This article begins with the assumption that the concept of strokes, as connected to recognition hunger, has enlarged—in post-Bernian thinking—in importance until it has become the most widely held motivational factor theorized. This supports a vision of social intercourse that is too dependent on the need for strokes. A careful analysis of Berne's writing—from his early papers on intuition to his last work—shows how the basis for general human motivation should be found in stimulus hunger and in several instincts as well. It is suggested that a major emphasis on stimuli seeking, rather than on recognition, could favor a vision of social intercourse as a relationship in which the participants have more active and positive roles.
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