How a relationship between thinking and feeling may give rise to a variety of human behaviors

In this study, it is proposed that, as a result of evolution and natural selection, human beings experience positive feelings when they succeed in comprehending some aspect of reality and negative feelings when they fail. It is also shown how the relationship between thinking and feeling may give rise to competence and intrinsic motivation, the need for perceived control, the need to believe in a just world, the need for cognitive consistency, the need for self-esteem, and the need for meaning. The proposal can also account for the motivation behind autotelic activities; can specify the conditions under which self-esteem and self-consistency motivations will operate; and is consistent with theory and research on adaptation to stressful life events and with views on the causes and treatment of psychopathology.