Striving for Unwanted Goals Baumann, Nicola; Kaschel, Reiner; Kuhl, Julius
Journal of personality and social psychology,
11/2005, Letnik:
89, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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Three studies investigated the relevance of affect regulation, stressful life events, and congruence between explicit achievement orientation and implicit achievement motive for subjective well-being ...and symptom formation. According to personality systems interactions (PSI) theory, stressful life events were expected to reduce motive congruence when the ability to self-regulate affect was impaired (i.e., state orientation). Consistent with expectations, the State Orientation × Stress interaction predicted incongruence in healthy participants (Studies 1 and 3) and in patients (Study 2). Furthermore, incongruence partially mediated the direct State Orientation × Stress effect on subjective well-being (Studies 1 and 3) and the course of psychosomatic complaints over 3 months (Study 2). In Study 3, the experimental induction of threat reduced motive congruence in state-oriented participants compared with an acceptance condition. Findings underscore the importance of assessing motive congruence as a "hidden stressor" and validate a new operant multimotive test.
Work craving theory addresses how work-addicted individuals direct great emotion-regulatory efforts to weave their addictive web of working. They crave work for two main emotional incentives: to ...overcompensate low self-worth and to escape (i.e., reduce) negative affect, which is strategically achieved through neurotic perfectionism and compulsive working. Work-addicted individuals' strong persistence and self-discipline with respect to work-related activities suggest strong skills in volitional action control. However, their inability to disconnect from work implies low volitional skills. How can work-addicted individuals have poor and strong volitional skills at the same time? To answer this paradox, we elaborated on the relevance of two different volitional modes in work craving: self-regulation (self-maintenance) and self-control (goal maintenance). Four hypotheses were derived from Wojdylo's work craving theory and Kuhl's self-regulation theory: (H1) Work craving is associated with a combination of low self-regulation and high self-control. (H2) Work craving is associated with symptoms of psychological distress. (H3) Low self-regulation is associated with psychological distress symptoms. (H4) Work craving mediates the relationships between self-regulation deficits and psychological distress symptoms at high levels of self-control. Additionally, we aimed at supporting the discriminant validity of work craving with respect to work engagement by showing their different volitional underpinnings. Results of the two studies confirmed our hypotheses: whereas work craving was predicted by high self-control and low self-regulation and associated with higher psychological distress, work engagement was predicted by high self-regulation and high self-control and associated with lower symptoms of psychological distress. Furthermore, work styles mediated the relationship between volitional skills and symptoms of psychological distress. Based on these new insights, several suggestions for prevention and therapeutic interventions for work-addicted individuals are proposed.
The achievement motive refers to a preference for mastering challenges and competing with some standard of excellence. Along with affiliation and power motives, the achievement motive is typically ...considered to occur on the level of implicit versus explicit representations. Specifically, whereas implicit motives involve pictorial, emotional goal representations and facilitate corresponding action effortlessly, explicit motives involve propositional (“verbalized”) goal representations but need some effort to translate into action (
McClelland et al., 1989
). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether and to which degree the implicit and explicit achievement motives differentially predict blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses to pictures of individuals engaging in challenging activities. Whereas the implicit AM predicted activity in areas associated with emotion (orbitofrontal cortex) and visual processing (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, premotor and occipital cortices), the explicit AM predicted activity in areas associated with cognitive self-control or verbal goal processing (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). The findings support the commonly assumed distinction between implicit and explicit motives with neuronal data. They also suggest that explicit motives require cognitive self-control to overcome potential lacks of motivation.
Identifying pain-related response patterns and understanding functional mechanisms of symptom formation and recovery are important for improving treatment.
We aimed to replicate pain-related ...avoidance-endurance response patterns associated with the Fear-Avoidance Model, and its extension, the Avoidance-Endurance Model, and examined their differences in secondary measures of stress, action control (i.e., dispositional action vs. state orientation), coping, and health.
Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted on self-report data from 536 patients with chronic non-specific low back pain at the beginning of an inpatient rehabilitation program. Measures of stress (i.e., pain, life stress) and action control were analyzed as covariates regarding their influence on the formation of different pain response profiles. Measures of coping and health were examined as dependent variables.
Partially in line with our assumptions, we found three pain response profiles of distress-avoidance, eustress-endurance, and low-endurance responses that are depending on the level of perceived stress and action control. Distress-avoidance responders emerged as the most burdened, dysfunctional patient group concerning measures of stress, action control, maladaptive coping, and health. Eustress-endurance responders showed one of the highest levels of action versus state orientation, as well as the highest levels of adaptive coping and physical activity. Low-endurance responders reported lower levels of stress as well as equal levels of action versus state orientation, maladaptive coping, and health compared to eustress-endurance responders; however, equally low levels of adaptive coping and physical activity compared to distress-avoidance responders.
Apart from the partially supported assumptions of the Fear-Avoidance and Avoidance-Endurance Model, perceived stress and dispositional action versus state orientation may play a crucial role in the formation of pain-related avoidance-endurance response patterns that vary in degree of adaptiveness. Results suggest tailoring interventions based on behavioral and functional analysis of pain responses in order to more effectively improve patients quality of life.
Findings on the relationship between hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity and cognitive performance are inconsistent. We investigated whether personality in terms of emotion ...regulation abilities (ERA) moderates the relationship between stress-contingent HPA activity and accuracy of intuitive coherence judgments.
ERA and cortisol responses to social-evaluative stress as induced by a variant of the Trier Social Stress Test were measured in
= 49 participants (32 female, aged 18 to 33 years,
= 22.48,
= 3.33). Subsequently, in a Remote Associates Task they provided intuitive judgments on whether word triples, primed by either stress-reminding or neutral words, are coherent or not.
Under relative cortisol increase participants low in ERA showed reduced performance whereas individuals high in ERA showed increased performance. By contrast, under conditions of low cortisol change, individuals low in ERA outperformed those high in ERA.
Personality can moderate the link between stress and cognition such as accurate intuition. This can happen to a degree that existing effects may not be become apparent in the main effect (i.e. without considering personality), which highlights the necessity to consider personality in stress research, ERA in particular. We discuss the findings with respect to individual differences in neurobehavioral mechanisms potentially underlying ERA and corresponding interactions with cognitive processing.
Emotion regulation ability (ERA) enables individuals to disengage from negative stimuli. In this study, we investigated the role of ERA in the depression-related negativity bias. Seventy-four ...individuals with major depressive disorder and eighty-three nonclinical individuals were screened for depressiveness using the Beck Depression Inventory. ERA was assessed using the Action Orientation After Failure Subscale of the Action Control Scale. We used a classical Stroop task variant, wherein the color words were preceded by either a self-relevant positive (success-related), negative (failure-related), or neutral word prime. The expected depressiveness × emotional prime interaction did not reach significance but the expected ERA × emotional prime interaction did. The latter effect was qualified by a three-way interaction between ERA, depressiveness, and emotional prime. Specifically, ERA predicted the negativity bias in individuals with high depressiveness scores. Using the Johnson–Neyman technique, we found that this effect was significant at the level of mild to moderate depression and beyond. Thus, poor ERA in individuals with depression may cause the depression-related negativity bias, whereas (at least) moderate ERA may protect individuals with depression from this bias. Future studies should assess ERA in individuals with depressive symptomatology and investigate how it influences their everyday functioning and treatment outcomes.
•Emotion regulation ability moderates depression effects.•High emotion regulation ability reduces depression-related negativity bias.•This effect emerges at mild to moderate depression scores.
Intuition, Affect, and Personality Baumann, Nicola; Kuhl, Julius
Journal of personality and social psychology,
11/2002, Letnik:
83, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
According to personality systems interaction theory, a negative mood was expected to reduce access to extended semantic networks and to reduce performance on intuitive judgments of coherence for ...participants who have an impaired ability to down-regulate negative affect (i.e., state-oriented participants). Consistent with expectations, state-oriented participants reporting higher levels of perseverating negative mood had a reduced discrimination between coherent and incoherent standard word triples (Study 1) and individually derived word triples describing persons (Study 2). Participants who are able to down-regulate negative affect (i.e., action-oriented participants) did not show this tendency. In addition, Study 2 revealed a dissociation between state orientation and Neuroticism that is discussed in terms of a functional difference between the two constructs.
Our study investigated body image representations in female patients with anorexia nervosa and healthy controls using a size estimation with pictures of their own body. We also explored a method to ...reduce body image distortions through right hemispheric activation.
Pictures of participants' own bodies were shown on the left or right visual fields for 130 ms after presentation of neutral, positive, or negative word primes, which could be self-relevant or not, with the task of classifying the picture as "thinner than", "equal to", or "fatter than" one's own body. Subsequently, activation of the left- or right hemispheric through right- or left-hand muscle contractions for 3 min., respectively. Finally, participants completed the size estimation task again.
The distorted "fatter than" body image was found only in patients and only when a picture of their own body appeared on the right visual field (left hemisphere) and was preceded by negative self-relevant words. This distorted perception of the patients' body image was reduced after left-hand muscle contractions (right hemispheric activation).
To reduce body image distortions it is advisable to find methods that help anorexia nervosa patients to increase their self-esteem. The body image distortions were ameliorated after right hemispheric activation. A related method to prevent distorted body-image representations in these patients may be Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.
Interventions can foster personal growth. However, our understanding of the specific mechanisms for change and the types of interventions driving this growth process remains limited. In this study, ...we focused on emotion regulation ability as a potential mechanism. We examined the effects of an affirmation coaching intervention on changes in emotion regulation ability, an important facet of personality. In this coaching intervention, participants created a personal mantra/goal derived from a selected image and positive associations linked to this image (motto goals). This is considered to enhance emotion regulation abilities by internalizing self-stabilizing value. We assigned sixty-six participants to either this affirmation coaching intervention or one of two control coaching interventions: specific-goal versus indulgence coaching. Before and after each intervention, participants completed questionnaires. Only the affirmation coaching intervention significantly increased in adaptive aspects of personality. Notably, the affirmation coaching intervention increased emotion regulation ability, and this effect persisted even when controlling for extraversion and neuroticism. Furthermore, exploratory analysis showed that extraversion increased following the affirmation coaching, while neuroticism remained unchanged. Our results suggest that emotion regulation ability might be the key factor in personality growth. It could be more malleable and/or respond more strongly to short-term coaching, compared to neuroticism. Thus, the malleability of personality traits may not be an all-or-nothing phenomenon; rather, it could depend on the facet of emotion regulation ability. We discuss potential mechanisms of personality growth, distinguishing between emotion regulation and emotion sensitivity.
Upregulation of implicit positive affect (PA) can act as a mechanism to deal with negative affect. Two studies tracked temporal changes in positive and negative affect (NA) assessed by self-report ...and the Implicit Positive and Negative Affect Test (IPANAT; Quirin, Kazén, & Kuhl, 2009). Study 1 observed the predicted increases in implicit PA after exposure to a threat-related film clip, which correlated positively with the speed of recognising a happy face among an angry crowd. Study 2 replicated increases in implicit PA after exposition to the same film clip, and showed that such increases were enhanced by priming self-referential stimuli. The findings are discussed against the background of personality systems interaction (PSI) theory (Kuhl, 2000, 2001), which emphasises the role of the implicit self in affect regulation.
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