Intrinsic motivation describes a drive to act based on internal reasons—because a task is interesting, enjoyable, or personally satisfying (Ryan & Deci, 2000).
By contrast, extrinsic motivation refers to performing actions for external reasons, such as meeting a deadline, receiving a reward, or gaining approval from others.
Understanding how to identify intrinsic motivation is valuable in several areas:
- Designing incentives and rewards in workplaces or classrooms
- Recognizing how different incentives affect people in different ways
- Identifying candidates, students, or employees who are intrinsically motivated
Below, we review practical tools and assessment approaches you can use to measure intrinsic motivation in research and applied settings.
This Article Contains:
- Measuring Intrinsic Motivation: 8 Useful Tests & Questionnaires
- 5 Helpful Inventories & Scales
- 11 Questions to Ask Your Clients
- PositivePsychology.com’s Relevant Resources
- A Take-Home Message
- References
Measuring Intrinsic Motivation: 8 Useful Tests & Questionnaires
Researchers typically use two broad approaches to measure intrinsic motivation (Harackiewicz, 1979): laboratory studies and field studies.
In laboratory studies, intrinsic motivation is often assessed with task-specific measures. For example, Harackiewicz (1979) inferred intrinsic motivation for puzzle solving from several behaviors and responses, including:
- Self-reported enjoyment immediately after the task and at follow-up
- The amount of voluntary time participants devoted to the task
- Willingness to return for additional sessions
- Requests to complete extra puzzles or tasks without external rewards
Field studies measure motivation within specific domains, so instruments differ by context—education, sport, therapy, or the workplace all use tailored tools.
Below are several well-established instruments and approaches drawn from the literature that you can consult or adapt for practical assessment.
Self-Regulation Questionnaires
Ryan and Connell (1989) developed self-regulation questionnaires for multiple domains, including academic work, exercise, learning, and prosocial activities. Their framework arranges motivational reasons along a continuum of perceived origin or locus of causality:
- External reasons — for example, “my boss wants it done.”
- Introjected reasons — actions driven by internal pressures such as guilt or self-esteem concerns.
- Identified reasons — behavior linked to personally endorsed goals or values.
- Intrinsic reasons — actions taken for inherent enjoyment or interest.
For instance, to the question “Why do you complete your homework?” typical response examples map to these categories: “Because I’ll get in trouble” (external), “Because I want the teacher to think I’m a good student” (introjected), “Because I want to understand the subject” (identified), and “Because it’s fun” (intrinsic).
Versions of these questionnaires include:
- Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Prosocial Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Religion Self-Regulation Questionnaire
- Friendship Self-Regulation Questionnaire
The Center for Self-Determination provides the questionnaires, instructions, and scoring guidance; membership is free to access these materials.
Situational Motivation Scale
The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) was developed to measure intrinsic and other motivation types described by Deci and Ryan (1985). Guay, Vallerand, and Blanchard (2000) created a standardized set of items that load consistently onto subdomains: intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, external regulation, and amotivation.
SIMS contains 16 items rated on a 1–7 scale and is suitable for in-field studies where quick, reliable assessment of situational motivation is needed. The original manuscript includes the full scale and scoring instructions.
5 Helpful Inventories & Scales
Below are five practical inventories that are particularly useful in workplace and educational settings.
Workplace: WEIMS and Multidimensional Scales
For employees, the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale (WEIMS) is widely used. WEIMS (derived from an earlier French inventory) contains 18 items covering intrinsic motivation, several regulation types, and amotivation. Responses use a 1–7 Likert scale indicating how well each statement describes the respondent.
Another option is the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS), which evaluates six dimensions including intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, introjected regulation, material and social extrinsic regulation, and amotivation. The MWMS has been validated across many languages and cultural settings.
Flow and Work Engagement
The Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF) assesses experiences of flow—deep engagement and enjoyment when performing work tasks. Flow is closely linked to intrinsic motivation; the WOLF includes items that measure frequency of flow experiences over recent weeks and can help track changes in engagement over time.
Classroom: Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Orientation
In classroom settings, Harter’s Scale of Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Orientation measures contrasting motivations—curiosity versus pleasing the teacher, enjoyment versus grade-seeking, preference for challenge versus ease, independent work versus guided work, and internal versus external measures of success.
The instrument was validated with children and adolescents and uses paired-choice items designed to reduce socially desirable responding. There is also a teacher-rated short form that evaluates students’ motivational orientation.
Positive Psychology Practitioner Resources
The Positive Psychology Toolkit contains hundreds of exercises, assessments, and interventions rooted in research. It is updated regularly and designed for practitioners who want science-based tools for motivation, goal setting, and behavior change.
11 Questions to Ask Your Clients
Intrinsic motivation is often assessed either via domain-specific questionnaires (asking why someone engages in a type of activity) or task-specific measures (asking about a particular task or episode).
When using domain-specific questions, answers that emphasize internal enjoyment, interest, or voluntary engagement indicate intrinsic motivation. Examples of responses that suggest intrinsic motivation include:
- “I enjoy doing this.”
- “I find this interesting.”
- “This is fun.”
Use the following types of conversational questions to uncover the source of motivation when working with clients:
- How did you experience the task? Was it fun, enjoyable, interesting, exciting, or stimulating?
- Did you find the task boring or unengaging?
- Was it easy to stay focused on the task? Did it feel engaging?
- How did it feel to complete the task—did time pass quickly or slowly?
Ask follow-up questions that probe metacognitive awareness: did the client notice their enjoyment while doing the task, or recall thinking about how engaging it was? If the topic involves interaction with other people, tailor the questions to the interpersonal context:
- How did you experience the interaction or the other person—fun, interesting, or stimulating?
- Was the interaction boring or draining?
- Did you feel drawn to engage, or did attention drift away?
Look also for evidence of motivation that continues after the interaction, such as feeling inspired to take further action.
Free Goal Exercises Pack
Three concise, science-based exercises designed to help clients create actionable goals and develop habits that support lasting behavior change.
PositivePsychology.com’s Relevant Resources
This article emphasizes actionable goal-setting and intrinsic motivation techniques that support sustained behavior change. PositivePsychology.com offers a free Goal Achievement Exercises Pack that includes three tools focused on motivation and goal attainment:
- Advanced Goal Analysis — a structured way to examine and reformulate goals to improve chances of success.
- Goal Visualization — a guided imagining exercise to increase expectancy for success and prompt present-moment planning.
- Realizing Long-Lasting Change by Setting Process Goals — an approach to habit formation that supports sustained effort toward meaningful goals.
These exercises are available as a free pack for practitioners and coaches looking to integrate motivation-focused interventions into their work.
A Take-Home Message
Intrinsic motivation is characterized by enjoyment, interest, and internal stimulation when performing a task. Although simply asking clients “why” they do something can provide insight, self-report reasons may sometimes appear internal even when external pressures are present.
Validated inventories and situational measures help clarify the underlying drivers of behavior. Use these tools to guide conversation, identify obstacles (such as stress, unrealistic deadlines, or unhealthy environments), and co-design strategies that increase internal engagement and satisfaction.
With greater clarity about their motivations and circumstances, clients can often be supported to develop a stronger internal connection to tasks and goals that matter to them.
We hope this overview helps you choose appropriate assessments and interview approaches to measure and support intrinsic motivation in your clients.
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- Blais, M. R., Brière, N. M., Lachance, L., Riddle, A. S., & Vallerand, R. J. (1993). L’Inventaire des Motivations au Travail de Blais [The Blais Inventory of Work Motivation]. Revue Québécoise de Psychologie, 14(3), 185–215.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Hachette UK.
- Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer Science & Business Media.
- Gagné, M., Forest, J., Vansteenkiste, M., Crevier-Braud, L., Van den Broeck, A., Aspeli, A. K., … Westbye, C. (2015). The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale: Validation evidence in seven languages and nine countries. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 24(2), 178–196.
- Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., & Blanchard, C. (2000). On the assessment of situational intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS). Motivation and Emotion, 24(3), 175–213.
- Harackiewicz, J. M. (1979). The effects of reward contingency and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37(8), 1352–1363.
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- Ryan, R. M., & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(5), 749–761.
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67.
- Tremblay, M. A., Blanchard, C. M., Taylor, S., Pelletier, L. G., & Villeneuve, M. (2009). Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale: Its value for organizational psychology research. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 41(4), 213–226.