Work Motivation Test

The three needs, in brief

David McClelland built on Murray's need theory to argue that three motives shape working behaviour: the need for achievement (nAch) — doing something better, faster, more efficiently; the need for affiliation (nAff) — warm, close relationships; and the need for power (nPow) — impact on others.

His findings aged well in one place: societies and companies with many achievement-motivated people grow measurably faster. They aged less well where he made strong predictions from projective tests — modern research treats motives as partly implicit, partly explicit, and context-sensitive.

How to use your result

Match the job to the need, not only the skill: achievers starve without a scoreboard, connectors starve without a team, movers starve without a steering wheel. Most chronic job dissatisfaction is a needs mismatch, not a competence problem.

If you manage people: your team members' dominant needs predict what motivates them better than any perk. Ask, don't assume.

References

• McClelland, D. C. (1961). The Achieving Society. Princeton: Van Nostrand.
• McClelland, D. C. (1973). Testing for competence rather than for 'intelligence'. American Psychologist, 28(1), 1-14.
• Spangler, W. D. (1992). Validity of questionnaire and TAT measures of need for achievement: Two meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 140-154.