Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)

Question

1. According to Alderfer's ERG theory, when one's higher-level needs are frustrated, he or she will seek more intensely to fulfill lower-level needs in what is called the frustration-regression component. 
2. According to McClelland's theory, people are born with their needs for power, achievement, and affiliation. 
3. In McClelland's acquired needs theory, the desire to excel at challenging tasks is part of the need for power. 
4. McClelland identifies the need for personal power as positive and involving problem solving to further mutual goals. 

Answer 1

1. TRUE
Alderfer held that if our higher-level needs (such as growth needs) are frustrated, we will then seek more intensely to fulfill our lower-level needs (such as existence needs). This is called the frustration-regression component.
2. FALSE
McClelland investigated the needs for affiliation and power and as a consequence proposed the acquired needs theory, which states that three needs of achievement, affiliation, and power are major motives determining people's behavior in the workplace. He believes that we are not born with our needs; rather we learn them from the culture, and from our life experiences.
3. FALSE
The need for achievement is the desire to excel, to do something better or more efficiently, to solve problems, to achieve excellence in challenging tasks.
4. FALSE
McClelland identifies two forms of the need for power. The negative kind is the need for personal power, as expressed in the desire to dominate others, and involves manipulating people for one's own gratification. The positive kind, characteristic of top managers and leaders, is the desire for institutional power, as expressed in the need to solve problems that further organizational goals.