How High is Your Power Motive?

The next time you watch a baseball game, take note of the manager. He is the power center from whom all crucial commands flow, and all eyes are on him. His use of power is constructive and authorized. But can you imagine if someone tried to give orders to a group that disputed his authority? Such a person would probably be labeled a compulsive tyrant.

Interpersonal power is the capacity to influence others while resisting their influence on you. Dozens of books are written each year on how to gain control and mastery over others. In his work at Harvard University, Professor David McClelland studied the power motive in thousands of subjects. He concluded that the will to power is a human necessity much like the need for recognition, achievement, or love.

Over the course of his extensive studies, McClelland identified three characteristics of people with a high power drive: they act in vigorous and determined ways to exert their power, they spend a lot of time thinking about ways to alter the behavior and thinking of others, and they care very much about their personal standing with others.

If any of the above descriptions sound like you, it might well mean that you are compulsive about having power over others. This quiz may provide some insight.