Three Key Emotional Triggers (Pt 4): Novelty of Experience

Novelty of experience is often expressed as newness and growth. The purchase of new products or those that make us feel young are manifestations of this need.

The second key emotional trigger I will explore from the aspects of behavior, thought and emotion is growth, formally novelty of experience. I express as growth since every step in the growth process is a new experience. I use the keywords start, education and creation to express how growth manifests itself in people’s behaviors, thoughts and emotions respectively.

When growth is important, our behavior orients around starting new things, ideas, hobbies, relationships or self-improvement.  Starting many new things but perhaps not finishing them because the finishing process is too repetitive reflects this too. Surprises, even negative ones such as slowing or stopping to view accidents, are too. Traveling is a very common behavioral manifestation of this need as is looking youthful. The idea of freshness helps us grasp this.

In our thoughts, growth orients around education and learning. This can take the form of new perspectives, ideas, projects or writings as well as more traditional forms as taking a class, getting a degree, going for training.  Again, traveling, especially to different or exotic places that stimulate digesting different perspectives, is a mental manifestation of a growth need.

Emotionally, growth reflects as creation. It’s about feeling young, refreshed and new. “I’m a new person,” is a common refrain. Frequent moving, changing and rearranging because “It’s something different,” are other manifestations. Hobbies allowing constant creating such as cooking, gardening, crafts, writing and the arts satisfy growth needs. Simply relating with younger people and “living through our children” does this too.

Again, all will need and want growth; it’s a matter of preference over the other needs. Two people could interpret the same experience differently, one with a security emphasis the other with a growth. The long run will display their tendencies.

Who do you know would enjoy learning this?