A great deal is known about human motivation, but surprisingly, it has not until now been put together into a synthetic theory. Thus there is a wealth of ideas on judgment and decision making, emotions, drives, habits, reflexes, and so on, but these have not been integrated into a model of the motivational system as a whole. I have attempted to draft such an integration.

This editorial does not seek to revisit the plethora of empirical evidence and conceptual analysis that has been ranged against the model. It simply argues that the problems with the model are so serious that it has held back advances in the field of health promotion and, despite its intuitive appeal to many practitioners, it should be discarded. It is now time for a change.

‘Robert West’s erudite, lucidly written Theory of Addiction takes the reader on an engaging tour of almost every significant conceptual system in the field … West adroitly finds gold amongst the lead, adds some previous gems of his own, and presents the field with a real treasure: an integrated, useful, thought-provoking and testable theory of addition.’ Keith Humphreys, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine