The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and McClelland's Achievement Motivation Theory Criticizing economics as being an overly simplistic,

and rationalistic discipline, David McClelland points out that it does not really account for how humans actually behave. For example, Elton Mayo and his work at the Hawthorne Western Electric plant in the 1920s and 30s recognized the noneconomic motivations of workers. In the Hawthorne Studies... the importance of the peer group was recognized in determining employee motivation Motivation research has long considered human motives and needs. However, isolating people's motivational needs can be a difficult process because most people are not explicitly aware of what their motives are. In attempting to understand employee motivation, Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs. David McClelland furthered this idea in his learned needs theory. McClelland's experimental work identified sets of motivators present to varying degrees in different people. He proposed that these needs were socially acquired or learned. That is, the extent to which these motivators are present varies from person to person, and depends on the individual and his or her background. McClelland's experiment -- the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) -- consisted of showing individuals a series of pictures and asking them to give brief descriptions of what was happening in the pictures. The responses were analyzed in terms of the presence or absence of certain themes. The themes McClelland and his associates were looking for revolved around the following motivators: achievement, affiliation and power. According to David McClelland, regardless of culture or gender, people are driven by three motives:

achievement, affiliation, and influence.

Since McClelland's first experiments, over 1,000 studies relevant to achievement motivation have been conducted. These studies strongly support the theory.