This study explored the relationship between achievement motivation and economic development in a small midwestern community; specifically, the study investigates the following question: Is remaining in a community or moving away a function of congruency between individual achievement motivation and the stage of the community's development? For this community, the answer seems a qualified “yes.” When the community was “achieving,” those high school graduates with high achievement motivation tended to remain in the community; those with low achievement motivation moved away. The reverse was found when the community became stable and then declined.
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