Intimacy and affiliation motives in daily living: An experience sampling analysis

50 16-31 yr old university students who participated in an experience-sampling procedure carried electronic pagers with them for 1 wk, during which time they were each paged 7 times/day. In response to each page, Ss immediately completed a self-report form designed to sample current thoughts, affects, wishes, and behavior. Both intimacy and affiliation motivation were assessed via a prior administration of the TAT. Over the course of the week, Ss high in intimacy motivation revealed more interpersonal thoughts and positive affects in interpersonal situations than did Ss low in intimacy. Both intimacy and affiliation motivation were positively related to conversations and letter writing, behaviors indicative of warm and close interpersonal relations. Intimacy motivation was negatively associated with expressed wishes to be alone when interacting with others, whereas affiliation motivation was positively associated with expressed wishes to be interacting with others when alone. Sex differences are discussed, and the implications for the measurement of motivational trends in operant thought and investigations into Person × Situation interactions are outlined. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).