McClelland’s Theory of Needs: Achievement, Affiliation, and Power
McClelland’s Theory of Needs
This theory, developed in 1962 and supported by Max Weber, argues that the development of industrialized countries is due to cultural factors, including ethics. McClelland stated that the factors that motivate humans are cultural and group-based. He maintained that there are three types of factors that motivate human beings:
Achievement
- The person wants to achieve their goals even if they reject the group.
- Natural geographical factors are secondary; what matters is achievement motivation.
- The achievement factor is the center of a country’s economic development, which can be enhanced by parental influence.
- Achievement and affiliation can be opposites. For public officials, they should ideally go together.
Affiliation
- Individuals are more interested in establishing warm contacts and close relationships with others.
Power
- People try to influence others.
Theory of Three Needs
David McClelland and others proposed this theory. In his research, he found that individuals with great achievements are distinguished from others by their desire to make things better.
People with a strong need for achievement have the following characteristics:
- They prefer tasks where they can have a high degree of responsibility.
- They set realistic targets.
- They plan their actions carefully to achieve results.
- They are interested in recognizing their successes and failures.
- They value competence more than friendship.
People who have a high need for affiliation are more concerned with:
- Friendship to get ahead.
- Teamwork.
People with a strong need for power seek:
- Status and authority as a way to meet their needs.
McClelland speaks of a “company director” to mean that at certain times and places, achievement motivation flourishes, strongly supported by society, its institutions, and its myths. Cultures vary in their assessment of intellectual dominance as a vehicle for the expression of competition.
Summary of McClelland’s Theory of Needs
This theory is based on three needs:
Need for Achievement: Individuals are interested in developing and excelling, accepting personal responsibility. They are distinguished by trying to do things right, even succeeding over prizes. They seek confrontation with problems, want to know their results, receive feedback, and face triumph or failure.
Need for Power: Its main feature is the desire to have influence and control over others. These individuals prefer struggle and competition. They are very concerned with their prestige and influencing other people, even more so than with their results.
Need for Affiliation: Its essential feature is being requested and accepted by others. They seek friendship and cooperation instead of fighting, seeking understanding and good relations.
Who is David C. McClelland?
David C. McClelland was a psychologist who focused on motivation. His theory (1962) argues that motivational factors are:
- Group-based
- Cultural
Similar Views of the Theory
There are three types of factors:
- Achievement: Accomplishing something.
- Affiliation: Belonging to the group.
- Power: Desire to have mastery.
The three drives (power, affiliation, and achievement) are of special value to the science of administration and should be recognized to achieve a well-functioning, organized company. Since any organized company and each department within it represent groups of individuals working to achieve joint goals, the need for achievement is of great importance.
Need for Power
McClelland and other researchers have found that people who have a high need for power have a vested interest in exercising influence and control. Such individuals often seek positions of leadership, are often good talkers, albeit often like to argue, are energetic, stubborn, and demanding. They enjoy teaching and public speaking.
Need for Affiliation
People who have a high need for affiliation often like to be appreciated and tend to avoid the pain of being rejected by a social group. As individuals, they tend to deal with social relations during their leisure time, enjoying a sense of intimacy and understanding. They are ready to comfort and assist those with problems and enjoy friendly interaction with others.
Need for Achievement
People who have a high need for achievement also have a strong desire for success and fear failure. They want to be challenged, set moderately difficult (but not impossible) goals, and take a realistic approach to risk. They prefer to take personal responsibility to get work done. They like to get quick and specific feedback in terms of how well they do things, tend to be constant, like to work for long hours, are not unduly worried by the job if it happens, and love to manage their own “performances”.
Origin of the Theory of Needs (History)
McClelland’s needs theory was based on the theory of personality by Henry Murray (1938). Murray described a comprehensive model of human needs and motivation processes.
Determining McClelland’s Needs (Trial)
The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) can help a person discover what kind of work would be preferable based on their dominant need. By showing the person a series of ambiguous pictures, they are asked to develop a spontaneous story for each picture. The underlying assumption is that the person will project their own needs into the story. The analysis of the test can then be used to recommend a particular type of job for which the person may be well-suited.
Theory of Needs (David McClelland)
The concept of needs theory was popularized by the American psychologist David McClelland. Building on the work of Henry Murray (1938), McClelland established in 1961 that an individual’s motivation may be due to the pursuit of satisfaction of three dominant needs: the need for achievement, power, and affiliation.
The Need for Achievement (N-Ach)
This is the degree to which a person wants to perform difficult and challenging tasks at a higher level. Some characteristics of people with high N-Ach are:
- The person wants to be successful and needs to receive positive feedback often.
- The person attempts to push themselves to avoid both low-risk and high-risk situations. They avoid low-risk situations because they believe that easily achieved success is not a genuine achievement. On the other hand, they see high-risk projects as resulting from chance rather than as a result of their own efforts.
- They like to work alone or with other high-performing achievers.
- McClelland believes that these people are the best leaders, although they tend to demand too much of their staff, believing that all are also guided by high performance.
The Need for Affiliation (N-Affil)
This means that people are looking for good interpersonal relationships with others. Some characteristics of people with high N-Affil are:
- They enjoy being accepted by others and appreciate personal interaction.
- They tend to comply with the rules of their working group.
- They strive to make and maintain relationships with a high amount of trust and mutual understanding.
- They prefer cooperation over competition.
- They perform well in situations of interaction with customers and in customer service.
- McClelland believed that a strong need for affiliation undermines managers’ ability to be objective and make decisions.
The Need for Power (N-Pow)
This is typical for people who like being in charge and responsible.
- These people are grouped into two types: personal power and institutional power.
- People with a high need for personal power want to direct and influence others.
- A high need for institutional power means that people like to organize the efforts of others to achieve the goals of the organization.
- High-powered people enjoy competition and status-oriented situations.
- While these people are attracted to leadership roles, they may not possess the required flexibility and people-oriented skills necessary.
- Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.
Generally, the three requirements are present in each individual. They are formed and acquired over time by the individual’s cultural and life experiences. Training can be used to modify a need profile. However, one of the requirements is dominant, also depending on personality. Unlike Maslow, McClelland did not specify transitions between needs. The importance of various needs in the workplace depends on the position that each individual occupies. The need for achievement and the need for power are typical of middle and senior management.
McClelland’s concept is also referred to as the learned needs theory, acquired needs theory, and theory of three needs.