Approach-avoidance Motivation Research Articles

Personal Strivings to Understand Anxiety Disorders: Social Anxiety as an Exemplar

People with anxiety disorders tend to make decisions on the basis of avoiding threat rather than obtaining rewards. Despite a robust literature examining approach-avoidance motivation, less is known about goal pursuit. The present study examined the content, motives, consequences, and daily correlates of strivings among adults diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and healthy controls. Participants generated six strivings along with the motives and consequences of their pursuit. Compared with controls, people with social anxiety disorder were less strongly driven by autonomous motives and reported greater difficulty pursuing strivings. Coders analyzed strivings for the presence of 10 themes: achievement, affiliation, avoidance, emotion regulation, generativity, interpersonal, intimacy, power, self-presentation, and self-sufficiency. People with social anxiety disorder constructed more emotion regulation strivings than did controls, but they did not differ across other themes. This research illustrates how studying personality at different levels of analysis (traits, strivings) can yield novel information for understanding anxiety disorders.

Linking Self-Construal to Creativity: The Role of Approach Motivation and Cognitive Flexibility.

While some evidence has linked the way individuals define themselves in relation to others (independent versus interdependent self-construal) to creativity, little is known about the underlying mechanism in explaining why and how self-construal influences creativity. Integrating approach-avoidance motivation theory and the dual pathway to creativity model, this research focuses on the motivational and cognitive mechanisms that transfer the effects of self-construal on creativity. Specifically, we expect that independent self-construal is a driver of creativity because it facilitates individuals’ approach motivation, which in turn increases flexible information processing. To test the three-stage mediation model, one experiment and one survey study were conducted. In Study 1, in a sample of 231 Dutch students, self-construal was manipulated by a story-writing task; approach-avoidance motivation, cognitive flexibility, and creativity were measured. In Study 2, self-construal, approach (and avoidance) motivation, cognitive flexibility, and creativity were all measured in a second sample of Dutch students (N = 146). The results of two studies supported the three-stage mediation model, showing that approach motivation and cognitive flexibility together mediated the effects of self-construal on creativity. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Interpersonal and intrapersonal approach and avoidance motives after social rejection

ABSTRACTTheories pertaining to social rejection often posit that rejected individuals are motivated to both pursue belonging and protect the self. The present study examined whether rejection indeed produces concurrent interpersonal approach and intrapersonal avoidance motives as a result of these dual goals. Much rejection research has shown downstream changes to attention, social perception, memory, and behavior, suggesting that rejection motivates interpersonal engagement (to regain belonging or protect the self) and intrapersonal disengagement. Yet, no research has directly examined cognitive changes in approach and avoidance motivations toward others and the self, let alone in tandem. We hypothesized that, after playing Cyberball, rejected (but not accepted) individuals would display interpersonal approach and intrapersonal avoidance motives, facilitating approach-other and avoid-self responses on a cognitive Approach/Avoidance Task. Results revealed none of the anticipated effects or interactions, suggesting that interpersonal and intrapersonal approach and avoidance motives may not explain individuals’ varied responses to rejection.

The effect of approach-avoidance motivation on academic self-regulation: The mediating effect of self-efficacy

The effect of approach-avoidance motivation on academic self-regulation: The mediating effect of self-efficacy

The Effects of Approach-Avoidance Motivation Sensitivity and Regulatory Framing on Chasing Behaviors in Gambling Simulation Game

The Effects of Approach-Avoidance Motivation Sensitivity and Regulatory Framing on Chasing Behaviors in Gambling Simulation Game

Testing a Curvilinear Relationship between Chemosensory Responsivity and Avoidance Motivation

Approach and avoidance motivations underlie much of human behavior. This paper examines an as-yet under-investigated contributor to those motivations – chemosensory responsivity. Based on the logic that the chemical senses help the perceiver to detect ecological threats, we predicted that individual differences in chemosensory responsivity may predict approach-avoidance motivations. Specifically, because people with below or above average sensory responsivity may be unable to reliably discriminate threats from nonthreats in their environment, they may consequently adopt a compensatory shift from approach to avoidance motivations. The current project tested for such a curvilinear relationship between chemosensory responsivity and approach-avoidance motivation. In Study 1, chemosensory responsivity was indexed by combined performance on the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test with detection of bitterness in a taste strip containing phenylthiocarbamide. Approach versus avoidance motivation was measured with the line bisection task. Study 2 provided a conceptual replication using self-report measures. Study 3 used a new psychophysical measure directly assessing olfactory detection thresholds, and extended the investigation to perceptions of threat-related facial expressions. In all three studies, results revealed a quadratic effect of sensory responsivity on approach-avoidance motivation, such that participants scoring relatively low or relatively high on sensory responsivity displayed higher levels of avoidance-related cognition. Elucidating the link between sensory processing and general motivational orientations has the potential to inform understanding of higher-order social cognitive functioning.

An exploratory analysis of the joint contribution of HPA axis activation and motivation to early adolescent depressive symptoms.

This study examines the interactive contribution of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and approach-avoidance motivation systems to longitudinal changes in depressive symptoms across the adolescent transition. In the summer prior to, or fall of, 4th grade, 132 youth (68 girls; 64 boys; M age = 9.46 years) participated in a social challenge task and reported on their depressive symptoms. In the winter of 6th grade, youth completed a semi-structured interview of depression and a self-report measure of approach-avoidance motivations. Analyses revealed two profiles of risk for adolescent depressive symptoms, with some gender differences: (1) excessive disengagement, reflected in HPA underactivation along with low approach motivation or high avoidance motivation; and (2) excessive engagement, reflected in HPA overactivation along with high approach motivation. This research highlights the importance of a multi-system perspective on development, suggesting that the implications of HPA dysregulation for depressive symptoms are contingent on adolescents' tendencies toward approach versus avoidance.

不同强度的趋近–回避动机对反应抑制下刺激评价的影响

不同强度的趋近–回避动机对反应抑制下刺激评价的影响

Associations between social control, motivation, and exercise: How romantic partners influence exercise during young adulthood.

This study investigated whether positive and negative romantic partner social control attempts (persuasion and pressure, respectively) were related to approach-avoidance motives and exercise among young adults (N = 98), using daily reports. Daily persuasion was linked to higher daily approach motives. At the person level, persuasion was associated with higher approach and avoidance motives in addition to more frequent, longer exercise. Pressure was associated with higher daily relationship stress, which was associated with higher daily avoidance motives. At the person level, pressure was related to less frequent, shorter exercise. Thus, romantic partners' social control use correlates with exercise motives and behavior.

Measuring approach-avoidance motivation: Expanding dimensionality through implied outcomes

The current study tested the validity of a novel four-dimensional model of approach-avoidance, whereby both approach motivation and avoidance motivation are measured in relation to both implied success and implied failure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported the validity of the proposed framework and the use of items with clearly implied outcomes. Furthermore, newly developed scales reflecting constructs representing increasing non-gains via approach and increasing non-losses via avoidance meaningfully expanded the approach-avoidance construct space. The current study also suggested contamination by implied outcomes does not invalidate approach-avoidance scales where reward/punishment context is specified. Finally, results indicated assessing an “effective avoidance” motivational orientation significantly and uniquely predict overall job performance.

Gain-loss asymmetry in neural correlates of temporal discounting: An approach-avoidance motivation perspective.

Gain-loss asymmetry in temporal discounting (i.e., when individuals discount gains more than losses) has been implicated in numerous problematic and addictive behaviors, resulting in enormous personal and societal costs. On the basis of findings from a previous study, we speculated that approach-avoidance motivation would modulate gain-loss asymmetry. To test this speculation, we examined the effects of motivation on gain-loss asymmetry by analyzing functional connectivity. We found that approach and avoidance motivation were negatively associated with functional connectivity between the medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and functional connectivity between the MOFC and the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in the gain domain. Only avoidance motivation was found to be positively associated with functional connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) as well as between the MPFC and the insula in the loss domain. Our findings suggest that the relationships of approach-avoidance motivation and neural correlates yielded an asymmetrical pattern between the gain and loss domains in temporal discounting. Thus, we provide new insight into understanding gain-loss asymmetry in temporal discounting.

Leader opportunity versus threat verbal framing and nonverbal emotional expressions impact followers' creative performance

A core function of leadership is to motivate followers, yet little research describes mechanisms by which leaders impact their followers' motivation. The purpose of this paper is to present and test a novel theory of leaders' influence on follower creative performance based on approach-avoidance motivation theory (Carver & Scheier, 1998) and self-regulatory focus theory (Higgins, 2000). Two forms of leader approach-avoidance communication behavior, verbal framing and nonverbal emotional displays, are hypothesized to impact follower creative performance. Two experimental studies provide support for the theoretical model using distinct leadership stimuli and creative performance tasks.

Gender Differences in Implicit Processing of Sexual Stimuli

The present studies investigated whether men and women differ in cognitive–motivational processing of sexual stimuli in order to better understand the commonly observed gender differences in sexual outcome variables. Because these processes often operate without conscious control, we focused specifically on automatic stimulus processing. Using a series of implicit tasks, we measured inhibition, attentional orientation, appraisal and approach–avoidance motivation regarding sexually explicit stimuli in male and female students. Results showed that men were more strongly motivated to approach sexual stimuli than women and were better able to inhibit sexual information as to prevent activation of the sexual response. With regard to attentional orientation, men were more easily drawn by sexual cues than women, yet only when the cues were presented long enough to allow more elaborative processing. No gender differences were found in the implicit evaluation of sexual information, although men and women did differ at the level of self–reported sexual evaluations. Our results indicate the importance of incorporating information–processing mechanisms and emotion regulation strategies into the conceptualization of the sexual response and promote further research on the specificity, robustness, predictive validity and malleability of the cognitive–motivational processes underlying sexual arousal. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Psychophysiological responses to eye contact in adolescents with social anxiety disorder

We investigated whether eye contact is aversive and negatively arousing for adolescents with social anxiety disorder (SAD). Participants were 17 adolescents with clinically diagnosed SAD and 17 age- and sex-matched controls. While participants viewed the stimuli, a real person with either direct gaze (eye contact), averted gaze, or closed eyes, we measured autonomic arousal (skin conductance responses) and electroencephalographic indices of approach–avoidance–motivation. Additionally, preferred viewing times, self-assessed arousal, valence, and situational self-awareness were measured. We found indications of enhanced autonomic and self-evaluated arousal, attenuated relative left-sided frontal cortical activity (associated with approach–motivation), and more negatively valenced self-evaluated feelings in adolescents with SAD compared to controls when viewing a face making eye contact. The behavioral measures and self-assessments were consistent with the physiological results. The results provide multifaceted evidence that eye contact with another person is an aversive and highly arousing situation for adolescents with SAD.

Construct validity of measures of goal orientation in the approach–avoidance network

The current research examined the reflective, hierarchical measurement structure of approach–avoidance motivation using self-report measures drawn from multiple conceptualizations of approach–avoidance, with a specific focus on the validity of measures of goal orientation. Accordingly, the dominant conceptual status currently afforded goal orientation in the achievement motivation literature relative to competing approach–avoidance constructs can be evaluated. In a psychometric study of 1497 participants, only the approach constructs of Mastery Goal Orientation, Performance-Prove Goal Orientation and BAS Drive, and the avoidance constructs of Performance-Avoid Goal Orientation and Negative Affect, emerged as distinct factors, showed appropriate first order correlations, and were reflective of their predicted second order factor. Results demonstrate that goal orientation constructs are meaningful to individuals and distinct from other approach–avoidance constructs.

Client-consultant interaction: the dynamics of and conflicts in value co-creation and co-destruction

The paper explores how value is co-created and co-destructed in the social interaction between consultants and clients. Prior research on management consultancy as service production has elaborated on the question of how value is co-created in the same context as this paper. However, how value is co-destructed has remained little studied. In this paper, a workshop facilitated by a consultant for a client is studied to conduct a micro-analysis of the dynamics and tensions of co-creation and co-destruction of value. In management consultant services, it is suggested that value and, more specifically, consultant-client relationships can be both co-created and co-destructed through the approach-avoidance motivation of the consultant and the client.

Individual and sex differences in the consequences of victimization: Moderation by approach and avoidance motivation.

Peer victimization is a known risk factor for various forms of maladjustment; however, the specific type of maladjustment may depend on individual differences in youth. This 2-wave longitudinal study examined the hypothesis that social approach-avoidance motivation, together with sex, would moderate the contribution of 3rd-grade victimization to 4th-grade maladjustment. Children (N = 574, M age = 8.94, SD = 0.37) reported on their victimization exposure, social approach-avoidance motivation, and depressive symptoms. Teachers reported on students' victimization exposure and aggressive behavior. Victimization predicted aggressive behavior only in boys with moderate to high approach motivation; victimization predicted depressive symptoms only in girls with moderate to high avoidance motivation. This research elucidates the diverse consequences associated with peer victimization and informs efforts to address these consequences in a targeted manner.

“Yummy” versus “Yucky”! Explicit and implicit approach–avoidance motivations towards appealing and disgusting foods

Wanting and rejecting food are natural reactions that we humans all experience, often unconsciously, on a daily basis. However, in the food domain, the focus to date has primarily been on the approach tendency, and researchers have tended not to study the two opposing tendencies in a balanced manner. Here, we develop a methodology with which to understand people's implicit and explicit reactions to both positive (appealing) and negative (disgusting) foods. It consists of a combination of direct and indirect computer-based tasks, as well as a validated food image stimulus set, specifically designed to investigate motivational approach and avoidance responses towards foods. Fifty non-dieting participants varying in terms of their hunger state (hungry vs. not hungry) reported their explicit evaluations of pleasantness, wanting, and disgust towards the idea of tasting each of the food images that were shown. Their motivational tendencies towards those food items were assessed indirectly using a joystick-based approach-avoidance procedure. For each of the food images that were presented, the participants had to move the joystick either towards or away from themselves (approach and avoidance movements, respectively) according to some unrelated instructions, while their reaction times were recorded. Our findings demonstrated the hypothesised approach–avoidance compatibility effect: a significant interaction of food valence and direction of movement. Furthermore, differences between the experimental groups were observed. The participants in the no-hunger group performed avoidance (vs. approach) movements significantly faster; and their approach movements towards positive (vs. negative) foods were significantly faster. As expected, the self-report measures revealed a strong effect of the food category on the three dependent variables and a strong main effect of the hunger state on wanting and to a lesser extent on pleasantness.

Approach-avoidance activation without anterior asymmetry

Occasionally, the expected effects of approach-avoidance motivation on anterior EEG alpha asymmetry fail to emerge, particularly in studies using affective picture stimuli. These null findings have been explained by insufficient motivational intensity of, and/or overshadowing interindividual variability within the responses to emotional pictures. These explanations were systematically tested using data from 70 students watching 5 types of affective pictures ranging from very pleasant to unpleasant. The stimulus categories reliably modulated self-reports as well as the amplitude of late positive potential, an ERP component reflecting orienting toward motivationally significant stimuli. The stimuli did not, however, induce expected asymmetry effects either for the sample or individual participants. Even while systematic stimulus-dependent individual differences emerged in self-reports as well as LPP amplitudes, the asymmetry variability was dominated by stimulus-independent interindividual variability. Taken together with previous findings, these results suggest that under some circumstances anterior asymmetry may not be an inevitable consequence of core affect. Instead, state asymmetry shifts may be overpowered by stable trait asymmetry differences and/or stimulus-independent yet situation-dependent interindividual variability, possibly caused by processes such as emotion regulation or anxious apprehension.

The role of dispositional factors in moderating message framing effects.

Health messages can be framed in terms of the benefits of adopting a recommendation (gain frame) or the costs of not adopting a recommendation (loss frame). In recent years, research has demonstrated that the relative persuasiveness of gain and loss frames can depend on a variety of dispositional factors. This article synthesizes this growing literature to develop our understanding of the moderators of framing. A systematic review of published literature on gain and loss framing was conducted. Articles were retrieved that tested the interaction between framing and moderators representing individual differences in how people are predisposed to think, feel, and behave. The significance and direction of framing main effects and interactions were noted and effect size data extracted where available. Forty-seven reports published between January 1990 and January 2012 were retrieved that reported on 50 unique experiments testing 23 different moderators. Significant interactions with typically small to medium simple main effect sizes were found in 37 of the 50 studies. Consistent interactions were found for factors such as ambivalence, approach-avoidance motivation, regulatory focus, need for cognition, and self-efficacy beliefs. Less consistent effects were found for perceived riskiness of activity, issue involvement, and perceived susceptibility/severity. The relative effectiveness of gain- or loss-framed messages can depend on the disposition of the message recipient. Tailoring the frame to the individual therefore has the potential to maximize message persuasiveness.