Need theory, also known as Three needs theory,
Umuc.edu. Retrieved July 16, 2014. proposed by

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

David McClelland David Clarence McClelland (May 20, 1917 – March 27, 1998) was an American psychologist, noted for his work on motivation Need Theory. He published a number of works between the 1950s and the 1990s and developed new scoring systems for t ...

, is a motivational model that attempts to explain how the

need A need is dissatisfaction at a point of time and in a given context. Needs are distinguished from wants. In the case of a need, a deficiency causes a clear adverse outcome: a dysfunction or death. In other words, a need is something required for a ...

s for achievement, affiliation, and

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

affect the actions of people from a

managerial Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

context. This model was developed in the 1960s, two decades after

Maslow's hierarchy of needs Maslow's hierarchy of needs is an idea in psychology proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in the journal '' Psychological Review''. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his o ...

was first proposed in the early 1940s. McClelland stated that we all have these three types of motivation regardless of age, sex, race, or culture. The type of motivation by which each individual is driven derives from their life experiences and the opinions of their culture. This need theory is often taught in classes concerning

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

or organizational behaviour.

Need for achievement

People who have a need for achievement prefer to work on tasks of moderate difficulty in which results are based on their efforts rather than on anything else to receive

feedback Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...

on their work. Achievement based individuals tend to avoid both high-risk and low-risk situations. Low-risk situations are seen as too easy to be valid and the high-risk situations are seen as based more on the luck of the situation rather than the achievements that individual made. This personality type is motivated by accomplishment in the workplace and an employment hierarchy with promotional positions.David McClelland
Businessballs.com. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

Need for affiliation

People who have a need for affiliation prefer to spend time creating and maintaining social relationships, enjoy being a part of groups, and have a desire to feel loved and accepted. People in this group tend to adhere to the norms of the culture in that workplace and typically do not change the norms of the workplace for fear of rejection. This person favors collaboration over competition and does not like situations with high risk or high uncertainty. People who have a need for affiliation work well in areas based on social interactions like customer service or client interaction positions.McClelland's Theory of Needs
NetMBA Business Knowledge Center. Retrieved November 29, 2013.

Need for power

People who have a need for power prefer to work and place a high value on

discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

. The downside to this motivational type is that group goals can become

zero-sum Zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation which involves two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one's gain is e ...

in nature, that is, for one person to win, another must lose. However, this can be positively applied to help accomplish group goals and to help others in the group feel competent about their work. A person motivated by this need enjoys status recognition, winning arguments, competition, and influencing others. With this motivational type comes a need for personal prestige, and a constant need for a better personal status.

Effect

McClelland's research showed that 86% of the population are dominant in one, two, or all three of these three types of motivation. His subsequent research, published in the 1977 Harvard Business Review article ''"Power is the Great Motivator"'', found that those in top management positions had a high need for power and a low need for affiliation. His research also found that people with a high need for achievement will do best when given projects where they can succeed through their own efforts. Although individuals with a strong need for achievement can be successful lower-level managers, they are usually weeded out before reaching top management positions. He also found that people with a high need for affiliation may not be good top managers but are generally happier, and can be highly successful in non-leadership roles such as the foreign service.McClelland, D. Human Motivation, 1988. Cambridge University Press.

References

{{reflist Motivational theories