cultural habits can influence how humans regulate their instincts by shaping their identity, worldview, preferences, and values. For example, cultural habits can affect how humans express their emotions, communicate their thoughts, relate to others, cope with stress, or seek meaning in life by providing them with different modes of expression, interaction, adaptation, or spirituality. Cultural habits can also vary across different cultures or subcultures within a society.
Faith practices are the rituals and activities that individuals and groups perform as part of their religious or spiritual beliefs. They are often based on a specific faith tradition or denomination’s teachings, doctrines, scriptures, or traditions. Faith practices can influence how humans regulate their instincts by connecting them with a higher power or ultimate reality that transcends their natural instincts. For example, faith practices can inspire humans to overcome fear, anger, greed, lust, or pride by cultivating love, compassion, generosity, chastity, or humility as virtues. Faith practices can also motivate humans to pursue truth, justice, peace, or salvation as goals.
Lastly, humans can regulate their instincts through diverse means that involve social, legal, cultural, and religious factors. These factors can either enhance or inhibit certain instincts, depending on the context and the outcome. However, these factors are only sometimes consistent, harmonious, or effective in regulating human instincts. Therefore, humans must also exercise their reason, will, and conscience to balance their instincts with their higher faculties. It also raises a question: Should Humans regulate their instincts?
One possible way to approach this question is to consider the pros and cons of living by or regulating instincts. Instincts can be adaptive and beneficial for survival and well-being. They can help us respond quickly and effectively to situations such as danger, opportunity, or reward. For example, the fight-or-flight response can help us avoid or escape from harm. At the same time, the pleasure/lust instinct can motivate us to engage in sexual or sensual activities that promote reproduction, well-being and relaxation. Instincts can be intuitive and reliable sources of information. They can help us process the outside world rapidly and accurately without relying on conscious thought or deliberation. For example, the yawn reflex can signal that we need more oxygen or rest, while the gut feeling can indicate something wrong or right.
Instincts can be creative and innovative forces. They can inspire us to explore, learn, and discover new fortes without being constrained by rationality or convention. For example, the curiosity instinct can drive us to seek knowledge and understanding, while the play instinct can encourage us to have fun, socialize, and practice skills.
Contrarily, instincts can be limiting and detrimental to survival and well-being. They can lead us to act impulsively and irrationally without considering the consequences or alternatives. For example, the anger instinct can cause us to lash out or harm others, while the fear instinct can prevent us from taking risks or opportunities. Instincts can be biased and misleading sources of information. They can make us ignore or distort evidence contradicting our preconceptions or desires. For example, the optimism bias can cause us to overestimate our chances of success or underestimate our risks of failure. In contrast, the ghoulishness bias can make us favour our group over others.
Instincts can be rigid and outdated forces. They can reflect our evolutionary past rather than our present reality and may not adapt well to changing circumstances or environments. For example, the panic-grief instinct can make us seek comfort and attachment even when it is not available or appropriate. In contrast, the power instinct can make us dominate or compete with others even when it is not necessary or beneficial.
Furthermore, regulating instincts can enhance survival and well-being. It can help us act deliberately and rationally by considering the costs and benefits of different options. For example, regulating food intake can help us maintain a healthy weight and avoid obesity-related diseases while regulating sexual behaviour can help us prevent unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections. Regulating instincts can improve the accuracy and validity of information. It can help us evaluate and integrate evidence from various sources without being swayed by emotions or preferences. For example, regulating confirmation bias can help us seek out and accept information that challenges our beliefs or opinions, while handling self-serving bias can help us acknowledge our mistakes or failures.
Regulating instincts can foster flexibility and diversity of behaviour. It can help us adjust and adapt to different situations or contexts without being bound by habits or traditions. For example, regulating aggression can help us resolve conflicts peacefully or cooperate with others, while regulating conformity can help us express our individuality or creativity.
Regulating instincts can reduce survival and well-being. It can make us act cautiously and hesitantly by overthinking or second-guessing our choices. For example, regulating curiosity can make us miss out on new experiences or opportunities, while regulating pleasure can deprive us of enjoyment or satisfaction.
Regulating instincts can impair the efficiency and reliability of information. It can make us process the outside world slowly and inaccurately by relying on conscious thought or deliberation. For example, regulating intuition can make us disregard our bodily signals or feelings while regulating trust can make us doubt our own judgment or others’ intentions. Regulating instincts can inhibit creativity and innovation of behavior. It can make us conform and adhere to higher cognitive and social factors, such as reason, culture, and faith. For example, regulating play can make us lose our sense of fun, socialization, and skill development while regulating spirituality can make us neglect our connection with a higher power or ultimate reality.
Lastly, there are advantages and disadvantages of living by instincts or regulating them. The optimal balance may depend on various factors, such as the type and strength of the instinct, the situation and context of the behaviour, the goal and outcome of the action, and the individual and group characteristics of the actor. Therefore, there may be other options than giving a general answer to this question. Instead, it may be more beneficial to consider each case on its own merits and to exercise one’s reason, will, and conscience to balance one’s instincts with one’s higher faculties. Hence, one can not control the instincts but only regulate them.
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