Retaliatory motivation enhances attributions of hostility when people process ambiguous social stimuli

We hypothesized that provocation and readiness to aggress (Retaliatory Motivation) would increase the tendency to construe the ambiguous actions of others as reflecting hostile intent. Male undergraduates were either verbally provoked or not provoked by a male experimenter and half were led to believe that they would be allowed to retaliate anonymously against the provoker in the form of a potentially damaging written evaluation. Participants then rated the hostility and aggressive intent of the characters in brief ambiguous scenarios of interpersonal conflict. According to prediction, men who were provoked and anticipated retaliation against their provoker rated the scenarios as containing hostility and aggression to a significantly greater extent than did non‐provoked or merely provoked participants. Results are discussed within a motivation‐based affective relevance model of perception. Aggr. Behav. 29:155–172, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

How effortful decisions get enacted: the motivating role of decision processes,desires, and anticipated emotions

Building on recent research examining the influence of decision making on subsequent goal striving and decision enactment, we consider and elaborate on the mechanisms through which effortful decisions are made, maintained, and enacted. Our proposed framework builds on the Dholakia and Bagozzi ( 2002 ) model, distinguishes between two important types of intentions and desires, and shows that the motivation‐mustering function of the decision process is mediated by goal and implementation desires. In addition to decision processes, the roles of goal feasibility, anticipated emotions, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are also elaborated on. Through a two‐wave field study tracking real decisions and their pursuit by participants, we find empirical support for our model of effortful decision making and enactment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

小学生喜好的外在奖赏及其运用

采用问卷调查法 ,以杭州市三所小学 3 1 8名小学生为被试 ,考察了他们对目前学校常用的 2 0种奖项的喜好特点。目的在于揭示这些奖项对小学生的潜在意义 ,为教师运用外在奖赏激励学生学习提供依据。结果表明 :(1 )小学生最喜欢社会认同类 ,其次是特权类 ,最后是学校奖项与零食类奖赏。他们最喜欢的前五种奖赏是 :书、奖状、好分数、玩电脑、去图书馆看书。 (2 )小学生在喜好的奖赏及其结构特点上均存在年级与性别差异。     

Reaction to Mortality: An Interdisciplinary Organizing Principle for the Human Sciences

Ernest Becker's theory about death denial is one example of depth psychological theory. Because very important features of Becker's theory have now successfully and singularly met the rigorous empirical testing of Terror Management Theory (TMT), it must be concluded that the theory of death denial stands apart from and above alternative depth psychological theories in explaining human behavioral and attitudinal motivation. Nevertheless, TMT only touches the surface of Becker's theory in the round. This essay looks at how Becker's wider theories of death denial are applied to (1) personal psychological, (2) social psychological, (3) political, and (4) spiritual aspects of human experience and suggests that what Becker has given us is an organizing principle, a theory of considerable integrative, explanatory, and interpretive power, for a broadly interdisciplinary social science of human behavior.     

Gender and age-related differences in attitudes toward traffic laws and traffic violations

The study examined gender and age-related differences in drivers’ normative motives for compliance with traffic laws and in gain–loss considerations related to driving. Two age groups of male and female students, totaling 181 respondents, completed a questionnaire measuring several normative motives for compliance with traffic laws, perceived gains and danger involved in the commission of traffic violations, and the frequency of committing various driving violations. The results show that younger drivers and male drivers express a lower level of normative motivation to comply with traffic laws than do female and older drivers. The lowest level of perceived importance of traffic laws relative to other laws was found among young male drivers. The commission of traffic violations was found to be related more to the evaluation of traffic laws among men and younger drivers, compared to women and older drivers. The perceived danger involved in the commission of a driving violation, however, was found to constitute much more of a factor among women than among men before the commission of traffic violations. Perceived gains involved in the commission of violations were more strongly pronounced among older drivers than among younger drivers. Results are discussed concerning different types of attitude–behavior relationships in the context of driving.     

成就目标对青少年成就动机和学业成就影响的研究

本研究在迈尔（Maehr）等人研究的基础上,考察了成就目标（任务目标和能力目标）与动机和学业成就之间的关系。结果表明,任务目标通过内部动机对学业成就产生积极的影响,能力目标通过外部动机对学业成就产生消极的影响。     

Latent profiles of work motivation in adolescents in relation to work expectations,goal engagement,and changes in work experiences

Motivation plays a key role in successful entry into working life. Based on a cross-sectional and a one-year longitudinal study, we used a person-centered approach to explore work-related motivation (i.e., autonomous goals, positive affect, and occupational self-efficacy) among 577 students in 8th grade (Study 1) and 949 adolescents in vocational training (Study 2). Based on latent profile analysis, in both studies we identified four groups that were characterized by different levels of overall motivation and one group characterized by low positive affect and mean levels in autonomous goals and self-efficacy. Profiles characterized by high levels of motivation showed the highest levels of positive work expectations and goal engagement and the lowest levels of negative work expectations in Study 1 and the highest levels of person-job fit, work engagement, and job satisfaction in Study 2. Moreover, latent difference score analysis showed that motivational profiles predicted changes in person-job fit and work engagement across one year but not in job satisfaction. The results imply that career counselors should be aware of characteristic motivational patterns of clients that may require specific counseling approaches.     

Corruption as a Propensity: Personality and Motivational Determinants Among Nigerians

Psychologically oriented studies on corruption are lacking despite the fact that psychology has contributed enormously to the understanding of criminal behaviors over the past decades. Part of this problem relates to the lack of psychological tone in the definition and measurement of corruption. Taking a clue from the extensive psychological discourse on crime, which provides strong evidence for the existence of criminal tendencies, we conceptualized corruption here in terms of propensity. Possible personality and motivation determinants of this propensity were then explored. Results revealed that extraversion and conscientiousness positively and inversely predicted corruption tendencies, respectively. Results further showed that extrinsic motivation positively potentiates corruption tendencies, whereas intrinsic motivation was inversely related to corruption tendencies. Analysis of demographic variables revealed that males were more likely to be corrupt than their female counterparts. In general, findings here are consistent with the criminal behavior literature, which strongly suggests that the study of corruption is indeed amenable to psychological theories and methods and that individual differences variables constitute important explanatory variables in this regard.