Linking motivation to personality: causality orientations, motives and self‐descriptions

Abstract

This study examines how motives and personality traits differ in people with distinct causality orientations, which refer to the predominant way a person interprets the events that initiate his/her own behaviour. First, a validation of the General Causality Orientation Scale for the Italian language was conducted on 702 undergraduate students. Then, in order to test the hypothesis that causality orientations correspond to different motive patterns and self‐descriptions, relations between the GCOS and other constructs were analysed through correlational analysis applied to smaller sub‐samples. The conclusion is that the autonomy orientation represents an active and creative way of interacting with the social environment. Conversely, the control and impersonal orientations indicate a lower degree of adjustment and psychological well‐being. Conclusions are drawn about the causality orientation theory as a link between personality and motivation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.