WHY Index® – A Comprehensive Motivational Assessment
WHY Index® provides a structured way to map what drives and motivates an individual—what they actively pursue, what energises them, and what they tend to avoid—their driving forces. Unlike many traditional approaches, WHY Index® uses normative scales to measure both high and low values across eight motivational factors, producing a more nuanced picture of what motivates people.
A Scientifically Grounded
Drivning Force Assessment
Developed over more than 20 years of research, WHY Index® is built on a normative framework, enabling results to be benchmarked against a broader reference group for meaningful comparisons between individuals, teams and organisations.
Research roots - The model draws on established motivation and values research, including Eduard Spranger’s value types, Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, and contemporary perspectives popularised by Daniel Pink (autonomy, mastery, purpose). It is further aligned with modern value and motivation literature (e.g., Schwartz, Deci & Ryan) to ensure conceptual robustness and practical relevance.
To ensure accuracy, a real-time reliability system continuously calculates Cronbach’s Alpha, providing ongoing monitoring so each assessment meets high scientific standards—unlike static, one-off validation studies.
Benefits of Using WHY Index®
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Provides detailed insights into the drivers behind individual behaviour.
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Explains the link between values, attitudes and decision-making.
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Identifies both sources of energy and potential stress factors.
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Enables objective comparability across people, groups and organisations.
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Supports leadership, recruitment, team development and personal growth with reliable decision support.
The Report
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Generates more than 1.6 million possible combinations, with unique descriptions for each scale value.
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The Motivational Indicator Radar provides a visual overview of all eight motivators.
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The Motivator Profile Graph ranks motivators from highest to lowest, showing both sought-after and avoided values.
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Results can be compared across individuals, teams and organisations.
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Available in six languages: English, Swedish, German, Dutch, Spanish and French.
The Eight Driving Forces - Motivators Measured
by WHY Index®
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Time & Money – relationship to profit and loss.
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Theoretical Problem Solving – approach to knowledge and learning.
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Environment – attitude towards surroundings and sustainability.
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Independence – view on autonomy and self-reliance.
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Social Consciousness – approach to other people and society.
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Progress – perspective on growth and development.
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Procedures – attitude towards rules and structure.
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Practical Problem Solving – approach to challenges and solutions.
Looking Ahead – The Next Generation of WHY Index® Motivation evolves with society, culture and work. Our ongoing research expands the model with new motivators reflecting contemporary and future priorities—sustainability, digital identity, wellbeing and balance, diversity and inclusion, and global responsibility. We’re also developing the XYZ Concept and a specialised Pair/Partner Relationships module to capture motivations in close, real-world contexts. Backed by a normative framework and real-time reliability monitoring, this pipeline gives WHY Index® a distinct market position—arguably one of the most flexible and reliable driving-forces assessments available today—and a forward-looking framework for understanding the motivations shaping the future of work and organisations.
