science

Need theory

Need theory is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Need theory rather than just read about it. In short: Need theory, also known as three needs theory, is a motivational model and management tool proposed by psychologist David McClelland, which attempts to explain how the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power affect the actions of people. The model was developed in the 1960s, two decades after Maslow's hierarchy of needs was first proposed in the early 1940s.

Key takeaways

Need theory belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Need theory to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Need theory from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Need theory, also known as three needs theory, is a motivational model and management tool proposed by psychologist David McClelland, which attempts to explain how the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power affect the actions of people. The model was developed in the 1960s, two decades after Maslow's hierarchy of needs was first proposed in the early 1940s. McClelland stated that every person has these three types of motivation regardless of age, sex, race, or culture. The type of motivation by which each individual is driven derives from their life experiences and the opinions of their culture. This need theory is often taught in classes concerning management or organizational behaviour.

Need for achievement

People who have a need for achievement prefer to work on tasks of moderate difficulty in which results are based on their efforts rather than on anything else to receive feedback on their work. Achievement based individuals tend to avoid both high-risk and low-risk situations. Low-risk situations are seen as too easy to be valid and the high-risk situations are seen as based more on the luck of the situation rather than the achievements that individual made. This personality type is motivated by accomplishment in the workplace and an employment hierarchy with promotional positions.

Need for affiliation

People who have a need for affiliation prefer to spend time creating and maintaining social relationships, enjoy being a part of groups, and have a desire to feel loved and accepted. People in this group tend to adhere to the norms of the culture in that workplace and typically do not change the norms of the workplace for fear of rejection. This person favors collaboration over competition and does not like situations with high risk or high uncertainty. People who have a need for affiliation work well in areas based on social interactions like customer service or client interaction positions.

Need for power

People who have a need for power prefer to work and place a high value on discipline. The downside to this motivational type is that group goals can become zero-sum in nature, that is, for one person to win, another must lose. However, this can be positively applied to help accomplish group goals and to help others in the group feel competent about their work. A person motivated by this need enjoys status recognition, winning arguments, competition, and influencing others. With this motivational type comes a need for personal prestige, and a constant need for a better personal status.

Effect McClelland's research showed that 86% of the population are dominant in one, two, or all three of these three types of motivation. His subsequent research, published in the 1977 Harvard Business Review article "Power is the Great Motivator", found that people in top management positions had a high need for power and a low need for affiliation. His research also found that people with a high need for achievement will do best when given projects where they can succeed through their own efforts. Although individuals with a strong need for achievement can be successful lower-level managers, they are usually weeded out before reaching top management positions. He also found that people with a high need for affiliation may not be good top managers but are generally happier, and can be highly successful, in non-leadership roles such as the foreign service.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Need theory

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Need theory claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Need theory before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Need theory ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Need theory

In research: Need theory appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Need theory in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Need theory is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Motivational theories, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Need theory outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Need theory in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Need theory means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Need theory out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Need theory in simple terms?

Why does Need theory matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Need theory?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Need theory.