Power, affiliation, and war: Three tests of a motivational model.

From previous research, a model relating war outbreak to a pattern of high power motivation and low affiliation motivation is developed and tested by content analysis of (a) historical materials from over 300 years of British history, (b) British-German communications at the outbreak of World War I, and (c) United States-Soviet communications during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In all 3 studies, observed motive patterns in relation to war-versus-peace outcomes support the essential features of the model. Furthermore, wars once underway end only after power motivation drops and not after affiliation increases. Finally, ending of wars is followed by declines in power and achievement motivation. Alternative interpretations of the results are discussed and further, multivariate research is outlined