Research Areas
The AIM Framework provides a unified lens for understanding human behavior across academic disciplines. Explore how this framework transforms research and practice in different fields.
Economics
Endogenous preferences, status goods, and market dynamics explained through three sources of motivation.
Key Insights:
- • Status goods as mimetic desire
- • Intrinsic motivation in entrepreneurship
- • Appetitive needs in consumer behavior
Psychology
Protecting intrinsic motivation, understanding social anxiety, and preventing mimetic pathology.
Key Insights:
- • Social anxiety as mimetic rivalry
- • Flow states and intrinsic motivation
- • Appetitive regulation and mental health
Health & Policy
Separating physiological need from social amplification in public health interventions.
Key Insights:
- • Obesity: appetite vs. mimetic eating
- • Healthcare access and intrinsic motivation
- • Policy design for different sources
Law
Defining fairness, justice, and respect through appetitive sufficiency and intrinsic autonomy.
Key Insights:
- • Contract design for motivation sources
- • Legal frameworks and autonomy
- • Justice as appetitive sufficiency
Education
Designing learning environments that protect curiosity and prevent drift to status competition.
Key Insights:
- • Intrinsic motivation in learning
- • Grading systems and mimetic rivalry
- • Educational autonomy and mastery
Organizations
From status tournaments to mission-driven work through source-specific interventions.
Key Insights:
- • Organizational culture and motivation
- • Leadership and intrinsic motivation
- • Team dynamics and mimetic patterns
Marketing
Diagnosing stickiness vs. herd effects to predict brand loyalty and consumer behavior.
Key Insights:
- • Brand loyalty and intrinsic connection
- • Viral marketing and mimetic desire
- • Consumer segmentation by motivation
Methodology
How to test, validate, and apply the AIM Framework with scientific rigor across research domains.
Key Insights:
- • Measuring motivational sources
- • Experimental design principles
- • Falsification criteria and validation
How AIM Transforms Research
By distinguishing between three neural sources of motivation, AIM provides researchers with precise tools for understanding and predicting human behavior across all domains.
Appetites (A)
Physiological needs that drive immediate, state-dependent behaviors. Critical for understanding health, consumption, and basic human needs.
Intrinsic Motivation (I)
Self-endorsed activities that persist across contexts. Essential for understanding creativity, learning, and long-term engagement.
Mimetic Desire (M)
Socially transmitted desires that create herding, rivalry, and status competition. Key for understanding markets, social dynamics, and cultural phenomena.
Join the Research
We're actively seeking researchers to test AIM predictions, validate interventions, and explore applications across disciplines.
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