Purpose: To assess participants’ subjective experience related to a target activity in laboratory experiments.
Source: http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/intrinsic-motivation-inventory/
Short description:
The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a multidimensional measurement device intended to assess participants’ subjective experience related to a target activity in laboratory experiments. It has been used in several experiments related to intrinsic motivation and self-regulation (e.g., Ryan, 1982; Ryan, Mims & Koestner, 1983; Plant & Ryan, 1985; Ryan, Connell, & Plant, 1990; Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991; Deci, Eghrari, Patrick, & Leone, 1994). The instrument assesses participants’ interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, felt pressure and tension, and perceived choice while performing a given activity, thus yielding six subscale scores.
Recently, a seventh subscale has been added to tap the experiences of relatedness, although the validity of this subscale has yet to be established. The interest/enjoyment subscale is considered the self-report measure of intrinsic motivation; thus, although the overall questionnaire is called the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, it is only the one subscale that assesses intrinsic motivation, per se. As a result, the interest/enjoyment subscale often has more items on it that do the other subscales. The perceived choice and perceived competence concepts are theorized to be positive predictors of both self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation, and pressure/tension is theorized to be a negative predictor of intrinsic motivation. Effort is a separate variable that is relevant to some motivation questions, so is used it its relevant. The value/usefulness subscale is used in internalization studies (e.g., Deci et al, 1994), the idea being that people internalize and become self-regulating with respect to activities that they experience as useful or valuable for themselves. Finally, the relatedness subscale is used in studies having to do with interpersonal interactions, friendship formation, and so on.
Sample questions:
Instructions:
Below are listed all 45 items that can be used depending on which are needed.) For each of the following statements, please indicate how true it is for you, using the following scale:
Sample questions:
- I thought this activity was quite enjoyable (from interest/enjoyment subscale)
- I am satisfied with my performance at this task (from perceived competence subscale)
- I believe this activity could be of some value to me (from value/usefulness subscale)
Paid or free: Free? Must have an account to download
Reliability/validity measures: McAuley, Duncan, and Tammen (1989) did a study to examine the validity of the IMI and found strong support for its validity. Tsigilis and Theodosiou (2003) also found a Greek version of the scale to be reliable.
Setting: Open
Stakeholder(s):
- Individuals
- Students
- Instructors
- Coworkers
- Supervisors
Type of measurement: Questionnaire
Possible uses:
- Individual
- Educational
- Workplace professional development
Ease of implementation:
- Easy.
- Full version (45 items), est. 40 min.
- Reduced version (22 items), est. 15 min.
Advantages:
- Multi-dimensional (7 subscales)
- Available in Greek
- Can use full scale (45 items) or reduced scale (22 items)
Drawbacks:
- Items are redundant and extremely straightforward.
- Caution should be exercised when interpreting results.
- Self-report
Studies this has been used in: Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78.