RMP Is the Science of Motivation – Part 3

This article is the third in a series of articles summarizing research that positions the Reiss Motivation Profile® (RMP) as the "Science of Motivation®".

Professor Steven Reiss and doctoral student Susan M. Havercamp conducted three studies to assess the RMP's four-week test-retest reliability, internal consistency, concurrent and criterion validity. The studies sought to answer the following questions: Do people consistently report the same life goals over time? To what extent do participants report goals that they think society approves of rather than goals they value themselves? How much does self-reported motivation relate to real-world behavior?

Study 1

Participants
123 undergraduate students (44 men, 79 women). None of them had participated in RMP studies before.

Method
The RMP was administered anonymously to participants twice, four weeks apart.

Results
Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were between .69 and .88 (mean .80). These results showed that the RMP had "good" test-retest reliability.

Study 2

Participants
171 undergraduate students (equal gender distribution). None of them had participated in previous RMP studies.

Method
Participants completed five scales in randomized order:

RMP
Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC-SDS): Measures the tendency to agree with culturally approved items.

Jackson Personality Research Form (PRF) Dominance Scale: Evaluates features such as assertive, persuasive and directive.

Jackson PRF Order Scale: It evaluates characteristics such as organized, methodical and orderly.

Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI): It predicts traits such as fear and anxiety.

Results

Internal Consistency: When data from Studies 1 and 2 were combined, Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the RMP scales were between .79 and .94 (mean .88), indicating "good" internal consistency.

Social Desirability Effect: Correlations between MC-SDS and RMP were between .01 and .39 (mean .16). This showed that RMP responses were minimally affected by social approval anxiety.

Concurrent Validity:

.55 correlation between RMP Power Scale and PRF Dominance Scale.

Study 3

Participants
470 members from 8 criteria groups and 737 members from a comparison group. Criteria groups had not participated in previous studies.

Method
Participants completed the RMP anonymously.

Results:

Student Association Members (Greeks) (Criteria Group 1)

Philosophy Students (Criterion Group 2)

ROTC Members (Criteria Group 3)

Athletes (Criteria Group 4)

Dieters (Criteria Group 5)

Volunteers (Criteria Group 6)

Culinary Students (Criteria Group 7)

Theology Students (Criterion Group 8)

Collective Results

These three studies supported the following features of the RMP:

Good test-retest reliability for each scale,

Good internal consistency for each scale,

Minimal social desirability effect on responses,

Concurrent validity of the Order, Power and Tranquility scales,

Criterion validity of Curiosity, Food, Idealism, Independence, Physical Activity, Power, Social Communication and Status scales.

In summary, the researchers answered the following questions:

The "good" test-retest reliability of the RMP indicates that people's life goals remain stable over time.

The minimal social desirability effect proves that respondents are reporting their own goals , not society's.

Criterion validity of the eight scales indicates that self-report predicts actual behavior.

Source:
Havercamp, S.M., & Reiss, S. (2003). A comprehensive assessment of human strivings: Test-retest reliability and validity of the Reiss Profile. Journal of Personality Assessment, 81(1), 123-132.