Discover the background
What is the difference between Graves and Jung?
There are various color methods that can be divided into two theoretical streams.
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What are the differences
The background of the color profiles
Color profiles are often used in processes in the field of personal development, organizational development and team collaboration. HR managers, L&D specialists and trainers often wonder (in their orientation) what the differences are between the providers and whether the meaning of the colors and the number of colors is the same everywhere.

WHAT vs WHY
Two theoretical schools of thought, Graves and Jung
There are two main theoretical movements: the ideas of Jung (1875-1961) and the model of Graves (1914-1986), a contemporary of Maslow. Both look at behavior, with the main difference that Graves also wants to know why someone is exhibiting certain behavior. The context, a person’s motivation and the glasses through which someone looks at the world influence this.
In short, where Jung describes what a person’s preferred behavior is, Graves shows the why of that behavior. My Motivation Insights works according to Graves’ theory. After completing our questionnaire, someone’s motives, resistances and energy balance come to the fore.

Four or multi-colored
Jung versus Graves
You will come across a lot of colors in the HRD course. That’s because both Jung and Graves based methodologies use colors to indicate the different types.
Jung assumes four characteristics that are plotted on two axes; thinking – feeling and introverted – extroverted. 72 subtypes are distinguished on the basis of the four Jung characteristics.
Graves described worldviews and stated that human nature is not static (to be pigeonholed) but an open system in which people will continue to develop. Every individual owns all colors to a greater or lesser extent. The perception (the length of the bar) and the order of the different colors determine the nuance. As a result, many unique combinations are possible and this method is (in our view) more refined.

Differences and similarities
Between the colors
Each color has a different explanation. In terms of meaning, blue and green stand for almost the same in the theories of Graves and Jung. This is much less true for yellow, orange and red: Graves’ orange motive partly overlaps with Jung’s red and yellow, but adds new elements. This orange driver stands for result-oriented, ambitious and efficient.
Finally, Graves adds a color to the palette, namely the color Turquoise, the value system that stands for meaning and relevance. This is seen as the color of today, with themes such as social responsibility and sustainability. Not all Graves-based color methods measure this Turquoise drive.

Discover the power of color
Collaborate and Perform better
My Motivation Insights distinguishes a total of seven drivers that are represented in the color profile by each their own color: green, yellow, turquoise, purple, red, blue and orange. Curious about your colors, those of your colleagues or the team? Feel free to contact us. We are happy to advise you about the possibilities.
What customers say about My Motivation Insights
Do you also want to work with My Motivation Insights or are you interested in a session with your team? We are happy to talk about how we can best support you. We’d love to hear from you!







