Reversal Theory

Reversal theory is a phenomenological theory of personality, motivation and emotion that focuses on the dynamic qualities of human experience to explain how a person moves from one psychological state to another, based on their motivation and the meaning they attach to a situation at a given moment. Unlike many theories of personality, it does not describe fixed, static traits but instead a set of dynamic motivational states that a person cycles through over time, prioritizing, feeling and reacting differently and seeking different rewards as they move between states, so that the theory's overall emphasis falls on the changeability of human nature rather than its stability.