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Power Motivation

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Book cover Motivation and Action

Abstract

Human interactions are heavily influenced by how power is distributed, making power a highly relevant variable to many scientific disciplines. In motivational psychology, it is of particular interest that individuals differ with regard to how much they desire power (neutrally defined as influence over others): Some people have a stronger power motive than others. This chapter presents the evolutionary and neurobiological foundations of the power motive, introduces previous findings on how it develops and discusses several ways to measure it. Finally, the chapter will introduce behavioural correlates of the power motive, distinguishing between manipulative and supporting power-motivated behaviour.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Trier, Trier, Germany

    Holger Busch

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  1. Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, California, USA

    Jutta Heckhausen

  2. Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, Munich, Germany

    Heinz Heckhausen

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Busch, H. (2018). Power Motivation. In: Heckhausen, J., Heckhausen, H. (eds) Motivation and Action . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65094-4_8

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