Effect of trait and state approach motivation on aggressive inclinations

Research has suggested that individual differences in behavioral approach sensitivity (BAS) are related to state and trait anger [Carver, C. S. (2004). Negative affects deriving from the behavioral approach system. Emotion, 4, 3–22; Harmon-Jones, E. (2003a). Clarifying the emotive functions of asymmetrical frontal cortical activity. Psychophysiology, 40, 838–848; Harmon-Jones, E. (2003b). Anger and the behavioural approach system. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 995–1005]. The present research sought to extend this past work by testing whether individual differences in BAS would relate to aggressive inclinations, particularly when approach motivation was situationally primed. Results supported predictions, and thus suggest, contrary to several perspectives (e.g., [Gray, J. A. (1990). Brain systems that mediate both emotion and cognition. Cognition & Emotion, 4(3), 269–288; Watson, D. (2000). Mood and temperament. New York: Guilford Press]), that BAS is involved in more than just positive emotional experiences and behaviors.     

Self-determined work motivation predicts job outcomes,but what predicts self-determined work motivation?

Self-determined work motivation predicts important job outcomes, such as job satisfaction [Richer, S. F., Blanchard, C., & Vallerand, R. J. (2002). A motivational model of work turnover. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 2089–2113], but what predicts self-determined work motivation is less fully understood. We tested general causality orientation—specifically autonomy and control orientation—as a predictor of self-determined work motivation, which in turn was expected to predict job satisfaction and identification commitment as job outcomes. Regression analyses confirmed our hypotheses such that autonomy orientation predicted job outcomes via increased self-determined work motivation. Control orientation predicted self-determined work motivation but did not affect either of the two job outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of individual differences in understanding job outcomes.     

Pleasure and pressure based prosocial motivation: Divergent relations to subjective well-being

We propose two fundamentally different motives for helping: gaining pleasure and fulfilling one’s duty (“pressure”). Using the newly developed Pleasure and Pressure based Prosocial Motivation Scale, we demonstrated the distinctiveness of pleasure and pressure based prosocial motivation in three studies. Although the two motives exhibited different relations to a variety of personality characteristics, they were similarly related to trans-situational helping. Of particular interest, pleasure based prosocial motivation was positively related to self-actualization, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and positive affect and negatively related to negative affect. On the contrary, pressure based prosocial motivation was unrelated to self-actualization, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and positive affect but positively related to negative affect. These results qualify research showing that prosocial life goals generally increase subjective well-being.     

Physical aggression as a function of perceived fighting ability and provocation: an experimental investigation

In three studies, Resource Holding Power (RHP) and provocation were manipulated in scenarios involving a young person in a bar with friends. In Study 1, teenage men reported lower likelihood of responding with physical aggression when insulted as levels of three RHP cues (size, allies and reputation) increased, effects that were accentuated by combinations of high-RHP cues; in the second part of this study, they consistently rated an insult to their girlfriend as the most provoking from a range of possible provocations, chosen on theoretical and empirical grounds. Study 2 replicated the results of the first part of Study 1 in samples of men and women in their twenties, although the effects were weaker at low levels of RHP. Study 3 combined a high- or low-provoking event, with low, medium or high RHP, and a wider range of response choices. As expected, direct aggression increased as provocation increased and RHP decreased. Delayed aggressive responses, including revenge fantasies, were highest in response to high provocation and high RHP. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical models of aggressive motivation.     

A projective assessment of autonomous motivation in children: Correlational and experimental evidence

This article presents two studies aimed at validating a new TAT-like projective measure of autonomous motivation in children. Study 1 assesses the validity of the new measure by correlating it with self-report questionnaires of autonomous motivation, positive and negative affect, task value and mastery goal orientation. Study 2 is an experiment in which autonomous motivation is manipulated and then assessed with the new projective measure and with a self-report scale. Results of both studies support the validity of the new projective measure. In study 2, regression analysis suggests that the new projective measure is sensitive to aspects of experimentally induced autonomous motivation that are not captured by a self-report measure.

Attentional training of the appetitive motivation system: Effects on sensation seeking preferences and reward-based behavior

Motivation is seen to guide selective attention in favor of motivation-consistent stimuli. However, such links may be bi-directional in nature, such that selective attention processes may also bias and determine one’s motivational state. In the present study, we examined the latter direction of influence by randomly assigning participants to one of two conditions designed to train selective attention either toward or away from rewarding word stimuli. The effects of this manipulation were examined in terms of approach-related intentions, emotional state, and reward-reactive behavior. It was found that the selective attention manipulation influenced preferences and behavior, but not conscious emotional state. Findings are discussed in relation to implications for motivation, cognition, and emotion.

Obligatory and optional personal life investments in old and very old age: Validation and functional relations

Personal life investment (PLI) measures motivational energy invested in central life domains. We distinguished between obligatory PLIs, that is, required investments, and optional PLIs, that is, investments that are possible but not necessary. Data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516; 70–103 years) were employed to investigate the validity of this distinction. We further explored how both PLI types relate to aging satisfaction and whether associations with validation variables and satisfaction differed depending on resource limitations (poor health). As expected based on conceptual affinities between the distinctions of obligatory-optional PLI and approach-avoidance tendencies, both PLI types showed positive relations with extraversion (a correlate of approach), but only obligatory PLI was positively related to neuroticism (a correlate of avoidance). Optional PLI (not obligatory PLI) was related to higher aging satisfaction, but only in fairly healthy people. This underscores differential functional relations of optional PLI depending on resource availability.

Autonomy support,basic need satisfaction and the optimal functioning of adult male and female sport participants: A test of basic needs theory

Grounded in Basic Needs Theory (BNT; Ryan and Deci, American Psychologist, 55, 68–78, 2000a), the present study aimed to: (a) test a theoretically-based model of coach autonomy support, motivational processes and well-/ill-being among a sample of adult sport participants, (b) discern which basic psychological need(s) mediate the link between autonomy support and well-/ill-being, and (c) explore gender invariance in the hypothesized model. Five hundred and thirty nine participants (Male = 271; Female = 268; M _age = 22.75) completed a multi-section questionnaire tapping the targeted variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that coach autonomy support predicted participants’ basic need satisfaction for autonomy, competence and relatedness. In turn, basic need satisfaction predicted greater subjective vitality when engaged in sport. Participants with low levels of autonomy were more susceptible to feeling emotionally and physically exhausted from their sport investment. Autonomy and competence partially mediated the path from autonomy support to subjective vitality. Lastly, the results supported partial invariance of the model with respect to gender.     

Deterrence and Coercive Diplomacy: The Contributions of Alexander George

Alexander George was a towering figure who made path breaking and enduring contributions to political psychology, international relations, and social science methodology. I focus on George's closely related research programs on deterrence and coercive diplomacy, with special attention to the importance of the asymmetry of motivation, strategies for "designing around" a deterrent threat, the controllability of risks, images of the adversary, signaling, the sequential failure of deterrence, the role of positive inducements along with coercive threats, and the need for actor-specific models of the adversary. In the process, I highlight other elements of George's theoretically and methodologically integrated research program: his conceptions of the proper role of theory; his emphasis on the infeasibility of a universal theory and the need for conditional generalizations that are historically grounded, sensitive to context, bounded by scope conditions, and useful for policy makers; and the indispensability of process tracing in theoretically driven case studies.