The thesis aims to understand the motivation of sources in Human Intelligence gathering. Todo this, three autobiographies of three former sources are analyzed where they write about theirlives as sources. To understand the sources' motivation two theories are used, Abraham H.Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Harney's theory. Maslow's theory is based on Developmentalpsychology and Harneys on categorizations of types of police sources Harney encountered as afederal agent. Through the analysis, themes in motivation such as community and securityreappear. Motivation turns out to be about being appreciated for the work you do, belonging toa group, contributing to society, and financial stability. On the other hand, understanding thedifference in what the motive versus motivation can be for the sources seems to require a closerand deeper understanding of the sources' personalities.