W3 Chapter 5.3 - Studies of Specific Dispositional Motives Flashcards
What is the picture story exercise?
Any one of a family of tests that uses stories written about pictures to assess motive strength through narrative fantasy
What is the picture story exercise (PSE) used for?
To study motive dispositions.
What are the four types of motive dispositions?
- Achievement
- Power
- Affiliation
- Intimacy
What is Achievement motivation?
The desire to do things well, to feel pleasure in overcoming obstables
What types of tasks do people low in need for achievement choose
very easy and very difficult tasks
What types of tasks do people high in need for achievement choose?
moderately difficult tasks
What is diagnosticity?
The extent to which a task provides information about something
What four characteristics does the need for achievement lead to?
- greater persistence in the face of failure
- better task performance
- higher grades
- greater educational achievement
What is power motivation?
The need to have influence over other people
What two picture story exercise (PSE) images reflect the need for power?
- forceful, vigorous actions
- have status
What four behaviours follow from a power motive?
- seeking positions of authority
- surrounding themselves with symbols of power
- seeking enhanced reputation
- narcissism
What three behaviours does a high need for power predict in men?
- stronger negotiators
- more effective managers
- having a dependent wife
What behaviour does a high need for power predict in women?
greater power-related job satisfaction
What is the biological response of failure for people with a high need for power?
Increase in the stress hormone cortisol
What are the two sex hormones released in men and women, respectively, that are shown to increase after a success in people with a high need for power?
Testosterone and estradiol
What external factor leads to positive (prosocial) expressions of a high need for power
When a person has a strong sense of social responsibility
What is the affiliation motive?
The need to form and maintain relationships and to be with people
How is the need for affiliation reflected in picture story exercise (PSE)?
in concern over acceptance by others, and by active attempts to establish positive relationships
What four characteristics as associated with the affiliation motive?
- desire to seem agreeable
- more likely to make concessions
- more likely to initiate contacts and establish friendships
- nervousness over thinking others are judging their interpersonal skills
What three behaviours follow from a high affiliation motive?
- make more phone calls
- more likely to engage in random social activity
- express a wish to interact with others when alone
What is the intimacy motive?
The need for close communication and sharing with someone else
What correlation did McAdams and Constantian (1983) report between the need for intimacy and affiliation?
0.58
What four behaviours reflect the intimacy motive?
- increased one to one exchanges with others instead of large group interactions
- increased self-disclosure
- increased laughter, smiling and eye contact
- decreased desire to dominate a social interaction
What two types of disclosure does the need for intimacy entail?
- self-disclosure
- partner disclosure
