Abstract

Individuals experience different dimensional levels of motivation and apathy (i.e., the lack of motivation), which can reflect both state and trait contributions. Chronic apathy is common in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The primary aim of the current study was to create a new self-report measure that measures different domains of motivation/apathy with subscales and also take into account many other aspects that could affect motivation within the same scale, including energy level, anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, indecisiveness, and initial and sustained effort. A sample of undergraduate university students from the University of Central Florida (N = 327, 57% female) and Louisiana State University (N = 400, 82% female) completed and passed exclusion criteria from an online survey which included the initial Multifaceted Motivation Inventory (MMI), along with other existing measures. Following factor analysis and exclusion criteria, of the 38 activities included on the initial MMI, two factors of 10 activities each emerged for the final MMI scale. One reflected solitary activities while the other factor asked about social activities. The Cronbach’s alphas for the frequency in which activities were endorsed as having completed in the past year for each factor were acceptable at .69 and .70. Construct validity for the two factors was supported through significant relationships in the expected directions with external scales of depression, indecisiveness, apathy, and anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. Further research on the final MMI can help assess its psychometric ability to distinguish individual trait differences that contribute to a dimensional level of motivation/apathy.

Thesis Completion

2020

Semester

Summer

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Bedwell, Jeffrey

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

3 years

Release Date

8-1-2023

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Included in

Psychology Commons

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