Postponement Behavior as a Function of Approach and Avoidance Motivation

Abstract

Human behavior frequently involves planning in relation to interpersonal events scheduled to occur in the near future. A person may be required publicly to commit himself to participate in an impending event at some preferred point in time; thus, for example, he may freely elect to postpone his response rather than perform it immediately. One would generally expect postponement behavior to bear predictable relationships to the strength of relevant motives, particularly when these motives are incompatible with each other. This paper tests two deductions drawn from application of Miller's (1944, 1959) conflict model to postponement behavior. Specifically, the stimulus-similarity axis of the conflict model is identified with the future time dimension, along which some conflict-evoking event may be located. The hypotheses concern S's tendency to postpone his voluntary participation in the event, as a function of the strength of conflicting motives. In order to derive specific testable hypotheses consider first that S commits himself, in the immediate present, to take part in an event which is to occur at some point in futur'e time, and that he may either participate immediately or postpone his participation to some specified degree. Consider also that chis event will be both rewarding and punishing to respective degrees explicitly stated beforehand by E. If it is assumed that a temporal gradient of reward exists, then, the more imminent the event, the stronger will be the acquired approach to it al the instant of commitment. If it is similarly assumed that a temporal gradient of punishment exists, rhen, the more imminent the