12 Driving Forces®:
The Why Behind Behavior
12 Driving Forces® is an assessment that measures the core motivation behind behavior, or "why a person does what they do." Where a behavioral assessment reveals how someone works, a motivator assessment reveals what energizes them, what drains them, and what will keep them engaged in a role long term.
TTI's 12 Driving Forces assessment is built on six dimensions — Knowledge, Utility, Surroundings, Others, Power, and Methodologies — each with two opposing drivers. These are the twelve drivers the assessment is named for. 12 Driving Forces was created by TTI Success Insights in 2015 and is used in more than 100 countries.
Key Takeaways
- Six motivators, twelve drivers. Each dimension is divided into two opposing drivers, forming a continuum of motivation. Together, these create a person's unique Driving Forces profile.
- The model traces to Eduard Spranger's 1928 work on human values, which TTI operationalized into a measurable, report-ready instrument.
- 12 Driving Forces is not a selection screener. This assessment ranks drivers within a person, not against a population, and it should never be used as a pass/fail hiring cutoff.
What Is a Motivation Assessment?
A motivation assessment measures the values that determine what a person finds rewarding at work, rather than measuring skill or behavior. It reveals why someone engages with one task and disengages from another, which makes it an excellent tool for understanding retention, engagement, and role-fit.
Most organizations cannot explain why a strong performer suddenly disengaged when nothing about their behavior changed. An assessment that measures motivation has the answers, because the change is rarely in how the person works — it's in whether their work still fulfills their passions.
12 Driving Forces measures that directly. The assessment provides a ranked profile, showing which drivers are primary, which are situational, and which are indifferent, along with the practical implications for how that person should be managed, developed, and rewarded.
The 12 Driving Forces, Defined
Six motivators sit at the core of the assessment. Each one splits into two opposing expressions, and those twelve expressions are the driving forces.
| Motivator | Driving Force | What Drives This Person? |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Intellectual | Opportunities to learn, acquire knowledge, and discover what is true |
| Instinctive | Past experience and intuition, seeking specific information only when a situation calls for it | |
| Utility | Resourceful | Practical results and a return on invested time, talent, energy, and resources |
| Selfless | Completing the task for its own sake, with little expectation of personal return | |
| Surroundings | Harmonious | Balance, subjective experience, and the feel of the environment |
| Objective | Functionality and practical utility in their surroundings over atmosphere | |
| Others | Altruistic | Assisting people for the satisfaction of being helpful and supportive |
| Intentional | Assisting people for a specific purpose or defined outcome | |
| Power | Commanding | Status, recognition, and control over their own position and direction |
| Collaborative | Contributing to a team or mission without needing individual recognition | |
| Methodologies | Structured | Proven systems, tradition, and a defined approach to work |
| Receptive | New ideas and unconventional methods that sit outside an established system |
You can see how this looks in practice before committing to anything: download a sample 12 Driving Forces report (PDF) and review the actual pages a participant receives.
DISC and Driving Forces: Behavior Compared With Motivation
Behavior assessments and motivation assessments answer different questions, and using one where the other is needed is a common misapplication of assessment data.
| Question About Assessment | DISC (behaviors) | 12 Driving Forces (motivators) |
|---|---|---|
| What does it measure? | How a person behaves, communicates and interacts with others | Why a person does what they do, or what motivates them |
| What is it best used for? | Communication, conflict, team dynamics, interview structure | Engagement, retention, role fit, reward design |
| Explains a strong performer disengaging | No — behavior often looks unchanged | Yes — a driver is no longer being met by the role |
| Separates two candidates with the same style | No | Yes |
| Does it answer "how do I talk to this person"? | Yes! DISC reveals observable behavior | Partially. 12 Driving Forces reveals what someone cares about, which can help communication |
Because the two assessments answer different questions and measure different aspects of a person, they are often paired together for even deeper insights. TTI combines DISC and 12 Driving Forces in multi-science reports which present behavior and motivation in one integrated document rather than two separate reports. Check out TTI's DISC assessment to explore more about behavior, or the full assessment suite for all five sciences that TTI offers.
How Organizations Use Driving Forces Data
- Retention and engagement — Identify which drivers a role actually satisfies, then compare that against the drivers of the people in it. A misalignment predicts disengagement before exit interviews do.
- Hiring and role fit — Benchmark what a job role rewards, and use the results to structure interview questions rather than to screen candidates out. (See hiring and selection solutions for more.)
- Leadership development — Reveal how leadership's drivers shape what they unconsciously reward in others. (Read more on Driving Forces and effective leadership.)
- Team and succession work — Identify who is motivated by their team and role rather than only capable of the work.
For a deeper walkthrough of each driver, read the 12 Driving Forces: what you need to know.
Where Does the 12 Driving Forces Model Come From?
The six motivators are rooted in the work of German philosopher and psychologist Eduard Spranger, whose 1928 study of human value types set out the categories the assessment still uses. Spranger described the value orientations; he did not build a measurement instrument.
TTI Success Insights developed his framework into a scored, report-ready assessment, extended each motivator into a two-ended continuum, and validated the instrument through its in-house research team. Supporting studies are published on the TTI Research portal. TTI has been building and validating assessments since 1984 and delivers them through its own Internet Delivery Service platform.
Any assessment influencing a hiring decision in the U.S. must be job-related and monitored for adverse impact under EEOC guidance; professional practice standards from SIOP take the same position. TTI's validation documentation and compliance statements are on the compliance page.
Two Ways to Work With TTI
Whether you are a leader bringing motivator data into your own organization or a coach or consultant who wants to use it with clients, the starting point is the same conversation.
Organizations: book a 20-minute consultation to scope where Driving Forces fits alongside the decisions you are already making.
Coaches, consultants, and trainers: join the TTI partner network of more than 7,000 experts and get certified to debrief these reports under your own brand.
Prefer to talk now? Call 800.869.6908, or see learning and certification programs.
12 Driving Forces: Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the 12 Driving Forces Assessment?
12 Driving Forces is a workplace motivation assessment published by TTI Success Insights that measures why a person does what they do. It scores six motivators — Knowledge, Utility, Surroundings, Others, Power, and Methodologies — on a two-ended continuum, producing twelve ranked drivers. It is used for engagement, retention, role fit, and development.
What Is the Difference Between DISC and 12 Driving Forces?
DISC measures observable behavior and how a person approaches tasks and interacts with others. 12 Driving Forces measures motivation, the ‘why’ behind the ‘how.’ Two people can share an identical DISC profile and be motivated by opposite things, which is why these two assessments are frequently used together in a multiscience report for deeper insight.
Can the 12 Driving Forces Assessment Be Used to Screen Job Candidates?
This assessment should not be used as a pass/fail screen. 12 Driving Forces ranks drivers within a person rather than against a normed population, so it does not support a cutoff score. Used appropriately, motivator data informs interview questions, onboarding, and how a role is framed. Any assessment influencing a U.S. hiring decision must still be job-related and monitored for adverse impact.
How Long Does the Assessment Take To Complete?
12 Driving Forces is a short online questionnaire delivered through TTI's Internet Delivery Service, and most participants complete it in a single sitting. Reports are generated immediately and are typically debriefed by a certified TTI partner or an internal practitioner who has completed TTI certification.
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