Motivational Structure of Information Activity Test
How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- I often take any opportunity to communicate with different people via messaging apps, the internet, and any other means of mobile communication.
- I often manage to forget all my tasks and worries while spending time watching TV, on the internet, reading a magazine, etc.
- Most often, I turn on the TV (radio, or computer) only to get important information, lift my mood, and create a positive background for work.
- I often look in the ocean of information for facts/messages that broaden my view of the world and give me food for thought.
- I often catch myself thinking that in virtual reality I feel much freer and more fully myself than in everyday life.
- Modern media should, first and foremost, meet people’s need for up-to-date, in-demand, well-organized knowledge.
- Modern media need to increase the amount of positive, relaxing content and reduce the amount of reports about violence and crime.
- Modern media should produce and broadcast films, music, news, and other programs that inspire people to take action and overcome difficulties.
- Modern media (including television, the internet, etc.) should create opportunities for people to realize their boldest wishes, fantasies, and ideas.
- Modern media should not only inform, but also help people connect, communicate, and form groups around shared interests.
- I am interested in information technologies and communication tools that expand my opportunities to make contacts and to communicate with friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc.
- I most enjoy TV programs, radio stations, and websites that energize me and create a positive mood.
- I try to find, among modern media (TV channels, websites, print publications), sources of truly new and important information.
- I often like to watch TV programs or films that relieve fatigue and distract me from worries and problems.
- Among all kinds of TV projects, feature films, and computer games, I choose those that help me, at least for a while, feel the limitless potential of humankind.
Motivational Structure of Information Activity Test - Description and methodology of the test
Readers who want to see a structured pattern in their media motives can examine how television, websites, games, music, and mobile communication serve different purposes. The Motivational Structure of Information Activity Test produces a profile. This self-report media motivation test can be interpreted alongside expectations about what media should provide and recurring choices in daily life.
What This Assessment Explores
The profile covers escape, activation, recovery, social contact, learning, and media expectations; the information activity questionnaire shows prominent motives.
These five dimensions are:
- Compensatory (8-40) shows escape, simulation, and media-dependence vulnerability; Low 8-16; Moderate 17-32; High 33-40.
- Reactivating (8-40) shows energy and positive affect, with lower dependence risk; Low 8-24; Moderate 25-32; High 33-40.
- Relaxation (8-40) shows stress relief through pleasant, easy content, potentially bringing passive consumption and delayed activity; Low 8-16; Moderate 17-32; High 33-40.
- Communicative Motivation (8-40) shows interpersonal contact; dependence may accompany virtual contact replacing real-life contact; Low 8-16; Moderate 17-32; High 33-40.
- Cognitive (8-40) shows knowledge and growth, with lower dependence risk; fear of missing information may sustain excess use; Low 8-16; Moderate 17-24; High 25-40.
Methodology and Evidence Base
The response format presents eight blocks, each containing five media-related alternatives. They refer to television, internet resources, films, games, music, and communication tools, covering habits and beliefs about what media should provide. This format separates motives that can coexist instead of reducing media use to one reason.
Results display five scale totals alongside the supplied bands. Individual point allocation and calculation are unspecified, so response weights and the meaning of a higher total should not be inferred from the ranges.
The relevant source instrument is Motivational Structure of Information Activity. The online questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that instrument, but it is not presented as an adaptation of it.
Taken together, the totals can show a concentrated or mixed profile: one motive may be prominent while others are moderate or low. Interpretation should consider media use motives alongside current mood, recent exposure, self-awareness, and response candour.
No normative sample, standardization procedure, or validation statistics are stated for this version; the profile therefore describes tendencies within the questionnaire rather than population-level standing.
- Dolgov, Yuri N., Andrei S. Kopovoi, Gennady N. Malyuchenko, and Viktor M. Smirnov. Development of Media Consumption Culture: A Socio-Psychological Approach. Saratov: Saratov University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-5-292-03967-9.
- Malyuchenko, Gennady N., and Andrei S. Kopovoi. Theory and Practice of Diagnostics in Media Psychology and Media Pedagogy: A Study Guide. Saratov: Saratov University Press, 2011. 80 pp. ISBN 978-5-292-04088-0.
- Serykh, A. B., L. F. Buksha, E. V. Osipova, and E. N. Nazarskaya. Psychological Health and Spiritual and Moral Values of Young People of Conscription Age in the Context of the Destructive Information and Psychological Influence. Clinical Psychology and Special Education, 2024, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 149-166. 10.17759/cpse.2024130408
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