Achievement, Power, and Affiliation Motives as Clues to (E)migration Desires: A Four-Countries Comparison

Abstract

Within the framework of McClelland’s motivational theory, a model of the motivational structure of the migrant personality is proposed. It is argued that those who choose to leave their country of origin have higher achievement and power motivation and lower affiliation motivation than those who want to stay. This model was tested with 1050 college students in Albania, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia. Data were collected between 1993 and 1996. MANOVA analysis confirmed our predictions for the achievement and power motives. Students who wanted to emigrate had higher achievement and power motivation scores than those who wanted to stay. This model was also applied to internal migrants. It was tested with 789 United States college students. Those who wanted to leave the region of their university after graduation scored significantly higher on achievement and power motivation than those who wanted to stay. It is argued that this pattern is specific for countries or regions of economic stagnation or decline, while it may be reversed for countries or regions of economic growth. Predictions for the affiliation motivation were only partly supported. Our findings suggest that psychological factors are important predictors of (e)migration.