ld that individuals make rational choices based on a careful evaluation of costs and benefits. While hedonistic approaches are useful for describing behavior after the fact, it has proven to be vague in terms of predicting behavior, and of limited practical use.
Freud and others focused on the role of unconscious motivation for human behavior. This led to the development of the instinctual theory that was based on inborn or innate predispositions. Instinctual views gained acceptance to the point that the number of proposed instincts were too numerous to render the theory applicable to real-world situation. As with hedonistic approaches, the instinctual approach is best used to describe actions after they occur rather than as predictors of specific behavior (Vecchio, 1994, p. 175).
The Thematic Apperception Test was developed by Henry A. Murray as an outgrowth of his research on instinct theory. Murray created a test for establishing the presence and strength of various personal needs. Specifically, he used a set of drawings from magazines that, when subjects described them, could be used to highlight the needs that were dominant in the subjects. McClelland took the story-telling approach further by uncovering three dominant needs: the need for achievement; the need for affiliation; and the need for power.
The need for achievement determines how employees will respond to challenging job assignments because task persistence and the acceptance of challenge are closely related to this need. High achievers are driven by the prospect of performance-based satisfaction rather than by monetary gain. For these individuals, money is primarily a source of feedback on personal performance rather than an end in itself. Individuals with a high need for affiliation tend to be warm and friendly in their relationships, but may be ineffective if their need for affiliation is not balanced with their needs for achievement and power.
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