The Zoo in Our Brain: An Evolutionary Psychology Framework for Understanding and Coaching Human Behaviour

J Health Behav Med Hist 2025-9.

The Zoo in Our Brain: An Evolutionary Psychology Framework for Understanding and Coaching Human Behaviour

Robert C. van de Graaf, MD, director

MEDTCC Institute for Health, Behaviour, Medicine and its History, The Netherlands.

Abstract
Human behaviour is shaped by evolved psychological mechanisms that once served adaptive purposes in ancestral environments. In clinical and coaching contexts, clients often struggle with behavioural patterns – such as avoidance, conformity, rigidity, restlessness, and meaninglessness – that can be traced to these ancient instincts. This article introduces the “Zoo in Our Brain Model”, a metaphorical but scientifically grounded framework comprising five core behavioural drives: the Comfort Seeker, the Belonger, the Creature of Habit, the Explorer, and the Meaning Maker. Each drive is linked to specific evolutionary functions, psychological modules, and modern mismatches. The model offers clinicians and coaches a practical, non-pathologizing lens for understanding and guiding clients through behavioural change.

Introduction

Contemporary clinical and coaching practices often aim to help individuals change behaviour that is perceived as irrational, self-sabotaging, or “stuck.” However, from an evolutionary psychology perspective, such behaviour is rarely irrational. It is typically the product of evolved psychological adaptations that once served survival or reproductive goals in ancestral environments.

This raises a crucial question: if our brains are wired by evolution, how can we better understand – and coach – the behaviours they generate? One powerful answer lies in the use of accessible metaphors that bridge the gap between deep scientific theory and lived, emotional experience. Metaphors help illuminate the inner landscape, offering practitioners and clients a shared language for conflict, regulation, and transformation.

One widely known metaphor is the Triune Brain Theory, originally proposed by neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean (1913–2007). It conceptualizes the human brain as having evolved in three major layers:

• The Reptilian Complex or Reptilian Brain (basal ganglia): responsible for instinctual survival behaviours like fight, flight, and freeze.
• The Paleomammalian (Limbic) Brain: associated with emotions, bonding, and social behaviour.
• The Neomammalian Brain (neocortex): enabling reasoning, planning, language, and abstract thought.

Although contemporary neuroscience regards this model as an oversimplification, it continues to function as a potent metaphor in behavioural coaching. It mirrors how clients often experience internal tension – between primal urges, emotional reactions, and thoughtful intentions.

Another influential framework for understanding human behaviour is the Dual-Process Model of cognition, often represented metaphorically as the Rider and the Horse or the Rider and the Elephant. Unlike the triune brain, which traces the evolutionary layering of brain structures, the dual-process model distinguishes between two systems of thinking: a fast, automatic, subconscious, emotional system and a slow, deliberate, rational system. This distinction has deep roots in philosophical thought.

In Plato’s Phaedrus, the soul is described as a charioteer trying to steer two horses – one noble, one unruly – symbolizing the struggle between reason and desire. In modern psychology, Daniel Kahneman (1934–2024) describes these systems as System 1 (fast, instinctive, emotional) and System 2 (slow, rational, effortful). Jonathan Haidt further popularized the metaphor of a rider atop an elephant, where the rider represents rational control and the elephant symbolizes powerful emotional and habitual drives.

In clinical and coaching contexts, these metaphors illustrate why sheer willpower or insight is often insufficient for lasting behavioural change. Sustainable transformation requires engaging the “horse” – the deeper, embodied parts of our minds – through emotional alignment, repetition, environmental design, and compassionate reinforcement.

Evolutionary psychology provides a theoretical foundation for these metaphors. It posits that the human mind consists of domain-specific psychological mechanisms – often referred to as “mental modules” – that evolved to solve recurrent challenges of survival and reproduction in ancestral environments. These mechanisms are not general-purpose problem-solvers but functionally specialized systems designed to detect and respond to specific types of environmental input: threats, social cues, status hierarchies, food sources, mating opportunities, and more. These systems operate largely outside of conscious awareness and are optimized for the ecological and social conditions of prehistoric life.

However, our modern environment differs radically from that ancestral world. We now live in urbanized, digitized, and socially fragmented societies – environments our brains did not evolve to navigate. This mismatch leads to what scholars call evolutionary mismatch: traits or behaviours that were once adaptive but become maladaptive when expressed in a novel or artificial context. Examples include the craving for high-calorie foods (adaptive in scarcity, harmful in abundance) or hypervigilance in low-threat environments (contributing to anxiety disorders).

Many common psychological and behavioural challenges – such as procrastination, burnout, perfectionism, or addiction – can be reframed not as flaws or disorders, but as overextensions, undernourishments, or misfirings of evolved drives. Clients may not be broken; they may be mismatched.

Building on this metaphorical and evolutionary psychological foundation, I developed the Zoo in Our Brain Model through years of clinical work and real-world observation. This model emerged organically from hundreds of conversations with patients, clients, and professionals. Drawing on my background as a medical doctor specialized in addictions, behaviour change, evolutionary psychology, and metaphorical thinking, I began to notice recurring internal dynamics – voices, loops, emotional needs – that clustered into five recognizable behavioural drives. These “animals” were not invented, but discovered: shaped by the language, narratives, emotional and behavioural patterns of people trying to understand themselves.

The Zoo in Our Brain Model introduces a metaphorical inner ecosystem of five animal-like drives, each reflecting an evolutionary pressure and deep psychological need that continues to shape our behaviour:

• The Comfort Seeker aligns with primal avoidance and reward systems.
• The Belonger and Creature of Habit reflect mammalian circuits for social bonding and routine.
• The Explorer and Meaning Maker represent uniquely human capacities for curiosity, learning, abstraction, autonomy, and purpose.

Together, these five drives form a practical, intuitive map of inner life – one that enables practitioners to frame behaviour in an integrated and non-pathologizing way. The model honours both our ancient instincts and our modern aspirations.

By helping clients identify which drives are overactive, underfed, or in conflict, the Zoo in Our Brain Model offers clinicians and coaches a nuanced tool for behavioural insight and change. Rather than fighting or suppressing these drives, the goal is to understand, engage, and guide them – turning inner chaos into inner ecology.

1. The Comfort Seeker

This drive represents our most primal survival instinct, rooted in ancient reptilian brain structures like the brainstem and basal ganglia. It is neurochemically governed by systems that prioritise dopamine (seeking and reward), endorphins (relief and pleasure), and GABA (inhibition and calm). Its core logic is simple yet powerful: avoid harm, conserve energy, and seek immediate comfort.

From an evolutionary standpoint, the Comfort Seeker was critical in hostile environments marked by scarcity, pain, and unpredictability. Retreating into warmth, stillness, or food wasn’t indulgence – it was self-preservation. Today, however, in environments overflowing with ultra-accessible comforts – junk food, digital stimulation, alcohol, pills – this ancient system is easily hijacked. What was once adaptive now often fuels avoidance loops and overconsumption.

Behavioural psychology teaches us that all behaviour, at the moment it occurs, is perceived (consciously or unconsciously) to have more benefits than costs. Even maladaptive behaviours make sense in their original context. The Comfort Seeker is thus not merely one of five drives – it is the bedrock. It colours and supports all others: making habits feel soothing, belonging feel safe, novelty rewarding, and meaning emotionally stabilising.

Clinical example: A client reports chronic binge eating in the evening. Upon exploration, food has become her primary form of emotional regulation. Coaching validates the Comfort Seeker’s protective logic while introducing alternative soothing rituals – such as breathwork, body-based self-care, or gentle journaling – allowing her to shift behaviour without shame.

2. The Belonger

The Belonger archetype reflects our deeply rooted mammalian need for attachment, acceptance, and relational safety. It is neurobiologically anchored in the limbic system, anterior cingulate cortex, and oxytocinergic and serotonergic systems, which help us bond, attune, and track social approval.

Evolutionarily, survival depended not on rugged individualism but on group inclusion. Belonging to a tribe offered protection, food sharing, and access to reproduction. Social rejection, by contrast, meant danger. Our brains evolved to monitor social cues with high sensitivity, prompting us to behave in ways that maintain group harmony.

Today, the Belonger still motivates connection and collaboration – but it can clash with assertiveness, boundary-setting, or authenticity in modern social systems. It may drive people-pleasing or conflict avoidance not out of weakness, but from a neuro-evolutionary mandate: stay safely connected.

Clinical example: A young professional hesitates to provide critical feedback at work. Her Belonger fears exclusion or being seen as “difficult.” Coaching helps her understand this instinct and develop strategies for speaking up while preserving relational safety.

3. The Creature of Habit

This archetype embodies the brain’s capacity to automate behaviour through repetition and reward. It is grounded in subcortical structures – especially the basal ganglia (notably the dorsal striatum), the limbic system, and midbrain dopamine loops – that encode habit formation and procedural memory.

In ancient environments, forming predictable routines – like where to find water or how to prepare food – freed up mental energy for novel or dangerous challenges. Habits became stabilising anchors in a volatile world. Today, the same system helps us brush teeth or drive without thinking – but also keeps us locked into less adaptive routines like drinking wine after work or doom-scrolling during stress.

Habits are notoriously resistant to change, not because of laziness, but because they reside in implicit memory systems that are stronger than conscious intention. Effective behavioural change must therefore engage the brain’s habit loops, not just its rational centres.

Clinical example: A man smokes after every meal, despite wanting to quit. Coaching focuses on dissecting the habit loop (cue–routine–reward), and gradually building a competing routine (e.g. post-meal walk or chewing gum) that reconditions the loop without triggering threat signals.

4. The Explorer

The Explorer represents our innate drive for curiosity, novelty, and autonomous exploration. It is orchestrated by cortical regions like the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and modulated by dopamine networks that reward uncertainty, discovery, and mastery.

Evolutionarily, exploration increased adaptive fitness. Individuals who ventured beyond the familiar – seeking new tools, foods, and alliances – often found survival advantages. This drive helped humans innovate, expand territories, and transmit knowledge across generations.

In modern life, the Explorer fuels creativity, learning, and personal growth. But when stifled by rigid routines or social pressures, it may express itself as boredom, apathy, or even burnout. When over-activated, it can drive impulsivity or chronic distraction.

Clinical example: A successful woman describes restlessness and disengagement at work. Her days feel monotonous. Coaching reveals an underfed Explorer. Together, they design intellectually stimulating side projects and introduce novelty into her professional routine, reigniting her intrinsic motivation.

5. The Meaning Maker

This archetype reflects our symbolic and future-oriented brain. It integrates memories, values, and imagined futures into a coherent identity and purpose. It relies on networks including the default mode network, prefrontal cortex, and limbic system to create narratives that guide behaviour and imbue it with emotional significance.

From an evolutionary standpoint, meaning-making allowed humans to build moral codes, share stories, and organise around shared goals. This capacity supported cooperation, cultural survival, and resilience in hardship. Meaning isn’t just philosophical – it’s neurobiological.

When the Meaning Maker is offline, people may feel lost, burnt out, or empty. When active, it supports long-term thinking, coherence, and vitality. Coaching or therapy that reconnects people to their “why” can dramatically enhance motivation and emotional alignment.

Clinical example: A burned-out physician feels numb and disengaged after years of overwork. Coaching helps him revisit his core values and professional mission. As purpose reawakens, so does his sense of agency and energy.

Integration: A System of Interacting Drives

These five archetypes are not isolated systems. They function as a dynamic behavioural ecology. Each has strengths and vulnerabilities. When well-balanced, they create a foundation for vitality, resilience, and behavioural flexibility. When misaligned, they can pull us in conflicting directions—or keep us stuck in loops of suffering or stagnation.

Case Example – Aligned Drives

A mid-career educator thrives professionally and personally. She has comforting daily rituals (Comfort Seeker), strong professional relationships (Belonger), healthy routines (Creature of Habit), creative side projects (Explorer), and a clear sense of mission (Meaning Maker). Coaching focuses on maintaining this integration during life transitions, ensuring continued alignment across domains.

Case Example – Misaligned Drives

A tech worker reports anxiety, procrastination, and emptiness. He compulsively scrolls (Comfort Seeker), avoids conflict with coworkers (Belonger), clings to outdated routines (Creature of Habit), and feels creatively stifled (Explorer), with no clear sense of why he’s doing the work (Meaning Maker). Coaching helps untangle these imbalances, starting with stabilising routines and reconnecting with purpose.

Clinical Application: Coaching with the Zoo in Our Brain

Understanding the five evolutionary drives is just the beginning. The real strength of The Zoo in Our Brain model lies in its application: as a diagnostic lens, a coaching compass, and a shared language for behavioural change. Rather than offering a fixed typology or one-size-fits-all theory, the model functions as a dynamic map – helping coaches and clinicians explore which drives are overactive, undernourished, or in conflict, and how to restore functional balance.

By externalizing behaviour as the work of distinct yet interconnected inner “animals,” the model fosters self-compassion, insight, and personalized transformation. What follows are practical ways to use the framework in everyday coaching and therapeutic work.

Intake and Assessment

At the start of the process, practitioners can use the model to explore how each drive is currently expressed. A simple intake form, reflection tool, or set of metaphor cards invites clients to identify which “inner animals” feel dominant, neglected, or conflicted.

Example: A coach offers a worksheet with five illustrated animal archetypes and reflection prompts. Clients rate each archetype’s current influence and desired strength. This opens a non-pathologizing dialogue about imbalance – not failure.

Psychoeducation

Many clients feel shame around behaviours they struggle to change. The Zoo model reframes these patterns as evolutionarily wired and deeply human – offering a narrative grounded in biology and compassion. Rather than diagnosing dysfunction, it teaches adaptation.

Example: A client addicted to social media learns about the Comfort Seeker’s craving for relief, the Belonger’s need for approval, and the Habit Creature’s automated loops. Understanding how these systems evolved softens self-judgment and unlocks new behavioural options.

Behavioural Mapping

Clients can map a typical day through the lens of the five drives. Using colours, symbols, or timelines, they visualize which drives are active when – and what triggers them. This often reveals behavioural loops, unmet needs, or blind spots.

Example: A client who snacks excessively at night maps her stress patterns. The exercise reveals that work-related pressure suppresses her Explorer and Meaning Maker, activating the Comfort Seeker by evening. Coaching focuses on reintroducing novelty and purpose earlier in the day.

Tailored Interventions

The model encourages redirection – not suppression – of drives. Practitioners help clients develop micro-goals that nourish underused drives while gently tempering overactive ones. Each drive has its own behavioural “diet”:

• Comfort Seeker → Healthy soothing (e.g., warm baths, nature walks, deep breathing)
• Belonger → Authentic connection (e.g., group rituals, vulnerable conversation, support systems)
• Creature of Habit → Intentional habit design (e.g., habit stacking, environmental cues)
• Explorer → Novelty and play (e.g., side projects, curiosity journaling, creative expression)
• Meaning Maker → Purpose and coherence (e.g., values clarification, legacy planning, narrative work)

Example: A mid-career professional feels emotionally drained and stuck. With her coach, she builds a plan: weekly painting sessions (Explorer), journaling on personal values (Meaning Maker), and restructuring morning routines (Creature of Habit). The aim is not just change – but harmony.

Inner Visualization

Clients may be guided through a visualization in which they imagine the five animals in a room. Which one is pacing? Which one is sleeping? Which needs space, or has taken over? This intuitive exercise can surface emotional truths that words may miss.

Working with Imbalance

Each drive exists on a spectrum. When one is overactive – or another neglected – psychological distress often follows. For example, a neglected Meaning Maker can lead to burnout, while an overactive Comfort Seeker may cause chronic avoidance. The goal is dynamic balance, not suppression.

Reframe: Drives are not enemies. They are energies – each with evolutionary logic and potential. Coaching helps clients learn to listen to, respect, and rebalance them.

Goal Alignment and Motivation

The model enhances goal-setting by aligning it with the client’s unique behavioural blueprint. Instead of generic goals like “be healthier” or “be more focused,” clients set goals that reflect their dominant and neglected drives – leading to deeper engagement and longer-lasting change.

Cultural Sensitivity

While biologically grounded, each drive is shaped by cultural norms. The Belonger, for instance, may express differently in collectivist versus individualist cultures. Practitioners are encouraged to explore how culture, community, and identity influence drive expression.

Group Coaching and Teams

The model also works powerfully in group settings. Participants often recognize their own drives mirrored in others. Group exercises – like drawing, storytelling, or role-play – can create insight, laughter, and connection. Teams can reflect on collective imbalances (e.g., too much Habit Creature, not enough Explorer) and co-create healthier dynamics.

In Summary: Working With the Zoo

The Zoo in Our Brain is not just a model – it’s a mindset. It helps practitioners move beyond surface-level change into a deeper, more integrated understanding of human behaviour. By mapping action to biology, emotion, and meaning, it reduces resistance and enhances sustainable transformation.

Rather than taming or silencing the inner zoo, we teach clients to become wise caretakers – listening to, feeding, and rebalancing each drive with clarity and care.

Discussion

The Zoo in Our Brain model offers a metaphorical yet biologically informed framework for understanding human behaviour through the lens of evolution. Its central strength lies in its integrative capacity: it brings together insights from evolutionary psychology, behavioural science, coaching practice, and neuroscience-informed metaphor. By translating complex internal processes into accessible archetypes, it provides practitioners and clients with a shared language for self-awareness, behavioural insight, and change.

Unlike categorical diagnostic models, this approach reframes problematic behaviour not as pathology, but as a possible overactivation, undernourishment, or misalignment of evolved behavioural drives. This non-pathologizing stance aligns well with contemporary coaching ethics and trauma-informed care: it invites curiosity, compassion, and restoration, rather than blame or suppression.

The model also fits within a growing recognition of “mismatch theory” in psychology – the idea that many modern challenges arise not from individual weakness, but from an environment that no longer fits our evolved needs. In that sense, the Zoo model serves not just as an internal map, but also as a lens for understanding societal patterns like digital overconsumption, workplace disengagement, or chronic stress.

However, the model does have limitations. First, its use of metaphor—though powerful—necessarily simplifies the underlying complexity of neural systems and individual variation. Drives do not always map neatly onto specific brain regions or neurotransmitter systems. Second, while the five drives capture broad patterns, they may not fully represent the rich diversity of human motivation, especially as shaped by trauma, neurodivergence, or sociocultural contexts. Third, empirical validation is still needed: future research could investigate how the use of this model affects client outcomes, therapeutic alliance, or coaching engagement.

Nevertheless, these limitations do not diminish its practical value. The model is not intended as a replacement for detailed clinical assessment or neuroscientific analysis, but as a complementary tool—one that restores meaning, motivation, and metaphor to the centre of behavioural change work.

Conclusion

Human behaviour is not a puzzle of broken parts, but a reflection of millions of years of adaptation—sometimes elegant, sometimes outdated. The Zoo in Our Brain model reframes our inner landscape not as a battlefield between logic and impulse, but as an ecosystem of drives, each with evolutionary logic, emotional depth, and behavioural consequence.

For coaches, clinicians, and clients alike, this model offers more than insight: it offers a practice. A way to listen more closely to what our discomforts, habits, longings, and resistances are trying to signal. A way to engage change not as control or correction, but as care – care for the parts of ourselves shaped by both past survival and future potential.

In a time where human behaviour often seems fractured or stuck, the Zoo model reminds us that even our most frustrating patterns may be echoes of something once wise. When we understand the animals in our brain, we can begin not just to manage behaviour – but to guide it home.