The Achieving Society [Paperback]

David C. McClelland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1967

This book provides a factual basis for evaluating economic, historical, and sociological theories that explain the rise and fall of civilizations.

Product Details

• Paperback: 532 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (February 1, 1967)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029205107
• ISBN-13: 978-0029205105
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,465,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Achievement Motive is Alive and Thriving!, August 5, 2006

By 

Doctor A. (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Achieving Society (Paperback)

For nearly a half century, the pioneering work of David McClelland has been considered a major contribution to understanding human behavior in the organizational setting. The existence of the psychological drives for achievement, affiliation, and social power and influence have been well supported by the work of Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, Peter Drucker, Warren Bennis, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and countless others. Many of the ideas in "The Achieving Society" are as relevant today as when first written. Other of McClelland's notions have been the springboard for more contemporary research. The richness of his work should be obvious to both those well grounded in organizational behavior and students aspiring to become so.

11 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars fascinating document from a failed research program, April 4, 2003

By 

m_noland "m_noland" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Achieving Society (Paperback)

This book documents a research program of McClelland and associates in the late 1950s and 1960s to isolate and document the "achievement motive" ascribed to individuals (or groups) as an explanation of "the rise and fall of civilizations," largely unmediated by the influence of institutions or other social or historical forces. Although it is fair to say that little if any of this perspective would be accepted by contemporary social scientists, the book is fascinating in retrospect as it documents McClelland and Co.'s attempts to quantify the "achievement motive" for example by scoring the content of folk tales, elementary school reading primers, and popular music, and then the linkage of these measures to other social outcomes, complete with ex post rationalizations of the results (or lack of results) obtained in these exercises.

5.0 out of 5 stars In point of fact..., October 8, 2011

By 

Tim Smith (Washington DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Achieving Society (Paperback)

Contra a statement by one of the reviewers, McClelland does in fact develop the n Achievement/Affiliation/Power factors extensively, and provides a detailed breakdown of his discussion in the appendix, where the three concepts combined occupy over a half a page of entries.

Cognitive and cultural/attitudinal factors are coming back strongly as a causal factor in human achievement, where expertise, 'deliberate practice', and effort are now recognized as decisive. And what's good for the individual presumably is good for the collective...non? Of course, social injustice can impede widespread 'self-actualization' by the disadvantaged. Hence the need for an achievement society (culture, that is).