The theory of incentives is one of the major theories of motivation and suggests that behavior is motivated by a desire for reinforcement or incentives. Thus, in contrast with other theories that might suggest we are pushed into action by internal drives, incentive theory instead suggests that we are pulled into action by outside incentives. According to this view, people are pulled toward behaviors that offer positive incentives and pushed away from behaviors associated with negative incentives. In other words, differences in behavior from one person to another or from one situation to another can be traced back to the incentives available and the value a person places on those incentives.