ne experiences--is almost universal among humans. Autonomy is the simultaneous struggle of external control and escape from external control over oneself. A "need" or desire for autonomy is present in almost all humans, though it may show some variation in magnitude from person to person as a result of the amount, or degree, of dependency experienced in childhood.Lastly, although control ratios conceivably can take on an unlimited number of values, small differences are theoretically meaningless. The theory is not concerned with extremely fine gradations among control ratios, at least not at the present state of its development. Rather, it focuses on seven zones on a continuum. The middle zone, encompassing control ratios reasonably close to unity, is called the "balanced" zone. Deviations from the midpoint in the positive direction include three zones representing progressively greater degrees of control surplus; the zone of "minimal" surplus, the zone of "moderate" surplus, and the zone of "maximum" surplus. Similarly, deviations from the midpoint in the negative direction encompass three zones of increasing control deficit: the zone of "marginal" deficit, the zone of "excess" deficit, and the zone of "extreme" deficit.Not only do people posses a fundamental desire for autonomy that interacts with their control ratio to generate a natural inclination toward deviant motivation, but the control ratio also interacts with various primary desires to produce a predisposition toward deviant motivation. These initial impulses include hunger, thirst, sexual need, desire for entertainment or amusement, as well as various activities that gratify fundamental bodily or psychic needs. The likelihood that these urges, or needs, will be blocked is strongly linked to the individual's control ratio; when blocked, they constitute predisposition's toward deviant motivation. Although everybody has such desires that potentially propel behavior, t...
