趋近和回避动机的区分及其对心理病理学的影响

趋近和回避是动机的两种最基本形式, 反映着个体与环境的相互作用方式, 是个体适应环境的核心机能。回避动机保证了个体的生存, 趋近动机则促进个体的成长。两类动机系统在前额叶皮层呈不对称偏侧化分布, 趋近动机与左侧额叶皮层激活相连, 回避动机与右侧额叶皮层激活相连。Youngstorm 和Izard等认为两类动机系统失调可能与一系列的情绪和行为问题有关, 如躁狂、抑郁、焦虑和儿童多动症等。这一观点已得到一些相关研究和临床研究证实。建议未来研究关注趋近-回避动机区分与情绪和认知功能研究的融合, 进一步检验趋近-回避动机系统失调模型, 并加强趋近和回避动机系统的可塑性研究。     

Responses to Self-Threat: Linking Self and Relational Constructs with Approach and Avoidance Motivation

Over the past few decades, researchers have amassed a large body of evidence documenting the consequences of self-esteem (SE), attachment styles, rejection sensitivity (RS), domain-specific aspects of SE (e.g., contingencies of self-worth), and RS (e.g., race-RS; appearance-RS) following self-threats. The present article suggests that these personality constructs share a common substrate reflecting approach and avoidance temperament and motivation. Approach and avoidance temperaments are theorized to interact with intrapersonal and interpersonal experiences to shape approach and avoidance motivation. Personality constructs serve as dispositional markers of underlying approach-avoidance motivational orientations, which, in turn, lead to predictable patterns of goal pursuit following self-threats. Individuals who feel self-confident and relationally secure (e.g., high SE, securely attached, and low RS individuals) respond to self-threats by adopting approach-motivated goals to attain positive outcomes. Individuals who lack self-confidence and feel less relationally secure (e.g., low SE, avoidantly attached, and high RS individuals) respond to self-threats by decreasing approach motivation and/or increasing avoidance-motivated goals to prevent negative outcomes. Consequences of adopting approach- and avoidance-motivated goals are discussed.     

Writing Avoidance: A Professional Approach

Counselors, perhaps wore than most other professionals, practice writing avoidance. This article suggests a functional avoidance system based on empirically validated methodologies. A step-by-step method is proposed as well as ways to handle inevitable pressures and paradoxes.     

On the Positive Side of Avoidance Motivation: An Increase in Avoidance Motivation Reduces Procrastination among Students

People who procrastinate often pay a heavy price in terms of illness, stress, and poor performance. Because procrastination has harmful consequences, we predicted that avoidance motivation, a self‐regulation system that protects people from harm, would also protect them against procrastination. We hypothesised that avoidance motivation reduces procrastination, despite the known destructive effects avoidance motivation has on thriving. In Study 1, students high in chronic‐avoidance motivation had the lowest dropout rates from a bonus‐granting longitudinal study. In Study 2, avoidance motivation was negatively related to delay in submitting a term paper, when controlling for chronic procrastination, self‐efficacy, impulsiveness, and age. In Study 3, an experimental manipulation of avoidance motivation reduced procrastination three times, but only once significantly. In Study 4, manipulations of both avoidance motivation and approach motivation, relative to a control motivation, using a within‐subjects design, indicated that the avoidance manipulation reduced procrastination in submitting subsequent reading reports, whereas the approach manipulation did not. We subjected all our results to a meta‐analysis that indicated that avoidance motivation had a significant preventive effect on procrastination. We conclude that avoidance motivation can reduce procrastination, and suggest that our avoidance‐manipulation techniques could be applied across a variety of organisational and educational settings.     

Approach and Avoidance Relationship Commitment

The current paper proposes that relationship commitment is a goal; and as such, is regulated by the approach and avoidance dimensions. We suggest that two types of commitment exist: approach commitment, the desire to maintain and continue the relationship, and avoidance commitment, the desire to avoid relationship dissolution. Specifically, approach commitment is associated with a desire for future relationship incentives and rewards; and avoidance commitment is a desire to avoid the negative consequences or costs of relationship dissolution. In this paper, we evaluate previous research on relationship commitment from an approach and avoidance goal theory perspective, and then present an approach and avoidance commitment model and hypotheses testable in future research.     

Failure Avoidance Motivation in a Goal-Setting Situation

Scholars have consistently identified contextual performance or organizational citizenship behavior as a core component of job performance. The current literature on this issue has been dominated by a single-level approach, typically conducted at the individual level of analysis. This study adopts a multilevel approach to simultaneously examine main effects of and cross-level interactions among individual- and group-level predictors of interpersonal helping behavior. Results from a large-scale longitudinal data set show that at the individual level, helping behavior was predicted by perceived organizational support (POS), fairness, and affective commitment. At the group level, helping behavior was predicted by trust among group members. Trust among members also significantly moderated the individual-level relationships between POS and helping behavior and between fairness and helping. These crosslevel moderations indicated that the group- and individual-level predictors were complementary (instead of mutually reinforcing) in predicting interpersonal helping behavior. This finding indicates that various antecedents of interpersonal helping are characterized by distinct dynamics at the individual and group levels of analysis.     

Approach and Avoidance Motives and Close Relationships

Despite the fact that humans have a deep motivation to pursue and maintain close relationships, little research has examined social relationships from a motivational perspective. In the current paper, we argue that any model of close relationships must simultaneously account for people’s tendencies to both approach incentives and avoid threats in close relationships. To that end, we review research stemming from Gable’s (2006) social and relationship model of motivation on both the antecedents and the consequences of approach and avoidance goal pursuit in the context of close relationships. We conclude with recommendations for future research in this area.     

情绪效价对趋避反应的作用

刺激的情绪信息通常可帮助人类快速地做出相应的趋近或回避反应。实验室情境下研究者对趋避的操作性定义不尽相同, 但以往绝大部分研究证实了趋利避害的相容效应：正性情绪引起趋近反应, 负性情绪引起回避反应。动机定向理论认为, 这种促进作用是自动的, 而事件编码理论认为, 这种促进作用依赖于外显的效价判断。未来研究应进一步明确界定趋近和回避的操作性定义, 采用更敏感的实验范式解决两种理论的纷争, 以深入阐释相容效应的心理机制。     

The Influence of Approach and Avoidance Cues on Attentional Flexibility

Motivation and Emotion - In two experiments, we tested the prediction that rudimentary approach, relative to avoidance, motivational cues bolster attentional flexibility. This prediction was...