Individual Differences In Motivation Research Articles

Motivated to retrieve: How often are you willing to go back to the well when the well is dry?

Despite the necessity of the decision to terminate memory search in many real-world memory tasks, little experimental work has investigated the underlying processes. In this study, the authors investigated termination decisions in free recall by providing participants an open-ended retrieval interval and requiring them to press a stop button when they had finished retrieving. Three variables important to assessing one's willingness to search memory were examined: (a) the time spent searching memory after the last successful retrieval before choosing to quit (the exit latency); (b) task difficulty; and (c) individual differences in motivation, as measured by Webster and Kruglanski's (1994) Need for Closure Scale. A strong negative correlation was found between individual differences in motivation and participants' exit latencies. This negative correlation was present only when the retrieval task started out as relatively difficult.

Food risk perceptions, gender, and individual differences in avoidance and approach motivation, intuitive and analytic thinking styles, and anxiety

Risks appear to be perceived in two different ways, affectively and rationally. Finnish adult internet users were contacted via e-mail and asked to fill an internet questionnaire consisting of questions of food risks and measures of avoidance and approach motivation, analytic and intuitive information processing style, trait anxiety, and gender in order to find out (1) whether food risks are perceived two-dimensionally, (2) how individual differences in motivation, information processing, and anxiety are associated with the different dimensions of food risk perceptions, and (3) whether gender moderates these associations. The data were analyzed by factor, correlation and regression analyses. Three factors emerged: risk scariness, risk likelihood, and risks of cardiovascular disease. Personality and gender x personality interactions predicted food risk perceptions. Results showed that food risk perceptions generally form two dimensions; scariness and likelihood, but that this may depend on the nature of the risk. In addition, results imply that individuals with high avoidance motivation perceive food risks as scarier and more likely than others, and that individuals with an analytic information processing style perceive food risks as less likely than others. Trait anxiety seems to be associated with higher food risk perceptions only among men.

Breaking up is not so Hard to do: Individual Differences in L2 Memorization

Abstract:Six intermediate/advanced learners of English, studying in the United Kingdom, identified messages that they wanted to convey in specific future conversations and memorized native-like versions of them. Their ability to use them in practice and in the real conversation was analyzed. Propensity to attempt using memorized material correlated with aural-repetition aptitude, but neither propensity nor accuracy of reproduction correlated with proficiency. It is hypothesized that increased proficiency invites increased risk-taking during memorization. Individual differences in motivation and attitude, and the relationship with the interlocutor, are all discussed as salient variables.

Assessing the need for certainty in users of a clinical genetic health service

This paper presents a study investigating the need for closure in users of a genetic health service. Genetic healthcare services are used by people who are concerned about a genetic condition in the family. Many clients expect information about the condition, risk assessment and discussion of options available to minimize the impact of the condition on the family. Some use the information to try to obtain certainty or cognitive closure. The psychological theory termed 'need for cognitive closure' explains individual differences in motivation to seek information. The tendency to seek closure can be measured by the Need for Closure Scale, which has five sub-scales: preference for order, preference for predictability, discomfort with ambiguity, decisiveness and closed-mindedness. Clients who were referred to our genetic service in 1998 were approached before personal contact with staff of the genetic service. Fifty-two people completed the need for closure scale questionnaire. Six months after the genetic consultation, participants were asked to complete the questionnaire again (n = 45). The data were statistically analysed using Cronbach's alpha, paired t-tests and independent t-tests. There were no statistically significant differences in Need for Closure Scale scores in this cohort before and after the genetic consultation. Participants scored highly on the preference for order and discomfort with ambiguity sub-scales, but scores for closed-mindedness were low. Intolerance of ambiguity was statistically significantly higher in participants whose main concerns centred on their children. This psychological theory can help healthcare professionals to understand the motivation of clients who seek information from genetic services, and enhance understanding of those who avoid using the service. It cannot be assumed that additional knowledge is helpful to all clients, nor that knowledge of bad news is necessarily an adverse event if prior uncertainty has existed.

Exploring Individual Differences in a Goal-Setting Situation Using the Motivational Trait Questionnaire1

We examined the Motivational Trait Questionnaire (MTQ) in a goal-setting situation to determine the capability of motivational traits to predict task performance and core variables associated with goal-setting: self-efficacy, personal goals, and goal commitment. The MTQ measures individual differences in motivation to perform tasks utilizing 6 underlying scales that reflect the 3 traits of personal mastery, competitive excellence, and motivation related to anxiety. Generally consistent with hypotheses, we found that higher levels of the desire to learn, mastery, other-referenced goals, competitiveness, and emotionality scales were predictive of personal goals, self-efficacy, and practice, or postgoal performance of an idea-generation task. Our findings led us to believe that the MTQ is a reliable and useful way of measuring stable motivational constructs, particularly in a goal-setting situation.

How is learners' trait motivation facilitated?: Examination of a motivational strategy in classroom

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of motivational strategy for Japanese high school students. The increasing number of researches has been conducted to propose motivational strategies, though the effect of them has not been examined yet. Based on Deci and Ryan's Self-determination theory, Group Presentation Activity was proposed as a motivational strategy to facilitate intrinsic motivation. After the preliminary survey, the experiment was conducted in a high school classroom for 20 days. The participants were 40 highs school students in Hiroshima prefecture. The results showed that 1) Group Presentation Activity was effective in facilitating intrinsic motivation or identified regulation in spite of learners' individual differences in motivation, 2) Group Presentation Activity was the most effective toward 'low English language learning motivation' group. The educational implication was discussed based on these results for the teachers who have trouble in motivating their students.

Individual differences in the motivation to comply across cultures: the impact of social obligation

This study investigated the hypothesis that similar behavior in different cultures may mask individual differences in the reasons for that behavior. Most previous research on culture and behavior has examined culture-based differences in overt behavior. In contrast, the present research focused on cultural variation in reasons for identical behavior (that is, individual differences in motivation), rather than cultural variation in behavior itself. Specifically, we investigated the impact of personal individual–collective primacy, personal individualism–collectivism, and nationality on social obligation-based compliance in Poland and the United States. We found that, in both nations, collectivists were more likely to be motivated to comply with the same request for other-oriented rather than self-oriented reasons and that collective-primacy persons reported a greater tendency to comply with a request to help a stranger for reasons of social obligation to their group than did individual-primacy persons. Our research (1) indicates that individual differences in motivation may underlie similar behavior in different cultures; (2) points to an important new direction for research into individual differences across cultures; and (3) demonstrates the value of circumscribed measures of cultural orientation in the prediction of behavior above and beyond a global measure.

The Effects of a Peer Mentoring Program on Academic Success Among First Year University Students

The present study examines the effect of participation of first-year university students in a full-year peer mentoring program as well as individual differences in motivation in relation to outcome measures of retention and achievement. A sample of 983 first year students completed the Academic Motivation Inventory (Tremblay, 1998) and agreed to provide final grades; 537 students were randomly assigned to participate in the program, while the remainder served as a control group. Mentored students who continued to participate mid-way through the second semester had significantly higher final grades than did students in the control group. There was no effect on retention from year one to year two, however data are being collected on retention and grades for all groups for the length of their undergraduate careers. Students high in anxiety in the mentored group showed achievement comparable to that of low anxiety program participants, whereas students in the control group with high anxiety scored significantly worse on achievement than did their low anxiety counterparts.

Personality correlates of HIV vaccine trial participation

Individual differences in motivations and behaviors among HIV-negative participants in HIV vaccine trials remain unclear. 127 active participants in vaccine trials completed an anonymous questionnaire assessing motivations for trial participation, personality (as measured by the NEO-FFI), and perceived risk of HIV infection. Results revealed that Neuroticism was positively related to perceived risk of HIV infection, a desire for HIV testing, and a desire for protection from HIV as motivation for trial participation. Implications for personality research in HIV vaccine trials are discussed.

Clinical Update: Overview of Work-Capacity Restrictions

Abstract Early return to work is fundamental in the treatment of occupational injuries, but the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) may require temporary or permanent work restrictions. The US Department of Labor Physical Demand Characteristics of work classifies jobs by exertional level (sedentary, light, medium, heavy, and very heavy). The Workplace Functional Ability Guidelines (WFAGs) consist of 21 categories of health impairment and emphasize what the worker can do, ie, the “functional ability.” Musculoskeletal symptoms and signs such as strength, range of motion, or radiographic findings are not good predictors of functional abilities, nor does standardizing the method for work-capacity determination. Measures of physical work performance, even when conducted by highly trained individuals, have low interrater reliability when used for complex tasks. Any discrepancy in expectations between the physician and worker about capabilities and anticipated progress should be resolved. This may be best done if the physician is familiar with the requirements of the job and can offer suggestions about, for example, reducing the stress on an injured body part by using a different model of a tool. Individual differences in motivation, pain tolerance, conditioning, and so on make it difficult to determine work restrictions, but physicians should attempt to return the worker to gainful employment as early as possible.

Determinants of Readiness for Out‐group Social Contact: Dominance Relations and Minority Group Motivations

Findings that members of minorities are more ready for social contact with members of dominant groups than vice versa have been attributed to a motivation of minorities to integrate into the larger society. We theorize that minorities hold opposing motivations—to integrate vs. to maintain unique group identity—the balance of which determines readiness for out‐group contact. Study 1 examined readiness for out‐group contact among three groups of Israeli teachers—Jews (dominant group), Muslim Arabs, and Christian Arabs (minorities). According to sociohistorical analyses, Muslim Arabs are more activated to maintain uniqueness and less motivated to integrate than are Christian Arabs. Study 2 examined recent Russian immigrants to Israel (minority) and veteran Israelis (dominant). Individual differences in motivation to integrate vs. maintain minority group identity were measured among immigrants. In both studies, the balance of motivations predicted minority group readiness for contact with the dominant group.

Reducing self-discrepancies or maintaining self-congruence? Uncertainty orientation, self-regulation, and performance.

Reducing discrepancies between performance and goals was predicted to motivate uncertainty-oriented people, but maintaining congruence was predicted to be more motivating for certainty-oriented people. Being motivated should lead to better performance when a person is focused on positive outcomes, or to worse performance if he or she is focused on negative outcomes (success-oriented vs. failure-threatened in Studies 1 and 2, ideal vs. ought discrepancy in Study 3). Three studies tested these hypotheses: an experiment that used bogus performance feedback, a field study of examination performance as a function of prior discrepancies from desired grades, and an experimental priming of standards associated with a discrepancy or with no discrepancy. All 3 studies revealed the predicted interaction, supporting the hypothesis that there are individual differences in motivation as a function of goal discrepancy or congruence

Classroom and Individual Differences in Early Adolescents' Motivation and Self-Regulated Learning

The relations between classroom experience and individual differences in motivation and self-regulated learning were examined in a correlational study of seventh graders (N = 100, mean age = 12.3 years) from a middle school in the Midwest. Motivational beliefs (intrinsic value, self-efficacy, and test anxiety) and self-regulated learning (cognitive strategy use and self-regulation) were assessed in the fall and spring of the school year using a reliable and valid self-report measure, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Classroom experience was measured with students'perceptions of productive classroom work teacher effectiveness, and cooperative work. Results showed thatpositive motivational beliefs were positively related to higher levels ofself-regulated learning. Classroom differences also were related to motivation and self-regulated learning. Intrinsic value later in the year was more strongly related to classroom experience than intrinsic value early in the year, whereas test anxiety was more traitlike, showing a stronger relation to earlieranxiety than to classroom experience. Self-efficacy, cognitive strategy use, and self-regulation were related to both early individual difference measures as well as classroom experience. Results are discussed in terms of the reciprocal relations between motivation and self-regulated learning as well as the implications for education.

Future Models for the Study of Individual Differences in Motivation During Infancy

In this article, we propose a model for framing the influences on variation in infant spontaneous mastery at 12 months of age. Using the perspective of our model, we discuss the differences and similarities that our work shares with that of the other authors in this Special Issue. We hope that using our model in this way can foster integration and expansion of ideas for future studies of motivation in infancy. In addition, our model provides a roadmap for the study of important variables in risk groups. Empirical examination of the wide variation in infant capabilities and maternal emotional resources in risk groups and developmental transformations across the first two years of life can highlight important touchpoints for intervention.

A parametric study of learned helplessness in humans.

In two experiments designed to assess the effect of varying amounts of exposure to noncontingency training, it was discovered that performance decrements could be produced after relatively brief training and again after extended training. Between these conditions was a period of recovery during which no performance deficits were evident. There was also a tendency for individual differences in motivation to moderate deficits following brief but not extended training. A four-stage model is proposed to account for these results. In response to uncontrollable outcomes, individuals are said to pass through a phase of no effect, followed by temporary helplessness, recovery, and final helplessness. The model also proposes that motivational differences and perceptions of noncontingency exert independent and opposing influences on learned helplessness deficits.

Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Performance

The implications of current theories of intrinsic motivation for educational practices for learners with mild handicaps are reviewed. Conceptions of intrinsic motivation are presented and methods of identifying individual differences in motivational orientation are identified. The interaction of classroom demand environments, the effects of teacher reward and punishment, and individual differences in intrinsic motivation in learners with mild handicaps is discussed in relation to behavioral effectiveness and to academic performance.

Individual differences in the use of simplification strategies in a complex decision-making task.

Decision time results were used to assess the strategies that 90 college undergraduates used in a complex decision-making task. Trend analyses revealed that the functions relating choice time to the number of choice alternatives in a set and the number of attributes comprising those alternatives contained linear (increasing) components. In addition, for a portion of the subjects, there was a quadratic effect of the number of attributes available to the decision maker on choice time, suggesting that these subjects adopted simplification strategies at high levels of task complexity. Reliable individual differences in these trend components were observed, consistent with individual differences in motivation and/or processing capacities. These individual differences were included in an information-processing model of decision behavior that captured the choice time data observed in this study. Subjects' ratings of apartments were used as a basis to assess the extent to which the use of simplification strategies resulted in preference reversals. Contrary to expectation, subjects whose choice times contained quadratic components demonstrated fewer preference reversals at high levels of information load.

Paths of neighborhood change: Race and crime in urban America : by Richard P. Traub, D. Garth Taylor, and Jan D. Dunham. University of Chicago Press (5801 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60637), 1984, 264 pp., hardcover—$25.00.

The Internet has afforded people a multitude of opportunities to engage in crime and deviance online. Despite recent research efforts the application of criminological theories to the topic of cybercrime has returned mixed results. Furthermore, no study to date has sought to examine the effect of personality on individual differences in motivations to engage in cybercrime. In this study we use reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) proposed by Gray (1982; 1987) as a framework for explaining cybercrime. RST is increasingly being used to explain individual differences in a range of behaviors including a wide range of criminal behaviors. In this study, 577 participants reported engagement in cybercrime behaviors and completed the RST Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ). Overall, we found support for the hypothesis that RST related traits were associated with cybercrime. The four BAS subfactors (Reward Interest, Goal-Drive Persistence, Reward Reactivity, and Impulsivity) were found to have differing relationships with cybercrime. BIS traits were also positively associated with cybercrime, possibly deriving from the effect of increased anonymity online on the role of the BIS as a conflict mediator. Overall, this study supports the application of RST to the study of cybercrime while emphasizing the need for future research to (1) disaggregate the varying effects of BAS activation on engagement in specific types of cybercriminal behaviors and (2) further explore the unique effect of online anonymity on RST processes that motivate deviant behaviors online.

The Mobility of The Coordinates of a Subjective Semantic Space As a Manifestation of Categorical Set

The perception and objective semantic interpretation of an object depend on categorical set. Categorical set is the readiness of the subject to interact with objects of a specified category. A multitude of experimental evidence confirms the existence of categorical set. This evidence can be divided into three groups: (a) data indicating that perception depends on experimental instructions; (b) data indicating that perception depends on the category to which the preceding stimulation belongs; and, finally, (c) data indicating that perception depends on individual differences in motivation, which are a priori with regard to the experiment. The reasons for the appearance of sets vary; but in the end they all lead to one and the same result: the evocation of diverse expectations (hypotheses) in different subjects in the same situation, or in the same subject at different moments in time (Bruner, 1977).

Strategies for self promoting development

All people working in organisations learn and develop to some extent over time. The outcome of this development varies as widely between individuals as people themselves vary from one another. Some people achieve top managerial positions in industry and commerce in their late twenties or early thirties while others have to wait to the final stages of their working careers to achieve such positions. Some struggle at stages throughout their careers and achieve only moderate success; others do not seem to try at all. Management training and development activities are aimed at providing better opportunities and facilities for such development to meet the need of organisations to improve management performance. In practice these activities are designed to meet overall organisational needs and to conform with general behavioural and learning theories. The crucial significance of individual differences in motivation and ability to learn and develop is seldom, if ever, consciously exploited as a route towards securing real improvements in management performance. It is the contention of this paper that self‐development is such an approach.