Achievement Motivation
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
General Psych 1
Module 36
April 28, 2005
Class #26
Achievement Motivation
Henry Murray (1893-1988)
First to define achievement motivation
At this time most of his American experimental
psychologist contemporaries were studying rat
behavior…
Murray studied individuals at a variety of levels
He coined the term personology to refer to the
effort to understand the whole person rather than
breaking a personality into parts (as Freud and
others were doing)
Murray’s Background
Undergrad major was history but then
went on to earn his MD at the age of 26
Additionally, he earned his Masters in
biology and Ph.D. in psychology by the age
of 34
Went on to teach at Harvard in
stimulating environment that included
Gordon Allport and Raymond Cattell
Achievement Motivation
Henry Murray(1938)
He defined achievement motivation as:
A desire for significant accomplishment,
for mastering skills or ideas, for control
over things or people, and for rapidly
attaining a high standard of excellence
The desire to do things well and feel
pleasure in overcoming obstacles
E.g., sports, science, business, etc.
Achievement Motivation
People with a high need achievement
are motivated to master tasks and take
great pride in doing so
In contrast, people with low achievement
needs seem to enjoy success because they
have avoided failure
Characteristics of High Need Achievers
Easy, Hard, or Moderate Goals?
People with a high need to achieve set challenging but
realistic goals that have clear outcomes
They like these intermediate tasks because it provides the
most information about their ability
If they do well on an easy task – who cares
If you fail at a hard task – well, no one does well on those
Same thing applies to their risk-taking
tendencies…
Moderate risk-takers
Characteristics of High Need Achievers
Feedback or not?
They like feedback from competent critics (ASAP, please)
Concrete feedback is best
Stay or move on to easier things?
Stay and persevere – “never give up”
Concern or no concern for
measurements of success?
Very concerned
Bonuses, incentives, etc. are very important
This is closely related to feedback
Characteristics of High Need Achievers
Social problems?
Unfortunately, often this is the case
Strong need to be able to anticipate and
make long term plans
Not really into surprises
Need to have things mapped out
They use information well in their
planning
This helps them to avoid those surprises
mentioned above
Characteristics of High Need Achievers
Very energetic approach
To all things but especially to work
They like to work
They are especially invigorated by creative tasks
Development of Achievement Motivation
The need for achievement appears to be largely learned
from parents and other cultural arenas
Intrinsic Motivation (inner reasons)
Appears to be a major motivator here
Promoting Achievement Motivation:
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Controversy
We often see two children with similar potentials…
Yet one reaches it and the other does not…
One is a high achiever, the other an under-achiever…
Although, most studies seem to support intrinsic
motivation as a key component in high need
individuals there are also those that point to extrinsic
motivation as an ingredient involved that can lead to
promoting achievement motivations…
Staats (1964)
Staats (1964)
In an attempt to teach 4 year-old children some of the
basics of reading, an experimental situation was set
up so that these youngsters were reinforced with
marbles for performing correctly on various
components of a reading task
The marbles had very little or no intrinsic value to
the children…but they could be exchanged for toys
or candy
Staats (1964)
This is basically a before/after setup…
Did the children do better (work harder,
etc.) in the “before” or in the “after”
condition???
Promoting Achievement Motivation:
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Controversy
Overjustification
Unnecessary or excessive rewards can undermine intrinsic
qualities
The “clean room” example
Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett (1973)
Experimenters observed nursery school children
enjoying coloring
So when it comes to rewards …its your call
But be careful
Sometimes they might work but other times they might
backfire
Methods of Testing for Achievement Motivation
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Morgan & Murray (1930’s)
McClelland, Atkinson, and others (1953)
Rorschach Inkblot Test
Rorschach (1921)
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Measures latent needs (needs that
can not be openly observed)
Apperception is the process of projecting
imagery onto an outside stimulus, such as a
picture. The theory suggests the stories you
describe reflect your latent motivations
(dispositional needs)
It assesses your motives by telling or writing a
story about ambiguous pictures
Example: What’s the boy doing?
Thinking vs. Daydreaming
Rorschach Inkblot Test
This test provides 10 inkblots with the
assumption being that what we see in
them is a projection of our inner
feelings and conflicts
Example: If we see fierce animals or
weapons, then we can infer that the
person has aggressive tendencies, etc.
What should parents do to promote
achievement motivation?
As usual, parents have some tough
calls…
We’ve already mentioned the
intrinsic/extrinsic debate and here is also
what the research says should help…
What should parents do to promote
achievement motivation?
Put the focus on Learning Goals
Much better than on performance goals
Learning goals are more indicative of an
incremental approach to achievement, showing
progressively greater mastery
When bound by performance goals, children often
focus only on feelings of incompetence
Provide support and encouragement
This should get children to develop a sense of
personal competence
Unfortunately, too long can result in dependence
What should parents do to promote
achievement motivation?
Show enthusiasm and then move on
Need to find the right balance of parental
involvement
Internal Locus of Control
Try to get them to attribute their success and
failures to themselves rather than to external
influences
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
I/O Psychology is fast-growing profession that
applies psychological principles to the
workplace
Human Factors Psychology
The focus of these psychologists is to improve the design
and function of machines and the work environment
Personnel Psychology
Focuses on employee recruitment, selection and
evaluation of workers
Organizational Psychology
Involved in worker satisfaction, motivation, and
productivity
Human Factors Psychology
Humans and machines form an
interdependent system
Machine has displays and controls (displays allow
for human perception, controls allow the human to
control the machine)
Displays and controls can be fine-tuned to prevent
accidents and improve performance
Human-Machine Interaction
Personnel Psychology
Finding the right person for the job:
Job analysis: What knowledge, skills, and abilities are
required to do the job?
Candidate selection: Who best matches the job
analysis?
Interview process
Unstructured (“interviewer illusion”)
Structured – enhances reliability and validity
Job training: How is the person trained after hiring?
Orientation is designed to clue new hires into the new
organization culture
Organizational Psychology
Motivation in the workplace
Managers and leaders are required to manage
feelings and behaviors of their subordinates
A good understanding of workplace psychology
can enhance the performance of managers and
leaders in managing their employees
Worker Motivation
I/O psychology has sought answers for what
motivates workers…
Goal-setting theory argues that having specific and
difficult goals will lead to higher performance
Equity theory suggests that workers compare their
contributions and rewards to those of their fellow
workers; if these are out of line, the worker adjusts
output accordingly
Expectancy theory argues that worker motivation is
related to expectancy of outcomes
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction leads to:
Reduced resignations means lower costs to replace
workers
Improved employee health is a benefit that accrues to
the office and outside the office
Research suggests that job satisfaction is a match
between the personality and occupation
Increased productivity means more output
But be careful when testing new techniques
See next slide…
The Hawthorne Effect
Change in behavior following the onset of a novel
treatment (new or increased attention, most
commonly)
1924 series of experiments began at the Hawthorne
Works of the Western Electric Company…
Researchers from Harvard University (who were not
psychologists) were attempting to study the relation
between lighting and efficiency
Increased lighting resulted in increased efficiency, but to
their surprise, efficiency continued to improve as the lighting
dimmed to faint moonlight levels
The Hawthorne Effect
These seemingly "bizarre" results were
eventually explained in terms of previously
unrecognized aspects of human behavior in
the workplace…
Researchers hypothesized that these
results were due to the employee's desire
to please them
They were flattered at having distinguished
investigators from Harvard study them
Thus, the workers were trying to impress their
distinguished guests, which caused them to be
more productive
Effect eventually wears off…
Quite some time later the employees got
used to the researchers' presence and began
returning to their original levels of
productivity…
Behavior returns to original as the
"novelty" dissipates
Traits of effective leaders
Kirkpatrick & Locke (1991)
There have been numerous studies
identifying a wide variety of traits
associated with effective leaders
Based on their review of the literature,
came up with the following list:
See next slide
Traits of effective leaders
Drive
Achievement, ambition, energy, tenacity, initiative
Leadership motivation
The desire to lead
Honesty & integrity
Might be the most important trait
Self-confidence
Not an arrogance though
Traits of effective leaders
Cognitive ability
Ability to critically think things through
Democratic style
They delegate their authority
Knowledge of the business
Preparation is key
Traits of ineffective leaders:
“the fatal flaws”
McCall & Lombardo (1983)
Have applied this perspective from the opposite direction
and have identified some traits that effective leaders do NOT
possess
These are, in their terms, "fatal flaws" in anyone who
aspires to be a leader. Some examples:
· Insensitive to others
· Cold, aloof, arrogant
· Untrustworthy
· Overly ambitious
· Inability to delegate
Leadership Styles
Task Leadership
Setting standards, organizing work, and focusing
attention on goals
Directive (authoritative) style (must be good at
giving orders)
Social Leadership
Mediating conflicts and building team spirit
Democratic style
Delegate authority
Leadership Styles
Which one that is used often depends
on personality but also may depend on
their assumptions concerning human
motivations…
McGregor (1960)
Theory X
Theory Y
Theory X
These managers assume that workers
are basically lazy, error-prone, and
extrinsically motivated
Thus, they use the directive,
authoritative approach and do not
delegate any of their authority
Theory Y
These managers believe that people are
intrinsically motivated
They will give workers freedom and
challenges that will lead to them
fulfilling their potentials
Thus, they use the democratic style of
managing and delegate their authority
Theory Z
Ouchi (1981)
View productivity as embedded in the worker,
in his or her skills, and in their attitudes
Its often set up as a group organization of work
with teams of workers having control over
decision making about their day-to-day
operations and activities
Idea is that greater efficiency is taking place
because of direct worker participation
Theory Z
William Ouchi (1981) described the characteristics of the
Japanese companies that produce high employee
commitment, motivation, and productivity
Many Japanese employees are guaranteed a position for
life, increasing their loyalty to the company
Careful evaluation occurs over a period of time, and the
responsibility for success or failure is shared among
employees and management
Most employees do not specialize in one skill area, but
work at several different tasks, learning more about the
company as they develop
Japanese companies are often concerned about all aspects
of their employees' lives, on and off the job
Theory Z
According to Ouchi (1981), Type Z
organizations tend to have stable
employment, high productivity, and high
employee morale and satisfaction
Many of these outcomes are similar to
Theory Y, and research will continue to
evaluate the feasibility of implementing
some of them in American companies
(Landy, 1989)