Reiss Motivation Profile®

Know what drives people.
Unlock how they perform.

Sixteen basic desires drive how people train, work, lead and compete. The Reiss Motivation Profile® measures them, so one athlete, one team or a whole organisation can perform at their best.

225,000+profiles completed
150+countries
17peer-reviewed articles
Sample profileOne person's six significant desires
See all 16 →
Used by
AFLNRLAustralian Rugby LeagueNBAWNBANFLOlympic GamesSephoraThe Body ShopFour PillarsMt BullerSoulfresh
A netball team catching their breath while their coach talks at quarter time
The Reiss Motivation Profile®

Not a label. A predictor.

Most tools sort people into types. The Reiss Motivation Profile® measures the strength of 16 basic desires in one person, and that mix predicts how they will actually behave. It works the same for one person, a squad of 40 or an organisation of 5,000.

  1. 128questions,
    about 20 minutes
  2. 16desires, each scored
    from −2 to +2
  3. 135,000+people in the norm group
    behind every score
The 16 basic desires

Sixteen things we all want, each to a different degree.

Each desire has a goal we value for its own sake and an intensity, how much of it we need before we feel satisfied. Culture shapes how a desire shows up. It does not decide whether we have it. Click any desire to read more.

MotivationLab

The profile is the fuel. MotivationLab is the engine.

Every profile comes with MotivationLab, where your scores turn into a daily coach, a full report and learning built around what actually drives you.

  1. 1Your results, ranked

    All 16 desires scored and ordered by strength, with the significant ones flagged. Click any desire to read what it means for you.

  2. 2Your personal coach

    An AI coach that knows your profile. Ask about a conversation, a decision or a flat week and get an answer built on your scores.

  3. 3Learning built around you

    Short videos and reads chosen from your strongest desires, so every piece is relevant to how you are wired.

  4. 4An insight every day

    One practical prompt each day, drawn from your top desires and what is on your calendar.

How you get itEvery profile comes with MotivationLab. Teams and organisations run it as a program, fully virtual or supported by a specialist.
reissmotivation.com/motivationlab
MT
Maya TorresHead Coach · RMP completed Nov 2025
BarsWheel
Click any desire to read the details
8 significant desires (score beyond ±0.84) · your defining signalsView full profile (16)
Turn your scores into insightsGenerate a personal analysis of your profile — the patterns, interplays and watch-outs behind your 16 scores.
Generate my insights
← Back to My Profile← Previous: Social ContactNext: Vengeance →
One of the 16 basic desires

Physical Activity

The Desire for Exercise

I value physical strength, fitness, vitality, and stamina.
+1.82Strong need
WeakAverageStrong
SedentaryActive
Explanation video
▶Dr Mel Irons · 2 min
For you specifically

What having a strong desire for Physical Activity means

Physical Activity measures the degree to which you are motivated by exercise, physical strength, fitness, and bodily vitality.

RM
My Personal CoachOnline · powered by your Reiss Motivation Profile®
Hi Jordan. I'm your personal coach, built on your motivation profile. Want help preparing for a conversation, a decision, or some focus time?
How do I stay motivated in repetitive weeks?What kind of work environment suits me best?How should I handle pushback in meetings?How do I motivate people wired differently to me?
Suggested questions
Ask anything…
Learn

Learning fuelled by you.

Access content and resources tailored to your profile. Refreshed often for continual learning.

For YouLearn About RMP
Your desires01Curiosity02Order03Tranquillity

Your Curiosity Intellectual (+1.7)

Intellectual. You see yourself as energised by ideas, analysis and understanding. You believe the quality of your questions sets the ceiling on the quality of your decisions.

WeakAverageStrong
≡ Read9 min
Curiosity · Greater GoodWired to WonderWant to live a more meaningful life? Start by asking questions, suggests psychologist Todd Kashdan.
≡ Read18 min
Curiosity · PsycheHow to have a life full of wonder and learning about the worldThat childhood urge to ask how and why usually fades. We can all learn to rediscover the joys of wide-eyed discovery.
▶ Watch17 min
Curiosity · TEDWhy curiosity is the key to science and medicineKevin B. Jones on why science is knowledge in process, and why honesty about the unknown makes medicine better.
✕▶
TED · Kevin B. Jones

Why curiosity is the key to science and medicine

Science is a learning process of experimentation, failure and revision.
0:00 / 17:00CC · HD
Today's insightReload the page for a fresh insight
Back-to-back meetings starve your Curiosity (+1.72). Protect one 45-minute deep-work block today. That block is how your motivation recharges.Based on Curiosity · Order · Tranquillity
View today's insightsSee the scores

Ask your personal coach

Tailored answers, powered by your Reiss Motivation Profile.

Ask anything…
How do I stay motivated in repetitive weeks?What kind of work environment suits me best?How should I handle pushback in meetings?
Keep going

Continue learning

View all →
≡ Read9 min
Curiosity · Greater GoodWired to WonderWant to live a more meaningful life? Start by asking questions, suggests psychologist Todd Kashdan.
≡ Read5 min
Order · The ConversationWhat you do every day matters: the power of routinesRoutines can support creativity, boost health and provide meaningful activities and opportunities.
▶ Watch7 min
Tranquillity · TED3 reasons to take risks like a teenagerNeuroscientist Adriana Galván on what teens can teach us about embracing uncertainty.
Reading your 16 scores…
MotivationLab · Business

Your Reiss Motivation Profile Analysis

Jordan Lee · Generated 9 Sep 2026 · Reiss Motivation Profile®
Export as PDFPreparing PDF…
Today's insights
1
A defining drive for Curiosity

Your Curiosity score (+1.72) is one of the strongest signals in your whole profile. Understanding is fuel. You'll tend to do your best work when there is a real question on the table and room to explore it.

“I value knowledge, ideas and understanding.”
2
A defining drive for Saving

Your Saving score (+1.35) sits firmly beyond the ±0.84 significance line. Thoroughness comes naturally. You'll tend to do your best work when you can prepare properly and keep what matters.

“I value thrift, thoroughness and keeping what matters.”
3
A defining drive for Tranquillity

Your Tranquillity score (+1.26) is a clear, stable signal in your wiring. Calm is a condition for good thinking. You'll tend to do your best work when risk is understood and the pace leaves room to think.

“I value calm, safety and time to prepare.”
Your analysis is ready · 4 pages · Saved to Downloads
Programs

One profile. Two ways to run it.

Same profile, same MotivationLab platform, in Business and Sport versions. What changes is how much guidance comes with it, and pricing that scales with the size of your organisation.

Self-directed · fully virtual

Digital Motivational Insights Program

An interactive digital debrief guides every person through their own profile at their own pace, then MotivationLab keeps the learning going with a personal coach and tailored content.

Ideal for
Whole organisations, developing coaches and athletes, graduate and frontline cohorts.
How it runs
  1. 1Complete the profile20 to 30 min
  2. 2Self-directed insights debrief45 to 60 min
  3. 3Ongoing learning in MotivationLabUnlimited
Teams and organisations

Programs are quoted per program, not per test. The per-profile cost falls as numbers rise, whether that is 20 people or 5,000.

Professor Steven Reiss
The man behind the science Everybody wants the same things, but not to the same degree.
Professor Steven Reiss, 1947 to 2016Psychologist, The Ohio State University. Founder of IDS Publishing.

Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard trained. From studies of more than 6,000 people on four continents he identified the 16 basic desires, then built the first standardised measure of them. Eight books, five national awards, and a profile now completed by more than 225,000 people.

Read the science