Sample
A sample of 62 undergraduate volunteers (31 men, 31 women) was used to revise a previous version of the
scale, and a second sample of 243 undergraduates (100 men, 143 women) was used to compare the current
MLAMS described here to the previous version ( Martin, 1984 ).
Description
The MLAMS ( Martin, 1984 ) assesses the degree to which respondents report that they engage in behaviors
that reflect a desire to receive positive evaluations and social reinforcements and avoid negative evaluations and
social punishments. Items refer to a number of dimensions in which concerns with evaluation and approval may
arise, including being well-regarded, being liked, and making good impressions. The long, 20-item version of the
MLAMS consists of 15 positively-worded and 5 negatively-worded items, and the short, 10-item short version
has an equal number of positively- and negatively-worded items. Comparisons of correlations for the long and
short forms with other personality measures (e.g., self-esteem, intolerance of ambiguity, self-consciousness, self-
monitoring) indicate that the short form results in the same pattern of associations as the long form, although the
magnitude of some correlations differ for the long and short versions.
Reliability
Internal Consistency
Across samples, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from 0.64 to 0.75 for the long scale and 0.65 to 0.67 for
the short scale ( Martin, 1984; Miller, 1987; Wei, Mallinckrodt, Larson, & Zakalik, 2005 ).
Test/C0Retest
Although Martin (1984) did not report test-retest reliability for the entire scale, 1-week stability coefficients for
individual items exceeded 0.70.
Validity
Convergent/Concurrent
Scores on the MLAMS correlated positively with other measures that relate to people’s concerns with their
public impressions, including self-monitoring ( r50.40), public self-consciousness ( r50.29), social anxiety
(r50.33) ( Martin, 1984 ), and fear of negative evaluation ( rs50.69 and 0.74) ( Wei et al., 2005; Wu & Wei, 2008 ).
Social anxiety was positively related to MLAMS scores ( r50.33). Self-monitoring correlated 0.40 with the
MLAMS, while public self-consciousness correlated 0.29 with MLAMS.
Divergent/Discriminant
Scores on the MLAMS and the Marlowe /C0Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS), which is often viewed as
a measure of need for approval, showed dramatically different patterns of correlations with other measures
(Martin, 1984 ). The MLAMS correlated negatively with measures of self-esteem ( rs520.46 to 20.50), whereas
correlations between the MCSDS and self-esteem were positive ( rs50.34 to 0.54). Similarly, social anxiety was
negatively related to MCSDS scores ( r520.27). Self-monitoring correlated -0.18 with the MCSDS, and public
self-consciousness correlated 0.02 with the MCSDS. Scores on both the long and short versions of the revised
MLAMS correlated weakly with scores on the MCSDS ( rs520.12 to 20.27) and with the Lie scales of the MMPI
and the Eysenck Personality Inventory ( rs520.15 to 20.21; Martin, 1984 ).
Construct/Factor Analytic
We are not aware of any studies that examined the factor structure of this scale.
Criterion/Predictive
Scores on a Japanese translation of the MLAMS predicted eating disturbances and excessive concern with diet-
ing among Japanese women, problems that have often been attributed to an excessive desire for social approval
(Kiyotaki & Yokoyama, 2006 ). Furthermore, when combined into a latent variable with fear of negative evalua-
tion, MLAMS scores mediated the relationship between perfectionism on one hand and anxiety and depression
on the other ( Wu & Wei, 2008 ), suggesting that perfectionism creates particular problems for people who score
high in approval motivation.455 OVERVIEW OF THE MEASURES
IV. INTERPERSONAL STYLES