motive

the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior; "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"

Source: WordNet® 3.1, Princeton University — "WordNet Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved." Used under WordNet's license terms. See methodology for full licensing detail. Word validity for game play may differ from any official game dictionary.