Psychological Needs in the Workplace

02 Dec

Psychological Needs in the Workplace

Written by EmployInsight

Psychologist Henry Murray described something called manifest needs which are psychological needs that are observed in people’s behavior (Murray, 2009).

Murray’s developed a model which showed 24 needs, both latent (hidden) and manifest (exhibited). Below are some of the needs Murray described:

1. Ambition Needs

Achievement: Success, accomplishment, and overcoming obstacles.
Exhibition: Shocking or thrilling other people.
Recognition: Displaying achievements and gaining social status.

2. Materialistic Needs

Acquisition: Obtaining things.
Construction: Creating things.
Order: Making things neat and organized.
Retention: Keeping things.

3. Power Needs

Abasement: Confessing and apologizing.
Autonomy: Independence and resistance.
Aggression: Attacking or ridiculing others.
Blame Avoidance: Following the rules and avoiding blame.
Deference: Obeying and cooperating with others.
Dominance: Controlling others.

4. Affection Needs

Affiliation: Spending time with other people.
Nurturance: Taking care of another person.
Play: Having fun with others.
Rejection: Rejecting other people.
Succorance: Being helped or protected by others.

5. Information Needs

Cognizance: Seeking knowledge and asking questions.
Exposition: Education others.

Manifest needs are tied to basic career behavior (Harvey & France, 1987) .

The need for achievement has been shown to have a moderate role on the feedback performance cycle (Matsui, Okada, & Takashi, 1982), and need for achievement and need for independence related to perceived job attributes and job performance and job satisfaction (Orpen, 1985).

It appears that manifest needs relate with performance and job satisfaction.

Manifest needs are useful for measuring the fit between an individual and his or her job.

For instance, if I have a high need for autonomy, it is important to know if my job position will provide opportunities for autonomy.

REFERENCES:

Harvey, B. C., & France, H. M. (1987). Needs expression: A basic aspect of career behaviour. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 21(1), 42-48.

Matsui, T., Okada, A., & Takashi, K. (1982). Influence of achievement need on goal setting, performance, and feedback effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(5), 645-648.

Murray (2009, 3 June 2009 12:04 UTC). Retrieved June 3, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henry_Murray&oldid294153580

Orpen, C. (1985). The effects of need for achievement and need for independence on the relationship between perceived job attributes and managerial satisfaction and performance. International Journal of Psychology, 20, 20-219.