Affective neurobiological systems underlie emotional needs, interpersonal motivations and life themes from a biopsychosocial and contextual perspective

Faustino, Bruno

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-04125-4

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 56 publications

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“…Most of the more recent theoretical models [4][5][6] are based on the assumption that during evolution, the human brain has become progressively specialized in activating (or deactivating) pre-programmed responses to external or internal triggers [7]. These responses are driven by motivations and allow individuals to adapt optimally to the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Validation of the Interpersonal Motivational Systems Questionnaire (IMS-Q)

Esposito,

Prevete,

Esposito

et al. 2023

Behavioral Sciences

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Framed within the evolutionary framework, the Interpersonal Motivational System (IMS) theory suggests that eight distinct motivational impulses drive interpersonal human relationships, namely caregiving, social affiliation, attachment, rank-dominance, rank-submission, social play, cooperation, and sexuality. This theory has been widely applied in clinical practice, where psychopathology is viewed as the result of non-flexible or excessive activation of one system over another. Despite its clinical relevance, empirical studies aimed at measuring IMSs are scarce. This paper contributed to filling this gap by proposing a questionnaire to measure individuals’ activation of the eight IMSs. Two studies involving large samples of adults were conducted. The first study (N = 455; 76.5% females) concerned the development of the questionnaire and examination of its content validity through explorative factor analysis. In the second study (N = 635; 54.8% females), confirmatory factor analyses were performed to further refine and confirm the instrument’s factor structure. The final version consisted of 50 items. Empirical validity was established by investigating the correlations between the eight IMSs and other related measures (i.e., personality traits, human basic values, and attachment dimensions). The findings suggest that the IMS framework can be used to understand individual differences in motivation and behavior in different social contexts.

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