Maslow’s hierarchy emphasizes Need while McClelland’s theory emphasizes Motivation.

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle this statement, let's first restate the question and options clearly: The claim is that 'Maslow’s hierarchy emphasizes Need while McClelland’s theory emphasizes Motivation.' Options: True or False.
Option 1 (True): This would assert that Maslow’s theory focuses on needs as a primary concept and that McClelland’s theory centers on motivation as a general concept. On closer inspection, Maslow indeed organizes human needs into a hierarchy and emphasizes needs as the core drivers of behavior. However, saying McClelland’s theory emphasizes Motivation in a broad sense is a bit imprecise because McClelland’s theory is specifically about acquired needs—achievement, affiliation, and power—as antecedents that drive and shape motivated behavior. In other words, McClelland’s contribution is a needs-based theory itself, not a separate, overarching notion of motivation beyond identifying those needs. This makes the blanket label in Option 1 overly simplistic and potentially misleading.
Option 2 (False): If we interpret the statement as implying that McClelland’s theory is about motivation as a general concept rather than the particular needs (achievement, affiliation, power) that drive motivation, then the assertion is inaccurate. McClelland’s theory describes particular needs that people seek to satisfy, which in turn produce motivation. It does not treat motivation as a separate, more general construct beyond these needs. Similarly, Maslow’s theory clearly centers on needs in a hierarchical structure, not just a generic notion of motivation. Therefore, the claim mixes these nuance-rich ideas in a way that does not accurately reflect how each theory is usually presented.
Option 2 also helps explain why Option 1 can be misleading: both theories are fundamentally about needs as drivers of behavior, and labeling McClelland as focusing on 'Motivation' rather than 'needs' obscures the theory’s core: acquired needs as motivational forces. In light of this, the statement as given is better classified as False, since it oversimplifies and mischaracterizes the emphasis of McClelland’s theory by not adequately naming it as an acquired needs framework.
In summary, while both theories involve needs that drive behavior, stating that McClelland’s theory emphasizes Motivation in a general sense and Maslow’s emphasizes Need is an incomplete and potentially misleading framing. The more precise view is that Maslow emphasizes hierarchical needs, and McClelland emphasizes acquired needs (achievement, affiliation, power) as drivers of motivated behavior, not motivation itself in a broader sense.

33:620:302:12 MANAGEMENT SKILLS Midterm Section 12 - Fall 2025

Maslow’s hierarchy emphasizes Need while McClelland’s theory emphasizes Motivation.

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