Establishing, maintaining, or reestablishing a positive affective relationship with another person or group of people is known as an affiliative motivation (Heyns, Veroff, By contrasting stories written by college men after they had received social evaluations from their peers with stories written under neutral circumstances, a system for scoring the need for affiliation (n Aff) from imaginative thought content (see chapter 14) was developed (Atkinson, Heyns, & Atkinson). Similar evaluative circumstances have been demonstrated to elicit affiliative concerns in works by women authors (Rosenfeld). The same scoring system is used for males and females.
The same method used for the achievement and power motives can be used to elicit associative thought content that can be coded for n Affiliation. The Picture-Story Exercise (PSE), also known as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), asks participants to create 5-minute narratives in response to a series of four to six pictures. It is advised that the experimenter administering the PSE exhibits relaxed, cordial, and positive behavior (Lundy, 1988). Additionally, it is advised against giving the PSE right after an objective test or cognitive exercise (Lundy, 1988).
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Characteristics of someone motivated by affiliation
Additionally, you can spot some traits in your team members that might point to their affiliation-driven motivation. Those characteristics include:
What is the affiliation motivation theory?
According to the affiliation motivation theory, people aspire to be a part of a group or organization. According to psychologist David McClelland’s “Three Needs Theory,” which contends that people have three primary drives: affiliation, power, and achievement, affiliation motivation is one of the three. Affiliation motivation has been used by managers and organizational psychologists to assess how well employees will contribute to team efforts since the theory’s inception.
Reaching your workplace objectives may depend on your team members’ understanding of affiliation motivation. Affiliation motivation can promote open communication and close relationships among coworkers in the workplace, which fosters a sense of community. If this type of motivation tends to be the focus of your primary needs, you might enjoy supporting your team. Knowing which employees in a management position are highly motivated by affiliation can help you select the most qualified candidates to take part in a group project.
How affiliation motivation impacts the workplace
Perception and intuition are the two primary components of affiliation motivation that influence how workers perform in the workplace.
How to apply affiliation motivation in the workplace
To successfully use affiliation motivation at work and motivate your team, follow these steps:
Affiliation motivation example
The theory of affiliation motivation can be used to boost team morale and create a sense of belonging. Think about a scenario where your employer asks your team to enhance your company’s social media presence.
If one of your team members is driven by affiliation, they might want to produce interesting content that promotes engagement with the business website. They are driven to run a successful campaign by a desire to help their team, not by the prospect of a promotion or pay increase. When they give their coworkers the resources they need to complete the project, they contribute to fostering a sense of community in a motivating environment.
You can take a few measures to make sure your team members would remain motivated in a project like this if you realize that one or more of them find motivation in their desire to form bonds with others. For instance, you could encourag them by offering compliments and informing them of how their contribution to the project can assist their coworkers in achieving their professional objectives. If affiliation serves as their primary motivator, a significant portion of their reward for performing well will probably come from their raised social status within the team.
What is the Theory of Needs (Achievement, Power, Affiliation)?
FAQ
How does the desire for affiliation motivate people?
People who are motivated by affiliation yearn for a warm and welcoming environment. Such individuals are effective performers in a team. These people want to be liked by others.
Is affiliation a social motive?
A concern with establishing, maintaining, or reestablishing positive interactions with another individual or group is referred to as affiliation motivation. One of the most fundamental and common human motivations is social affiliation, which is characterized by a desire for interaction and a love of company (McClelland, 1987).
What is an example of need for affiliation?
For instance, when developing a new product in a business setting, there may be a variety of ideas for how to market the product. An employee who has just been hired may feel the need for affiliation to make their point heard because they believe this is the best course of action.
Why is the need for affiliation important?
We are, at our core, social creatures. Affiliation is the power that enables us to collaborate with others to forge something that is more resilient, creative, and strong than any one person — the group. Your family is your child’s first and most significant group, and the strong emotional ties that bind family members together make up a family.
