The Model of Action Phases (Gollwitzer,
1990, 2012) distinguishes an implemental mindset evoked by
planning goal-directed actions, from a deliberative mindset evoked by pondering
pros/cons of ...adopting a particular goal. The present research
demonstrates that mindsets affect time predictions. In Study 1
(N = 151), participants in an implemental mindset made
shorter time predictions with respect to completing personal goals than
participants in a deliberative mindset. In Study 2 (N = 78), we
tested a mediating mechanism for the mindset effect by varying the motivation to
return a report. The mindset effect was replicated in the low- but not in the
high-motivation condition with participants in an implemental mindset returning
the report earlier, and being as accurate in their predictions as participants
in a deliberative mindset. Results indicate that an implemental (vs.
deliberative) mindset increases motivation and therefore leads to shorter, but
equally biased time predictions.
The authors test the assumption that the core of implicit motives is the desire for particular affective experiences and that motive satisfaction need not be tied to any particular domain. Using the ...context of romantic relationships, cross-sectional Study 1 and experimental Study 2 showed that people with a high affiliation motive were more satisfied when they experienced more affiliation-specific affect (calmness and relaxation). However, people with a higher power motive were more satisfied in their relationships when they experienced more power-specific affect (strength and excitement) in these relationships. The results support the idea that an implicit motive involves the desire for specific affective experiences and that frequent experiences of one’s preferred affect can lead to enhanced satisfaction and well-being in a domain, even one that is not typically associated with that motive.
Background and objectives: We examined the implicit affective mechanisms underlying provision of support in intimate dyads. Specifically, we hypothesized that in individuals with high relationship ...satisfaction, the perception that one's partner is stressed leads to increased implicit positive attitudes toward communal goals. In turn, this change in implicit attitudes facilitates supportive behavior.
Design and methods: In two studies, we induced partner stress by instructing participants to either recall a situation where their partner was highly stressed (Study 1; N = 47 university students) or imagine a specific stressful event (excessive workload; Study 2; N = 85 university students). Subsequently, implicit attitudes toward communal goals were assessed with an Implicit Association Test.
Results: In both studies, we found that among participants with high relationship satisfaction partner stress increases preferences for communal goals. In addition, implicit preferences for communal goals predicted stronger inclinations to engage in supportive dyadic coping (Study 2).
Conclusions: The current findings provide important insights into the implicit cognitive-affective mechanics of dyadic coping. Moreover, they can explain how people manage to avoid experiencing motivational conflicts between partner-oriented and self-oriented goals in situations characterized by high partner stress.
Past research finds that people behave as though the particular qualities of specific, strongly valenced individuals “rub off” on objects. People thus value a sweater worn by George Clooney but are ...disgusted by one worn by Hitler. We hypothesized that social traces of generic humans can also adhere to objects, increasing their value. Experiments 1 and 2 found that simply marking that consumer products (mugs, giftwrap) were made by generic strangers (e.g., “by people using machines” vs. “by machines run by people”) increased their perceived value. Experiment 3 demonstrated that this effect was mediated by thoughts about attention the object received from other people, which, in turn, led people to see the object as possessing more positive social qualities (e.g., friendly), increasing valuation. The results suggest that generic humans are perceived positively, possessing warm social qualities, and these can “rub off” and adhere to everyday objects increasing their value.
A prominent, hotly debated idea-the "ego depletion" phenomenon-suggests that engaging in effortful, demanding tasks leads to poorer subsequent self-control performance. Several theories seek to ...explain the emergence of ego depletion effects. The two most prominent ones are the strength model of self-control (Baumeister & Vohs, 2016) and the process model of self-control (Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012). Predictions of these models are predominantly identical on the behavioral level. The models' predictions differ, however, on the level of invested mental effort. The present pre-registered study (N = 179) contrasted these competing predictions combining an established moderator counteracting ego depletion effects (i.e., self-affirmation) and psychophysiological indicators of mental effort (i.e., systolic blood pressure and preejection period). Our data provide moderate evidence for ego depletion-decrements in self-control performance after a high- versus low-demanding task in the nonaffirmed conditions. Self-affirmation had an unexpected effect: Contrary to previous research, self-affirmed participants performed similarly poorly as participants in the high demand + nonaffirmed condition. Although this unexpected finding limited the ability to contrast competing model predictions, it points to hitherto unknown effects of self-affirmation on self-control performance. Systolic blood pressure reactivity emerged as a valid indicator of invested mental effort, but the data show no sign of disengagement after a high-demanding task predicted by the process (but not the strength) model. We explore systolic blood pressure progression across the sequential task paradigm, suggest a testable account for the effects of self-affirmation on self-control performance, and discuss theoretical implications of the results for the two competing models.
Satisfaction of the implicit affiliation motive is known to be positively related to emotional well-being, whereas the frustration of the implicit affiliation motive leads to impairment of ...well-being. In the present research we specified two conditions that are responsible for the satisfaction and frustration of the implicit motive. Referring to research on the congruence of implicit and explicit motives, we assumed that a corresponding explicit affiliation motive leads to satisfaction of the implicit motive. Corresponding affiliation behavior constitutes the second condition. Three studies confirmed the hypothesis that both conditions must be fulfilled in order to positively connect the implicit affiliation motive to emotional well-being. Participants with high implicit and explicit affiliation motives and who additionally showed a large amount of affiliation behavior reported the lowest negative affectivity and the highest life satisfaction compared to participants who lacked one of the conditions.
The present study investigated the relationship between forgivingness and action orientation, and examined the mediating role of action orientation for the neuroticism–forgivingness association. ...Participants (
N
=
210) completed the Tendency to Forgive Scale (TTF; Brown, 2003), two subscales from the Action Control Scale (ACS-90; Kuhl, 1994b) and the Neuroticism scale from the short form of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-K; Rammstedt & John, 2005). Results indicate that failure-related action orientation (AOF) was strongly positively related to forgivingness. Moreover, the negative relation between neuroticism and forgivingness was fully mediated by action orientation (AOF). This finding suggests that the ability to down-regulate negative affect is an important mechanism in explaining the association between neuroticism and forgivingness.
PDF
