Need for power is defined as the desire to control or influence others. It is not necessarily associated with actually having power, but instead with the desire to have power. In 1933, Murray defined basic human needs and were seen as directing behavior . Varied from people to people based on individual's importance Three Fundamental Social Motives Need for power (also called power motivation) Need for achievement and Need for affiliation. Behaviors Associated with Need for Power(Forms of exerting Power) Use of physical or psychological aggression to force others to comply with what one wants from them. Gaining a reputation as an important person. Trying to affect the emotions of others e.g.by telling jokes, or by a musical or dramatic performance. Providing (often unsolicited) advice or help.

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Need for Power

2. Need for Power Definition
 Need for power is defined as the desire to control or influence others.
 It is not necessarily associated with actually having power, but instead
with the desire to have power.
 In 1933, Murray defined basic human needs and were seen as directing
behavior . Varied from people to people based on individual's importance
 Three Fundamental Social Motives
 Need for power (also called power motivation)
 Need for achievement and
 Need for affiliation.
 Behaviors Associated with Need for Power(Forms of exerting Power)
 Use of physical or psychological aggression to force others to
comply with what one wants from them.
 Gaining a reputation as an important person.
 Trying to affect the emotions of others e.g.by telling jokes, or by a
musical or dramatic performance.
 Providing (often unsolicited) advice or help.

3. Behaviour of High Need for Power
 All forms of exerting power over others are .
 Exercised for one’s own direct benefit, or
 Done with the apparent goal of doing something good for another
person.
 Some negative behaviors of high in need for power may be very
uncomfortable when others see them as powerless or weak and may be seen
as hostile or chronically angry
 Having a high level of physical fights or verbal arguments with
others.
 Enjoyment of debating .
 Some positive behaviors of high in need for power that is more socially
acceptable is taking leadership in group situations like
 Enjoying running an organization,
 Making decisions, or
 Being in charge of a group.
 Run for elected office.
 They do so under the garb of motivated by “service” or “duty,” but actually

4. Power….2
 Gaining a reputation is another expression of power motivation.
 By making sure their names are visible on their doors,
 Writing letters that will be published, with their names identified, or
 Doing other things that stand out and lead to other people knowing
who they are.
 To have possessions that are valued by others in the group like
 Particular types of clothing, or music, or
 any other objects that will impress others.
 When asked to remember members of a group at a later point, those high
in power motivation are more often remembered than are those low in
power motivation.
 They take a guiding role within their close relationships.
 They like to give advice to their friends and to propose and plan joint
activities more dominant in the relationship.
 When two people who are both high in power motivation do form a
relationship, they may alternate in taking the dominant role within the
relationship.

5. Power….3
 Helping behavior resulting from high need for power can be expressed in work
roles.
 Mentoring, whereby one takes responsibility for guiding a person of
lower status within the organization.
 Mentors believe that by mentoring others, they will gain a more
positive reputation within the organization.
 By establishing relationships with talented junior and mentoring ,
they build a power base that may enable them to gain more power as
those they have mentored rise in the organizational hierarchy.

6. High Need for Power Job choices
 Successful managers within large corporations
 Those working in government positions, where one is providing some
type of service, or enforcing regulations
 Being a journalist, possibly because of the link with gaining
reputation.
 The set of occupations known as the helping professions.
(In these types of fields, although the goal is to provide important help to
other people , but are able to exert influence over others and to express
desires for power in a way that is socially acceptable, especially for
women, who tend to dominate in many of these helping professions.)
 People who are interested in teaching,
 Being members of the clergy, or
 Being psychologists

7. Ways of expressing power motivation
 May focus on only one type of expression, or they may display
many of these.
 May express power in one way at one point in their lives, but in
another way at a different point.
 More aggressive forms of power expression are more common
in younger adults,
 Parenting and helping others may be seen more in older adults.
 Men are more able to express power through aggression and
leadership in large organizations.
 Women often express power in close relationships or the family.

8. Need for Power Testing Methods
 Need for power is considered to be an unconscious motivation and are not
necessarily aware of their own level of need for power.
 Openly admitting a desire to have power or influence is not considered
socially acceptable
 Projective techniques like TAT( Thematic Apperception Test) involving
showing people a series of fuzzy pictures and asking them to write a story
about each of them is technique to find this need.
 More recently, power motivation has been measured through asking about
some of the behaviors mentioned earlier that are associated with the basic
need.
 Those who display these power-oriented behaviors are assumed to be high
in the need for power.
 References:
 Frieze, I. H., & Boneva, B. S. (2001). Power motivation and motivation to help
others. In A. Y. Lee-Chai & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The use and abuse of power:
Multiple perspectives on the causes of corruption (pp. 75-89). Philadelphia:
Psychology Press.