Achievement Motivation and Economic Growth

Abstract

Following McClelland's (1961) work on the relationship between levels of need Achievement and subsequent economic development, I performed a replication to check the relationship with more recent data. Need Achievement levels in 1950 were correlated with growth in electricity production between 1952 and 1976. The correlation between these two variables was low and nonsignificant (.11). The results are discussed in the context of historical changes.