Mapping explicit social motives of achievement, power, and affiliation onto the five-factor model of personality

Abstract

Previous research has shown that explicit motives are meaningfully related to the five-factor model of personality. The present study extends this research by using different measures of the explicit social motives of achievement, power and affiliation, and by employing measures of both approach and avoidance of these motives. Correlational and factor analyses demonstrated that explicit motives of achievement, power, and affiliation, both approach and avoidance components of these motives, can be consistently mapped onto personality trait measures of the five-factor model. Implications of this general finding, along with some exceptions, are discussed with regard to further research.