Defensive Motivation Research Articles

Retracted: When nothing compares to me: how defensive motivations and similarity shape social comparison effects

AbstractWhile similarity typically breeds social comparison, all information gained from social comparisons is not equally influential. Three studies illustrate the situations in which individuals defensively interpret social comparison information such that they incorporate information that reflects positively on the self and disregard negative information. Study 1 extends previous research to show that self‐threat broadens the conditions under which defensive interpretations occur to include those in which similarity is ambiguous. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrate that defensive interpretations are less likely to occur when individuals are affirmed or when the comparison information is unimportant. These findings suggest that the impact of social comparisons on self‐views is determined by both similarity of comparison targets and the motives of the perceiver. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Differential defensive response of common kestrels against a known or unknown predator

We studied the nest defence behaviour of common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) pairs against a mount of either a known predator (the hooded crow, Corvus corone cornix) or a novel predator (the raven, Corvus corax). Both corvids are nest predators, are very similar in shape, but the raven is unknown to kestrels living in the study area. This study aimed to ascertain the existence of possible nest defence behaviour variation in relation to familiarity or novelty of the predator. The crow, the known predator, was attacked more often than the raven, the unknown predator. Males and females, considered separately, displayed a similar response against both predators, but females attacked the crow more vigorously than males. Regardless of predator type, the behaviour patterns indicating higher defensive motivation were performed similarly by both partners and some difference arose only in those indicating a moderate defensive motivation. We conclude that predator recognition is likely learned in this species and that knowledge induces the larger partner, the female, to defend the nest more strongly than the male.

Immunity and emotions: Lipopolysaccharide increases defensive behaviours and potentiates despair in mice

Many studies have pointed out the relationships between immunity and depression, supporting a neuroimmune hypothesis of depressive disorders. However, despite the growing interest for such a hypothesis and the amount of clinical and experimental data available, the precise nature of this relationship between immunity and depression remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate further the link between depression and immunity in mice using the modified version of the forced-swimming test. Based on a two-session test, results from our first experiment showed that endotoxin enhanced active defensive behaviours in mice during the first exposure to water, but was associated with increased immobility (i.e., ‘behavioural despair’) in the subsequent session. In our second experiment, we showed that these effects were blocked by a chronic antidepressant treatment with imipramine. Finally, we suggest a link between immunity and depression, based on the behavioural context in which immune activation takes place. We hypothesize that immune activation, by enhancing reactivity to the negative features of a given situation, increases defensive motivation of subjects, but therefore makes them more vulnerable to the deleterious emotional consequences of failure in defensive strategies.

Learning to live with uncertainty: The strategic implications of North Korea's nuclear weapons capability

This article challenges the popular assumption that North Korea's nuclear weapons capability poses a dire threat to international security. It argues that the adverse impact of North Korea's acquisition of nuclear weapons has been exaggerated and that pessimistic accounts of the strategic implications of this capability have overlooked the strong status quo bias inherent in North Korea's worldview. These accounts have also glossed over the primarily defensive motives underpinning Pyongyang's quest for nuclear weapons. There are dangers attached to North Korea's nuclear capability, especially the possible transfer of fissile material to terrorist groups or rogue states, and the effect it may have in spurring regional neighbours to reassess their non-nuclear status. Contrary to common assumptions, however, the idea that a nuclear-armed North Korea is determined to foment regional instability and challenge the strategic status quo in East Asia is not supported by a close reading of Pyongyang's motives and worldview. The behaviour and statements of the regime suggest that the DPRK is predisposed to accept the logic of deterrence in its relationship with the US. As long as Washington maintains an active and robust posture of extended strategic deterrence on the Korean peninsula, the regime in Pyongyang will continue to be dissuaded from initiating the use of nuclear weapons against other regional states.

Fair-Market Ideology: Its Cognitive-Motivational Underpinnings

Public opinion research shows that most people espouse egalitarian ideals and acknowledge substantial income inequality in society, but they consistently perceive the economic system to be highly fair and legitimate. In an attempt to better understand this paradox by considering the cognitive and motivational bases of ideological support for the free market system, we draw on and integrate a number of social psychological theories suggesting that people want to believe that the systems and institutions that affect them are fair, legitimate, and justified. We have developed an instrument for measuring fair market ideology, and we have found in several samples that its endorsement is associated with self-deception, economic system justification, opposition to equality, power distance orientation, belief in a just world, political conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism, and scandal minimization. We also present evidence that people evince a system-justifying tendency to judge profitable companies to be more ethical than unprofitable companies. In addition, results from an experimental study we conducted in Hungary indicate that support for the free market system is strongest among people who score high in self-deception under conditions of system threat, suggesting the presence of a (nonrational) defensive motivation. Finally, we discuss several organizational and societal implications of the tendency to idealize market mechanisms and to view market-generated outcomes as inherently fair.

How Prevalent Is the Negativity Effect in Consumer Environments?

The negativity effect, or the greater weighing of negative as compared with equally extreme positive information in the formation of overall evaluations, is widely believed by media planners and appears to be a well-proven phenomenon in consumer psychology. Although this effect has been extensively documented under conditions of moderate to high processing involvement in the literature, its robustness in consumer environments may be overstated. Specifically, there are important differences between the experimental settings in which this effect has typically been obtained and marketplace conditions. For instance, subjects in past studies have typically evaluated unknown or hypothetical targets with the goal of forming an accurate impression. In the marketplace, consumers may be familiar with brands and likely to process brand-related information with a variety of other processing goals, such as impression and defense motivation. Using two experiments, this re-inquiry delineates conditions under which the negativity effect is likely to emerge and those under which it may be less likely to occur.

Expression of the c-fos gene in the mouse brain during the acquisition of defensive behavior habits.

Experimental data reported here provide evidence that marked defensive motivation in conditions of an unavoidable electrocutaneous stimulus is accompanied in mice by increases in the expression to the c-fos gene in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. As reinforcement and learning progress and the animals become able to achieve a useful result--avoiding the electrocutaneous shock--expression of the c-fos gene in these brain structures decreases. The level of expression of the c-fos gene was found to be different in animals in which defensive behavior had different efficacies. Expression was higher in mice making large numbers of errors than in mice with few errors during acquisition of the defensive habit.

Damonstrative behavior and its motivation

The article on the basis of zoopsychological and psychopathological data investigates the meaning of demonstrative motivation for human behavior. Animal studies show that a single clear determined demonstration phenomenon does not exist. Demonstration in a wide sense is the component part of communication, so it can be initiated by any motivation, providing for contacts between individuals. Demonstration in the narrow sense, discussed in the article, is most distinctly expressed in behavior, aroused by propagative, hierarchy relations, territorial and defensive motivation. The existence of functionally autonomic need for self-demonstration, independent from other kinds of motivation, is discussed in the context of the such problems as instinct organization and phylogenetic development of motivation. This need is a result of the gradual separation (emancipation) in evolution of demonstrative elements from the needs, to which they were initially subordinated.Psychopathological data shows that demonstration most intensively and frequently reveals itself in hysterical type deviations. Human demonstration is amazingly diverse, with inherent secret expression of conversion self-demonstration, when somatic illnesses are imitated in order to have everyone’s attentions. Hysterical symptoms most convincingly substantiates the existence of functionally autonomic motivation of demonstration, the rudiments of which are observed in animal behavior. Among various deviations of this motivation, light hysteria forms, the pathology of which is usually doubtful, should be singled out, as well as the cases of hysteroidic psychopathy and accentuation, the description of which refers to an insatiable passion for turning attention at oneself as to the main particularity. It is reasoned that psychopathic traits should be treated not as cases of pathology but as extreme variations of a norm. Such interpretation, first of all, significantly advocates the statement that the need for demonstration is characteristic of a human being and is a crucial part of his/her basic motivation. The second important conclusion drawn from such comprehension of psychopathies is that, due to genetic variability, human beings originally differ in expression of the need in question (as well as other needs). Motives stimulating phylogenetically primary instrumental employment of self-demonstration are not, in the case of a human being, strictly regulated; thus they become considerably diverse. Among different cases of instrumental self-demonstration, its defensive employment should be singled out, which is aimed at avoidance of traumatizing events or at mitigation of their after-effects.

The Language of Defense

To investigate how defensive motivations would affect patterns of language use, the authors compared narratives of personal transgressions (about hurting someone) against a set of narratives about making someone happy. Compared to the happy stories, transgression narratives were more likely to describe actions occurring without deliberate guidance or intention. Length in word count did not vary, but transgression narratives had shorter sentences, especially in the sections describing the transgression and its consequences. They had longer introductions, presumably to explain background and mitigating circumstances. Transgression narratives featured the emotions and thoughts of the narrator significantly more than did narratives of making someone happy (which focused heavily on the target’s feelings), and they used more adverbs and similar words to emphasize the narrator’s emotions. Transgression narratives had fewer specific details but more (ostensibly) exact quotations.

The role of social influence and smoker identity in resistance to smoking cessation 1This research program was supported by the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, Switzerland. We are grateful to Juan Fabra for his help in collecting data.

153 secondary school students, all smokers, were either exposed to a strongly anti-smoking message originating from a high status source (persuasive message condition) or not (control condition). A questionnaire then measured a set of variables concerning several aspects of tobacco consumption (i.e., smoker identity, attitude, subjective norm, perceived lack of behavioural control, smoking behaviour, and intention to give up smoking). First, regression analysis shows that the smoker's identity plays a direct and important role in explaining current smoking behaviour and the intention not to smoke, even when other variables are controlled. Second, analyses of variance indicate that smokers with a strong identity as a smoker are defensively motivated when confronting a persuasive attempt - i.e. their perception of friends' support to smoke increases. Finally, partial correlations show that the relationship between smoker identity and intention to give up smoking is mediated by this defensive motivation. Taken together, these results suggest that smoker identity is an important factor in explaining smoker's intention to give up smoking and, when antitobacco campaigns are salient, smoker identity can affect other variables which can reverse antitobacco efforts.

To Stereotype or Not to Stereotype: Motivation and Stereotype Activation, Application, and Inhibition

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Motivated Cognitive Processing and Attitude Change

Two experiments investigated cognitive processing and attitudes under different motivations. In Experiment 1, 63 participants had either strong nondirectional (accuracy) or directional (defensive, impression) motives. Accuracy motivation resulted in extensive objective processing. Defensive motivation resulted in extensive biased processing. Impression motivation resulted in extensive processing that was directional in some measures but balanced in other measures. Cognitive processing mediated the effects of motivation on attitudes, which were stable across measurements. In Experiment 2, 44 participants processed under two combined strong motivations. Accuracy was successfully combined with directional motivation in both processing and attitudes. It reduced bias when combined with impression motivation but not when combined with defensive motivation. Two opposing directional motivations were difficult to combine, and participants eventually abandoned extensive processing.

Selective Use of Heunrstic and Systematic Processing Under Defense Motivation

Recent versions of the heuristic-systematic model predict that defense-motivated people will process heuristic cues selectively in two ways: (a) Heuristic cues will be subject to biased evaluation, and (b) heuristic, rather than systematic, processing will predominate when cues support, rather than threaten, defensive concerns. This experiment presented college students with a proposed mandatory essay-exam program, giving opinion poll results as a heuristic cue, followed either by arguments both for and against essay exams, or by no arguments. Cues congenial to students' preferred test type were judged as more reliable than hostile cues when no arguments were presented. Systematic processing mediated attitude judgment only when the cue was hostile; when the cue was congenial, attitude judgment was more influenced by vested interest. This influence may represent a low-effort heuristic processing strategy specific to defense motivation.

Do We Really Know What We Need? A Commentary on Pyszczynski, Greenberg, and Solomon

Pyszczynski, Greenberg, and Solomon present fresh and interesting approach to human motivation. Their article could be viewed as the first serious attempt that social psychologists have made to incorporate the issue of death into the mainstream of the explanation of human behavior. Since the early writings of Carl Jung and some of the existential philosophers and psychologists (e.g., Frankl, 1959/1963; Heidegger, 1927/1962; Jung, 1934/1959), social psychology usually overlooks the cognitive and emotional meaning and the motivational function of the encounter with death. One may wonder whether this attitude was the result of cognitive-emotional barrier that social psychologists build against the threat of their own mortality, or the product of the development of mini-theories that encompass only narrow and particular social motives, neglecting the issues of life and death. At least for these reasons, Pyszczynski et al.'s attempt to provide precursory answer to the basic question of why we need what we need and to bring together the biological need of self-preservation and the psychological awareness of finite human existence should be commended. The terror management perspective also makes an important contribution to the study of the psychological encounter with death. Careful analysis of the historical development in this broad area of theory and research reveals that the most salient trend during the last four decades-thanatos psychology-mainly focuses on the inquiry of the complex nature of human fear of death as dependent variable that might be influenced by large array of psychological and sociological factors (e.g., Kastenbaum, 1992; Neimeyer, 1994). However, little attention was paid to the encounter with death as an independent variable that could have broad repercussions to wide variety of social attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors. Terror management theory (TMT) can be viewed as the first systematic attempt to provide theoretical framework for studying cognitive and behavioral effects of the salience of one's own vulnerability and eventual mortality. Moreover, this theory formulates specific predictions that have been parsimoniously tested and supported in series of laboratory and field studies (e.g., Greenberg, Simon, Pyszczynski, Solomon, & Chatel, 1992). In reviewing Pyszczynski et al.'s article, three levels of analysis can be proposed. First, one could argue with their propositions that self-preservation is the superordinate goal toward which all behavior is oriented and that it is facilitated by three basic motive systems-biological, defensive, and expansive. Second, one could discuss the implied interrelations among the three basic motive systems and their functions in the context of human awareness of one's own mortality. Third, one could debate the authors' assertion that a wide variety of social motives can be viewed as serving terror management function. In our commentary, we focus on the second level of analysis. Our main interest is in the possible effects of mortality awareness on the aforementioned basic motive systems, because we believe that such an examination can build bridge between TMT and the knowledge coined by thanatos psychology about the complex nature of the encounter with death. In the opinion of Pyszczynski et al., it seems likely that the symbolic or direct encounter with death is monolithic phenomenon, which leads only to the arousal of defensive motives. This encounter is hypothesized to lead people to defend themselves against the threat of death by assuming conservative and egotistic attitude toward life, which could be manifested in attempts to conform with cultural norms and worldviews, to glorify the societal status quo, to enhance public self-esteem, and to maintain stable and consistent view of the self and the world. However, one may wonder if this is what we exclusively need in facing the awareness of one's own mortality. If this is the case, every encounter with death should impede change, growth, or any other kind of positive transformation. In extreme cases, it could lead to the maintainance and enhancement of societal norms that disempower the individual and restrict his or her freedom of choice. Moreover, it is implied here that people cannot attain any advantage from being aware of their own natural destiny and that they can deny it or live under permanent terror that can be managed only through changepreventing mechanisms. In adopting this view, it seems that TMT disregards the existence of the alternative impact that the awareness of one' s own death may have on what the authors call self-expansive motives. Although Pyszczynski et al. mention the self-preservation function of self-expansive motives, they believe that there is less of sense

Influence of stimulation of the medial hypothalamus on the interaction of neurons of the rabbit neocortex.

The interaction of neurons of the visual and sensory motor areas of the neocortex of the rabbit before and after stimulation of some medial nuclei of the hypothalamus was investigated by plotting cross- and autocorrelation histograms. Stimulation through bipolar electrodes using bursts of biphasic pulses at a frequency of 100 Hz, current strength 50-200 microA, led to the appearance in freely behaving rabbits of the reaction of avoidance of the place of stimulation. Following stimulation, as compared with resting wakefulness, the number of pairs of neurons functioning in correlation increased to 45%; at the same time, discharges of neurons of the sensory motor area ran ahead of discharges of visual neurons in the pairs up to 120 msec; the periodicity of the coupled discharges was mainly in the theta frequency range. A conclusion regarding the reflection of defense motivation in certain indices of the interaction of the cortical cells in the presence of a tonic conditioned reflex is reached on the basis of a comparison of the interaction of neurons following stimulation of the medial hypothalamus and the midbrain reticular formation, in the intersignal periods during the development of a defense conditioned reflex as well.

Withdrawal or Withholding of Treatment at the End of Life

Decisions to withhold or withdraw treatment (nontreatment decisions) become increasingly important because they have to be made more frequently and more explicitly. This nationwide study provides information on the occurrence and background of these nontreatment decisions. Three studies were undertaken: interviews with 405 physicians, 5197 answered questionnaires concerning deceased persons, and information about 2257 deaths collected by a prospective study. Of all deaths, 30% appeared to be sudden and unexpected. In 39% of all nonsudden deaths, a nontreatment decision was made. This percentage varied by specialty (28% to 55%). Nontreatment decisions were made more often in older female patients. The decisions were made at the explicit request of the patient (19%), after discussion with the patient or after a previous wish (22%), or without any involvement of the patient (59%). Of this last group, 87% of patients were not competent at the time of the decision. In 24% of cases of nontreatment, life was shortened by at least a week. Of all physicians interviewed, 56% had changed their attitude since the beginning of their practice, most of them toward more nontreatment decisions at the end of life. Nontreatment decisions are made frequently in medical practice. Most often the physician has to weigh medical and nonmedical burdens and benefits. For this to be done properly, the patient should be involved whenever possible. Other requirements are optimal palliative treatment, better prognostic knowledge, consultation of other specialists, and the absence of defensive motives.

The Social Behaviour of Captive Northern Quolls, Dasyurus hallucatus.

Thirty-one staged interactions between male-male, female-female and male-female pairs of captive Dasyurus hallucatus were video recorded. No contact-promoting behaviour such as huddling or allogrooming was observed. Animals performed solitary exploration of the test arena, were inactive, performed olfactory investigation and scent-marking, watched or reacted to the opponent with agonistic behaviour. Two threat postures were identified: a "straight threat" was positively correlated with submissive behaviour and indicated a defensive motivation. A "shuffle threat" was associated with aggressive behaviour and indicated an offensive motivation. Hissing vocalizations were associated with threatening behaviour, particularly straight threatening. Sniffing vocalizations were associated with agonistic behaviour. Squawks were always associated with attacking and fighting. Behaviour differed significantly among encounter types. Males performed more agonistic behaviour and less exploratory behaviour than females in same-sex encounters. In male-female encounters, females displayed more submissive and less sniff/marking behaviour than males. D. hallucatus conform to observations that most dasyurid species are solitary and asocial.

Diversity of animal models of aggression: their impact on the putative alcohol/aggression link.

Many attempts have been made to "model" the putative link between alcohol and "aggression" using a variety of situations employing a wide range of animal species. In general, these attempts have proved somewhat disappointing. One reason for this appears to be the fact that the different "aggression" tests tap varied mixtures of offensive, defensive and predatory motivations (i.e., they are not homogenous). Indeed, one can make the claim that the majority of examples of "aggression" associated with alcohol-ingesting humans are inappropriate (nonadaptive) responses whereas many animal models tap adaptive territorial or socially competitive actions. A further problem is that alcohol has very wide-ranging effects on neurophysiology and endocrine functioning. Recent evidence from studies on infra-human animals and clinical situations suggests that some of alcohol's effects on social conflict are expressed by actions in signaling and perception rather than motivation. This aspect is briefly examined in some studies with laboratory mice.

Conditioned avoidance reflex and intersignal movements: interrelationship of cardiac and motor components.

The correlation of the heart rate (HR), of a conditioned motoric reaction, and intersignal movements was studied during the development of a conditioned reflex (CR) of avoidance using V.P. Petropavlovskii's methods. The level of defensive motivation, assessed on the basis of the magnitude of changes in HR was maximal against the background of a firmly developed CR during the course of the latent period of the conditioned motoric reaction. A sharp decrease in the level of defensive excitation took place against the background of the latter, expressed in the prolonged holding of the extremity in place in the safety zone (height of rise 5-10 cm, guaranteeing the avoidance of electrodermal stimulation of the extremity). Intersignal movements of two types were described: the first in the form of phasic flexions; the second repeats the conditioned motoric reaction of the holding of the extremity in place. A reduction in defensive excitation took place against the background of the latter, like that which took place during the elevation of the extremity against the background of the combination.

Variations in neuronal responses of cat corticocerebral neurons to somatic stimulation on action of additional stimuli

Using alert cats we have investigated the impulse reactions (IR) of corticocerebral neurons (areas 3, 4, 5) in response to electrical stimulation of the contralateral limb (ESL). The short-latency impulse reactions of neurons of an excitatory nature, which were recorded in the animals in the state of rest, decreased considerably in intensity or could not be detected at all after preliminary (after 1.0–1.5 sec) action of a light flash or sound stimulation during the initial periods of their application. When the animals showed a defense or food motivation we observed, apart from a change in the background activity, evoked by the action of the ESL, more complex rearrangements of the impulse reaction, up to the appearance of the periods of inhibition of the impulse activity. Conversely, combined application of ESL with a stimulus of the same modality, did not prevent development of the initially isolated reaction even in cases of decrease in the ESL to a subthreshold value. A subthreshold stimulus "intensified" in this way can become important for the animal and be used as a signal stimulus during the development of the conditioned defense reflex in the animal. We assume that the nature of the reactions of the same neurons to a simple somatic stimulation is not constant. This is due to a preliminary tuning of the analyzers of the animal to the perception of stimuli of a certain modality.