Goal Valence Research Articles

Dynamic or Static Goal Regulation: Implications of Weak and Strong Bonds Between Autonomous/Controlled Reasons and Aims for Achievement Goal Striving

Achievement goals have been key concepts for describing what motivates individuals in educational contexts. While achievement goals have often merely been conceptualized in terms of aspired end-states (aims of goal striving), contemporary research has proposed a more holistic perspective synthesizing these aims alongside autonomous versus controlled reasons derived from Self-Determination Theory into so-called achievement goal complexes. How these aims and reasons align is a matter of further discussion. An overview of empirical studies on goal complexes as well as associations between achievement goals and overarching goal systems reveals that aims differ in whether they show strong communality (static goal regulation) or rather high situational fluctuation regarding underlying reasons (dynamic goal regulation). Particularly, mastery aims show primarily strong bounds with autonomous reasons, whereas performance aims are more ambiguously aligned with underlying reasons. This has implications for the development of an overarching theory as well as for educational practice aiming to foster certain goals and goal complexes. Potential avenues for future research such as further investigations into goal valence, a broader set of aims, the impact of culture, and goal development are discussed.

When do I ponder? The role of elaboration in counterfactual thinking

AbstractThe counterfactual thought such as “If only I had…” has a powerful impact on people's subsequent behavioral intentions. The literature has documented what may happen with CFT. But little has been done to investigate how CFT produces these effects. In this research, three studies provided evidence to show that elaboration rather than priming is the mechanism for CFT to have an effect on behavioral intentions; and the factors such as argument strength, outcome severity, and goal valence may interfere with such counterfactual effects. These theoretical contributions to the CFT literature offer important managerial implications and help marketers determine optimal persuasion strategies to influence consumers' information processing style.

Young children’s judgments and reasoning about prosocial acts: Impermissible, suberogatory, obligatory, or supererogatory?

In deciding when to help, individuals reason about whether prosocial acts are impermissible, suberogatory, obligatory, or supererogatory. This research examined judgments and reasoning about prosocial actions at three to five years of age, when explicit moral judgments and reasoning are emerging. Three- to five-year-olds (N = 52) were interviewed about prosocial actions that varied in costs/benefits to agents/recipients, agent-recipient relationship, and recipient goal valence. Children were also interviewed about their own prosocial acts. Adults (N = 56) were interviewed for comparison. Children commonly judged prosocial actions as obligatory. Overall, children were more likely than adults to say that agents should help. Children’s judgments and reasoning reflected concerns with welfare as well as agent and recipient intent. The findings indicate that 3- to 5-year-olds make distinct moral judgments about prosocial actions, and that judgments and reasoning about prosocial acts subsequently undergo major developments.

Emotional reactivity to appraisals in patients with a borderline personality disorder: a daily life study

BackgroundEmotional instability, consisting of patterns of strong emotional changes over time, has consistently been demonstrated in daily life of patients with a borderline personality disorder (BPD). Yet, little empirical work has examined emotional changes that occur specifically in response to emotional triggers in daily life, so-called emotional reactivity. The goal of this study was to examine emotional reactivity in response to general emotional appraisals (i.e. goal congruence or valence, goal relevance or importance, and emotion-focused coping potential) and BPD-specific evaluations (trust and disappointment in self and others) in daily life of inpatients with BPD.MethodsThirty inpatients with BPD and 28 healthy controls participated in an experience sampling study and repeatedly rated the intensity of their current emotions, emotional appraisals, and evaluations of trust and disappointment in self and others.ResultsResults showed that the BPD group exhibited stronger emotional reactivity in terms of negative affect than healthy controls, however only in response to disappointment in someone else. BPD patients also showed weaker reactivity in positive affect in response to the appraised importance of a situation; the more a situation was appraised as important, the higher the subsequent positive affect for healthy controls only, not the patient group.ConclusionsThese findings show that appraisals can trigger strong emotional reactions in BPD patients, and suggest that altered emotional reactivity might be a potential underlying process of emotional instability in the daily life.

Creators and Presses: The Person–Situation Interaction in Negative Creativity

AbstractGiven the recent emphasis on exploring valence in creative behavior, this study examines negative creativity via a person–situation interactionist perspective. By manipulating goal valence (uses or misuses) and object valence (positive or negative), four conditions of an adapted Divergent Thinking task were used to predict positive and negative creativity. Participants (N = 178, 103 females, Mage = 23.82, SD = 4.03, range: 18–38) responded to a single condition along with the Big Five and Dark Triad personality scales in a between‐groups design. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that goal and object valence significantly explained variance in valences of creative responses, beyond individual differences of personality. Furthermore, the congruence between goal and object valence predicted valenced creativity; that is, the positive objects and goals condition yielded more positive‐original ideas, and the negative objects and goals condition yielded more negative‐original ones. Object valence alone (material presses) did not contribute significantly to explaining valenced creativity. Negative‐original responses were inversely related to conscientiousness, and directly to intellect/imagination and secondary psychopathy. Thus, negative creativity was attributed relatively more to person as compared to situation variables. Results are discussed from a valence‐based and interactionist perspective.

Deconstructing performance goal orientations: The merit of a dimensional approach

Achievement goal research often differentiates performance approach from performance avoidance goal orientations. On a conceptual level, both performance goal orientations are supposedly founded in a shared normative evaluation standard, and two diverging goal valence dimensions (approach/avoidance). The aim of this article is to put this dimensional model to the test. In a first cross-sectional study (n=321 pre-service teachers), we extracted all three underlying dimensions from items measuring performance goal orientations and successfully validated them with corresponding dispositional constructs (reference norm, regulatory focus). In a second longitudinal study (n=1290 secondary school students), we showed that the extracted dimensions are meaningfully associated with antecedents (perceived competence, perceived competitiveness) and consequences (performance anxiety, interest) of performance goal orientations. The result pattern of both studies shows that a dimensional approach can explain the characteristic associations of performance goal orientations to antecedents and outcome variables as well as their interdependence.

Achievement goals and self-efficacy: A meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the relations between achievement goals and self-efficacy. One hundred and twenty-five studies consisting of 148 samples (N = 61,456) reporting the relations between academic achievement goals and academic self-efficacy were included. The correlations of mastery and mastery approach goals with self-efficacy were generally moderate to strong, while those of performance avoidance and mastery avoidance goals with self-efficacy were low. Goal valence was meaningfully related to self-efficacy, whereas the support for the goal definition was inconsistent. Publication status, proportion of males, mean age, and achievement goal measure did not exert significant moderating effects, whereas those for country where the research was conducted, the proportion of Caucasians, the self-efficacy measure, the domains of achievement goals and self-efficacy, and matching between achievement goal and self-efficacy domains varied with the achievement goal factor. The four-factor model was based on a relatively small number of samples, and so future research is needed to determine whether there are differences in correlations of mastery avoidance and performance avoidance goals with antecedents and consequences.

Does Life Satisfaction of Tourists Increase if They Set Travel Goals That Have High Positive Valence?

The setting of a traveler's goals can influence the traveler's life satisfaction. The travel goal valence principle states that life satisfaction of tourists is high when their travel goals are related more to (1) intrinsic than extrinsic motives, (2) abstract than concrete desired states, (3) growth than basic needs, (4) approach of desired states than avoidance of undesired states, (5) deprived than nondeprived needs, and (6) flow than nonflow activities. The main purpose of this study is to test the theoretical propositions stemming from the travel goal valence principle in the context of leisure travel to a national wildlife park (Study 1) and leisure travel experienced recently (Study 2). In Study 1 a convenience sampling technique was used by means of a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 228 fully completed questionnaires were received. Study 2 made use of a web-based survey and a random sample technique was used. A total of 254 questionnaires were used in the statistical calculations of Study 2. The results from both studies indicated that traveler/tourist's life satisfaction can be increased when they have intrinsic goals, growth-based goals, and goals related to flow activities. To enhance traveler/tourist well-being, it is recommended that marketers in the tourism industry implement programs and services guided by the goal valence model.

Daniel has fallen into a muddy puddle – Schadenfreude or sympathy?

The present study investigated the experience of schadenfreude among children. Participants were 4- to 8-year-old children (n = 100) who were told stories of another child experiencing a misfortune while pursuing a morally positive versus morally negative goal. Schadenfreude, sympathy, and helping behaviour towards the suffering child were assessed. Results showed that beginning at the age of 4, emotional and behavioural reactions towards a misfortune of another child were predicted by the moral valence of the other child's goal. Furthermore, morally negative goals decreased helping behaviour and morally positive goals increased helping behaviour. Multilevel mediation analysis revealed that the relation between goal valence and helping behaviour was mediated by both schadenfreude and sympathy. However, those effects were especially pronounced in older children.

Escalation Behavior as a Specific Case of Goal-Directed Activity: A Persistence Paradigm

This article presents a theoretical reconceptualization of escalation behavior as an instance of persistence, or the basic tendency to bring goal-directed behaviors to completion. Most past efforts to explain escalation (e.g., self-justification theory and prospect theory) have tended to underscore the sequela of sunk costs and emphasize issues of emotional or cognitive bias. Lewinian and Atkinsonian theories of motivation, as well as contemporary theories, are employed as the basis for an alternative, persistence paradigm, emphasizing the continuity of inertial elements central to all forms of human motivation. This paradigm is used to derive key theoretical constructs such as proximal closure, clarity of completion, goal valence, or intrinsic interests active in escalation. Particular attention is drawn to the empirical viability of the paradigm, its utility in integrating past research and theory, and its potential contribution in framing new research and generating practical means of intervention or control.

The Influences of Goal-Related Actions and Goal Information on Children's Effort and Ability Perceptions in Interpersonal Situations

Abstract The influences of qualitatively different goal-related actions and goal valence information on children's perceptions of effort and ability in an interpersonal judgment context were investigated, using Heider's (1958) analysis of action theory as a conceptual framework. Kindergartners, 2nd graders, and 5th graders heard stories that depicted actors engaged in 3 repetitive actions or 3 equifinal actions in order to attain either a positive or negative interpersonal goal. For each story, children judged the actor's effort expenditure and ability level. Results indicate that repetitive actors were perceived to have tried less and to have had less ability than equifinal actors. Kindergartners' mean rating of the ability of repetitive actors was higher than those of 2nd graders and 5th graders. Positive goal actors were perceived to have more ability than negative goal actors.

Determinants of the Magnitude of Goal Valence: The Interactive Effects of Need, Instrumentality, and the Difficulty of Goal Attainment

Determinants of the Magnitude of Goal Valence: The Interactive Effects of Need, Instrumentality, and the Difficulty of Goal Attainment

Determinants of the Magnitude of Goal Valence: The Interactive Effects of Need, Instrumentality, and the Difficulty of Goal Attainment

An experiment was conducted in which subjects could earn either a high (14/15) or a low (1/15) chance of winning a McDonald's Big Mac hamburger by successfully performing a difficult or very difficult memorization task. During the morning hours prior to the experimental session, half the subjects did not eat (high need) whereas the rest did (low need). As predicted, anticipatory ratings of the attractiveness of the hamburger increased across task difficulty for subjects in high need given the high chance and decreased across task difficulty for subjects in low need given the high chance. Furthermore, ratings were low and unaffected by task difficulty for the low-need subjects given the low chance. An unexpected increase in attractiveness ratings among subjects in high need given the low chance provided the impetus for a second experiment. In this study, subjects, all of whom were in high need, were given either an extremely high (79/80) or an extremely low 0/80) chance of winning the hamburger given success on the difficult or very difficult task. With this stronger manipulation, the attractiveness ratings of the hamburger increased as a function of task difficulty for subjects given the high' chance and, unlike the first experiment, decreased modestly as a function of task difficulty for subjects given the low chance. Results of the two experiments are discussed in terms of the energization theory of motivation.

Incentive Strength, Need State, Instrumental Task Difficulty, and the Magnitude of Goal Valence

Two experiments were performed to assess the effects of incentive strength, need state, and instrumental task difficulty on goal valence. In Experiment 1, subjects faced either an easy or a difficult task in order to avoid having to listen to aversive radio static. For some the radio static was to be loud, and for others it was to be soft. Anticipatory ratings of noise unpleasantness were as theoretically predicted, increasing as a direct function of task difficulty, but only when the stronger incentive (i.e., loud noise) was expected. In the second experiment, again subjects faced either an easy or a difficult instrumental task, but this time in an effort to win a McDonald's Big Mac™. For several hours before the experimental session, some of the subjects did not eat and the others did. In line with expectations, ratings of the attractiveness of the hamburger increased with instrumental task difficulty for subjects who had not eaten and were low and relatively uniform for those who had eaten. Results of the two experiments are discussed in terms of Brehm's energization theory of motivation.

Effects of Lighting-Induced Arousal on the Magnitude of Goal Valence

ecent evidence has indicated that unlabeled residual arousal capable of enhancing the psychological impact of potential gative outcomes. Three investigations further tested this relamship by examining the effect of environmental lighting, an robtrusive and concurrent source of arousal, on appraisals of avoidance goal In the first, subjects were given the opportuty to avoid an aversive noise outcome under either dim or ight illumination. As predicted, ratings of noise unpleasantss increased with the level of illumination. In the second study, further conditions were added to the design in which subjects re given explicit arousal-labeling information. In support of e interaction prediction, noise unpleasantness evaluations rre low and uniform with the provision of labelinging information reliably increased as a positive function of lighting level thout it. In the final experiment, the exctent and nature of the ousal, proposed to be mediating the relationship between chting and goal valence, were examined.

Effects of Lighting-Induced Arousal on the Magnitude of Goal Valence

Recent evidence has indicated that unlabeled residual arousal is capable of enhancing the psychological impact of potential negative outcomes. Three investigations further tested this nelationship by examining the effect of environmental lighting, an unobirusive and concurrent source of arousal, on appraisals of an avoidance goal In the first, subjects were given the opportunity to avoid an aversive noise outcome under either dim or bright illumination. As predicted, ratings of noise unpleasantness increased with the level of illumination. In the second study, two further conditions were added to the design in which subjects were given explicit arousal-labeling information. In support of the interaction prediction, noise unpleasantness evaluations were low and uniform with the provision of labeling information but reliably increased as a positive function of lighting level without it. In the final experiment, the extent and nature of the arousal, proposed to be mediating the relationship betwten lighting and goal valence, were examined.

Effect of residual excitation upon appraisals of a potential aversive outcome

It has been proposed that the magnitude of goal valence (the subjective attractiveness or unattractiveness of a potential outcome) increases directly with energy mobilized to carry out instrumental behavior. The present studies were designed to test this by examining the effect of unlabelled residual arousal upon appraisals of a potential aversive outcome. In a preliminary investigation, subjects performed a low- or high-effort stair-stepping exercise and then went to a room to rest. Measures of systolic blood pressure and self-perceived arousal taken during the rest period indicated (1) there was residual excitation after 1 and 5 min, but not after 9 min, for high-effort subjects, (2) there was residual excitation after 1 min, but not 5 and 9 min, for low-effort subjects, and (3) although high-effort subjects were still aroused after 5 min, they thought they were near baseline. In the first goal valence study, subjects performed the high-effort exercise and then, 1, 5, or 9 min later, were presented with the opportunity to avoid an aversive reading task by performing successfully a preliminary anagram task. As expected, ratings of how unpleasant the reading task would be were higher at 5 min than at 1 and 9 min. The second goal valence study included low-effort as well as high-effort conditions. Once again, unpleasantness ratings were found to be higher at 5 min than at 1 and 9 min for the high-effort subjects. For the low-effort subjects, though, unpleasantness ratings were modest and constant across time.

Effects of task difficulty and interruption on goal valence

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of instrumental task difficulty, delay, and interruption on goal attractiveness. In Experiment 1, subjects faced either an easy, difficult, or impossible task in order to win $1.00. Goal ($1.00) attractiveness was then assessed in immediate anticipation of task commencement or during a 30-min bogus delay. An interaction was found such that task difficulty affected ratings in a nonmonotonic fashion in the immediate condition (inverted U) and in a negatively linear fashion in the delay condition. Based on these results, instrumental task difficulty was manipulated over two levels (easy and difficult) and cross-cut with a questionnaire length (short vs long) manipulation in Experiment 2. As predicted, goal ($1.00) attractiveness ratings, when obtained immediately prior to task commencement, were significantly higher upon a more salient interruption (i.e., the long questionnaire condition) only for those subjects assigned the easy task. In Experiment 3, task difficulty was manipulated in the same manner as Experiment 2 but was cross-cut with an interruption/no-interruption manipulation. Again as theoretically predicted, only in the easy task condition was goal attractiveness reliably higher when subjects were interrupted for dependent measure administration than when they were not. That is, goal ratings were a positive function of task difficulty in the no-interruption condition but were reliably higher and tended toward a negative pattern in the interruption condition. Theoretical and methodological implications of the three reliable interactions are discussed in terms of anticipatory energization and reactance arousal.

Effects of difficulty and goal value on goal valence

An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the interactive effect of task difficulty and goal value on motivational arousal as measured by perceived goal attractiveness. Subjects learned that they would have to successfully perform either an easy, difficult, or very difficult memory task in order to win a prize. Some subjects expected to win a $1 bill (moderately valued goal) and others, a record album (highly valued goal). Immediately before task commencement, subjective measures of goal attractiveness were taken. The predicted interaction between task difficulty and goal value on goal attractiveness was obtained. For the moderately valued goal, there was a nonmonotonic effect of task difficulty on goal attractiveness, with ratings highest in the difficult condition. For the highly valued goal, there was a positive linear effect of task difficulty on attractiveness. Only the very difficult task condition produced a reliable difference between goal objects on the measure. Results and implications are discussed in terms of a recent theoretical model of motivation.

Motivational predictors of alcoholics' responses to inpatient treatment.

Motivational patterns of 60 alcoholic inpatients were assessed by use of the Interview Questionnaire (IntQ) and were related to staff judgments regarding patients' success or failure in completing an inpatient treatment program. The IntQ was administered soon after intake, one month later, and at the end of treatment. It elicits patients' idiographic accounts of their current concerns and patients' nomothetic ratings of them on variables related to commitment, active participation in goal striving, and goal valence, value, expectancy, and imminence. Structural variables demonstrated significant stability over the first two IntQ administrations, whereas goal content and affect variables did not. Stepwise discriminant analysis of treatment outcome as well as correlational analyses indicated that successful outcomes were significantly related to smaller size of community, concerns appetitive to treatment, lack of concerns about avoiding alcohol, and expecting goal attainments to occur sooner. Goal orientations toward treatment and alcohol were related to other variables in ways consistent with the view that recovery from alcohol is associated with having emotionally positive alternative goals.