The Achievement Syndrome and Economic Growth in Brazil

Despite favorable natural resources, Brazil's economic growth has not kept pace with the needs of its expanding population. A partial explanation for this situation was sought in an examination of the prevalence of two psychosocial factors-achievement motivation and achievement values-among the people of Brazil. It was hypothesized that these psychosocial factors are less characteristic of the people of Brazil than of the United States and that their relative absence has been an adverse factor in Brazil's economic development. Data were obtained from subjects in Brazil and the United States by means of a Thematic Apperception Test, questionnaires, interviews and observation over an extended period. It was found that Brazilians had lower achievement motivation, were less activistic and future-oriented, placed less emphasis on planning and the postponement of gratifications, put a lower evaluation on work and were less willing to be physically mobile than their American counterparts. espite recent efforts to promote industrialization and commerce, Brazil's economic growtlh lhas not kept pace with the needs of its expanding population. Since the turn of the century the nation's population has quadrupled; there are now estimated to be 72 million people in Brazil as contrasted with 18 million in 1900.1 The pressure of population, the increasingly insistent demands of the people for an adequate standard of living and a recognition of the role of industry in national prosperity and international influence have given impetus to sporadic programs designed to spur industrialization. In some regions and sectors of the economiiy, they have produced impressive results, but in many parts of Brazil the situation steadily grows worse.2 Except for a portion of the South, poverty, illiteracy and unemployment are widespread. The annual per capita income for the country as a whole is about 125 dollars; it drops to below 50 dollars in some areas.3 These figures are anomalous considerinlg that Brazil is rich in natural resources which, if fully exploited, could make it one of the most prosperous countries in the Western Hemisphere.4 *A revised versioni of a paper given at the annual meeting of the Anmerican Sociological Association, St. Louis, September 1, 1961. This investigationi wvas supported by a research grant (M2283) from the National Institute of Mental Health, United States Public Health Service. The work in Brazil was donae wThile the author held a Special Research Fellowship (MF-10,795) awarded by the Research Fellowship Branch of the National Institute of Menital Health anad sponsored by the Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil. The writer is greatly inadebted to Dr. Carolina Marttiscelli Bori for her gen-erous help in the colnduct of this research. My thanks also to Professors Noemy da Silveira REudolfer, Juarez Rubens Brandao Lopes and Arrigo Leonardo Angelinii for tlheir miiany insightful comments. 1 Brazil's birth rate of 42 per thousand population is one of the world's highest. See, T. Lynn Smith, "Demographic Factors Related to Economic Growth in Brazil," in Econouiic Grozwth: Braoil, In,dia, Japanb, Simlon Kuznets, Wilbert E. Moore and Joseph J. Spengler, Editors (Durham: Duke University Press, 1955); Jacques Lambert, Os Dois Brasis (Rio de Janeiro: Publicacoes do Cenitro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Educacionais, 1959); Roger Bastide, Brasil: Terra de Contrastes (Sao Paulo: Difusao Europeia do Livro, 1959). 2 For example, it has been estimated that food production for donlestic conLsumption in 1960 was up less than two percent over 1959, while the population increased by over 2.5 percent. See John J. Johnson, "New President, Old Problelmas," Current History, 40 (April 1961), pp. 201-207. 3 Ibid., p. 204. 4 The catalog of Brazil's natural resources is impressive. For example, Brazil possesses the world's second largest iron deposits, much of which is still untouched; it has the world's greatest hydroelectric potelntial, solmie 80 million kilowatts; yet This content downloaded from 207.46.13.113 on Wed, 05 Oct 2016 04:10:15 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms