Motivation Test: See Which of the Four Motivation Types Drives Your Goals
This motivation test asks 24 plain questions about why you put effort into the goal or activity you have in mind. It scores the four types of motivation described by self-determination theory, from genuine interest to outside pressure, with an optional PDF.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
Motivation Test: What Drives You is a free, confidential 24-question self-assessment, original items informed by self-determination theory. It takes about 5 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language profile of your strongest style plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
Not how motivated you are, but what kind of motivation you are running on
Most motivation quizzes give you a number and tell you to try harder. Self-determination theory asks a better question: where does the effort come from? Interest and personal value sustain effort for years; guilt and outside pressure work until the pressure lifts. This test shows you which kind you are running on for the goal you choose, and what that predicts. A short check for having lost motivation altogether is included, and the result shows where your effort sits on the autonomy continuum, from interest through personal value and guilt to pressure.
The four motivation types
Intrinsic (you do it because it is interesting or enjoyable), identified (because it matters to you and fits your goals), introjected (because you would feel guilty, ashamed, or less proud otherwise), and external (for rewards, approval, or to avoid consequences). These sit on a continuum from autonomous to controlled.
A short amotivation check
Four statements ask whether you have lost the thread of why you do this at all. If that bar leads, the result says so plainly and points to the tests that look at apathy, burnout, and low mood, because lost motivation is often a symptom rather than a character trait.
Where your effort sits, and how to move it
Your leading type comes with a reading of what it tends to predict and a concrete way to move the goal toward the autonomous end, which decades of research link to persistence, wellbeing, and lower burnout.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Measures the type of motivation, not just the amount | A single "how motivated" score | Four types on the autonomy continuum |
| Based on a named, well-tested theory | Rarely | Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) |
| Checks for lost motivation separately | Never | Yes, a short amotivation check |
| Explains how to move a goal along the continuum | "Try harder" | Yes, specific steps per type |
| Clinician-reviewed interpretation | Rarely | Yes, clinician reviewed |
| Optional in-depth personalized report | No | Yes, written to your exact scores |
| Answers stay on your device | Often collected | Scored in your browser; only summary scores if you request a PDF or report |
The 5 patterns this test measures
- Intrinsic motivation: You do it because the activity itself is interesting, absorbing, or enjoyable.
- Identified motivation: You do it because you have decided it matters and it fits what you want from your life.
- Introjected motivation: You do it because you would feel guilty, ashamed, or less proud of yourself if you did not.
- External motivation: You do it for rewards, approval, or to avoid consequences from outside.
- Amotivation: A check: you are not sure why you do this, or whether your effort makes any difference.
If nothing is endorsed, every pattern scores the same, or the leading patterns tie, the result says so instead of naming a single pattern.
How this motivation test is scored, and the autonomy continuum
Before you start, you choose one goal or activity you are currently putting effort into: a job, a course, a fitness habit, a creative project, a relationship goal. The 24 statements then ask why you do it. Five statements measure each of the four motivation types from self-determination theory, and four measure amotivation, the state of not really knowing why you bother. Each statement is rated on a five-point agreement scale, each type is scored as a percentage of its own maximum, and your leading type is the result, with the others shown alongside so you can see the mix. Almost everyone is a mix.
The four types sit on a continuum that Edward Deci and Richard Ryan describe as running from controlled to autonomous. External regulation (rewards, approval, avoiding consequences) is the most controlled. Introjected regulation (guilt, shame, pride, the voice that says you should) is still controlled, but the controller has moved inside your head. Identified regulation (you have decided this matters and it fits your goals) is autonomous even when the activity itself is dull. Intrinsic motivation (the activity is interesting or enjoyable in itself) is the most autonomous of all. The point of the continuum is not that one end is virtuous; it is that effort behaves differently depending on where it comes from. The bands and groupings here are educational, informed by the theory and the research scales built on it, not a validated instrument.
Why intrinsic and identified motivation sustain effort
The central finding of self-determination research, replicated across education, work, sport, and health over four decades, is that autonomous motivation predicts persistence and controlled motivation predicts effort that stops when the control does. Students who study because the material interests them or because they see its value keep studying when the exam is over; students who study to avoid their parents' disappointment stop the moment they can. Employees with identified motivation report more engagement and less burnout than those driven by pay and status alone, even in the same jobs. The mechanism is partly energetic: controlled motivation requires constant pressure, and pressure is tiring, whereas interest and value renew themselves.
This explains a pattern many people recognize. You can be highly motivated in the sense of working very hard and still feel drained, resentful, and close to quitting, because the hard work runs on guilt and external expectation. And you can look lazy to others while sustaining years of effort on something nobody is rewarding you for, because it is yours. If your leading type is introjected or external and the effort has started to cost more than it returns, our Burnout Test will show whether the cost has become a problem in its own right.
Moving a goal along the continuum, and motivation vs discipline
Motivation is not fixed to a goal. Research on internalization shows that people move activities toward the autonomous end when three needs are met: autonomy (some real choice in how and when), competence (visible progress and feedback), and relatedness (doing it with or for people who matter). In practice, that means finding the part of a dull goal that connects to something you value and naming it explicitly; choosing how you do it even when you cannot choose whether; breaking it into pieces small enough that progress is visible; and doing it alongside someone. Our Personal Values Test can help with the first step, which is usually the one that moves a goal from introjected to identified.
A word about discipline, because "just be disciplined" is the advice people with controlled motivation hear most. Discipline, in the sense of doing the thing when you do not feel like it, is real and useful, and research on grit shows that sustained effort matters. But discipline is a tool for bridging gaps in motivation, not a substitute for it; running a goal entirely on willpower is running it on introjected motivation, and the research says that runs out. The combination that works is identified motivation, a clear reason that is yours, plus enough structure to carry you through the days the reason is not enough. Our Grit Test looks at the structure side, and our Procrastination Test at what happens when it fails.
When low motivation is a symptom, and what to do next
If your amotivation bar is high, or every bar is low, please do not read that as laziness. A loss of motivation across the board is one of the most common signs of depression, of burnout, and of the specific state researchers call apathy, in which the drive to start things fades even when nothing feels sad. It also follows long illness, grief, some medications, and sleep deprivation. The question to ask is whether this goal has lost its meaning, which is a motivation problem, or whether everything has lost its pull, which is not. Our Apathy Test looks at the second pattern directly, our Depression Test at the mood that often sits underneath it, and our Burnout Test at the exhausted version that follows a long stretch of controlled effort.
For everyone else, the next step is small and specific. Take your leading type, read how to move it, and pick one goal to try it on this week. If your effort is mostly introjected, write down what you would still want if nobody would ever know; if it is mostly external, find the one part of the task that you would choose anyway. If your motivation is already autonomous, protect it: the fastest way to kill intrinsic motivation is to start doing the thing for the reward. Our Autonomy Test looks at the wider pattern of whether your choices, not just your goals, feel like your own.
Methodology & sources
This test is an original educational screener informed by self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) and specifically by its account of the motivation continuum: external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, and intrinsic motivation, with amotivation as the absence of regulation. Validated research measures of these constructs exist, most notably the Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand and colleagues, 1992) for education and the Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (Gagne and colleagues, 2015) for work. We did not reproduce either; the 24 statements here are our own writing, framed around one goal of the respondent's choice so the test applies beyond school and work.
Five statements measure each of the four motivation types and four measure amotivation, each rated on a five-point agreement scale scored 0 to 4. Each type is scored as a percentage of its own maximum and the leading type is reported with the others shown alongside it. The amotivation check is deliberately short and is included so that a person who has lost motivation altogether is told so rather than being assigned a type they do not have. The groupings are informed by the theory but are our own; this is a screening tool for self-reflection, not a validated instrument, and not a diagnosis of any condition. Validation findings for the research scales named above do not establish the accuracy of this version.
References
- Ryan RM, Deci EL. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. Am Psychol. 2000;55(1):68-78. doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
- Deci EL, Ryan RM. The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychol Inq. 2000;11(4):227-268. doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
- Vallerand RJ, Pelletier LG, Blais MR, Briere NM, Senecal C, Vallieres EF. The Academic Motivation Scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educ Psychol Meas. 1992;52(4):1003-1017. doi.org/10.1177/0013164492052004025
- Gagne M, Forest J, Vansteenkiste M, et al. The Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale: Validation evidence in seven languages and nine countries. Eur J Work Organ Psychol. 2015;24(2):178-196. doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2013.877892
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, October 5). Motivation Test: What Drives You. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/motivation
Motivation Test: What Drives You FAQ
What is self-determination theory?
A theory of motivation developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan over the past five decades. Its core claim is that people have three basic psychological needs, autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and that motivation becomes more self-sustaining as those needs are met. It describes motivation on a continuum from controlled (rewards, pressure, guilt) to autonomous (personal value, interest), and that continuum is what this test scores.
Is intrinsic motivation always best?
Not always, and it is not always available. Plenty of worthwhile things are not enjoyable in themselves. Research treats identified motivation, doing something because you have decided it matters, as autonomous and nearly as durable as intrinsic motivation, and for most adult goals it is the realistic target. The types to watch are introjected and external, because they predict effort that stops when the pressure lifts.
My amotivation bar is high. Does that mean I am lazy?
No. Losing motivation across the board is one of the most common signs of depression, burnout, and apathy, and it also follows illness, grief, and poor sleep. If every goal has lost its pull, not just this one, please take our Apathy Test and Depression Test, and consider talking to a doctor or therapist. Laziness is not a clinical finding; lost motivation usually has a cause.
Will I get a different result for a different goal?
Very likely, and that is the point. Motivation belongs to the goal, not the person. You can be intrinsically motivated at the gym and externally motivated at work. Take the test again with a different goal in mind and compare; the differences tell you where your effort is sustainable and where it is costing you.
How is this different from a procrastination or grit test?
Those measure what happens to effort: whether it starts late or keeps going. This test measures where effort comes from. They fit together: our Procrastination Test looks at the delays that controlled motivation tends to produce, and our Grit Test at the sustained effort that autonomous motivation tends to support.
Is the test really confidential?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser. Your individual answers are scored in your browser and are never sent to us or linked to you. They stay in this tab so you can return to your result, and closing or clearing the tab clears them. If you ask us to email the PDF, we receive your summary scores with your email address, never your individual answers. No account is needed.
Related tests
Work Style Test
See your work style across pace, structure, collaboration, drive, and communication.
Compassion Fatigue Test
Explore secondary traumatic stress, helper burnout, and the satisfaction that can coexist with them.
Communication Style Quiz
Assertive, passive, aggressive, or passive-aggressive? See your pattern and how to shift it.
Burnout Test
An educational screener across the three Maslach burnout dimensions, with a full breakdown.
Career Aptitude Test
Based on the O*NET Interest Profiler. Find your Holland code and the careers that fit it.
Results in this topic, explained in full
Each named result from the tests in this topic has its own in-depth, clinician-reviewed profile: what it means, strengths and blind spots, and what the research says.