Investigation of the Relationship Between Level of Aspiration and Certain Personality Characteristics

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The importance of the role of motivation in human behavior cannot be underestimated. Psychologists have probed the Why?” of certain types of behavior and have concluded that the goals and values which the individual has set direct his choice of activity to a marked degree. Many everyday situations which require the setting of goals are of minor importance to the individual, while others involve decisions whose effects are far reaching. The aspirations and achievements of each individual are to him a measure of his own personal worth and a criterion of his personal and social security. Therefore, an understanding of the behavior of the level of aspiration and its related factors seems highly desirable. Level of aspiration, considered as how much an individual expects to accomplish may serve as a direct expression of a goal, an incentive to do better, or a means of protecting the ego (8). Although the term level of aspiration was used first by Lewin, the concept was formed by Dembo in his experimental investigation of anger (11)