Ch 11 Motives and Personality

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3 5 09

• Ch 11 Motives and Personality
• 1. Introduction to motive literature
• 2. McClelland film
• 3. Classic McClelland motives

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Days dont feel like getting out of bed
• What kinds of things have to be done?
• Activities you find yourself just enjoying
• What kinds of activities?
• Why do you like them?

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• People prefer diff things
• E.g., professor
• Research
• Teaching
• Service
• Which NDSU psych profs like each?

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Motives are like dispositions
• (1) taxonomy (basic set)
• (2) ind diffs in each
• (3) measurable
• (4) like traits, predispose to act

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Henry Murray, beginning of motive tradition
• A practicing physician
• Met Jung, 3 weeks meetings
• emerged a reborn man
• Gave up surgery
• At Harvard until retirement

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Murrays concept of need
• readiness to respond
• In particular way (e.g., to befriend)
• Need hierarchy
• A characteristic strong motive
• Other motives present, lesser strength
• Config of motives unique

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• For Murray, needs fluctuate
• Affected by internal state (e.g., hunger)
• State of the envt (e.g., hamburger present)
• Combo of push (inner) and pull (envt)

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Apperception and TAT
• Needs affect perceptions of envt
• Thus, perceptions to get at needs
• (describe hunger study)
• Apperception perception by need

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• TAT
• Standard set, black and white pictures
• E.g., child alone in a doorway
• What is happening?
• Stories scored
• For need-relevant imagery
• E.g., one influencing another (nPow)
• E.g., one seeking contact w/ other (nAff)

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• TAT over time
• Murray
• Too many needs (135 or so)
• No standard scoring system
• McClelland, Winter, McAdams
• Students of Murray
• More objective scoring schemes
• (but still somewhat subjective)

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In class Film

• Some cool 70s outfits!
• McClelland, one of my heroes
• Harvard prof
• But also company to help business managers
• 30 mins, take notes or remember

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• 4 motives studied the most
• 1. Achievement
• 2. Power
• 3. Intimacy
• 4. Affiliation

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nAch
• Desire
• do better, be successful, work hard
• They like challenge
• Not a task too easy
• Not a task too difficult
• Rather one that tests, stretches skills
• Low nAch avoid such tasks

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nAch
• More successful entrepreneurial activity
• Preference for innovation
• Better than before
• In college
• Not better grades
• But more deliberation, involvement in academics
• E.g., more likely to speak to professor

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nAch Sex differences?
• No
• But among women, gets expressed differently
• Work-valuing
• same things as men
• innovation, entrepreneurial
• Family-valuing
• more investment in appearance, dating, courtship

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nPow
• Defined as desire to impact others
• High nPow
• More arguments
• More assertive in group discussions
• More likely to be elected to political office
• More risk-taking
• More prestige possessions
• Cars
• Credit cards
• Etc.

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• Sex differences?
• Not in nPow
• But in way nPow is expressed
• Among men, nPow
• More impulsive and aggressive behavior
• More sexual conquest
• More alcohol abuse
• Among women
• Less of this Don Juan pattern

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nPow health
• High nPow
• More power stress
• More colds and flues
• Lower immune function
• Higher blood pressure
• Particularly where power goals blocked
• e.g., low SES
• McClellands not index

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nPow politics
• Winter
• nPow in presidential speeches
• High nPow
• Country likely to go to war under admin.
• Bush likely high in nPow
• Most effective leaders
• High nPow they like the job
• High nAff they care about others

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nInt
• readiness for warm relations with others
• High nInt
• More time thinking about relationships
• Are more happy when around others
• Smile, laugh, and make more eye contact
• Start up more conversations, write more letters
• Not extraverts
• Quality time w/ friends, not partying
• Rated more sincere and loving

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Ch 11 Motives and Personality

• nInt and sex differences
• Unlike nAch or nPow, main effect
• Women are higher in nInt
• Why do you think?

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Need for Affiliation

• nAff
• Not mentioned in book
• Kind of an alternative to nInt (correlates r
  .32)
• Darker, more needy type of intimacy motivation
• Affiliation arousal
• 1. Negative social feedback
• 2. Unsuccessful pledges to frat
• What results
• more needy type of interaction style