Academic Motivation Scale — College Version

AMS-C 28

psychologyeducationsocial sciencesFree for research use

A 28-item multidimensional measure of academic motivation grounded in Self-Determination Theory. Assesses seven motivational orientations: three forms of intrinsic motivation, three forms of extrinsic regulation, and amotivation. Stem: "Why do you go to college?"

Items

Response format

7-point correspondence scale

Version

1.0

Subscales

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Academic motivation was measured using the 28-item Academic Motivation Scale — College version (AMS-C; Vallerand et al., 1992), which assesses seven motivational orientations (three intrinsic, three extrinsic, and amotivation) rooted in Self-Determination Theory. Subscale scores were computed as the mean of four items on a 7-point correspondence scale.

Reliability & validation

Validation population

French-Canadian university students (N = 745)

subscale alphas

[object Object]

cronbach alpha range

0.62,0.86

Subscales

Intrinsic Motivation — To KnowIntrinsic Motivation — Toward AccomplishmentIntrinsic Motivation — To Experience StimulationIdentified RegulationIntrojected RegulationExternal RegulationAmotivation

Response anchors

Does not correspond at all · 2 · 3 · Corresponds moderately · 5 · 6 · Corresponds exactly

Known limitations

Validated originally with French-Canadian university students; factor structure has been replicated inconsistently in later English-language samples (e.g., Fairchild et al., 2005). The Identified Regulation subscale has the lowest reliability (α ≈ .62). For non-college contexts use the high-school (AMS-HS) or elementary (AMS-E) versions.

Original citation

Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., Blais, M. R., Brière, N. M., Senécal, C., Vallières, É. F. (1992). The Academic Motivation Scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52(4), 1003-1017.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164492052004025

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Library entry verified January 2024. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.