McClelland’s 3 Needs Theory

The 3 Needs theory also known as the Acquired theory or the Learned theory, is another content theory developed by McClelland around 1961. Like the other content theories, this theory is also
based on the needs of the individuals. In his theory, what McClelland tries to explain is the fact that motivation of an individual could basically result from three dominant needs. The three
dominant needs identified are, The need for achievement The need for power,  The need for affiliation
According to McClelland, human motivation is thus dominated by these three needs. In other words, some individuals will look for tasks that will help them to achieve something, paving way
to motivate them. Likewise some others may need power and some may look for affiliation. However, he also went into say that even though all these needs are present in each and every individual, there is basically one need that dominates the individuals when it comes to most people. For example, an individual will want to achieve certain things, will want to maintain good relations with others but at the same time, more than anything else they may want lead the others in order to motivate them.