Volitional and Emotional Correlates of the Motivational Structure Questionnaire: Further Evidence for Construct Validity

Abstract

Synopsis.—This chapter presents relationships between the Motivational Structure Questionnaire (MSQ) and personality and clinical questionnaires as well as behavioral measures that contribute to the construct validity of the MSQ. The MSQ showed theoretically consistent relationships with a personality disposition toward state versus action orientation and clinical measures of depression and anxiety. In addition to interindividual differences in motivational structure, MSQ indices reflected intraindividual differences in motivational characteristics between wishes, duties, and intentions. Furthermore, MSQ indices predicted difficulties with subsequent actual goal enactment, as retrospectively rated by participants. Consistent relationships were found not only for self-report measures but also for implicit, nonreactive measures of self-infiltration (i.e., false self-attribution of externally controlled goals or activities) and alienation (i.e., difficulties in perceiving and enacting emotional preferences). The experimental data suggest that specific motivational structures may be interpreted as instances of volitional inhibition or self-inhibition. In sum, findings contribute to the validity of the MSQ. The study on which the present chapter ∗ is based was originally designed to examine deter

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