《管理心理学》期中论文.doc

论文编号____________ ______________

对外经济贸易大学
University of International Business and Economics

管理心理学论文

麦克利兰需求理论的自我认知

学号 200921081
姓名 任喻嫣
学院 公共管理学院
专业 行管0901
导师 廉茵
时间 2011 年 12 月 08 日

7

No.__________

对外经济贸易大学
University of International Business and Economics

Management Psychology Thesis

Self-perception about
McClelland's Learned Needs

Student ID No. 200921081
Student Name Ren Yuyan
Department/School School of Public Administration
Advisor Lian Yin
Date 2011.12.08

对外经济贸易大学
2011-2012第一学期课程论文考试评分表

课程名称及代码：管理心理学 提交时间：
学生姓名
任喻嫣
学 号
200921081
成绩

学 院
公共管理学院
任课教师
廉茵
题 目
麦克利兰需求理论的自我认知
项目
评分点
评分理由
得分
选题
价值
难度

论点
确定性
新颖性

论据
阅读范围
调研观察
资料运用
分析推理

结论
合理性
说服力

写作
结构
表达
规范

任课教师：

目 录

摘要 ……………………………………………………………………………… Ⅰ
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… Ⅱ

一、 前言/Introduction ………………………………………………………………1
二、个人需求水平分析/Analysis of personal level of need…………………………2
三、个人需求因素分析/Factors leading to level of need……………………………4
四、个人需求未来预期/Prospective changes of level of need………………………5
五、总结/Summary …………………………………………………………………7

参考文献/References…………………………………………………………………8

麦克利兰需求理论的自我认知

任喻嫣

摘要

麦克利兰的需求理论将人的需求分为三种类型，权力、成就与亲和。每个人对这三种动机的需求不同。不同水平的需求动机决定了每个人适用的激励方式。管理者通常要针对不同类型需要的员工进行不同的激励。个体的激励水平取决于个人力争上游、追求卓越的个人意愿。本文旨在对自我进行需求分析，明确自己的需求水平，理清在过去生活中影响需求水平的因素，并为自己提出建议，在未来对自我进行调整。通过本文的分析，本人可以在今后的学习生活中逐步调整自己，以求能够获得最为有利的需求水平。本文能够为自己将来的职业生涯提出有益的分析和建议。
关键词：麦克利兰需求理论 自我认知

Self-perception about McClelland's Learned Needs

Ren Yuyan

ABSTRACT

David McClelland's acquired needs theory recognizes that everyone prioritizes needs differently. He also believes that individuals are not born with these needs, but that they are actually learned through life experiences. McClelland identifies three specific needs: achievement, affiliation, and power. People will have different characteristics depending on their dominant motivator. This article will analyse my peraonal level of each need, define factors contributing to my past experience of each need, and make some adjustments which will be performed in the future. According to the article, lots of changes would be made in the process to adapt to the job environment. After understanding what’s driving people, people can better understand the behaviors, blend your behaviors, and anticipate situations. It will be a guideline for me in my future career life.
Keywords: McClelland's Learned Needs Self-perception

Introduction

Motivation research has long considered human motives and needs. However, isolating people's motivational needs can be a difficult process because most people are not explicitly aware of what their motives are.
In attempting to understand employee motivation, Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs. David McClelland furthered this idea in his learned needs theory. McClelland's experimental work identified sets of motivators present to varying degrees in different people. McClelland's experiment -- the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) -- consisted of showing individuals a series of pictures and asking them to give brief descriptions of what was happening in the pictures. The responses were analyzed in terms of the presence or absence of certain themes.
So McClelland developed his own motivation theory. McClelland's Human Motivation Theory states that every person has one of three main driving motivators: the needs for achievement, affiliation, or power. These motivators are not inherent; we develop them through our culture and life experiences.
According to David McClelland, regardless of culture or gender, people are driven by three motives:
· Achievement: behavior toward competition with a standard of excellence.
· affiliation: people who have a strong desire to be liked and to stay on good terms with others.
· Power: the desire to influence people and events.
Those who have high level of achievement need like to solve problems and achieve goals. Those with a strong need for affiliation don't like to stand out or take risk, and they value relationships above anything else. Those with a strong power motivator like to control others and be in charge.

Analysis of personal level of need

People have different characteristics depending on their own dominated motivator. McClelland's theory can help to identify the dominant motivators of people. Use this information would influence how to set goals and provide feedback.
First part is need for achievement. High achievers differentiate themselves from others by their desires to do things better. These individuals are strongly motivated by job situations with personal responsibility, feedback, and an intermediate degree of risk. In addition, high achievers often exhibit the following behaviors: Seek personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems. Want rapid feedback on their performances so that they can tell easily whether they are improving or not. Set moderately challenging goals and perform best when they perceive their probability of success as 50-50.
I checked myself one by one, and found that I have a high level of achievement need. There are so many challenges in our life. To face it or to avoid it, it is a choice to make. Take challenges may cost you much more time or effort, but the joy hidden behind is the best reward for you. So I am the one who will overcome difficulties with a high spirit. Not afraid of failure, I always stay optimistic and ready to break another iceberg. But high-risk tasks are not under my consideration. Before taking action, I would like to weigh the outcomes with efforts. For me, such kind of carefully consideration could guarantee my stable performance. Regular feedback are needed to monitor my progress of achievement. Above all, I could see myself as a achiever.
Second is need for affiliation. People with the need for affiliation seek companionship, social approval, and satisfying interpersonal relationships. People needing affiliation display the following behaviors: Take a special interest in work that provides companionship and social approval. Strive for friendship. Prefer cooperative situations rather than competitive ones. Desire relationships involving a high degree of mutual understanding.
The first sight of those above, I know I am a completely person who have a strong need for affiliation. In our career life, we have to do multiple work with others, except few chances to work alone. The relationship bonds people work together more smoothly and more effectively. A team with members conflicting with each other would never accomplish a perfect outcome. When I worked in a team, I really wanted my teammates to accept me as their friend or assistant. I hope that the group I'm in has humorous relationships. No conflicts, no dislikes and no arguments. Apart from that, I prefer collaborations than competitions. Competition is a wonderful tool to motivate people, but not me. So my conclusion is that I have a high level of need for affiliation.
Last one is need for power. An individual with a high need of power is likely to follow a path of continued promotion over time. Individuals with a high need of power often demonstrate the following behaviors: Enjoy being in charge. Want to influence others. Prefer to be placed into competitive and status-oriented situations. Tend to be more concerned with prestige and gaining influence over others than with effective performance.
Unlike the first two need, need for power shows something like manipulation. As everyone knows, power motivation is assumed to be predictive of leader effectiveness. However, I am not a person in for it. In my opinion, there are variable kinds of leaders. Some would be strong, Some would be kindly. Therefore we have no necessarily a high level need of power. Everyone is a independent individual. No one could or should gain influence over others. I think in a group the most important thing is a effective performance, not controlling. It is certain that I have a low level need for power. Leadership could be trained by other methods. Need for power is just a small part of that.
In summary, my personal level of achievement and affiliation is high, with a low level of power. It partly depends on my characteristic, confident, warm-hearted and peaceful.

Factors leading to level of need

There always are some factors contributing to our present status and characteristic throughout our life. No wonder my present self-perception is influenced by some elements in my past. After carefully thinking about my past life, I identify several ones which may have impacts on my present level of need.
Firstly, my parents have a passive influence on me. The reason I am here studying in UIBE is that my parents keep pushing me. If you say someone with no ambition, just hoping for peaceful life, that is typically me. My parents know me very well, so they always warn me of the pressures to compete. The surroundings around our house was very scaring and unsafe. Our home located in areas threatened by crime. The majority of my classmates in the primary school falls into a corrupt life, idling around doing nothing or living on parents' earnings. Without my parents' reminding all the time, I might be one of them, not a student in the university. So I keep encourageing myself every moment. Because of that, my need for achievement was very strong.
Secondly, my family life makes a lot in the past. I was born in a big family with a traditional concept that "boys are better than girls". As the only girl in my family, I had no right to compete with my brothers in every aspect. In addition, my parents and I lived in the suburban when other family members lived in the countryside. From the first day I could remember, I am the one isolated from my family. Even though I am definitely smarter than all brothers, all the family members would focus on them and perish them while regarding me as not existed. Actually I was so frustrated and depressed. Somehow I become who I am now, hatred about competition and eager for acceptance.
Thirdly, my school life plays an important role in my past. In fact, my first time when the mind of not being first came up was in the third grade in the primary school. Judging from the reaction of the teachers, I learned that the differences between reality and prospect. If you often rank the first, next time you would be assumed to be No.1 again. But not every time people would be in perfect state and win as always. The fall from the first to nobody would make others suspicious about your ability and let you question about yourself. Perhaps the anxiety to stay best makes me feel frighted about competition. I have to say this may be the important reason leading to my low level need for power.
The analysis above defines three major factors that decide who I am now and how I feel about three different motivators. Looking back my life helps me understand my own characteristic more profoundly and indicates some points where I could dig into and make adjustments.

Prospective changes of level of need

The first parts of this article analyse my past and my present about McClelland's theory of needs. Then this part would focus on my future. The throughout comprehension about my own need for three different ones shows my weakness that may have effect on future career life. Many actions could be taken during my last years of studying in order to make me adapted to the work environment.
First of all, I would decrease the level of affiliation. In the second part, I defined the most vital reason which making me want to feel belonged to the group. My eager to have a wonderful relationship with my family is transmitted into my work performance. Sometimes I would regard my job too personal and make others uncomfortable. It is obvious that too much urge for affiliation would be harmful to my friendship with team members. Also too much attention are paid to maintain the bonds with others regardless of the effectiveness of the group work. Often many ideas would block in my head without a chance to speak out, just because of my little self-esteem. That would absolutely get my performance worse and leave a impress to others that I am a thought-limited person lacking of creativity. Thus a lower need for affiliation may be better for my future performance in the work.
Next step I would take is to lower my need for achievement. I have to admit that high level for achievement gives me quantities of benefits in the past. It really pushes me to pursuit a more positive and quality life in my best. I have a strong belief that I would benefit more from this kind of need in the future. Every coin has two sides. A high need to achieve does not necessarily lead to being a good manager, especially in large organizations. People with high achievement needs are usually interested in how well they do personally and not in influencing others to do well. Therefore the cooperation would be my short board. More attention would be paid to the interaction with others. From other view, I may be too cautious to take high risks. Sticking to one safe area is perfectly not behaviors leaders would make. That is why I would like to gain a lower need for achievement.
Last but not least, I must increase my need for power. Following the topic above, on the other hand, the best managers are high in their needs for power and low in their needs for affiliation. I don't have ambitious to arrive at the peak of management, but I do want to be a leader to manage some people and spread my thoughts to those who would follow in my steps. There is no doubt that power is certainly the important part for me to success. And in my self-analysis, it shows that my afraid of failure results in my low level of power. As a matter of fact, if the strong desire for success dominants over the anxiety to fail, my need for power will rise before I know. With the evident solution, I would take actions to impress myself the inviting prospect of success. Perhaps reading several stories about successful business people and setting a long-term plan would help.
On the hole, the need for achievement and affiliation should be decreased while increasing the level for power. It is severed to complete my goals which would require large sum of efforts. The road to success is long and tough, with much time consumed and heart thrown into it. I would make changes as soon as possible to further a large step in my way to succeed. Never