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1977•British Journal of PsychologyRequires access

The achievement motive construct and its measurement: Where are we now?

Stephen Fineman

Open publisher page 152 citations

Abstract

The achievement motive (nAch) is a construct which has attracted many applied researchers. The present paper reviews the nature and conceptualization of nAch, focusing on the considerable number of different projective and questionnaire instruments which have been evolved for its measurement. The instruments are examined for their convergent validity, which is found to be very poor. Reasons for this are explained in terms of the psychometric characteristics of the instruments and whether nAch should be conceptualized as a conscious or unconscious variable. Guidelines for the future development of nAch measures are presented.

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What this paper is about

The achievement motive (nAch) is a construct which has attracted many applied researchers. The present paper reviews the nature and conceptualization of nAch, focusing on the considerable number of different projective and questionnaire instruments which have been evolved for its measurement. The instruments are examined for their convergent validity, which is found to be very poor. Reasons for this are explained in terms of the psychometric characteristics of the instruments and whether nAch should be conceptualized as a conscious or unconscious variable. Guidelines for the future development of nAch measures are presented.

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OpenAlex reports 152 citations for this work. Citation counts describe recorded attention and do not establish research quality.

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Available abstract

The achievement motive (nAch) is a construct which has attracted many applied researchers. The present paper reviews the nature and conceptualization of nAch, focusing on the considerable number of different projective and questionnaire instruments which have been evolved for its measurement. The instruments are examined for their convergent validity, which is found to be very poor. Reasons for this are explained in terms of the psychometric characteristics of the instruments and whether nAch should be conceptualized as a conscious or unconscious variable. Guidelines for the future development of nAch measures are presented.

Key concepts: Psychology, Conceptualization, Construct (python library), Unconscious mind, Construct validity, Projective test, Social psychology, Need for achievement

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