Theory of Needs (David McClelland)

Human motivation comprises three dominant needs: the need for achievement, power and affiliation. Explanation of the Theory of Needs of David McClelland. (1961)

What is the Theory of Needs? Description

The Theory of Needs concept was popularized by American behavioral psychologist David McClelland. Building on earlier work of Henry Murray (1938), McClelland states in 1961 that the motivation of an individual can result from three dominant needs: the Need for Achievement, Power and Affiliation.

• The Need for Achievement (N-Ach), is the extent to which a person wants to perform difficult and challenging tasks on a high level. Some characteristics of high N-Ach people:

  • They want to have success and need to receive positive feedback often.

  • They seek to stretch themselves and thus tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk situations. They avoid low-risk situations because the easily attained success is not a genuine achievement. In high-risk projects, achievers see the outcome as one of chance rather than a result of their own effort. Compare: Attribution Theory

  • They like to work alone or with other high achievers.

  • McClelland believes that these people make the best leaders, although there can be a tendency to demand too much of their staff in the belief that they are all also highly results driven.

• The Need for Affiliation (N-Affil) means that people seek good interpersonal relations with others. Some characteristics of high N-Affil people:

  • They want to be liked and accepted by others, and attach importance to a personal interaction.

  • They tend to conform to the norms of their work group.

  • They strive to make and keep relationships with a high amount of trust and mutual understanding.

  • They prefer cooperation over competition.

  • Obviously, they perform well in customer service and client interaction situations.

  • McClelland believed that a strong Need for Affiliation undermines the objectivity and decision-making capability of managers.

• The Need for Power (N-Pow) is typical for people who like to be in charge.

  • They can be grouped into two types: personal 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 power people enjoy competition and status-oriented positions.

  • While these people are attracted to leadership roles, they may not possess the required flexibility and people-centered skills.

  • Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.

Generally, all three needs are present in each individual. They are shaped and acquired over time by the cultural background of the individual and his life experience. Training can be used to modify a need profile. Nevertheless, one of the needs is the dominant one, also depending on the personality. Unlike Maslow, McClelland did not specify any transition stages among the needs.
The importance of the different needs at work depends upon the position one occupies. The need for achievement and the need for power are typical for middle and top managers.

McClelland's concept is also referred to as the Learned Needs Theory, Acquired Needs Theory, and Three Needs Theory.

Origin of the Theory of Needs. History

McClelland's Theory of Needs was based on the Theory of Personality by Henry Murray (1938). Murray described a comprehensive model of human needs and motivational processes.

Assessing the Needs of McClelland. Test

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) can help a person to find out which type of job would be preferable according to his dominant need. By showing the test person a series of ambiguous pictures, he or she is then asked to develop a spontaneous story for each picture. The underlying assumption is that the test person will project his or her own needs into the story. The score can then be used to recommend a special type of job for which the person might be well suited.

Book: David McClelland - The Achieving Society -

Theory of Needs Special Interest Group

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Theory of Needs Forum

Mpate Hawa - Tanzania

Interlinked Needs

"Those who are said to be high achievers are more likely to be power achievers at the same time, because they always have a desire to orient people towards achieving more. Thus two needs can predominate to the person consecutively."

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- India

Fear is bigger motivator than need

"In my opinion depending on level of satisfaction or deprivation, one mentally attaches a score to needs or fears at different levels. The scores are less for the lower needs in Maslow's hierarchy and go up with higher needs. The scores for fears run counter to this. A loss of self actualisation will have lower negative score than say a loss of physical need. A sum of wn(i) * N(i) - wf(i) * f(i) actually gives the factor which influences a person. In the equation wn(i) stands for weighing factor for need (i) N(i) for Need(i) Wf(i) for weighing factor for fear (i) and f(i) for fear (i) The factors depend on where a person stands on satisfaction level for that particular need."

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stephen chacha - tanzania

McClelland in Education

"What are the implications of the need theory by McClelland in an educational context?"

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- South Korea

Utilizing Power

"Everybody has power to be a leader, but some people can utilize this power properly and they can be leader in their society or country, while others can't utilize their power. So they are obedient to their leader."

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Honarpisheh H. - Iran

Real Needs

"In reality every need is a separate and independent entity, but they may interact with each other at different cycles of development through three stages: Drive, Motive to the State of satisfaction. The base of expectations for every need is of paramount importance. It is then better not to oversimplify the subject as such."

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R. Angel - Philippines

Fulfillment

"Man's vital thrust in life is to fulfill his basic needs that makes him complete and happy."

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C. Jayatilleke - Sri Lanka

A Priority Need

"Humans have a Need for Pleasure that is also significant as a motivator. Behind Achievement, Affiliation and Power is the desire for Pleasure (esp. from the senses) that drives the former three."

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David Ward - Italy

Maslow

"I am working on Maslow theory with one of my BA undergrads for her thesis and we are building a transition needs model where we believe that Maslow's pyramid can be seen as a spectrum of needs. We classify the first 4 needs as 'having' needs while the fifth is classified as a 'being' need. We would like input, criticism etc."

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Theory of Needs Education & Events

Compare with the Theory of Needs: ERG Theory  |  Herzberg Two Factor Theory  |  Hierarchy of Needs  |  Whole Brain Model  |  Spiral Dynamics  |  Expectancy Theory  |  Path-Goal Theory  |  Theory X Theory Y  |  Cultural Dimensions  |  Hawthorne Effect  |  Leadership Continuum

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