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Psychology: Research and Review

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• Published: 22 December 2017

Achievement goals and life satisfaction: the mediating role of perception of successful agency and the moderating role of emotion reappraisal

• Wangshuai Wang 1 ,
• Gong Sun 3 ,
• Zhiming Cheng 4 &
• Xin-an Zhang 1  

Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica volume  30 , Article number:  25 ( 2017 ) Cite this article

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Achievement goals are cognitive representations that guide behavior to a competence-related future end state. Existing theories and empirical findings suggest that achievement goals are potentially related to life satisfaction. However, the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction remains relatively unexplored in the psychology literature. In this study, we examined how, why, and when achievement goals affect life satisfaction using original survey data from China. The results suggest that achievement goals were positively related to life satisfaction ( R 2  = .20, 90% CI [.11, .26]), that the perception of successful agency fully mediated the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction ( R 2  = .22, 90% CI [.12, .27]), and that emotion reappraisal moderated the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction ( R 2  = .34, 90% CI [.23, .39]). Our study indicates that achievement goals have a positive influence on life satisfaction and help to elucidate the mechanism and boundary condition of this influence.

An achievement goal refers to “a future-focused cognitive representation that guides behavior to a competence-related end state that the individual is committed to either approach or avoid” (Hulleman, Schrager, Bodmann, & Harackiewicz, 2010 , p. 423). In the past three decades, there has been a large body of literature published on achievement goals (see Hulleman et al., 2010 , for a meta-analytic review). Existing research shows that individuals differ in their behaviors and preferences in pursuit of achievement goals (Harackiewicz & Sansone, 1991 ). For example, one may easily recall that in school years, certain students worked hard and performed well on exams, demonstrating high achievement goals. In contrast, other students were not strongly concerned regarding academic performance, did not study, and had poor performance in exams, which denoted low motivation for achievement goals.

One stream of research has identified the antecedents of achievement goals. For example, age is negatively related to achievement goals; females have a stronger mastery of goal orientation than males in an academic setting, whereas self-efficacy and perceived social environment, including peer relationships and sense of belonging, are positive predictors of achievement goals (Ablard & Lipschultz, 1998 ; Anderman & Anderman, 1999 ; Bong, 2009 ; Phillips & Gully, 1997 ).

More recently, attention has been directed to the consequences of pursuing achievement goals. For instance, achievement goals positively predict long-term academic performance (Harackiewicz, Barron, Tauer, Carter, & Elliot, 2000 ). Moreover, achievement goals can activate intrinsic motivation (Cury, Elliot, Sarrazin, Da Fonseca, & Rufo, 2002 ). Based on this finding, Lee, Sheldon, and Turban ( 2003 ) argue that achievement goals promote academic enjoyment. In contrast, researchers also find that negative emotions can be exacerbated by achievement goals due to high expectations. For example, students aspiring for high achievement goals may experience more anxiety during tests (Flanagan, Putwain, & Caltabiano, 2015 ).

The existing literature on life satisfaction shows that demographic variables, including gender, age, income, and education level, are associated with life satisfaction (Gannon & Ranzijn, 2005 ; Johnson & Krueger, 2006 ) and that a person who is more satisfied with life is more diligent, performs better at his/her job, and has a higher commitment to the organization (Efraty, Sirgy, & Claiborne, 1991 ; Greenhaus, Bedeian, & Mossholder, 1987 ). More recent research finds that expectation and aspiration are important to job and life satisfaction (Cheng, Wang, & Smyth, 2014 ; Gao & Smyth, 2010 ). Similarly, academic goal progress is found to influence both academic and life satisfaction (Ojeda, Flores, & Navarro, 2011 ; Singley, Lent, & Sheu, 2010 ). Furthermore, Keller and Siegrist ( 2010 ) suggest that both goal pursuit and life satisfaction are psychological resources.

Although these aforementioned studies suggest potential connections between achievement goals and life satisfaction, few studies have directly tested this relationship. In particular, it is unclear in the literature whether achievement goals influence life satisfaction in a positive or a negative way. On the one hand, individuals with high achievement goals can be substantially motivated by mental energy in the face of challenge (Grant & Dweck, 2003 ). On the other hand, these people also need to make a concerted effort in the stressful and laborious process of pursuing their goals (Senko & Harackiewicz, 2005 ).

People are paying increasing attention to the improvement of the quality of life. Life satisfaction’s fundamental role and indispensability have been acknowledged by worldwide respondents (Diener, Oishi, & Lucas, 2003 ). Therefore, to help fill the gaps in the literature and to respond to the practical necessity, this research examines the association between achievement goals and life satisfaction. We also investigate why and when achievement goals influence life satisfaction by examining the underlying mechanism through perception of successful agency and the boundary condition of emotion reappraisal. It is also surprising that little research on achievement goals, successful agency, and emotional reappraisal have been conducted in non-Western cultures (e.g., Chinese culture), which leaves a potentially rewarding empirical research area to be explored. Existing studies suggest that there are significant cultural differences in positive psychology (e.g., Diener, Diener, & Diener, 1995 ; Spencer-Rodgers, Peng, Wang, & Hou, 2004 ). It is, therefore, very important to examine these constructs using data drawn from non-Western cultures.

Taken together, in this research, we first answer an important but unresolved question: what is the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction? We further advance our study by testing the potential mediation and moderation of this relationship. The current research also has significant practical implications for the general public—including but not limited to workers and students—on the means to successfully pursue greater happiness.

Life satisfaction is a global cognitive judgment across a broad set of activities concerning one’s quality of life (Diener et al., 2003 ; Matud, Bethencourt, & Ibáñez, 2014 ). Various factors are related to life satisfaction, such as finances (Johnson & Krueger, 2006 ), family and marital relationships (Adams, King, & King, 1996 ; Cheng & Smyth, in press ), health conditions (Canha, Simões, Matos, & Owens, 2016 ), coping strategies (Nunes, Melo, Júnior, & Eulálio, 2016 ), and sexual behaviors (Cheng & Smyth, 2015 ).

Although the direct evidence for the link between achievement goals and life satisfaction is limited, previous research has provided some indirect support. For instance, the self-determination theory theorizes two forms of motivation, which are controlled motivation and autonomous motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000 ). Controlled motivation originates either from self-imposed pressures or from external pressures, such as pleasing others or complying with demands, both of which have an externally perceived locus of causality. In contrast, autonomous motivation stems from one’s self, thereby having an internally perceived locus of causality (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010 ). Setting high achievement goals, in many cases, reflects one’s own values; thus, it is internally driven and inspires autonomous motivation (Cury et al., 2002 ). Importantly, literature based on self-determination theory indicates that autonomous motivation positively contributes to well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000 ).

Moreover, individuals often want to maintain a sense of control, expecting everything to be in line with their plans (Park & Baumeister, 2017 ). However, there are always discrepancies between expectations and reality. Under certain circumstances, the experiences of hardships often demotivate people and make them feel dissatisfied with life. Achievement goals can provide a person with motivation (Pintrich, 2000 ), which serves as mental energy helpful in overcoming the difficulties and obstacles in life (Capa, Audiffren, & Ragot, 2008 ). As a result, people who set achievement goals for themselves are less affected by experiences that can have negative effects on life satisfaction.

Furthermore, researchers find that setting achievement goals is helpful to one’s educational and occupational performance, since it results in better grades at school and upward career mobility (Gould, 1980 ; Harackiewicz et al., 2000 ; Harackiewicz, Barron, Tauer, & Elliot, 2002 ). The successes in academic and job domains boost self-efficacy and self-esteem (Bachman & O’Malley, 1977 ; Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995 ; Tay, Ang, & Van Dyne, 2006 ), both of which can enhance satisfaction with life (Du, Bernardo, & Yeung, 2015 ; Joseph, Royse, Benitez, & Pekmezi, 2014 ). Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Achievement goals are positively correlated with life satisfaction.

Perception of successful agency is a sense of determination to be successful in pursuing goals, by which hope is fueled (Snyder et al., 1991 ). Perception of successful agency is conceptually similar to self-efficacy, and they are shown to be positively and moderately correlated (Magaletta & Oliver, 1999 ). However, successful agency is more future-oriented than is self-efficacy (Snyder et al., 1991 ). Thus, perception of successful agency is more closely related to achievement goals compared to self-efficacy.

We hypothesize that achievement goals are positively related to perception of successful agency. This is because achievement goals usually lead people to maintain high standards and strive to accomplish difficult tasks (Phillips & Gully, 1997 ). After making every effort to ensure success, people are likely to hold positive expectations towards the outcomes. This notion is supported by the effort justification theory (Aronson & Mills, 1959 ), which states that people’s expectations are in direct proportion to his/her effort. As expectations continue rising, they tend to attribute an even greater value to an outcome that they put effort into achieving.

In addition, we propose that perception of successful agency is positively associated with life satisfaction for two reasons. First, perception of successful agency makes one’s life meaningful. Feldman and Snyder ( 2005 ) suggest that perception of successful agency per se is actually a component of meaning, because factor analysis shows a single factor underlying the two constructs. People who feel that their life is more meaningful also report higher satisfaction with life (Park, Park, & Peterson, 2010 ; Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006 ). Second, according to the notion that hope copes with obstacles and enhances meaning in life, several empirical research has revealed a positive relationship between hope and life satisfaction (Bailey, Eng, Frisch, & Snyder, 2007 ; Bronk, Hill, Lapsley, Talib, & Finch, 2009 ; O’Sullivan, 2011 ; Przepiorka, 2017 ). Because perception of successful agency is one dimension of hope, we expect its relationship with life satisfaction to be similar. Based on the above discussion, we hypothesize that:

Hypothesis 2: Perception of successful agency mediates the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction.

Individuals exert considerable control over their emotions but differ in their use of specific emotion regulation strategies. Of these, the two most widely used strategies are reappraisal and suppression (Gross & John, 2003 ). Emotion reappraisal is a cognitive change of emotional impact by construing a potentially emotion-eliciting situation. For example, people can feel upset or frustrated in a traffic jam. However, if drivers reevaluate the current situation and consider a traffic jam as an unexpected opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the road, they can probably feel better off. This act of recognizing and changing the pattern of thoughts falls into emotion reappraisal. Compared with suppression, reappraisal is a much more effective regulation strategy (Gross, 1998 ; Gross & John, 2003 ). People who habitually use emotion reappraisal are less likely to be depressed (Feinberg, Willer, Antonenko, & John, 2012 ), experience more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions, and have better social functioning (Gross & John, 2003 ).

Achievement goals promote one’s expectation of the end state, which cannot always remain perfect. Failing to meet a goal means that most of the early efforts become sunk costs, which leads to decreased self-confidence and increased self-blame. These negative self-cognitions, in turn, trigger severe emotional reactions (Brown & Dutton, 1995 ), such as depression and anxiety (Ellenhorn, 2005 ; Hewitt & Flett, 1991 ). Consequently, when emotion reappraisal is low, the negative consequences caused by failure are unable to be adjusted in time, which lowers a person’s perceived quality of life. In this condition, the positive relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction is attenuated. In contrast, when emotion reappraisal is high, individuals take an optimistic attitude to negotiate stressful situations and thus become more immune to the pressure of goal failure (Gross & John, 2003 ). As a result, their satisfaction with life remains positively correlated with achievement goals. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: Emotion reappraisal moderates the positive relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction, such that the relationship is stronger when emotion reappraisal is high rather than low.

Participants and procedures

Data were collected via a survey from a sample of 225 participants in mainland China in late 2016 using Sojump ( http://www.sojump.com ), which is a professional online survey platform similar to Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Sojump has a large, diverse workforce consisting of over 2.6 million users with different demographic backgrounds. It provides reliable crowdsourcing services and has been used in previous psychological research (e.g., Chen, Austin, Miller, & Piercy, 2015 ; Li, Chen, & Huang, 2015 ). Respondents in the current study were randomly recruited from Sojump. Before starting the survey, they were told that their responses would remain confidential. After completing the survey, they received a monetary reward. Previous research has documented that giving a monetary reward to participants can improve their motivation in responding, thus being beneficial to the quality of survey data (Esterman, Reagan, Liu, Turner, & DeGutis, 2014 ). Online studies even amplify this advantage. A monetary incentive can inspire participants to respond carefully when researchers are unable to monitor how the participants fill in the survey, which is why plenty of psychological studies using online platforms pay for participation (e.g., Saleem, Anderson, & Barlett, 2015 ; Stroessner, Scholer, Marx, & Weisz, 2015 ).

All of the respondents were adults. Among the respondents, 106 were males, and 119 were females; 73, 23, and 4% of them were 18–35, 36–53, and above 54 years old, respectively. Forty-one and 42% of the respondents’ monthly salary ranged from 2000 to 4000 yuan and from 4001 to 6000 yuan, respectively. The majority of the sample was well-educated: 53, 21, and 6% of them held bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and PhDs as their highest degrees, respectively. With regard to job tenure, 63% of the participants had worked in their companies for more than 4 years, whereas 29 and 8% of them had worked in their companies for 2 to 3 years and less than 2 years, respectively.

We created a Chinese version of a set of measures for achievement goals, emotion reappraisal, perception of successful agency, life satisfaction, and social desirability. To ensure the accuracy of the translation, we followed Brislin’s ( 1986 ) translation and back-translation procedures. Specifically, the items of the scales were first translated into Chinese by a native Chinese speaker with excellent knowledge of English. Next, this process was reversed by a native English speaker with excellent command of Chinese. For a very small number of items, the back-translation procedure resulted in inconsistencies. However, these inconsistencies were resolved by discussion between the two translators and the researchers. To further validate the translation, we conducted a pretest involving 20 randomly recruited participants from Sojump before implementing the formal survey. After the completion of the pretest survey, participants declared that the survey questions were easily understood and that there were no barriers to responding. The participants in the pilot study were not included in the final sample because combining two sources of samples may rule in the confounding due to different times of data collection. Moreover, we performed another set of statistical analyses with the participants in both the pilot and formal study. No significant difference was found compared with the current results. Therefore, we only reported the analyses in the formal study.

• Achievement goals

Achievement goals were measured by the Achievement Goal Striving Scale, which is a ten-item scale adapted from Goldberg’s ( 1999 ) International Personality Item Pool (IPIP). It has been widely used in previous studies and has proven to have good reliability and validity (Hirschfeld, Lawson, & Mossholder, 2004 ). On a seven-point scale (1 = not at all characteristic ; 7 = very characteristic ), participants rated how characteristic each statement best described themselves. An example item is “I go straight for the goal.” We used Omega to estimate reliability, because compared to Cronbach’s alpha, Omega provides a better estimate with more appropriate assumptions (Crutzen & Peters, 2017 ; McNeish, in press ). All of the items were averaged to create the score for achievement goals (Omega = .91).

• Emotion reappraisal

Emotion reappraisal was assessed using the reappraisal subscale of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. This instrument is a six-item measure developed by Gross and John ( 2003 ). Participants indicated their agreement with each item on a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree ; 7 = strongly agree ). An example item is “I control my emotions by changing the way I think about the situation I’m in.” All of the items were averaged to create the score for emotion reappraisal (Omega = .96).

• Perception of successful agency

We measured perception of successful agency using Snyder et al.’s ( 1991 ) Agency subscale of the Hope Scale (e.g., Chang, 2003 ; Gallagher & Lopez, 2009 ), which consists of four items. Participants were asked to evaluate the extent to which each item applied to them on a seven-point scale (1 = definitely false ; 7 = definitely true ). An example item is “I energetically pursue my goals.” All of the items were averaged to create the score for perception of successful agency (Omega = .95).

• Life satisfaction

We assessed life satisfaction using the five-item Satisfaction with Life Scale developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin ( 1985 ). On a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree ; 7 = strongly agree ), participants reported the overall satisfaction with their life under different indicators. An example item is “In most ways my life is close to my ideal.” All of the items were averaged to create the score for life satisfaction (Omega = .94).

Control variables

In the survey, we also collected information on some important variables that are potentially correlated with life satisfaction, such as gender, age, income, education level (Gannon & Ranzijn, 2005 ; Johnson & Krueger, 2006 ), job tenure (Adams et al., 1996 ), and social desirability bias. We used the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Form C) with 13 true-false format items (Reynolds, 1982 ) to assess social desirability (Omega = .77). An example item is “It is sometimes hard for me to go on with my work.”

Data analysis

We began the analyses by conducting a series of confirmatory factor analyses using LISREL8.8, to verify the distinctness of the variables included in our models. Because our sample size was relatively small, we constructed item parcels in these confirmatory factor analyses. Specifically, four indicators were formed for constructs that contained more than four items by sequentially grouping the highest loading items with the lowest loading ones (Little, Cunningham, Shahar, & Widaman, 2002 ). After parceling, the total number of indicators decreased to 16, since the number of parcels for each construct was four. We assessed the models by comparing four indicators of fit, including the chi-square/degrees of freedom ratio ( χ 2 / df ), comparative fit index (CFI), non-normed fit index (NNFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Good fits are obtained when χ 2 / df is less than 5 and RMSEA is less than .10, whereas NNFI and CFI are greater than or equal to .90 (Bentler, 1990 ; Steiger, 1990 ).

Prior to hypothesis testing, we conducted exploratory factor analyses to ensure that the scales used retained their intended structure (Crutzen & Peters, 2017 ). Next, correlations among study variables were calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficients, providing initial support for the hypotheses. Next, we performed hierarchical regressions using SPSS for the purpose of hypothesis testing, in which independent variables were mean-centered to reduce multicollinearity (Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003 ). Afterwards, as a robustness check for small samples (Preacher & Hayes, 2008 ), we used a bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapping procedure (5000 samples were taken) to further examine the achievement goal–perception of successful agency–life satisfaction link. Next, simple slope analysis was applied to probe the nature of the interaction effect (Aiken & West, 1991 ). Finally, we employed another statistical analysis, which included both successful agency and emotion reappraisal in a single model. Again, we adopted the bootstrapping method as in Model 5 in Hayes ( 2013 ). As suggested by Cohen ( 1990 ), we reported all effect sizes and confidence intervals in the statistical analyses. Fisher’s z and its 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the correlational analysis (Rosenthal, 1991 ). We chose R 2 as the index of effect sizes for regression analyses and computed the 90% confidence interval for each R 2 (Smithson, 2001 ).

To support disclosure and replication in scientific research (Peters, Abraham, & Crutzen, 2015 ) and facilitate future meta-analyses, the data, syntax and statistical outputs used in the present study are available at https://pan.baidu.com/s/1qXLFvq8 .

Exploratory factor analyses

The measurement instruments were in line with their intended structure, as a single latent variable was observed for each construct, and all scales used in this research were unidimensional (Crutzen & Peters, 2017 ).

Measurement model results

The baseline model contained four factors: achievement goals, emotion reappraisal, perception of successful agency, and life satisfaction. We also examined six alternative models against the baseline model. As shown in Table  1 , the results suggested that the baseline model fits the data reasonably well ( χ 2 (98) = 348.79, CFI = .96, NNFI = .95, RMSEA = .09). The alternative models all exhibited significantly poorer fit than the baseline model. Therefore, we treated the four variables as distinct constructs in later analyses.

Descriptive statistics and correlations

All scales met the distributional assumptions with skewness and kurtosis values lower than ± 1. More specifically, the absolute values for skewness (kurtosis) ranged from .02 to .59 (.19 to .69). The descriptive statistics and correlations among variables are presented in Table  2 . Age was positively related to gender ( r  = .16, p  < .05; Fisher’s z  = .16, 95% CI [.03, .29]) and income ( r  = .30, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = .31, 95% CI [.18, .44]); education was positively correlated with income ( r  = .24, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = .24, 95% CI [.11, .37]) and negatively correlated with job tenure ( r  = − .26, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = − .27, 95% CI [− .14, − .40]). Consistent with our hypotheses, achievement goals had a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction ( r  = .42, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = .45, 95% CI [.32, .58]) and perception of successful agency ( r  = .83, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = 1.12, 95% CI [.99, 1.25]). Perception of successful agency was also significantly related to life satisfaction ( r  = .44, p  < .01; Fisher’s z  = .47, 95% CI [.34, .60]).

Hypotheses test results

Table  3 displays the results of the regression analyses for testing Hypothesis 1 (achievement goals are positively related to life satisfaction) and Hypothesis 2 (perception of successful agency mediates the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction). The results supported these hypotheses. First, achievement goals were positively and significantly related to life satisfaction ( β  = .42, p  < .01; R 2  = .20, 90% CI [.11, .26]), supporting Hypothesis 1. Second, to test mediation, we followed Baron and Kenny’s procedure ( 1986 ).

In Model 1, we regressed successful agency on the control variables and achievement goals. In Model 2, we regressed life satisfaction on the same variables as in Model 1. In Model 3, we regressed life satisfaction on the controls, achievement goals, and successful agency. The results supported Hypothesis 2. First, achievement goals were significantly related to successful agency ( β  = .85, p  < .01; R 2  = .71, 90% CI [.65, .74]). Second, achievement goals were significantly related to life satisfaction ( β  = .42, p  < .01; R 2  = .20, 90% CI [.11, .26]). Third, successful agency was significantly related to life satisfaction ( β  = .25, p  < .01; R 2  = .22, 90% CI [.12, .27]), even after achievement goals were controlled for. In addition, the insignificant coefficient for achievement goals ( β  = .20, p  > .05) indicated that successful agency completely mediated the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction. Furthermore, a 5000 resample bootstrap suggested a significant indirect effect via successful agency ( b  = .24, SE = .09, 95% CI [.06, .42]). This finding again supported Hypothesis 2. Additionally, following MacKinnon, Lockwood, Hoffman, West, and Sheets ( 2002 ), we calculated the z coefficient, which results from the division of the mediated effect by its standard error. Consistent with prior findings, the calculation yielded a significant result ( z value = 2.24, p  < .05).

Table  4 presents the results for the tests of Hypothesis 3. Model 1 contained the control variables only. In Model 2, achievement goals and emotion reappraisal were added. In Model 3, the interaction term between achievement goals and emotion reappraisal was added. In support of Hypothesis 3, the interaction effect of achievement goals and emotion reappraisal was statistically significant ( β  = .31, p  < .01; R 2  = .34, 90% CI [.23, .39]), and there was a significant change in the multiple squared correlation coefficient (Δ R 2 ).

Figure  1 shows that the effect of the two-way interaction between achievement goals and emotion reappraisal was in the expected direction. Following the simple slope analyses, we found that achievement goals at a high level of emotion reappraisal were positively related to life satisfaction ( β  = 1.29, p  < .01), whereas achievement goals at a low level of emotion reappraisal were not significantly related to life satisfaction ( β  = .10, p  > .30).

Simple slope analyses. Moderating effect of emotion reappraisal on the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction. Error bars represent standard errors

Finally, a model that included both successful agency and emotion reappraisal was tested. Figure  2 illustrates the coefficients ( R 2  = .34, 90% CI [.24, .40]). The interaction term remained significant and the indirect effect of achievement goals on life satisfaction through successful agency was also significant ( b  = .27, SE = .09, 95% CI [.10, .44]). These results provided convergent support for our hypotheses.

Conceptual and statistical diagram. Research model with important coefficients. Effect size R 2  = .34, 90% CI [.24, .40]

This study used original survey data to examine the influence of achievement goals on life satisfaction, the mediating role of perception of successful agency, and the moderating role of emotion reappraisal. Consistent with our predictions, achievement goals are positively associated with life satisfaction. Furthermore, we show that this relationship is mediated by perception of successful agency. The simple slope analyses reveal that the positive relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction holds when emotion reappraisal is high but not when it is low.

The present research contributes to the literature in three ways. First, we contribute to the scant literature on the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction. Our findings help fill this gap by showing that achievement goals are positively correlated with life satisfaction. The previous literature provides indirect and mixed evidence for this relationship (Lee et al., 2003 ; Senko & Harackiewicz, 2005 ). We reconcile these differences by empirically testing this relationship, thereby adding to the literature investigating the consequences of achievement goals (e.g., Harackiewicz et al., 2000 ; Cury et al., 2002 ; Lee et al., 2003 ; Flanagan et al., 2015 ). This finding is also in alignment with previous research documenting the overlap between aspiration and well-being (e.g., Cheng et al., 2014 ; Gao & Smyth, 2010 ). However, aspiration involves positive expectations regardless of how much effort has been exerted, which obviously should positively contribute to happiness. In contrast, the present research shows that even if considerable effort must be devoted, setting achievement goals is still beneficial to well-being. Therefore, this study complements previous findings by going beyond the aspiration effect.

Second, we identify the psychological process through which achievement goals are related to life satisfaction. Therefore, we shed some light on the role of perception of successful agency in the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction. This finding is consistent with the extant literature showing hope as a positive predictor of life satisfaction (Bailey et al., 2007 ; Bronk et al., 2009 ; O’Sullivan, 2011 ). Our research further demonstrates that perception of successful agency, as a dimension of hope, also contributes to life satisfaction. Given that hope is a multidimensional construct and that little research has probed into its sub-dimensions’ downstream effects, the present research serves as a pioneer study.

Third, we examine the moderating role of emotion reappraisal to provide a richer understanding of the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction. We show that by cognitively reappraising emotion, people who set achievement goals live a happier life. This result is in line with a body of research that elucidates the positive function of emotion reappraisal in buffering anxiety and enhancing well-being (Feinberg et al., 2012 ; Gross & John, 2003 ). Moreover, self-determination theory suggests a positive link between autonomous motivation and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000 ). Through examining the moderating role of emotion reappraisal, we specify the boundary condition under which the positive relationship between achievement goals, a form of autonomous motivation, and well-being ceases to exist. Thus, our study represents an important advancement in self-determination theory.

The findings also offer valuable insights into practice. For example, enhancing employee’s job satisfaction is of vital importance for many organizations. This research implies that organizations can boost employee’s job satisfaction by inspiring their motivation for achievement goals. In addition, we find that if individuals suffer from failure in the process of goal pursuit, they need to reappraise their emotions to restore well-being. Emotion reappraisal can function as a catalyst for well-being when the situation goes against one’s wishes (Gross & John, 2003 ). The reason why it helps individuals to be less affected by negative events is that emotion reappraisal ccurs early in the emotion-generative process and alters the trajectory of the emotion before the emotional response is generated (Gross, 2002 ). This has direct practical implications for career development. Consider a scenario in which an ambitious young man aims high in career development and spares no effort at work to get a promotion. However, it turns out that one of his competing colleagues receives the promotion instead, so he fails to achieve his promotion goal at present. Under this circumstance, if he leverages the emotion reappraisal strategy, he may see the competitive situation as an external force that drives him to become better at work, which is actually beneficial to career development in the long run. Consequently, he may feel more positive instead of frustrated or hopeless. This reappraisal would re-motivate him to continue working hard and improving himself until he succeeds.

This research has several limitations that could be solved in future research. First, caution should be exercised before generalizing our results based on Chinese data to Western societies. The meanings of some constructs may be different in China than in Western societies. Although there is no evidence showing the constructs used in the present study contain inconsistent meanings across different cultures, the previous literature indicates that some well-established concepts in Western culture are perceived in another way in China (e.g., Cheung et al., 2001 ; Wang, 2007 ). Future studies can directly test whether this difference applies to the study variables in this research. Second, the study is based on cross-sectional data. Therefore, our findings may not imply causality. In future studies, causal inference may be drawn based on experimental data. Meanwhile, caution should be taken for using cross-sectional data to test mediation (Kline, 2015 ; Maxwell, Cole, & Mitchell, 2011 ) because cross-sectional analysis can imply the existence of an indirect effect even when the true longitudinal indirect effect is zero. Adopting a longitudinal design in future research would help provide stronger evidence for the process account. Third, the sample size is limited in the present study. Future research can avoid this problem by adopting the sample size estimation approach suggested by Moinester and Gottfried ( 2014 ), which should be done before or at an early stage of a study. Fourth, we only identify one moderator in our model. Scholars may investigate other ways through which the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction is moderated. For example, similar to emotion reappraisal, psychological resilience refers to the capacity of positive adaptation in adversity (Ong, Bergeman, Bisconti, & Wallace, 2006 ). According to this definition, it is also a potential moderator between achievement goals and life satisfaction. Fifth, we do not explore the relationships between different types of achievement goals and life satisfaction. Previous research has shown that different types of achievement goals have competing effects on performance (Grant & Dweck, 2003 ), self-regulation (Lee et al., 2003 ), and reactions to imperfection (Stoeber, Stoll, Pescheck, & Otto, 2008 ); therefore, it is essential to further test whether each type of achievement goal has similar or distinct effects on life satisfaction in future studies. Finally, we did not collect participants’ information regarding whether they work in urban or rural environments, which has been shown to be related to well-being (Liang & Wang, 2014 ). Future research should control for this variable.

Conclusions

Through a survey study of 225 participants in China, we find that achievement goals are positively related to life satisfaction. Furthermore, the relationship between achievement goals and life satisfaction is mediated by perception of successful agency and moderated by emotion reappraisal. This research provides a comprehensive understanding of how, why, and when achievement goals boost life satisfaction, which is theoretically contributive and practically important.

Abbreviations

Comparative fit index

Confidence interval

International Personality Item Pool

Non-normed fit index

Root mean square error of approximation

Standard error

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Wang, W., Li, J., Sun, G. et al. Achievement goals and life satisfaction: the mediating role of perception of successful agency and the moderating role of emotion reappraisal. Psicol. Refl. Crít. 30 , 25 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-017-0078-4

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Need for Achievement

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• Jason D. Edgerton 2 &
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Achievement motivation

The concept of need for achievement is most prominently linked to the theory of motivation developed by David McClelland and colleagues. According to their theoretical framework, the basis for this need lies in the affective gratification associated with mastering difficult tasks and/or improving one’s performance relative to some standard of excellence. The need for achievement (often denoted as n Achievement) is an implicit (unconscious) motive acquired via hedonic reinforcement of behavior-consequence associations. It is theorized to interact with individuals’ explicit (conscious) achievement motives (often denoted as san Achievement) to shape their achievement behavior, and recent evidence suggests that the degree of alignment between the two motivational systems is important to emotional well-being.

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In recent decades, the general term “achievement motivation” has grown to become an increasingly broad category of complementary...

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Edgerton, J.D., Roberts, L.W. (2023). Need for Achievement. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_1916

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Recovering from the Need to Achieve

• Instead of happiness or well-being, high-need-for-achievement professionals seek "relief in the accomplishment of tasks." This creates a vicious cycle marked by a lack of a real sense of purpose.
• Four characteristics define an HNAP: comparing, busyness, worrying, and blaming.
• DeLong calls for HNAP readers to take the following steps toward recovery: stop and reflect with self-awareness, let go of the past, create a vision or specific goal with an agenda, seek support through mentors and a network, don't blink (or fall back on old behaviors), and purposefully expose themselves to vulnerability.

We all know "Joe." He's the guy who leaves his coat on his chair so the boss thinks he worked all night. He boasts loudly in the break room about how much time he spends zigzagging the planet for work. He pretends to listen to you while he's jabbing away at his BlackBerry. He worries why his office isn't as big as Jenny's. And he blames others when he screws up.

Joe is an HNAP, or a high-need-for-achievement professional, according to Harvard Business School professor Thomas J. DeLong, who explores Joe's world of driven, ambitious, goal-oriented hyper-achievers in his new book, Flying without a Net: Turn Fear of Change into Fuel for Success.

“At the end of the day what I'm suggesting is that vulnerability in context is the most powerful thing you can have.”

DeLong believes the tendency to be a high-need-for-achievement type is embedded in the DNA, an addiction that spans across socioeconomic groups. Instead of experiencing happiness or well-being, HNAPs seek "relief in the accomplishment of tasks." Moving immediately to the next task on the list, they never savor accomplishments for long, he says. This creates a vicious cycle marked by a feeling of little or no real sense of purpose and a "flatness"—in career and in life. They often go through patches of life without creating or enhancing meaningful relationships, and even lack strength to deal with life's failures.

A former chief development officer and managing director at Morgan Stanley who now teaches organizational behavior and leadership at HBS, DeLong has worked alongside hundreds of HNAPs. He calls himself a card-carrying group member, albeit in recovery. Recovery, to DeLong, entails confronting and getting control of four characteristics or traps that define an HNAP: comparing, busyness, worrying, and blaming. "By reading [the book] they have already begun the intervention," he says. "They begin to entertain having a different type of conversation."

The seed of his book, which DeLong worked on for five years, came while he was completing postdoctoral work at MIT during the late 1970s. "I began to ask myself why I didn't feel more satisfied even though I'd reached these goals and experienced these milestones after graduation. I also began to read more theoretical work on motivation and was influenced by David McClelland's work."

His doubts deepened during the early 1990s, after he moved his family to New York from Provo, Utah for a big job with Morgan Stanley. One day he found himself sitting on a bench, immobilized: he worried whether he could aptly advise the CEO, whether he could get traders and investment bankers to support each other, and whether he could open as many offices as the firm needed.

"When I looked at my watch and realized that it was 10:00 p.m. and that I had been sitting on the bench for two hours, I knew something had to give," he writes. He started contemplating the source of his anxiety, harkening back to McClelland's original work, and eventually thinking more deeply about the "high-need-for-achievement professional" and how helpless these individuals behaved when trying to change dysfunctional behavior.

DeLong, a Portland, Oregon, native who bears a strong resemblance to the actor William H. Macy, knows he is not alone. He estimates about 80 to 85 percent of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs bankers, for example, would self-identify themselves as HNAPs.

"When I talk about it they all relate to it," he says. "Many will say I thought I was the only one who operated this way or felt this way. Many are relieved to hear the condition has a name."

Harvard is fertile ground for HNAPs, too. DeLong plans to make his book required reading in the second year courses on Authentic Leadership and Power and Influence, asking students to pose challenging questions of themselves. "I wish a lot of the HBS students were more aware of how their behavior impacts others." he says.

The Power Of Vulnerability

Flying without a Net is not a quantitative book, a fact that DeLong initially worried about before writing it. It is packed with vignettes about Tiger Woods's decision to change his golf swing, DeLong's daughter Sara's decision to stay in medical school while she fought lymphoma, and managers who struggled alongside him throughout his career. Despite his concerns about opening up, DeLong says he forced himself to model vulnerability and used his three daughters (one of whom is a second-year student at HBS with HNAP tendencies, he says) as a sounding board as he wrote. "At the end of the day what I'm suggesting is that vulnerability in context can be the most powerful behavior in initiating change."

“I began to ask myself why I didn't feel more satisfied even though I'd reached these goals and experienced these milestones.”

DeLong reveals his own vulnerability through his writing. In a chapter about competition, he admits that his warm feelings about joining the HBS faculty dampened after finding out that his office was sandwiched between Nobel Prize—winner Robert Merton, who helped create the Black-Scholes options pricing model, and Michael Tushman, who had written many books and "was an internationally recognized scholar in the area of organizational innovation." The fact that both men were gracious and supportive didn't make DeLong feel any less inadequate. "There was no way for me to get to my office without a feeling of comparative inadequacy," he writes.

So is there relief for HNAPs from all this obsessive comparing and competing?

Letting go—or flying without a net—is a big part of DeLong's prescription. He calls for the reader to stop and reflect with self-awareness; let go of the past; create a vision or specific goal with an agenda; seek support through mentors and a network; don't blink (or fall back on old behaviors); and take action that makes you vulnerable.

"These six steps create the probability that you will not be controlled by your fears," DeLong writes. "It means that as you begin a new behavior, begin a new relationship, take on a new job, or start on a challenging new assignment, you have the capability to avoid or escape the traps of blame, comparing, busyness, and worry and take the steps towards where you want to be."

Seeking out others is key to recovery, he writes, recommending the SKS form, which he learned about as a graduate student at Brigham Young, a method whereby you ask others what you should "stop (St), keep (K), and start (S) doing," and then asking those same people to hold you accountable for what they included on the list.

More honest, no-holds-barred conversations with bosses and direct reports are also part of recovery, he adds.

Finally, it's important to create sacred time to be with your family and close friends where phones and PDA's are off limits. "When we're secure in the relationships that matter most," DeLong writes, "it's far easier to take chances at work, to embrace new experiences, to tackle challenging assignments, to adjust our management and leadership styles."

Start Of The Journey

The book is no quick fix, but it is a start to a lifelong journey for high need to achieve types who must work through destructive tendencies every day. "My sister is a harpist," DeLong says. "Wherever she takes that harp she has to tune it based on temperature and humidity. If high-achievement types want to be as effective as they can be, they have to tune themselves up every day and be aware."

DeLong says he didn't write the book to create organizations "that feel good or that are nicer," but to rid companies of behavior that saps worker productivity and only creates cynicism.

"The evidence is clear that individuals who are highly engaged make more money for their organizations," he says. "My only hope is that professionals [will no longer] waste so much time having conversations that are superficial and a distraction to making real career and organizational progress."

Book Excerpt from Flying Without a Net: Turn Fear of Change into Fuel for Success

At the end of the flight Jeff felt that all his ruminations about his many pressures and responsibilities had left him more tired than rested. The complaints of younger associates and vice presidents he managed still echoed in his head. He couldn't escape his frustrations about carrying one partner who hated travel, didn't know how to sell business, and—while good at producing work that was assigned to him—hadn't progressed as the firm had grown.

There was also the problem of clients who were becoming more demanding as their financial woes mounted. They seemed to be more aggressive in their demands for not only lower rates but more attention for less money. They also seemed much more willing to challenge everything Jeff suggested to them.

There was also his wife, Marie, and their two girls. Marie had less patience and was more outspoken about the perceived promises that Jeff had broken than she had in the past. She had told him just before he left on his trip, "Jeff, in our fifteen years of marriage I don't know of a time when you've had to choose between work and family that you've chosen family." Jeff found himself feeling more and more guilty when she made these types of observations. She was stating her position more stridently than she had on other occasions; her patience was wearing thin.

What Saved Jeff Gardner

Shortly after returning from his trip, Jeff met with the firm's managing partner, who asked him, "Jeff, do you want to rise higher in the organization and perhaps someday run the firm? Before you tell me what you think I want to hear, I want you to take some time over the next month and ask yourself some tough questions about your career. More important, I want you to ask yourself some questions about yourself. If you want to move up in the firm and take on more responsibility, I think you have a long a way to go. It will take some real change on your part. So think about it. Think seriously about it. The answer isn't obvious. Come back in a month and let's talk again."

After a couple of weekends walking on the beach on Long Island with Marie and having heart-to-heart discussions about matters personal and professional, Jeff decided he needed to deal with his fears and frustrations. Marie noted later that the talks she shared with Jeff on the beach were the first conversations in ten years in which he had opened up about these deeper issues. When they talked these days, they would generally have maintenance conversations, focusing on who would pick up the clothes at the laundry or the kids from school. Everything was about logistics. Now, they were talking in a way Marie remembered from when they were younger, when Jeff was genuine in his expression of feelings and no topic was out of bounds.

Jeff had spent a professional lifetime managing image, never showing any signs of weakness. Jeff thought that any sign of vulnerability might have a negative impact. Along the career journey, Jeff had learned early on that he needed to maneuver carefully around anything that might lead to an "emotional incident" at work, anything that meant he might be embarrassed because he didn't know something or might appear soft—that is, too concerned about his people and not concerned enough about results. You cut that part out of you if you wanted to succeed moving up in the firm. At least that is what Gardner had believed since he was an associate.

When Jeff reported back to the managing partner a month later and told him that he was interested in more responsibility, his mentor pushed back and asked if he was serious. Jeff replied, "I really would like to work on the human dimension of leading and managing but to be perfectly honest, I don't know how and whether I can really get there. I want to and I know that I should know by now how to get there."

"I'm not sure I can do it" was a critical admission. It meant that Jeff had begun to acknowledge that he didn't have all the answers. The self-reflection evident in this statement meant that Jeff had acknowledged to himself his own fallibility and limitations and that an opportunity to learn existed. From an interpersonal standpoint, it conveyed that he had the courage to show vulnerability, that he had gone through some internal process in which he had begun to think through what had gone wrong and why. This one line was what the managing partner had been waiting and hoping for.

What many command-and-control leaders fail to grasp is that admissions of fallibility, uncertainty, and doubt are actually signs of strength. These admissions propel individuals from doing the wrong thing well to doing the right thing poorly. It's what gives them the impetus to learn, to change, and to grow. Before continuing with Jeff's story, I'd like you to pause and engage in the same sort of reflection that Jeff did. The following are questions that high-need-for-achievement professionals don't often ask themselves. They raise the possibility that you may have spent less time than you should have actually slowing down and acknowledging that you may not have all the answers.

I realize that most hard-driving managers and executives have been socialized to believe they cannot admit vulnerability to themselves or others. I would urge you to get past this misconception and realize that such admissions will enhance your productivity and career. So, consider:

• Do you regret any significant decisions you've made about your career? If you had to do it over again, would you do it differently?
• Have there been times when you treated your people unfairly? When you failed to listen and learn and instead directed and dictated?
• Do you feel you've been working at peak capacity in recent years? If not, why not?
• Are you unwilling to admit your mistakes to your direct reports? To your bosses? To your colleagues?
• Have you asked anyone for help recently? Have you admitted you didn't know something and needed to learn it? Have you asked for coaching?
• If you were to be completely honest with your boss and knew that there would be no negative repercussions, what secret fear or anxiety would you admit to him?
• Do you believe that you're in the right job, in the right group, and in the right organization? Or do you feel there's a mismatch between where you are now and what you want to accomplish?
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IResearchNet

Need for Achievement, Power, and Affiliation

The need for achievement, power, and affiliation are three primary types of motives or motivational drives that influence a broad spectrum of behavior, from how one interacts on an interpersonal level to one’s choice of and/or success in an occupation. These motives can be either implicit—that is, developed prior to the formation of language in the developing infant—or self-attributed, meaning they developed as a result of social and cultural influences. With an understanding of these sources of motivation, one can predict occupational performance and managerial success; design jobs and provide incentives most suited to an employee’s type of motivation; determine the contexts in which employees will be most successful; and design training programs to enhance employee performance.

Implicit motives indicate the generalized orientation of an individual’s motivation, whereas self-attributed motives indicate the context or under what circumstances the motive will find expression. Implicit motives are not readily recognizable to individuals, existing on a more subconscious level of awareness, and are associated with primary emotions such as anger, sadness, love, and happiness. These motives are measured by arousing them with stimuli that are associated with each motive in the form of pictures for which an individual writes a story that describes what he or she imagines is occurring in the picture. The tool used for this purpose is referred to as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), consisting of a series of pictures designed to elicit the three implicit motives. Alternately, self-attributed motives or needs, referred to with the subscript san (for “self-attributed need”), are related to motives that one would consciously characterize oneself as having and are associated with behavior that is normative for a culture or group. They are measured best with self-report measures, because they are motives individuals would ascribe to themselves.

Implicit motives are useful for predicting long-term behavioral tendencies, whereas self-attributed motives are more useful for predicting short-term behavior that is contextually specific and more related to a conscious choice on the part of the individual. Implicit motives are more readily aroused by task incentives (i.e., a moderately difficult task for someone high in need for achievement), whereas self-attributed motives are aroused by more explicit social incentives (i.e., a task that can earn prestige). Measuring both types of motives together enhances the ability to predict a person’s behavior beyond the individual measurement of either implicit or self-attributed motives alone.

Need for Achievement

The need for achievement is defined as a continual striving for excellence, improvement in performance, and innovation. Those high in this need tend to take intermediate risks and prefer moderate challenges, ones that are not too easy yet ensure some measure of success. Individuals high in need for achievement (nAch) are more persistent in attaining goals and exert more effort when engaged in tasks than those who are low in nAch. Additionally, those high in nAch often attribute success to ability and failure to lack of effort, whereas those low in nAch attribute failure to lack of ability.

Occupationally, people high in nAch are ideally suited for entrepreneurial types of employment because of their preferences for being individually responsible for relevant outcomes, having the ability to select their own goals, the freedom to work toward their goals in a manner of their own choosing, and a desire for more immediate feedback that occurs often and is related to mastery (i.e., proficiency at completing a task). Their ability to readily obtain and use new information may also contribute to entrepreneurial success. Working environments that are less restrictive and allow greater autonomy in terms of procedures and work outcomes are contexts in which the high nAch individual will be most successful. High achievement motivation is associated with rapidity of promotions and increases in salary, in addition to future projections of income being greater for those high in nAch as compared with individuals with low nAch. Of the three motives, nAch can be increased through learning or training, with the result being increases in managerial effort, sales performance, and academic success.

Given the desirable qualities of this motive, employers may be inclined to facilitate it in employees. To do so, employers must be aware that those high in nAch are motivated by the task itself and will perform best if given a moderately challenging task with few procedural and/or organizational constraints, performance feedback, and a goal that is future oriented (i.e., one that will help them achieve a desired future goal). Those high in sanAch will be more responsive to a working environment that encourages achievement and provides tangible rewards for an employee’s efforts. If there is no external incentive, those high in sanAch will demonstrate decreases in performance, whereas those high in nAch (as well as those low in nAch) will not be responsive to external incentives.

There are two paths that direct the energies of an aroused motive toward behavioral expression, and these are polar in nature. The positive path is the motive to achieve success and is theorized to have resulted from positive parental reinforcement for achievement behavior demonstrated by the developing child. The negative path is the motive to avoid failure, which is theorized to result from punishment of the developing child for lack of achievement. Both paths result in need for achievement but have different behavioral manifestations. For example, people who have high nAch tend to persist at difficult tasks when the motive to avoid failure is greater than the motive to achieve success, whereas when the motive to achieve success is greater than the need to avoid failure, people persist at easier tasks. Furthermore, those high in nAch and low in the motive to avoid failure tend to be optimistic about success, set realistic performance goals, and persist in tasks unless there is a minimal chance of success. Those who are low in nAch and high in the motive to avoid failure tend to avoid tasks that will be evaluated and choose easy tasks or ones that are so difficult, few could successfully accomplish them.

Need for Power

The need for power is defined as the desire to have an impact on or influence another person or situation. Those high in need for power have a strong concern for reputation and engage in activities that are highly visible and designed to garner prestige. For them, power needs to be of a direct and interpersonal nature, often legitimized by social systems. People high in need for power tend to have careers such as executives, teachers, journalists, and clergy—careers that afford one the ability to have influence over others. Often, the most successful managers and executives are characterized by a high need for power. Leaders who have high power motivation tend to create high morale in their subordinates, although they may not be generally liked by others (the need for power is negatively correlated with the need for affiliation).

The power motive, like the achievement motive, is characterized by two polarized aspects, personal power and social power. Personal power is more associated with the negative aspects of power and is characterized by aggressiveness and competitiveness, exploitation of others, excessive indulgence, relationship discord, and decreases in immune system function. Personal power is most associated with a fear of powerlessness, whereas social power is related to the motivation to influence. Social power is characterized by a concern for social, group, or organizational benefit and is less egoistic in nature. The degree to which individuals are more oriented to personal versus social power is contingent on their level of responsibility or activity inhibition. Those who have a high need for power and a high level of activity inhibition display more of the behavior associated with social power and fewer of the destructive tendencies characteristic of personal power.

Need for Affiliation

The need for affiliation is defined as the desire to establish, maintain, and/or restore positive affective relationships. Those high in need for affiliation spend more time interacting with others, express more of a desire to be with others (as opposed to those low in this need), more readily learn social networks, tend to be more accommodating to others, and avoid situations that are characterized by interpersonal conflict. Individuals high in this need prefer to work with friends (rather than with experts, who are popular with those high in nAch), to have relationship-oriented feedback, and to work in supportive contexts. Compared with people low in this motive, those high in need for affiliation tend to interact more with others whom they like, like those with whom they interact more, and interact with and like those who are more similar to them in terms of values, attitudes, and beliefs. They are more likely to cooperate with and adopt the views of individuals whom they like and tend to dislike people dissimilar to themselves.

The two polar aspects of need for affiliation are a desire for inclusion and a fear of rejection. The affiliation motive has been shown to be a poor predictor of social success, because it is essentially a measure of fear of rejection. People with high need for affiliation are no better at developing and maintaining quality relationships than people low in need for affiliation. This is likely because of the need for affiliation being related to actively striving for a relationship, which could result from being unable to have meaningful or successful relationships. A new motivational conceptualization called need for intimacy has been shown to be a better predictor of interpersonal and social success. The need for affiliation should be viewed as a measure of anxiety related to affiliation and concern about rejection.

References:

• McClelland, D. C. (1985). How motives, skills, and values determine what people do. American Psychologist, 40(7), 812-825.
• McClelland, D. C., & Burnham, D. H. (2003). Power is the great motivator. Harvard Business Review, 81, 117-123.
• Smith, C. P. (Ed.). (1992). Motivation and personality: Handbook of thematic content analysis. Cambridge, England: University Press.
• Stahl, M. J. (1986). Managerial and technical motivation: Assessing needs for achievement, power, and affiliation. New York: Praeger.
• Winter, D. G. (1996). Personality: Analysis and interpretation of lives. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Winter, D. G. (1998). The contributions of David McClelland to personality assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 71(2), 129-145.
• Individual Differences
• Industrial-Organizational Psychology

McClelland’s Three Needs Theory: Power, Achievement, and Affiliation

The Three Needs Theory, also known as need theory, is the best-known theory of David McClelland, a Harvard professor who spent thirty years conducting research on motivation. He sought to understand human nature and develop tools to measure how people make choices.

McClelland’s Theory of Three Needs outlines the three desires that an individual could possibly have. Each person is motivated by power , affiliation , or achievement . One trait is usually more dominant, but the others are present in an individual as well.

There are many theories that examine motivation , some of which have similar elements to McClelland’s theory. For example, in his Achievement model , McClelland studies those who try and be better and achieve more. This is similar to both Herzberg’s ideas on high and low achievers as well as Maslow’s theory of Self-Actualization .

While his ideas are used primarily to assess work performance, McClelland conducted other studies that centered on motivation. He researched how motivation affected one’s health; an individual’s drive to succeed can cause stress, high blood pressure, or abnormal hormone levels. This demonstrated that internal factors, i.e. a motive, can cause a physical response. Some were not convinced, but these ideas provided a foundation for future studies.

Motivation – Three Needs Theory:

• High: Must win at any cost, must be on top, and receive credit.
• Low: Fears failure, avoids responsibility.
• High: Demands blind loyalty and harmony, does not tolerate disagreement.
• Low: Remains aloof, maintains social distance.
• High: Desires control of everyone and everything, exaggerates own position and resources.
• Low: Dependent/subordinate, minimizes own position and resources.

Source: David McClelland, 1961, The Achieving Society.

The Power Motive

If an individual’s predominant motive is power, they are motivated to influence others and take control. While the extreme example of Hitler in Nazi Germany may come to mind, this motive actually takes on a more mild form of coach or leader. They do not seek to implement a dictatorship but hope to motivate others, delegate responsibility and influence those around them.

A coach is a good example because it perfectly illustrates the idea of letting the players (or in this case, employees), do their job while they assess the situation and make decisions. The players and employees are aware of their responsibilities and are highly skilled to perform them.

McClelland found that power-motivated individuals were best suited for leadership positions within a company. If they were able to effectively delegate tasks in the workforce, they were often able to be successful leaders. This does not mean that all power-motivated individuals will make good leaders. Each personality is unique and those who are aggressive and authoritative may actually decrease the work performance of their employees.

The Power Motive is not without its own disadvantages. Individuals who are motivated by power are often flighty and frustrate easily. They have no problem moving locations or changing situations if the opportunity presents itself. They have a reputation for being “ladder climbers,” or working their way up the organization as soon as a better position presents itself. Some believe that they are not invested in their role, but just simply biding their time until the next one is available. As they will simply abandon their position in their search for fame, recognition and wealth, it is difficult to dispel those ideas.

The Achievement Motive

If an individual’s predominant motive is achievement, they are motivated to do better for the sake of doing so. They hope to exceed expectations and are pleased when they surpass their peers. These individuals like challenges and want to be in charge of their success.

Achievement-oriented individuals will change the situation or the location if they feel like it is not meeting their needs. They do not like working in groups because they do not like having limited control over the outcome. Instead, they prefer to do work where the results are clear and visible.

Many entrepreneurs are motivated by achievement. They have the drive to be successful and this is, in turn, vital to the economy. However, this may not mean that they are the best bosses to their employees. Achievement-motivated individuals often prefer to do things themselves, leading them to micromanage things in a business. They prefer not to work in a team and often fail to share the workload and responsibility. It is a double-edged sword: they experience success and rise to management positions, but this same personality is what keeps them from being successful in those roles.

The Affiliation Motive

If an individual’s predominant motive is affiliation, they are essentially motivated by social connections. They are primarily motivated to fit in and please others, and value their relationships with their peers. These individuals appreciate familiar situations and are unlikely to leave their work location. They also do not like working alone and try to avoid disappointing their coworkers and managers at all costs.

Even though affiliation-motivated individuals work well in a team, they are often not the best employees. They are not motivated to do better as they are content to stay in their position. There is no drive to improve their employee status or their personal position, which makes them, in effect, the least effective workers.

How it is used

The Three Needs Theory is most often used in business or corporate settings. It has enabled the use of personality tests in employees. Originally dismissed as irrelevant, personality tests became more popular when managers were attempting to discover what motivates their employees. Personality tests also enable the manager to learn more about each individual.

People require different things from their workplace. Individuals motivated by power may need clear expectations and steps needed to advance in their careers. Individuals motivated by achievement may need regular opportunities to solve a problem. Individuals motivated by affiliation may need consistent feedback on the job that they are doing.

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