Yesterday the U.K. Guardian reported on the work of Peter Boltersdorf in Germany. Peter is administering the Reiss Motivation Profile to the Hannover soccer players. The results permit the coach to understand each player in more depth and to know how to motivate the player as an individual and what the player's tendencies are during competition and practice. The news reports are emphasizing the volunatry assessment of sex drive which is done in Europe but not in the USA. I was interviewed by BBC yesterday and now NBC Sports (Rick's cafe) imported the story, stating "The fun part is that the Reiss motivation profile seems to be full of questions about sex. And not just basic questions — it really wants to know what gets your freak on. " Rick's a funny guy, and I like a joke as well as the next fellow, but sex and sexual fantasy is not what the Reiss Motivation Profile is about. The full test has 128 items. Only 8 are about sex. On the sports profile used in the USA, there are no questions about sex. Zero. Not three, not two, not one, but none.
The "Reiss Motivation Profile" is a standardized assessment of what motivates someone. The complete questionnaire is 128 items in length. It assesses the strength of 16 universal motives common to everyone. These are motives such as need to socialize, need to eat, romance, curiosity, and so on. The results of the Reiss Motivation Profile tell you how your 16 basic desires play out at school, at work, in your relationships, and on the athletic field.
The test has different versions depending on what it is being used for. Items that assess strength of sex drive are included in some versions but not in others. The School version has no items on sex and is used to evaluate what might be motivating poor grades or other problems for a boy or girl in middle or high school. The Health version (which is new) has no items on sex and is used by physical therapists and wellness coordinators to help motivate patients to follow a fitness or health protocol. The Relationship version has 8 items assessing sex drive and is used to understand specific ways in which the couple pulls each other in same versus different directions. The Developmental Disabilities and Autism version has some items assessing sex drive and is used to help place people with severe disabilities in life situations that is maximally meaningful to them. The Sports version has no items on sex and is used to help athletes understand their tendencies under stress and how best to motivate themselves during practices and competition.
Our European colleagues using the Sports version of the Reiss Motivation Profile sometimes include the romance (sex) scale as one of 16 scales even though this is not done in the USA. Athlete participation is voluntary. An example of a sex motivation question is, "Sex is essential to my happiness." Some athletes with a strong sex drive might be motivated to compete when a romantic interest is watching (e.g., a male football player being motivated when a girlfriend is watching.) When all scales on the sports profile are assessed, the athlete learns such things as strength of competitive spirit, tendency to be precise, tendency to be a team player, likelihood of an emotional let down against an inferior opponents, etc.
One Olympic gold medalist in Beijing (Matthew Steiner) trained with this method. In Europe Peter Boltersdorf is working with a number of Olympic teams who will compete in London. In the United States David Laman, a PhD. psychologist, has worked with wellness coordinators and with high school athletes.
One of the scales on Reiss Motivation Profile tracks the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, which predicts who among our soldiers may be prone to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. More than 1,400 studies have validated this scale. Because we can predict the disorder before symptoms appear, we have a new opportunity to study prevention. The National Institutes of Health and the United States Army funds the needed research.
The report on the Reiss Motivation Profile in the Guardian newspaper is accurate but the headline about sex is misleading. It is not true that the Reiss Motivation Profile is filled with sex items.
