The reward and punishment responsivity and motivation questionnaire (RPRM-Q): A stimulus-independent self-report measure of reward and punishment sensitivity that differentiates between responsivity and motivation

Nienke C Jonker*, Marieke E Timmerman, Peter J de Jong

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)
317 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Reward and punishment sensitivity seem important traits in understanding behavior in general and psychopathology in particular. Though the definitions used for reward and punishment sensitivity differentiate between responsivity and motivation, the measures thus far used to assess these constructs do not. Further, specificity of the type of reward (e.g., drugs) and punishment (e.g., spiders) in questionnaires might result in measurement bias especially when examining the relationship with psychopathology. Therefore, we developed a stimulus-independent multidimensional questionnaire of reward and punishment sensitivity that differentiates between responsivity and motivation. This study addresses the psychometric qualities of this newly developed reward and punishment responsivity and motivation questionnaire (RPRM-Q). On the basis of exploratory ordinal factor analysis (N = 273) that was used to examine the quality of the initial pool of 39 items, the number of items was reduced to 18. Confirmatory ordinal factor analysis on the remaining items in an independent sample (N = 328) supported a 18-item four-factor model, and showed acceptable to good internal reliability. The relationship between the subscales of the RPRM-Q and often used questionnaires was examined in the combined sample (N = 601), which showed some first support for the ability of the new questionnaire to differentiate between responsivity and motivation to approach/avoid. The findings indicate that the RPRM-Q might be a helpful instrument to further test the relevance of punishment and reward sensitivity in psychopathology.

Original languageEnglish
Article number929255
Number of pages12
JournalFrontiers in Psychology
Volume13
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10-Aug-2022

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