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Implicit motives  are motivational disposi -
tions that are based on affective responses to 
rewards and punishments, that operate out -
side of a person’s conscious awareness, and 
that promote attainment of certain classes of 
incentives and avoidance of certain classes 
of disincentives. In this chapter, we discuss 
three major implicit motives; review the as -
sessment of motive dispositions; and survey 
the affective, cognitive, physiological, and 
behavioral functions of implicit motives. We 
also provide a conceptual framework to ac -
count for some key differences between im -
plicit motives and conscious (i.e., explicit) 
modes of goal striving.
Profiles of Implicit Motives
Over the past 60 years, most implicit mo -
tive research has focused on the motiva -
tional needs for achievement, affiliation, 
and power (usually abbreviated n Achieve -
ment, n Affiliation, n Power; Murray, 1938). 
Achievement-  motivated individuals get a 
kick out of doing something well or improv -
ing on a task; affiliation-  motivated individu -
als experience close, harmonious contact 
with other people as satisfying; and power- 
motivated individuals derive pleasure from having an impact on and dominating oth -
ers (e.g., McClelland, 1987; Schult  heiss & 
Brunstein, 2010). In the following sections, 
we provide short profiles of these three mo -
tives and briefly discuss the hope and fear 
aspects of implicit motives.
The Achievement  Motive
The psychological core of n Achievement is 
the capacity to derive satisfaction from the 
autonomous mastery of challenging tasks  
(McClelland, Atkinson, Clark, & Low -
ell, 1953; Schult  heiss & Brunstein, 2005). 
Achievement-  motivated individuals prefer 
to work on challenging (but not overly dif -
ficult) tasks that demand their full concen -
tration and effort (McClelland, 1987; Pang, 
2010a). If they cannot choose and solve such 
tasks on their own terms, but instead are 
given explicit direction on how to do it, they 
are likely to leave the context or invest no ef -
fort in the task (Spangler, 1992). Individuals 
low in n Achievement, in contrast, typically 
avoid challenging tasks because they require 
effort, and success is neither likely to come 
quickly nor guaranteed in the first place. So 
why do achievement-  motivated people like 
to tackle challenges, and why are they so 
independent-  minded about it?CHAPTER 18
Implicit Motives
Oliver C. Schult  heiss  
Martin G. Köllner