A study operationalized and measured the construct of communicator motivation, defined as an affective tendency to approach and become involved in communication, as part of an effort to clarify the concept and to begin validation of a new scale to measure it. The study addressed two specific motives: concern for promoting self and concern for promoting other. The Communicator Motivation (COMMOTIV) scale was developed to measure these motives and was administered to 530 students in university communication classes. Usable forms were returned by 504 students. Three criterion scales were administered with COMMOTIV to test its validity. Analysis of the scale indicated that it was stable over time and internally consistent. Tests to establish validity indicated that the scale primarily measured affective involvement, but, to a degree, also measures cognitive involvement. Although problems exist in the scale's measurement of concern for promoting other, COMMOTIV seemed to be valid as a measure of the tendency to approach others in communication. (The COMMOTIV scale and relevant tables of data are appended.) (SRT)