The motivating power of visions: Exploring the mechanisms

Abstract

Visions are idealized mental images of the future. A core component of the new leadership theories, visions are assumed to promote follower motivation. However, the motivational processes and effects triggered by visions have not yet been empirically explored. Our hypothesis was that visions—just like real images—are motivationally effective by arousing implicit motives. To test this assumption, we conducted three experiments. In each study, we administered visions with specific motivational content to arouse the targeted implicit motive and then measured the strength of the resulting implicit motivation by a variety of motivation indicators. In Study 1, we examined all three motive domains by comparing an affiliation, an agency (i.e., power and achievement combined), and a neutral vision (control condition) with respect to their effects on three motivation indicators: changes in motive imagery on the Picture Story Exercise (PSE) and changes in salivary testosterone and progesterone, two indicators of implicit power and affiliation motivation. As predicted, the affiliation vision condition increased affiliation imagery, whereas the agentic vision condition increased agency imagery on the PSE. Moreover, in the communal condition, increases in affiliation imagery were accompanied by increases in progesterone, whereas in the agentic condition, increases in power imagery were accompanied by increases in testosterone. Study 2 focused on the achievement domain by comparing an achievement vision and a relaxation task with respect to their effects on three motivation indicators: changes in achievement imagery (i.e., hope for success imagery), affective arousal (i.e., tense arousal, energetic arousal, and hedonic tone), and performance (i.e., reaction time and error rate) on a mental concentration task. As predicted, the achievement vision increased hope for success imagery and tense arousal, and reduced reaction times and error rates. Furthermore, the strength of the person's pre-vision hope for success moderated the influence of achievement vision on energetic arousal and reaction time. Study 3 focused on the domains of affiliation and power, thereby contrasting two motive domains that are known to have opposite effects on the following motivation indicators: changes in salivary alpha-amylase, affective arousal, and cooperation behavior in a prisoner's dilemma. As predicted, the affiliation vision promoted hedonic tone, especially in participants high in the need for affiliation, whereas the power vision promoted tense arousal and interacted with pre-vision need for power to increase energetic arousal. Moreover, the power vision increased the alpha-amylase level and exploitative behavior, particularly in participants high in the need for power. In contrast, the affiliation vision increased cooperation behavior, especially in predominantly affiliation-motivated participants. In sum, the present research provides the first empirical evidence that visions are motivationally effective by arousing implicit motives.