David McClelland
American psychologist (1917-1998) · United States · On the map · Academics · Died at 80
David Clarence McClelland was an American psychologist, noted for his work on motivation need theory. He published a number of works between the 1950s and the 1990s and developed new scoring systems for the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and its descendants.
David McClelland is read about 79 times a day, in 32 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?A life in dates
People around David
Close ties
Also in Deutsch
Media & music
Photos 1
Awards
About this person
McClelland is credited with developing Achievement Motivation Theory, commonly referred to as "need for achievement" or n-achievement theory. A Review of General Psychology survey published in 2002, ranked McClelland as the 15th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.
The same award as David
Carol GilliganBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution AwardRobert RosenthalBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution Award
Henry MurrayBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution AwardJerome KaganBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution Award
B. F. SkinnerBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution Award
Thelma AlperBoth received Kenneth D. Herman, Ph.D., J.D. Career Contribution Award