Consensual and behavioral validity of a measure of adaptive individual differences dimensions in human motivation

Data from three sources—an initial self sample ( N = 108) and a friend sample ( N = 103) and relative sample ( N = 103) recruited by self sample participants—were used to test the consensual and behavioral validity of new individual differences measures of 15 dimensions of motivation represented in the assessment of individual motives-questionnaire (AIM-Q). AIM-Q scores for all three samples converged and hypotheses of their predicted relationships with reports of the occurrence and frequency of a variety of behavior criteria of some importance were supported in most cases. These results support the utility of the AIM-Q as a new measure of motives in purposeful human behavior.