Achievement Motivation Test, MATS - the question form

1. I think more about getting a good grade than about the possibility of getting a bad one.

2. If I had to do a difficult, unfamiliar task, I would prefer to do it with someone rather than work on it alone.

3. I am more likely to take on difficult tasks, even if I am not sure I can solve them, than easy ones that I know I can solve.

4. I am more attracted to work that does not require much effort and where I am confident of success than to difficult work where unexpected outcomes are possible.

5. If something was not working out for me, I would be more likely to put all my effort into overcoming it than to switch to something I could do well.

6. I would prefer a job in which my duties are clearly defined and the pay is above average, rather than a job with average pay in which I have to define my own role.

7. I spend more time reading professional or technical literature than fiction.

8. I would prefer an important, difficult task, even if the chance of failure is 50%, over a fairly important but easy task.

9. I would rather learn entertaining games that most people know than uncommon games that require skill and are known to few people.

10. It is very important to me to do my work as well as possible, even if this leads to friction with my colleagues.

11. If I were going to play cards, I would be more likely to play a game for fun than a difficult game that requires thinking.

12. I prefer competitions where I am stronger than others rather than ones where all participants are about equally matched.

13. In my free time, I take up a game more to develop my skills than for rest and enjoyment.

14. I would rather do a task the way I think it should be done, even with a 50% risk of making a mistake, than do it the way others advise me to.

15. If I had to choose, I would rather take a job with a starting salary of 100 rubles that could remain at that level for an indefinite time than a job with a starting salary of 80 rubles and a guarantee that within 5 years at the latest I would be earning more than 180 rubles.

16. I would rather play as part of a team than compete one-on-one.

17. I prefer to work as hard as necessary until I am fully satisfied with the result, rather than try to finish the task as quickly as possible with less effort.

18. In an exam, I would prefer specific questions on the material covered to questions that require me to express my opinion.

19. I would rather choose a task where there is some chance of failure but also the possibility of achieving more, than one where my situation would not get worse but also would not improve much.

20. After answering an exam question successfully, I am more likely to feel relieved ("I got through it") than to feel pleased about getting a good grade.

21. If I could go back to one of my unfinished tasks, I would be more likely to return to a difficult task than to an easy one.

22. When completing a test task, I am more concerned about not making a mistake than about how to solve it correctly.

23. If something is not working out for me, I would rather ask someone for help than keep trying to find a solution on my own.

24. After a failure, I am more likely to become even more focused and energized than to lose all desire to continue.

25. If I doubt that I will succeed at something, I am more likely to avoid taking a risk than to take an active part in it.

26. When I take on a difficult task, I am more likely to fear that I will not succeed than to hope that it will work out.

27. I work more effectively under someone else's supervision than when I am personally responsible for my work.

28. I prefer doing a difficult, unfamiliar task rather than a familiar task that I am sure I can do successfully.

29. I work more productively on a task when I am given specific instructions on what to do and how to do it than when the task is described only in general terms.

30. If I successfully solved a task, I would be more likely to take on a similar task again than move on to a different type of task.

31. When I have to compete, I tend to feel interest and excitement rather than anxiety and worry.

32. I probably spend more time daydreaming about my future plans than actually trying to carry them out.