Sources of Motivation at Work

Personality Assessment – Motivation in Organisations

The short questionnaire on this page reviews your main sources of motivation according to David McClelland in nine questions.

David McClelland pioneered motivation research with his book “The Achieving Society“, published in 1961, and focused on sources of motivation in the professional environment. The main features of his motivation theory revolve around the sources of motivation affiliation, achievement and power.

A distinctive feature of McClelland’s model is its focus on approach-oriented (“toward”) motivation rather than avoidance (“away-from”) motivation. People tend to strive for positive goals on the conscious and communicative level, while fear driven motivation may be less conscious. – Nevertheless, the greater motivation is often found in away-from motivations driven by fear.

Avoiding the corresponding deficiency is implicit in positive goals. E.g. striving for power may involve avoidance of powerlessness, striving for achievement may involve fear of not living up to one’s standards, just as striving for belonging may involve avoidance of loneliness and exclusion from the group.