His first wife’s name was Mary Sharpless and she died in 1908. He left his second wife, Marian Adams McClelland and had five daughters and two sons. His daughters’ names were Catherine Dole, Sarah McMullen, Jabez, Mira and Usha. His sons’ names were Duncan and Nicholas.
McClelland wrote many books about his research on psychological influences on achievement motivation. These are the books which he had written and when they were published:-
- Personality (1951)
- The Achievement Motive (1953)
- The Achieving Society (1961)
- The Roots of Consciousness (1964)
- Motivating Economic Achievement (1969)
- Power: The Inner Experience (1975)
In 1988, McClelland wrote a book called, Human Motivation. In this book, he described the three types of motivational need, which he identified:-
- Achievement Motivation (n-ach)
- Authority/Power Motivation (n-pow)
- Affiliation Motivation (n-affil)
Achievement Motivation
In the 1940’s David McClelland and his team used the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to, study on organisational behaviour. TAT involves measuring human needs and motivation through the usage of pictorial displays.
He concluded that employees have different needs over time as a result of life experiences. He identified three human needs that influence motivation of organisational behaviour of both individual and organisations:
- Need for Achievement (n-ach)
- Need for Power (n-pow)
- Need for Affiliation (n-aff)
Need for Achievement (n-ach)
The need for achievement involves attaining challenging goals, setting new records, successful completion of difficult tasks, and doing something that was not done before.
Individuals who have high needs of achievement are very different from others, in the following ways:-
- They seek personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems
- They need rapid feedback on their performance. They usually become frustrated if they do not receive feedback on time
- They avoid very easy or very complex tasks
- They set goals that are challenging
If achievement need is dominant, the manager needs to accomplish objectives alone rather than in a team.
Need for Power (n-pow)
The need for power involves influencing others, defeating an opponent or competitor, winning and argument, or attaining a position of greater authority.
There are two types of high power needs:-
- Personalised power
- Socialised power
Personalised Power
People with personalised power have little self-control, they exercise power impulsively. They are loyal to their leadership rather than to the organisation.
Socialised power
People with socialised power are often associated with effective leadership. They seek for power because; with power tacks can be accomplished.
An individual with low need for power tend to have lack of assertiveness and self-confidence, to organise and lead group activities effectively.
Need for Affiliation (n-aff)
This involves establishing or restoring close and friendly relationships, joining groups, participating in social activities, and enjoying shared activities with family and friends. These people are very co-operative, supportive, and friendly.
People who have low need for affiliation, tends to be a loner who, is uncomfortable with others, expect for close friends or family. They have a lack of motivation and energy to maintain high social contacts in networking, group presentation, public relations, etc.
Those with high need for affiliation are unwilling to let work interfere with friendly relationships. Moderate affiliation guides to effective management.
He believed that, the need for power is the most important characteristic for a manager’s success. He felt that the need for achievement itself would not make an individual a good manager. He believed that, a successful manager should have a strong need for power than a need for achievement because, the need for power is more important than the need for achievement.
McClelland recognised the following characteristics and attitudes of achievement-motivated employees:-
- Achievement is more important than material or financial reward
- Reaching the aim or task provides greater satisfaction than obtaining praise recognition
- Financial award is regarded as a measurement of success
- Security is not prime motivator neither is status
- Feedback is vital, because it enables measurement of success and not for reason of praise and recognition
- Achievement-motivated employees seeks for improvement and various of ways of doing things better
- Achievement-motivated employees will favour jobs and responsibilities that satisfy their needs, i.e. offer flexibility and opportunity to set and accomplish goals
McClelland reckons that, every individual can succeed in different types of jobs, if they have an understanding of these needs.
