Association between serotonin Cumulative Genetic Score and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS): Moderation by early life environment

The present study investigates if genetic variation in the serotonergic system interacts with early adversity to predict changes in the Behavioral Approach System (BAS), a system that taps into reward processing. In a sample of community adults (N = 236) the influence of single serotonergic candidate polymorphisms on BAS was analyzed, we also examined the aggregate contribution of these genetic variants by creating a Cumulative Genetic Score (CGS). A CGS quantifies an individual’s cumulative risk by aggregating the number of risk alleles across the candidate polymorphisms. After individual gene analysis, three candidate genes rs7305115 (TPH2), rs6311 (HTR2A), and rs6295 (HTR1A) were combined into the CGS. There were no significant interactions between individual candidate polymorphisms and childhood adversity, but the CGS interacted with childhood adversity to explain a significant amount of variance (11.6%) in the BAS. Findings suggest that genetic variations in the serotonergic system in combination with childhood adversity contribute to individual differences in reward sensitivity.     

An emotional signature of political ideology: Evidence from two linguistic content-coding studies

Approach–avoidance frameworks for political ideology have been proposed with increasing frequency. Following such frameworks and a wider motivation–emotion literature, it was hypothesized that political ideology would be predictive of the extent to which anxiety (avoidance-related) versus anger (approach-related) words would be evident in written texts. Study 1 sampled user-generated text within conservative versus liberal Internet chat rooms. After correcting for the greater normative frequency of anger words, a crossover ideology by emotion type interaction was found. Study 2 found a parallel interaction among college students writing about a non-political topic. Political ideology thus has a discrete emotional signature, one favoring anxiety among conservatives and anger among liberals.     

Approach motivation and cognitive resources combine to influence memory for positive emotional stimuli

Inspired by the elaborated intrusion theory of desire, the current research tested the hypothesis that persons higher in trait approach motivation process positive stimuli deeply, which enhances memory for them. Ninety-four undergraduates completed a measure of trait approach motivation, viewed positive or negative image slideshows in the presence or absence of a cognitive load, and one week later completed an image memory test. Higher trait approach motivation predicted better memory for the positive slideshow, but this memory boost disappeared under cognitive load. Approach motivation did not influence memory for the negative slideshow. The current findings support the idea that individuals higher in approach motivation spontaneously devote limited resources to processing positive stimuli.     

The effects of behavioral inhibition/approach system as predictors of Internet addiction in adolescents

This study aimed to determine how the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) affect Internet addiction in adolescents. Two hundred and eleven high school students participated in this study and completed the Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), BIS/BAS scales, and several self-administered questionnaires about depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. Hierarchical regressions showed that BIS and BAS × BIS emerged as significant predictors of IAT; however, only BAS-fun seeking subscale predicted IAT among BAS related subscales. In further analyses, the BAS-fun seeking subscale was mediated by impulsivity and anxiety, and BIS was mediated by anxiety and depression. The current findings imply that BIS and BAS interdependently influence vulnerability to Internet addiction through both shared (anxiety) and different (depression and impulsivity, respectively) pathways.     

Reinforcement sensitivity theory as a predictor of senior-executive performance

This paper develops and tests links between the reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality and senior-executive job performance, hypothesising that the theory’s personality traits, known as ‘BIS’ and ‘BAS’, will interact to predict performance. 167 chief and second-tier executives completed Carver and White’s (1994)BIS/BAS Scales, and had their overall performance rated by a superior or peer using four items. Structural equation modeling showed that while BAS has no main effect and BIS has a marginally significant effect on performance (p = 0.07), BIS and BAS interact to predict performance (p = 0.01), the optimal scenario being a combination of high BAS and low BIS. These results show the importance of testing traits’ interactions in applied personality research.     

On Human Survival: Reflections on Survival Research and Survival Policies

A new academic discipline, Survival Research, is proposed to investigate how the survival of the human species and its civilizations can be assured. Today nuclear weapons, overpopulation, and the deteriorating environment threaten our future. These phenomena are interconnected, and must be considered together in their complexity in an interdisciplinary manner. Some major obstacles to a wider awareness of the problems and solutions are described. Survival issues, primarily ecological ones, have lately lost ground, especially in the United States. It is essential that those still concerned, especially teachers and journalists, be informed about the problems and the urgency for finding solutions.     

Should We Approach Approach and Avoid Avoidance? An Inquiry from Different Levels

Abstract

Approach motivation (striving for desired end-states, eagerly focusing on where one wants to be) is often held up as the best type of motivation: It feels good and is associated with many positive outcomes. Indeed, a common perception is that regulation in terms of approach motivation is almost always better than regulation in terms of avoidance motivation. However, as we discuss, this conclusion is worthy of a deeper look. We consider how approach and avoidance motivation manifest at different levels in a self-regulatory hierarchy and how this can help us understand the upsides and downsides of both approach and avoidance motivation. In other words, approach motivation is not always beneficial and avoidance motivation is not always problematic. Understanding these trade-offs involves a consideration of which level in the hierarchy approach or avoidance is manifested, what types of outcomes are being examined (the experience of regulation vs. performance), and how the approach or avoidance regulation fits or does not fit with an individual’s broad concerns or specific situational demands. Furthermore, a hierarchical approach helps make sense of behaviors that reflect simultaneous approach and avoidance tendencies, such as tactical approach to remove (avoid) a threat, providing a dynamic and nuanced view of motivation.     

Understanding Psychopathology: Cybernetics and Psychology on the Boundary between Order and Chaos

Abstract

We have argued for a balanced perspective on the relative benefits and costs of approach and avoidance motivation, and that thinking hierarchically about these motives contributes to a better understanding of goal pursuit. Having received several scholarly commentaries on these primary claims, in this reply, we further clarify the roles of regulatory fit and intelligibility in goal pursuit, examine surviving and thriving at different levels of the motivational hierarchy, and demonstrate that thinking hierarchically about approach and avoidance motivation provides a wealth of opportunities for additional research into the dynamics of motivation.     

The mediating and moderating role of planning on mothers’ decisions for early childhood dietary behaviours

Objective: Examine the roles of action and coping planning on the intention–behaviour relationship for mothers’ decisions for their young children’s dietary behaviours.

Design: Prospective design with two waves of data collection, one week apart.

Main outcome measures: Mothers (N = 197, M_age = 34.39, SD = 5.65) of children aged 2–3 years completed a main questionnaire assessing planning constructs and intentions, and a one-week follow-up of the target behaviours – ‘healthy eating’ and ‘discretionary choices’.

Results: Intention was the strongest predictor of behaviour for both dietary behaviours. For healthy eating, intention moderated the indirect relationship between intention–behaviour via planning; coping planning was less important when intention was strong. Further, intention was not a direct predictor of behaviour when intention was relatively low. Action planning was not a direct predictor of either behaviour after accounting for intention and coping planning; action planning on behaviour was mediated by coping planning (only for healthy eating). Intention was not a direct predictor of coping planning; intention on coping planning was mediated by action planning. Neither type of planning predicted discretionary choices.

Conclusion: Current findings contribute novel information on the mechanisms underpinning the effect of action and coping planning on the intention–behaviour relationship.     

Pushing mom away: Embodied cognition and avoidant attachment

The objective of this research was to examine embodied psychological defense—the way in which defensive processes are manifest in basic motor responses. Forty-one participants were instructed to physically push or pull a lever in response to lexical stimuli presented on a computer display. Participants who were relatively avoidant with respect to attachment were faster to push the lever away from themselves when presented with the word “mom.” These results suggest that basic avoidant motives are automatically primed when attachment-related stimuli are processed, and that these tendencies manifest themselves in basic, motor-specific ways.