Testing a multidimensional model of putative evolved human motives

The Assessment of Individual Motives-Questionnaire (AIM-Q) was designed to assess 15 latent dimensions based on a relatively new evolutionary theory of human motivation. The present studies are the first to examine these dimensions using confirmatory factor analysis in an attempt to test the model proposed by the theory. Study 1 (N = 1,411) explored ways of producing a short version tapping the 15 dimensions. Fit indices suggested that a model consisting of 60 items tapping 15 weak to moderately correlated dimensions best described the data. Four alternative models that tested a completely orthogonal structure and a unidimensional structure were found to poorly represent the data. Study 2 (N = 490) successfully cross-validated the 60-item 15 dimension version using a different sample. These results support the multidimensional motivational theory on which the AIM-Q is based as well as the shorter version used to assess its dimensions.