Me against myself: motivational conflicts and emotional development in adulthood

Two studies investigated adult age differences in the frequency and emotional consequences of motivational conflicts (i.e., feeling that one wants to or should do something else in a given situation). Study 1 compared younger and older adults. Study 2 included a more age-heterogeneous sample ranging from 20 to 70 years. Data were obtained using diary and experience-sampling methods. Multilevel regression showed that motivational conflict was associated with lower emotional well-being. With age, the frequency of motivational conflict decreased, while emotional well-being increased. Importantly, the age-related decrease in motivational conflicts partly accounted for the age-related increase in emotional well-being. Findings were consistent across studies and robust after the authors controlled for age differences in a number of control variables including time use. The authors conclude that an age-related decrease in motivational conflicts in daily life may be among the factors underlying the positive development of emotional well-being into older adulthood.     

Age and motivation predict gaze behavior for facial expressions

This study investigated age-related differences between younger (M = 25.52 years) and older (M = 70.51 years) adults in avoidance motivation and the influence of avoidance motivation on gaze preferences for happy, neutral, and angry faces. In line with the hypothesis of reduced negativity effect later in life, older adults avoided angry faces and (to a lesser degree) preferred happy faces more than younger adults did. This effect cannot be explained by age-related changes in dispositional motivation. Irrespective of age, avoidance motivation predicted gaze behavior towards emotional faces. The study demonstrates the importance of interindividual differences beyond young adulthood.     

Case-mixing effects on anagram solution

The effects of mixed-case letters on anagram solution were investigated in 2 studies with college-aged participants. In Experiment 1, the participants attempted to solve anagrams printed in either mixed- or same-case letters. The results showed that mixed-case letters disrupted the solution process. To determine if this effect was a result of the inappropriate grouping of letters of the same case, the authors conducted Experiment 2 as a partial replication of Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, in some cases, uppercase letters in the mixed-case condition formed a word that was of a higher frequency than was the solution word. Once again mixed-case letters disrupted the solution process. However, the authors found no evidence for the hypothesis on the inappropriate grouping of letters as the disruption was independent of having an embedded word in the anagram.     

How to work out and avoid procrastination: The role of goal focus

This 8-week longitudinal experience sampling study with N = 346 participants (n = 242 completers) of a high-intensity interval training program explored how goal focus (i.e., a focus on the process vs. outcome of goal pursuit) is related to procrastination and successful goal pursuit. Specifically, the study investigated the association between goal focus and participants' adherence to their workout plans (i.e., procrastination), their immediate experience during the workout (e.g., pleasantness), and their intentions to work out when they were procrastinating. Moreover, the study examined how process and outcome focus are linked to overall goal achievement, workout satisfaction, and objective fitness gains. Converging with previous research, results suggest that adopting a process focus is adaptive. In addition, the analyses revealed some positive relationships between outcome focus and immediate indicators of successful goal pursuit. However, in contrast to process focus, outcome focus was not related to the overall measures and even seemed maladaptive once people were procrastinating.     

When wanting and fearing go together: The effect of co‐occurring social approach and avoidance motivation on behavior,affect, and cognition

Three studies investigated the association of social approach and avoidance motivation with cognition, behavior, emotions, and subjective well‐being. Study 1 (N = 245), a correlative self‐report study, showed that approach and avoidance motivation mediated the effects of adult attachment‐styles on social anxiety. A secure attachment‐style was associated with co‐occurring approach and avoidance motivation. Study 2, a social‐interaction study (N = 38), revealed an association of avoidance motivation with a negative experience and passive behavior, and approach motivation with a positive experience and active behavior. Interestingly, the interaction of approach and avoidance motivation predicted engaged behavior and a positive emotional experience. Study 3 (N = 203), an online survey, showed that subjective well‐being was negatively associated with high avoidance motivation, irrespective of the strength of approach motivation. Taken together, the studies show that social approach and avoidance motivation interact in predicting positive experiences and social behavior in a concrete social situation. However, from the long‐term perspective, the negative consequences of social avoidance motivation seem to prevail when approach and avoidance motivation co‐occur. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Persistent career indecision over time: Links with personality,barriers, self-efficacy,and life satisfaction

Taking control over one's career requires the ability to make career decisions; thus, remaining in a state of career indecision is problematic. However, the stability of career indecision has not yet been investigated using advanced statistical modeling approaches. We present two studies of German university students applying three-wave, longitudinal designs. Study 1 investigated the stability of career indecision by means of latent state-trait analysis within two samples with different time lags (Sample 1: N = 363, 7 weeks; Sample 2: N = 591, 6 months). The results indicated that career indecision was determined by a stable component (i.e., trait career indecisiveness) that was associated with lower core self-evaluations, lower occupational self-efficacy, and higher perceived career barriers. Study 2 (N = 469) examined career indecision over one year. We found that the stable career indecision component explained 5% of the variance in student life satisfaction beyond self-evaluated generalized indecisiveness.     

Responding to emotional scenes: effects of response outcome and picture repetition on reaction times and the late positive potential

Processing the motivational relevance of a visual scene and reacting accordingly is crucial for survival. Previous work suggests the emotional content of naturalistic scenes affects response speed, such that unpleasant content slows responses whereas pleasant content accelerates responses. It is unclear whether these effects reflect motor-cognitive processes, such as attentional orienting, or vary with the function/outcome of the motor response itself. Four experiments manipulated participants’ ability to terminate the picture (offset control) and, thereby, the response’s function and motivational value. Attentive orienting was manipulated via picture repetition, which diminishes orienting. A total of N?=?81 participants completed versions of a go/no-go task, discriminating between distorted versus intact pictures drawn from six content categories varying in positive, negative, or neutral valence. While all participants responded faster with repetition, only participants without offset control exhibited slower responses to unpleasant and accelerated responses to pleasant content. Emotional engagement, measured by the late positive potential, was not modulated by attentional orienting (repetition), suggesting that the interaction between repetition and offset control is not due to altered emotional engagement. Together, results suggest that response time changes as a function of emotional content and sensitivity to attention orienting depends on the motivational function of the motor response.