Study Brunstein et al. (1998): study DE 1993 /1

Public

University students, Germany, 199?, followed 4 month

Sample

Respondents

N = 127

Non Response

Assessment

Questionnaire: Paper & Pencil Interview (PAPI)
Questionaires in class at T1 and by mail at home at T2, T3 and T4. T1 + T2: Assesment of motivation with Picture Story Excercise. Next Ss listed two agentic goals and two communal goals they intended to pursue thoughout the current semester. Ss also rated their commitment of these goals and their attainability. T3+4: Ss rated how much progress they had made in achieving the goals listed at T1. Mood adjective checlist administrated at T1, T2, T3 and T4

Correlate

Authors's Label

Predominant motive disposition

Our Classification

Error Estimates

Protocols were scored by two independent coders. Category agreement was 90% for achievement, 94% for power, and 96% for affiliation-intimacy

Distribution

Predominant motive disposition:  M(SD) = 0.00 (1.59),
Power: M(SD) = 4.65 (2.41), Achievement = 1.94 ( 0.41), Affiliation intimacy = 5.43 (2.52)
Need for agency:  M(SD)= 6.58 (3.06), Need for communication= 5.43 (2.52)

Operationalization

TEST: Picture-story exercise: Ss were asked to write imaginative stories to each of six picture cues. In a relaxed atmosphere, they were allowed 5 min to write each story. The pictures depicted, in order administrated, a man sitting at an office desk, two female scientists working in a laboratory, a ship's captain talking with another man, two people sitting on a park bench, a man and a woman on a trapeze, and a man, a woman, an a guitar player in a nightclub.

CODING: Ss verbal protocols were content coded for 3 kinds of imagery in running text:
- power
- achievement
- affiliation intimacy
Expressed in mentioning per 1000 words

DERIVED MOTIVATION SCORES
A need for agency = achievement + power
B need for communion = afilliation intimacy
C predominant motive disposition = A - B, converted to z-scores

Assessed at T1 and T2, scores were averaged

Observed Relation with Happiness