David C. McClelland

Stressed Power Motivation, Sympathetic Activation, Immune Function, and Illness

Previous research has reported that individuals high in the need for Power, high in inhibition, and high in power stress (the HHH group) are more likely than other individuals to report more severe illnesses. The present study investigates the possibility that the mechanism underlying this relationship is greater sympathetic activation in the HHH group which has an immunosuppressive effect. College males with the HHH syndrome reported more frequent and more severe illnesses than other individuals, as in previous studies. More of the HHH than other subjects also showed above average epinephrine excretion rates in urine and below average concentrations of immunoglobulin A in saliva (S-IgA). Furthermore, higher rates of epinephrine excretion were significantly associated with lower S-IgA concentrations, and lower S-IgA concentrations were significantly associated with reports of more frequent illnesses. The findings are interpreted as consistent with the hypothesis that a strong need for Power, if it is inhibited and stressed, leads to chronic sympathetic overactivity which has an immunosuppressive effect making individuals characterized by this syndrome more susceptible to illness.

The effect of an academic examination on salivary norepinephrine and immunoglobulin levels

Forty-six college students provided saliva samples just after taking an examination, one hour and 45 minutes later, and several days later, at a period of rest. As compared with baseline levels, the power stress of an examination was associated with an increase in salivary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA), a measure of B-cell immune function, and with an increase in norepinephrine (NE) concentrations in the saliva. The increase in NE was greater for those for whom n power was greater than n affiliation rather than for those for whom the reverse was true. Greater increases in, and levels of, NE at the examination and after were associated with greater subsequent drops in S-IgA, which reached below baseline levels for those for whom n power was stronger. The examination stimulated adrenergic activity, which in the long run depressed immune function for those with a strong power motive who had been most aroused adrenergically by the examination.

Secretory IgA as a Measure of Resistance to Infectious Disease: Comments on Stone, Cox, Valdimarsdottir, and Neale

We examined recent assertions of Stone, Cox, Valdimarsdottir, and Neale regarding the use of S-IgA concentrations in whole saliva as a measure of mucosal immune competence. Our conclusions are markedly different from theirs. In this article, we report the results of a meta-analysis that reveals a significant relation between psychosocial variables and salivary S-IgA concentrations. Second, we note that an inverse relation between salivary flow and S-IgA would not preclude studying salivary S-IgA concentration. Third, we present a different perspective on the assertion of Stone et al that IgA proteases in whole saliva potentially lead to erroneous results from the radial immunodiffusion assay. Fourth, we report a meta-analysis suggesting a statistically significant relation between S-IgA salivary concentrations and the incidence of acute upper respiratory illnesses. We conclude that there is no empirical or logical reason to prefer the measurement of another aspect of immunity to total S-IgA concentration in whole saliva.

Power Motivation, Stress and Physical Illness

College students reporting a large number of life change events in the past six months also reported significantly more frequent and more severe instances of physical illness and more affective symptoms in the same time period. These relationships, however, were modified in an interesting way by type of life change and by individual differences. Life change events were classified as involving power, affiliative or other stresses. Individuals scoring high in the need for Power (n Power), in inhibition, and in the number of power stresses (HHH subjects), reported more severe physical illness and affective symptoms than all other subjects or, in particular, subjects low in n Power, power stress and inhibition (LLL subjects). Individuals scoring high in Power and high in either inhibition or power stress also reported significantly more severe physical illness than other subjects. Among subjects high in inhibition, affiliative stress in combination with high n Power was associated with more severe physical illness, but, among subjects low in inhibition, affiliative stress in combination with high n Affiliation was associated with more physical illness. Affiliative stress was unrelated to affective symptoms. Other stress was unrelated either alone or in combination with other variable to physical illness or affective symptoms. The findings are interpreted as consistent with the hypothesis that subjects in the HHH category compared with other subjects are characterized by chronically high sympathetic activity which has immunosuppressive effects, making them more illness prone.

Motivation and personality: The affiliation motive

DERIVATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE FANTASY MEASURE OF N AFFILIATION Affiliative motivation is defined as a concern over establishing, maintaining, or restoring a positive affective relationship with another person or group of persons (Heyns, Veroff, & Atkinson, 1958). The system for scoring the need for affiliation ( n Aff) from imaginative thought content (see chapter 14) was developed by comparing stories written by college men after they had been socially evaluated by their peers with stories written under neutral conditions (Atkinson, Heyns, & Veroff, 1954; Shipley & Veroff, 1952). Similar evaluative conditions were shown to arouse affiliative concerns in stories written by women (Rosenfeld & Franklin, 1966). The same scoring system is used for males and females. The procedure for eliciting associative thought content that can be coded for n Affiliation is identical to that used for the achievement and power motives. This procedure is sometimes referred to as the Picture-Story Exercise (PSE) and requires subjects to write 5-minute stories to a series of four to six pictures like those of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). It is recommended that the PSE be administered by an experimenter who behaves in a relaxed, friendly, and approving manner (Lundy, 1988). It is also advisable to avoid administering the PSE immediately after an objective test or cognitive task (Lundy, 1988).

The effect of motivational arousal through films on salivary immunoglobulin A.

Abstract One-hundred and thirty-two college students were exposed in small groups to two films which contrasted in the extent to which they aroused either power or affiliation motivation. In previous studies high power motivation, if it is inhibited, has been associated with lower levels of salivary immunoglobulin A (S-Ig A), and high affiliation motivation, if it is not inhibited, is associated with higher concentrations of S-Ig A. The film which aroused power motivation more was not followed by a decrease in S-Ig A concentrations as predicted, but the film was followed by a significant reduction in S-Ig A concentrations for those individuals with the inhibited power motive syndrome at baseline as compared to individuals characterized by other motive syndromes. The film which aroused affiliation motivation more was followed by an increase in S-Ig A concentrations immediately afterwards, and this increase was sustained an hour later when subjects continued to dwell on the loving relationships that charact...

Treatment of somatization in primary care

A large proportion of patients present to primary care with chronic, stress-related symptoms having no organic cause. Biomedical treatment of these patients is usually ineffective and expensive. A 6-week behavioral medicine intervention designed to provide adjunctive treatment to primary care was evaluated in a randomized, controlled study. Thirty-eight individuals receiving treatment and 44 waiting for treatment completed the SCL-90-R at times corresponding to 1 week before (time 1) and 1 week after the course (time 2). The treatment group was then followed up at 6 months. After correction for initial levels, the treatment group reported significantly less somatization, anxiety, and depression than did the wait-list group at time 2. Within the treatment group, decreases in somatization, anxiety, and depression were statistically significant and were maintained 6 months later. Within the wait-list group, distress remained unchanged. A review of relevant literature reveals that a general behavioral medicine course such as the one studied here has an important adjunctive role in primary care, since 1) subsyndromal psychological distress is common in primary care; 2) physicians are reluctant to address psychosocial issues; 3) negative mood is associated with poor health; 4) negative mood is associated with high, inappropriate medical utilization; and 5) negative mood is associated with help-seeking behavior.

The immunoenhancing effects of humor on secretory IgA and resistance to respiratory infections

Abstract In three different studies involving exposun to two differcot humorous and comparison videotapes, it was demonstrated that humor arousal signiticantly increases S-IgA in college students. Furthermore significantly more of the subjects exposed to the humor films showed an increese in S-IgA than the subjects exposed to the comparison films. A good sense of humor, measured as a trait, was associated with higher baseline concentrations of S-IgA and with greater increases in S-IgA in response to a humor arousing film. Higher bascline kvels and gains in S-IgA in respoase to humor were associated with lower reported severity of colds in the past twelve months and in the three months following assessment. However, a good sense of humor was related to lesser cold incidence and severity only if it involved appreciation rather than production of humor. While those who actively tell jokes also show higher S-IgA levels, they show greater susceptibility to colds than those who only appreciate humor probably be...

The need for Power, sympathetic activation, and illness

This paper provides a brief summary of a number of recent research reports indicating thatn Power, if it is inhibited or stressed, is associated with high blood pressure and with the frequency and severity of infectious diseases. Other motive/stress or inhibition combinations failed to show these relationships. Blockedn Power apparently leads to chronic sympathetic activation, which, over time, results in high blood pressure and which increases epinephrine output that interferes with lymphocyte function, weakening the bodys immune defenses against infectious diseases. On the other hand,n Power that is expressed successfully and rewarded may lead to better adaptation.

Motivational syndromes associated with natural killer cell activity.

This article reports three studies that taken together support two hypotheses: (a) that the stressed power motivation syndrome is associated with relatively low natural killer cell activity (NKCA) and (b) that the unstressed affiliation motivation syndrome is associated with higher NKCA. In Study 1, college students who were relatively high in stressed power motivation had significantly lower NKCA than did their peers. In addition, students high in unstressed affiliation motivation had significantly greater NKCA than did those showing less evidence of this syndrome. Study 2 replicated these findings on a sample of middle-class men. In Study 3, which tested the hypotheses among adult patients from a Health Maintenance Organization, results were in the same direction but less significant. Meta-analyses clearly indicate that the combined evidence from the three studies reliably supports both hypotheses.