According to self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation arises from three psychological needs: self-determination, competence, and relatedness. In the present article, the authors describe the development of a brief, reliable, valid, and easy-to-administer measure of each of these psychological needs. (A fourth scale to measure tension is included.) Normative data, coefficient alphas, and evidence for factorial and external validity for each of the Activity-Feeling States (AFS) scales are provided. Further, predictive utility for the AFS scales is demonstrated by showing that each scale predicts both self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables. New York: Wiley.
2.
Deci, E. L. (1972). Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic reinforcement and inequity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 22, 113-120.
3.
Deci, E. L. , & Ryan, R. M. (1985a). The General Causality Orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 109-134.
4.
Deci, E. L. , & Ryan, R. M. (1985b). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
5.
Deci, E. L. , & Ryan, R. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024-1037.
6.
Grolnick, W. S. , Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1991). The inner resources for school performance: Motivational mediators of children's perceptions of their parents. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 508-517.
7.
Harter, S. (1982). The Perceived Competence Scale for Children. Child Development, 53, 87-97.
8.
Joreskog, K. G. , & Sorbom, D. (1989). LISREL VII. A guide to the program and applications. Chicago: SPSS.
9.
Judd, C. M. , Jessor, R., & Donovan, J. E. (1986). Structural equation models and personality research. Journal of Personality, 54, 149-198.
10.
Marsh, H. W. , Balla, J. R., & McDonald, R. P. (1988). Goodness-of-fit indexes in confirmatory factor analysis: The effects of sample size. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 391-410.
11.
Olson, B. C. (1985). The effect of informational and controlling feedback on intrinsic motivation *in competition. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Texas Christian University.
12.
Reeve, J. , Olson, B. C., & Cole, S. G. (1987). Intrinsic motivation in competition: The intervening role of four individual differences following objective competence information. Journal of Research in Personality, 21, 148-170.
13.
Ryan, R. M. , Koestner, R., & Deci, E. L. (1991). Ego-involved persistence: When free-choice behavior is not intrinsically motivated. Motivation and Emotion, 15, 185-205.
14.
Vallerand, R. J. , & Reid, G. (1984). On the casual effects of perceived competence on intrinsic motivation: A test of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Sport Psychology, 6, 94-102.
15.
Wellbom, J. G. , & Connell, J. P. (1987). Manual for the Rochester Assessment Package for Schools. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester.
