Educating people about why they should wash their hands with soap rarely gets them to do it. This is because invisible forces called motives influence our behaviours.

Many factors affect the way our brains makes decisions. Motives drive humans to do things that meet their short-term goals (such as putting on a coat if we are feeling cold) and their long-term goals (such as completing many years of education because we believe that knowledge can improve our status within society).

The Motives tool will help you to identify what is driving handwashing behaviour, or preventing it, in your context. It will also identify motives that shape people’s identity and other behaviours. You will use these motives to develop a motivational story for your handwashing intervention.