A quick measure of achievement motivation—validated in Australia and reliable in Britain and South Africa

Abstract

A 14 item short form of the Ray Achievement Motivation scale was developed. When tested on seven samples from Sydney, London, Glasgow and Johannesburg it showed reliabilities of over .70 when applied to English speakers. It is also balanced against acquiescent response set and has validities well comparable with other longer scales. General population norms obtained in the four countries revealed the English, Scots and Australians to have similar levels of achievement motivation with South Africans significantly higher. The scale would appear to be unlike previous scales in that it was developed on general population rather than student samples.