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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Need for Achievement

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Synonyms

Achievement motivation

Definition

Need for achievement is the desire to obtain excellent results by setting high standards and striving to accomplish them. It is a consistent concern with doing things better.

Introduction

Scientists’ interest in the issues of motivation to achieve successes was developed in the first half of the twentieth century, when Henry Murray (1938, p. 164) defined the need for achievement as a desire to “accomplish something difficult;…to overcome obstacles and attain a high standard; to excel oneself; to rival and surpass others.”

A significant contribution to the development of studies on the need for achievement was made by David McClelland, who, together with his co-workers, adapted the Thematic Apperception Test to examine motivation to achieve successes (McClelland et al. 1953). He defined the need for achievement as a general and relatively stable personality disposition that is learned on the basis of affective experiences. He claimed that all...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland

    Maria Finogenow

Authors
  1. Maria Finogenow
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Finogenow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Institute of Psychology, University of Lodz, Smugowa 10/12, 91-433, Lodz, Poland

    Monika Wróbel

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Finogenow, M. (2017). Need for Achievement. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_537-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_537-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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