Human Motives Theory of Motivation

b. Human Motives

According to David C. McClelland 224, there are four important motive systems. They are achievement motive the need for achievement, power motive, affiliative motive the need for affiliation and avoidance motive. In this study I use achievement motive to analyze the motivation of the main character. First is achievement motivation. David C. McClelland 227-228 emphasizes, “doing something better” is the natural incentive for the achievement motive. It now is time to become more precise, for people can do better for all sorts of reasons – to please the teacher, to avoid criticism, to gain the approval of a loved one, or simply to get some time off from work. What should be involved in the achievement motive is doing something better for its own sake, for the intrinsic satisfaction of doing something better. Doing something better means to improve or to get greater work output. The incentive of achievement motivation is to show how capable you are. Murray in Karen, Vernoy and Vernoy’s Psychology in Action 399 identified “achievement motivation as the need for success, for doing better than others, and for mastering challenging tasks”. Here is the definition of achievement motives according to Murray in David C. McClelland Human Motivation 46: To accomplish something difficult. To master, manipulate, or organize physical objects, human beings, or ideas. To do this as rapidly and as independently as possible. To overcome obstacles and attain a high standard. To excel oneself. To rival and surpass others. To increase self-regard by the successful exercise of talent. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Bartmann in David C. McClelland’s Human Motivation 227, showed that the subjects high in need for achievement gained more in learning how to do a task from a period of programmed instruction than the subjects low in need for achievement. Atkinson in Bernard Weiner’s Human Motivation 192 defines the need for achievement, also known as the motive for success as a “capacity to experience pride in accomplishment.” Atkinson 193 says that “the incentive value of an achievement goal is an affect, labeled ‘pride in accomplishment.’ It is argued that greater pride is experienced following success at a difficult task than after success at an easy task.”

c. Approach and Avoidant Motivation