Fear

What are we afraid of? Marcus Buckingham disseminates the Human Universals down to five in his book The One Thing You Need to Know . . . About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success. He also states the need we have to counter that fear. They are:
The Fear of Death (our own and our family's) or the Need for Security.
The Fear of the Outsider or the Need for Community.
The Fear of the Future or the Need for Clarity.
The Fear of Chaos or the Need for Authority.
The Fear of Insignificance or the Need for Respect.
These "Universals" are not ideas based on one set of cultures, but they come from the studies of many cultures including groups of people in non-industrialized societies. These answers come from research published in Human Universals by Donald E. Brown in 1991.
I wonder if we took the time to look at these universals when we feel so adamantly for or against something if we could see what fear or need is in play and then make adjustments to resolve it.
I posed the question, What would happen if we did not charge fines to people who brought their materials back late?, to my Departments Heads. The fear of chaos raised its ugly head. I suspect even more that my asking the question gave them a sense that there was no authority at work either. Their reaction was how can you even suggest that we not have authority over the people. It doesn't matter that a 10¢ a day fine does nothing to actually motivate people to bring materials back.
So, if I had come to them with a change and all of the procedures, policies, and forethought in place, would they have been more accepting or would the need for respect take over and a new set of arguments come into play?