Free Time Motivation Scale

The Free Time Motivation Scale for Adolescents (FTMS-A), developed by Cheryl Baldwin and Linda Caldwell in 2003, is a self-report instrument that measures why young people do what they do in their free time, grounded in self-determination theory. Rather than asking only whether adolescents are motivated, it distinguishes five qualitatively different regulatory styles arranged along a continuum of self-determination: intrinsic motivation (free time pursued for its own enjoyment), identified regulation (valued as personally important), introjected regulation (driven by internal pressure such as guilt), external regulation (driven by outside rewards or demands), and amotivation (a lack of any clear reason to act). Each style is captured by a reflective latent subscale and validated through confirmatory factor analysis. Built on Ryan and Deci's self-determination framework and validated with young adolescents, the FTMS-A lets researchers locate where a young person's free-time motivation falls on the autonomy continuum and relate that profile to engagement, boredom, and well-being.