Definition

Need for power is defined as the desire to control or influence others. It is not necessarily associated with actually having power, but instead with the desire to have power. In 1933, Henry Murray defined a long list of what he considered to be basic human needs. These needs were seen as directing behavior, and people were assumed to vary by how important each need was to them as an individual. One of these needs was the need for power. Some of the early empirical work on need for power was done by David McClelland and David Winter, who refined the definition and developed methods of testing for people's level of need for power. Need for power (also called power motivation) was seen as one ...