Martin-Larsen Approval Motivation Scale (MLAMS)

Abstract

The Martin-Larsen Approval Motivation Scale (MLAMS) is a widely recognized psychological instrument designed to assess an individual’s tendency to seek and value social approval from others. Developed by H. J. Martin in 1984, this scale specifically measures the extent to which a person modifies their attitudes, behaviors, or public self-presentation to align with perceived social expectations, thereby minimizing disapproval or maximizing acceptance. The MLAMS is often employed in personality assessment research to differentiate genuine behavioral patterns from those driven purely by the need to manage public image or exhibit social desirability. It offers a focused measure of the dispositional concern regarding social evaluation.

Keywords

Approval motivation, social desirability, self-presentation, conformity, psychological assessment, attitude change, social influence.

Authors

H. J. Martin (Primary Developer, 1984); L. M. Larsen (Associated Researcher in later applications).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the MLAMS is to quantify an individual’s dispositional need for approval motivation. It serves as a focused measure for researchers studying compliance, conformity, and self-monitoring behaviors. Martin (1984) aimed to create a more nuanced instrument than existing measures, focusing specifically on the active effort involved in regulating behavior and opinions to gain acceptance and avoid social rebuke. It is used extensively in social and personality psychology to understand how the fear of negative evaluation influences behavior.

The scale provides a reliable means of identifying individuals who are highly sensitive to social cues and who prioritize external validation over internal consistency, making it a critical tool in studies of impression management and adaptive social functioning.

Construct

The MLAMS measures Approval Motivation, defined as the psychological construct representing the strength of an individual’s desire for positive evaluation and acceptance from others. High scores indicate a high degree of concern with public image and a willingness to adapt one’s behavior, opinions, or self-expression to meet perceived social norms. This construct is closely related to the need for affiliation but focuses more specifically on manipulative or adaptive self-presentation strategies designed to avoid negative social consequences or secure positive reinforcement.

The scale items reflect various facets of this construct, including situational dependence of behavior (Item 1), altering opinions to please others (Item 4), and fear of criticism or embarrassment (Item 18). It is explicitly designed to capture the motivation underlying socially desirable responses.

Validity

The original validation study by Martin (1984) established the scale’s construct validity by demonstrating its significant correlation with existing measures of social desirability, confirming that it taps into similar underlying concerns regarding public evaluation. Furthermore, the MLAMS has shown predictive validity in studies examining behavioral outcomes related to conformity and social compliance. Researchers often use the MLAMS to predict differences in vulnerability to social influence and the tendency toward adaptive self-presentation in various experimental settings.

Convergent evidence suggests that individuals scoring highly on the MLAMS are more likely to exhibit behaviors consistent with seeking external validation, such as higher levels of self-monitoring and reduced authenticity in social interactions, lending credence to the scale’s ability to measure the intended construct.

Reliability

Internal consistency reliability for the Martin-Larsen Approval Motivation Scale is typically reported as strong across various study populations. Initial reports of the 20-item version (MLAMS-20) generally yield Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranging from 0.80 to 0.88, indicating high reliability in measuring the underlying psychological construct. The short form of the scale, consisting of 11 items, also maintains acceptable levels of reliability, making it suitable for studies where time constraints are a factor.

While specific test-retest reliability data is often context-dependent, the MLAMS is generally considered a stable measure of a core personality disposition, suggesting high temporal stability over short to moderate intervals, consistent with other personality trait inventories.

Factor Analysis

Factor analytic studies generally support a predominantly unidimensional structure for the MLAMS, suggesting that all items contribute coherently to the measurement of a single latent factor: the pervasive need for social approval. This unidimensionality is crucial for its function as a global measure of approval motivation, allowing researchers to derive a single, interpretable score.

While some minor secondary factors may occasionally emerge depending on the specific sample population or factor extraction method used, the primary utility and scoring methodology of the MLAMS rely on the aggregation of all items into one global score reflecting the overall level of approval motivation and concern for public perception.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory.

Format: The full scale consists of 20 items, with a common short form utilizing 11 items (marked by *). Responses are measured on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Disagree Strongly) to 5 (Agree Strongly). Certain items are reverse-scored (R) to control for acquiescence bias.

Language Available: English (Original); translations may exist in academic literature.

Population Group: General population, primarily utilized in research involving university students and adults.

Age Group: Adolescents (16+) and Adults.

Population Details: Used across diverse non-clinical samples studying social psychology, personality, and counseling outcomes.

Test Methodology: Standard self-administration. Total scores are calculated by summing the responses, ensuring reverse-scored items are properly weighted. Higher total scores indicate a greater degree of approval motivation and concern with public image.

Keywords

Self-monitoring, validation seeking, social compliance, personality scale, psychological measurement, MLAMS.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not publicly available in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not publicly available in the source material.

Correspondence Address: Refer to the original publication: Martin, H.J. (1984). A revised measure of approval motivation and its relationship to social desirability. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48: 508-519.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The original version of the scale was published in 1984 by H. J. Martin. As the MLAMS is a standard instrument published in an academic journal, it is generally considered free for non-commercial academic and research use, though users should confirm specific permissions with the journal publisher (Taylor & Francis) or the author’s estate.

Test Year: 1984.

Reference’s

The original PDF containing the instrument can be downloaded here: http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Baboons-Chapter.pdf

• Martin, H.J. (1984). A revised measure of approval motivation and its relationship to social desirability. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48: 508-519.

• Miller, R. S. (1987). The nature of embarrassability: Correlates and sex differences. Unpublished manuscript, Sam Houston State of University, Huntsville, TX.

• Wei, M., Mallinckrodt, B., Larsen, L. M., & Zakalik, R. A. (2005). Adult attachment, depressive symptoms, and validation from self-versus others. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52: 368-377.

• Leary, Mark R., Jongman-Sereno, Katrina P., and Diebels, Kate J. (2015). Measures of Concerns with Public Image and Social Evaluation. in Gregory Boyle, Donald H. Saklofske and Gerald Matthews, Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Constructs. Elsevier, Pages 448–473.

Items of the Martin- Larsen Approval Motivation Scale (MLAMS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

Response Format: 1=Disagree Strongly, 2=Disagree, 3=No Opinion, 4=Agree, 5=Agree Strongly

• Depending upon the people involved, I react to the same situation in different ways.

• I would rather be myself than be well thought of. (R)*

• Many times I feel like just flipping a coin in order to decide what I should do.

• I change my opinion (or the way that I do things) in order to please someone else.*

• In order to get along and be liked, I tend to be what people expect me to be.*

• I find it difficult to talk about my ideas if they are contrary to group opinion.*

• One should avoid doing things in public which appear to be wrong to others, even though one knows that he is right.

• Sometimes I feel that I don’t have enough control over the direction that my life is taking.

• It is better to be humble than assertive when dealing with people.

• I am willing to argue only if I know that my friends will back me up.*

• If I hear that someone expresses a poor opinion of me, I do my best the next time that I see this person to make a good impression.

• I seldom feel the need to make excuses or apologize for my behavior. (R)*

• It is not important to me that I behave ‘properly’ in social situations. (R)*

• The best way to handle people is to agree with them and tell them what they want to hear.

• It is hard for me to go on with my work if I am not encouraged to do so.

• If there is any criticism or anyone says anything about me, I can take it. (R)*

• It is wise to flatter important people.

• I am careful at parties and social gatherings for fear that I will do or say things that others won’t like.*

• I usually do not change my position when people disagree with me. (R)*

• How many friends you have depends on how nice a person you are.

(R) Reverse scored item. *Items in short form.