Date of Award

1986

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Industrial Psychology

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Charles Orme-Rogers

Second Advisor

Rebecca Glenn

Third Advisor

Samuel Zibit

Abstract

The subject of need achievement is of prime importance in today's industry . Motivating employees and using the resources the modern corporation has at its disposal have never been as important to industry as they are today . Unmotivated employees cost corporations heavily in terms of absenteeism and loss of productivity , which are then reflected in profits.

This research project concerns whether or not there are different levels of need achievement in a private non- profit hospital organization versus a private investor- owned (for profit) hospital organization . Three groups , each of 20 subjects, were studied . The subjects in two groups were recruited from different hospital settings and contained registered nurses ; one group came from private investor-owned hospitals , the other from private non- profit health care facilities . The remaining control group was made up of 20 individuals randomly selected from the St . Louis area .

A Thematic Aperception Test (TAT) was administered to the subjects who were asked to give their impressions of four pictures rated high on achievement imagery . This involved asking the subjects to write an explanation or story in response to viewing the pictures t hat explained their perception of what was happening in the pictures. The TAT was then evaluated according to standards developed by David McClelland in his Scoring Manual for the Achievement Motive (1961) .

Using a one-way analysis of variance to evaluate the TAT , no statistically significant differences were found between the three groups studied in terms of need achievement.

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