The Achievement Syndrome and Economic Growth in Brazil

Abstract

Despite favorable natural resources, Brazil's economic growth has not kept pace with the needs of its expanding population. A partial explanation for this situation was sought in an examination of the prevalence of two psychosocial factors—achievement motivation and achievement values—among the people of Brazil. It was hypothesized that these psychosocial factors are less characteristic of the people of Brazil than of the United States and that their relative absence has been an adverse factor in Brazil's economic development. Data were obtained from subjects in Brazil and the United States by means of a Thematic Apperception Test, questionnaires, interviews and observation over an extended period. It was found that Brazilians had lower achievement motivation, were less activistic and future-oriented, placed less emphasis on planning and the postponement of gratifications, put a lower evaluation on work and were less willing to be physically mobile than their American counterparts.