title: Are implicit motives revealed in mere words? Testing the marker-word hypothesis with computer-based text analysis.
abstract: Traditionally, implicit motives (i.e., non-conscious preferences for specific classes of incentives) are assessed through semantic coding of imaginative stories. The present research tested the marker-word hypothesis, which states that implicit motives are reflected in the frequencies of specific words. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker et al., 2001), Study 1 identified word categories that converged with a content-coding measure of the implicit motives for power, achievement, and affiliation in picture stories collected in German and US student samples, showed discriminant validity with self-reported motives, and predicted well-validated criteria of implicit motives (gender difference for the affiliation motive; in interaction with personal-goal progress: emotional well-being). Study 2 demonstrated LIWC-based motive scores' causal validity by documenting their sensitivity to motive arousal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Schultheiss
keywords: activity inhibition; assessment; implicit motives; linguistic analysis; personality; picture story exercise; thematic apperception