The study was based on the motivational model of alcohol use (Cox & Klinger, 1988, 2004). The theory states that people’s success or failure at goal-seeking behaviour is at the core of the happiness or sadness in their lives. Success or failure at achieving individuals’ goals is determined by the ways in which they evaluate their goal-related cognitive and emotional resources. Such goal-related evaluations cause an individual’s more-or-less stable motivational structure to be formed over time. Motivational structure can be adaptive or maladaptive. The Motivational Structure Questionnaire (MSQ; Cox & Klinger, 2004) assesses various dimensions of goal striving (e.g., Active Role, Happiness from Achieving Goals, Commitment) which influence goal-seeking behaviour. The indices derived from the MSQ can be used to depict a person’s motivational profile or can be subjected to factor analysis to yield factor scores describing adaptive or maladaptive motivational structure for a group of people. Whether participants’ response-styles or personality characteristics can influence respondents’ motivational profiles, however, had not yet been investigated. The present study tested the relationship between the MMPI-2 validity and clinical scales and the MSQ indices and its derived factor scores. The study sample comprised inpatient alcohol abusers (187 males; mean of age = 40.37) who completed the MMPI-2 and the MSQ. Cluster analysis yielded three response styles on the MMPI-2: defensive, exaggerated and straightforward. In addition, MMPI-2 one- and two-code clinical types were derived. The MSQ indices were factor analysed, yielding two distinctive motivational factors (i.e., adaptive vs. maladaptive). MANOVA and two-way ANOVA were used, respectively, to test if (a) response-styles and personality sub-types were related to MSQ indices and (b) response-styles and personality sub-types were related to the two motivational factors. The results were as follows. First, participants’ response styles on the MMPI-2 were related to their responses on the MSQ, such that a defensive response style was associated with more socially desirable indices and adaptive motivational structure. This suggests that higher scores on the adaptive motivation are associated with a faking-good response style. However, when the MMPI-2 invalid scores were excluded, the defensive response style was associated with maladaptive motivation. The finding suggests that factor structures are a better representative of respondents’ motivational characteristics than are individual MSQ indices. Second, there was generally a lack of relationship between the MMPI-2 one-code clinical types and the MSQ indices and factor scores, regardless of inclusion or exclusion of the MMPI-2 invalid and pathological scores. The only exception was that participants with elevated scores on the MMPI-2 depression scale reported less Active Role and Commitment in goal-seeking than those with elevated scores on the Psychopathic Deviant and Hypochondriasis scales. However, the differences were not significant for factor scores.

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