What social motive is characterized by a need to control and influence others?

Motives may be defined as needs, bonds, drives, or impulses within the individual. They are the expressions of a person's needs and hence they are personal and internal. They are the primary energizers of behavior that prompt people to action.

Key PointsSocial motives such as the need for power, affiliation, achievement, and approval are learned motives and involve other people. 

• Achievement refers to the need to achieve or accomplish a task and surpass other people.
• Affiliation implies the need to make friends and seek cooperation with others.
• Power is the need to control and influence others, to gain power, or do something that makes a person feel powerful and strong.
• Aggression refers to the need to fight and take revenge, to belittle or curse or ridicule the other.
• Nurturance is the need to take care of others and help others when they are in a problem or are sick.

Hence, we conclude that power is characterized by a need to control and influence others.