An experiment studying the process of motive acquisition was conducted with executives of a major American corporation. Each of 1u middle-level executives who were given a program designed to develop and strengthen their need for achievement was carefully matched with a comparable executive chosen to attend the corporation's executive development course during approximately the same period. In a two-year follow-up study, the participants in the achievement motivation training course had performed significantly better than their matched pairs, as measured by major changes in job level and salary.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Andrews, J.The achievement motive in two types of organizations. J. Personality soc. Psychol., 1967, 6, 163-168.
2.
Atkinson, J. W. (Ed.) Motives in fantasy, action, and society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1958.
3.
Burris, R. The effect of counseling on achievement motivation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana Univer., 1958.
4.
Clayton, B. H.The MBA and small business. Manufacturing group IX, Graduate School of Business Administration. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univer., 1965.
5.
Kolb, D. A.Achievement motivation training for underachieving high school boys. J. Personality soc. Psychol., 1965, 2, 783-792.
6.
Litwin, C. H., & Ciarlo, J. A. Achievement motivation and risk taking behavior in a business setting. Technical report. New York: Behavioral Research Service, General Electric Company, 1961.
7.
McClelland, D. C.The achieving society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1961.
8.
McClelland, D. C.Toward a theory of motive acquisition. Amer. Psychologist, 1965, 20, 321-333.
9.
McClelland, D. C., Atkinson, J. W., Clark, R. A., & Lowell, E. L.The achievement motive. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1953.
10.
Rosen, B. C., & D'Andrade, R. G.The psychosocial origins of achievement motivation. Sociometry, 1959, 22, 185-218.
11.
Winterbottom, M. R.The relation of need for achievement to learning experiences in independence and mastery. In J. W. Atkinson (Ed.), Motives in fantasy, action, and society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1958.
