Motivational Hypothesis Research Articles

The role of motivation to avoid detection in reaction time-based concealed information detection

Do motivated liars lie more successfully? The motivational effort hypothesis predicts that higher motivation effectively diminishes the chance of being detected, whereas the motivational impairment hypothesis predicts that the higher the motivation to go undetected, the greater the chance of being detected. We manipulated motivation in two online reaction time-based Concealed Information Test studies in which participants tried to hide their identity. Detection of concealed identity information in Experiment 1 (n=259) was successful and a small financial incentive to avoid detection did not impact upon validity. Despite a greater financial incentive and a manipulation check showing that motivation was increased, Experiment 2 (n=233) did not impact upon the test's validity either. A financial incentive to avoid detection did not decrease the validity of concealed information detection.

A hard/heavy intensity is too much: The physiological, affective, and motivational effects (immediately and 6 months post-training) of unsupervised perceptually regulated training

Background/ObjectiveThere are several practical and theoretical advantages to perceptually regulated training, including its simplicity of use and potential to influence exercise motivation. The study objective was to examine if perceptually regulated training at ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) of 13 and 15 resulted in significant increases in aerobic fitness, reductions in metabolic risk factors, and changes in motivational constructs following an 8-week training program and at follow up 6 months after. MethodsFollowing stratified randomization based on estimated aerobic capacity and sex, sedentary volunteers (n = 63; men = 21) were allocated to one of three groups: RPE 13, RPE 15, and control. The participants completed baseline, post-training, and 6-months post-training assessments for aerobic fitness, metabolic risk factors, and motivational constructs. The participants' acute exercise training responses (affect, competence, enjoyment, and work rate) were also recorded. ResultsThe data support the fitness and motivational construct hypotheses but not the metabolic risk factor hypothesis. Aerobic fitness increased from the baseline to post-training in both RPE groups, with the increase maintained 6 months post-training only in the RPE 13 group. Exercise autonomy increased over the training program, with exercise competence and affect more positive in the RPE 13 group than in the RPE 15. However, the training programs did not reduce the metabolic risk factors, and attrition levels were high. Unsupervised training at RPE 13 and RPE 15 did improve fitness, but as hypothesized, this was not maintained in the RPE 15 group 6 months post-training. ConclusionThe motivational processes associated with RPE 13 regulated exercise (greater competence and autonomy and more positive affect) potentially explain the maintained fitness in this group.

Nietzsche Disempowered: Reading the Will to Power out of Nietzsche's Philosophy

ABSTRACT In this article I confront and criticize the widespread tendency to ignore, marginalize, or dismiss without serious consideration Nietzsche's psychological hypothesis that a “will to power” is the major motivator of human behavior. I begin by separating Nietzsche's psychological hypothesis from both his occasional cosmological extension of it into an account of all processes in the world and from his power-based theory of value. And I argue that, since the psychological thesis does not depend on the cosmological extension, is more fundamental to Nietzsche's overall project, and is much better supported by Nietzsche's argument, it deserves to be seriously considered on its own merits. Then, I critically consider Robert Solomon's attempts to deny any value at all to the will to power as a general motivational hypothesis and to reinterpret Nietzsche's theory of the will to power in a way that ignores what Nietzsche actually says about it and, moreover, radically undermines its significance.

Directional specificity of postural threat on anticipatory postural adjustments during lateral leg raising.

This study explored the directional specificity of fear of falling (FoF) effects on the stabilizing function of anticipatory postural adjustments (APA). Participants (N=71) performed a series of lateral leg raises from an elevated surface in three conditions: in the "Control condition", participants stood at the middle of the surface; in the two test conditions, participants were positioned at the lateral edge of the surface so that the shift of the whole-body centre-of-mass during APA for leg raising was directed towards the edge ("Approach condition") or was directed away from the edge ("Avoidance condition"). Results showed that the amplitude of APA was lower in the "Approach condition" than in the "Control condition" (p<.01); this reduction was compensated for by an increase in APA duration (p<.05), so that both postural stability and motor performance (in terms of peak leg velocity, final leg posture and movement duration) remained unchanged. These changes in APA parameters were not present in the "Avoidance condition". Participants further self-reported a greater FoF (p<.001) and a lower ability to avoid a fall (p<.001) in the "Approach condition" (but not in the "Avoidance condition") than in the "Control condition". The results of this study show that the effects of FoF do not solely depend on initial environmental conditions, but also on the direction of APA relative to the location of the postural threat. These results support the so-called Motivational Direction Hypothesis, according to which approach and avoidance behaviours are primed by emotional state.

Watch Your Tone: Social Conditions Modulate Singing Strategies

AbstractBird song is typically depicted as a male singing a long‐distance signal to potentially unknown receivers to (1) deter males and (2) attract females. Nevertheless, many songbirds sing from close distances to a known receiver; males of these species may be under more intense selective pressure to modify their songs depending on the sex of the receiver in order to convey different motivational states (aggression versus courtship) to the different sexes. In a laboratory setting, we examined how receiver sex affected within‐song variation of the close‐range singing behavior in the brown‐headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). Although we know that cowbird song is influenced by flock composition, it is still unclear as to how the cowbird modifies his song based on social context. Using a cross‐correlation analysis of each male's different song types, we found that pairs of songs were significantly more dissimilar if they were directed to females compared with songs directed to males. We subsequently tested whether there were any consistent spectral or temporal patterns in the songs males gave to females versus to males. Our results lend support for the Motivational Structural Rules Hypothesis as songs directed toward males had higher entropy (i.e., harshness) than the same song type directed toward females. Our results suggest that cowbirds may have evolved the ability to alter multiple dimensions of their singing behavior based on receiver sex.

Explicating the Emotion Spillover Effect

Abstract. This study proposed and tested the idea that the processing of advertisements following emotionally arousing stimuli is a function of the interaction between motivational system activation and consolidation of the preceding message content in memory. To explain this phenomenon, two competing hypotheses were posed: the motivational decay hypothesis and the consolidation interference hypothesis. Physiological, behavioral, and self-reported data were used to test the predictions. The results demonstrated higher levels of physiological arousal and higher levels of physiological and self-reported positivity and negativity when processing advertisements preceded by arousing positive and negative movie clips. The heart rate data showed that the appetitive motivational system facilitated higher cognitive effort (slower heart rate), and the aversive motivational system facilitated lower cognitive effort (faster heart rate). The state of cognitive overload was reached during the first 10 s of the ads following negative arousing clips, while during ads following positive arousing clips, the cognitive system functioned at the maximum of its capacity. Overall, the results are more supportive of the consolidation interference hypothesis.

Affective Modulation of Brain and Autonomic Responses in Patients With Fibromyalgia.

Emotional dysregulation and abnormal processing of affective information are thought to play a significant role for the maintenance of pain in fibromyalgia. The motivational priming hypothesis states that negative emotions could increase pain via activation of the aversive system, thus leading to an affective modulation of defensive reflexes. Nevertheless, little is known about peripheral and central correlates of affective reflex modulation in fibromyalgia. Thirty patients with fibromyalgia and 30 healthy individuals were asked to view three video clips from a self-perspective to induce specific mood states. Video clips consisted of the same virtual walk through different locations of a park under three affective environments (unpleasant, pleasant, and neutral). Startle eyeblink reflex and heart rate response elicited by abrupt startle noises, as well as heart rate variability and electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations were recorded when participants were passively viewing the virtual environments. Patients with fibromyalgia rated all environments as more negative and arousing than did healthy controls (p values < .05). Nevertheless, startle eyeblink reflex and heart rate response were lower in patients with fibromyalgia than in healthy controls when viewing all three environments (p values < .05). Patients with fibromyalgia also displayed lower heart rate variability, as well as higher EEG power (2-22 Hz) during all environments than did healthy controls (p values < .05). Patients with fibromyalgia were characterized by relevant deficits in affective modulation of startle and cardiac responses, heart rate variability, and EEG power spectra in response to sustained induction of affective states. These findings suggest an alteration of emotional and attentional aspects of information processing at subjective, autonomic, and central nervous system levels.

When locomotion is used to interact with the environment: investigation of the link between emotions and the twofold goal-directed locomotion in humans.

Walking as a means to interact with the environment has a twofold goal: body displacement (intermediate goal) and the future action on the environment (final representational goal). This involves different processes that plan, program, and control goal-directed locomotion linked to motivation as an "emotional state," which leads to achieving this twofold goal. The aim of the present study was to determine whether emotional valence associated with the final representational goal influences these processes or whether they depend more on the emotional valence associated with the intermediate goal in young adults. Twenty subjects, aged 18-35 years, were instructed to erase an emotional picture that appeared on a wall as soon as they saw it. They had to press a stop button located 5 m in front of them with their right hand. Their gait was analyzed using a force platform and the Vicon system. The main results suggest that the emotional valence of the intermediate goal has the greatest effect on the processes that organize and modulate goal-directed locomotion. A positive valence facilitates cognitive processes involved in the temporal organization of locomotion. A negative valence disturbs the cognitive processes involved in the spatial organization of the locomotion and online motor control, leading to a deviating trajectory and a final body position that is more distant from the stop button. These results are discussed in line with the motivational direction hypothesis and with the affective meaning of the intended response goal.

Selecting players for youth national teams – a question of birth month and reselection?

Summary Objectives The relative age effect (RAE) has been documented to be present in the selection of national youth soccer players. Even so, few studies have documented the long-term effect on talent development. The aim of this study is to examine RAE among one cohort of Norwegian national youth soccer players. A second objective was to investigate the selection process. Equipment and methods Participants were 92 male players born in 1991 selected for one or more U15-U19 national team match in 2006–2010. The results are presented with basic descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages. Chi 2 tests were performed to compare differences between the observed and expected birth rate distribution across the four quarters of the Norwegian soccer year. The significance level of .05 was selected to determine statistical significance. Results The results showed that over 46% of the players were born in the first quartile. Furthermore, highlighting a large degree of replacement of players, where approximately 62% was selected for 1 or 2 years in the period, and only 22% of the selected players in 2010 had been selected earlier years. Potential explanations of this replacement will be discussed. This study supports the conclusion that RAE is a major factor in the selection of youth national team soccer players. However, it questions both the motivation hypothesis and the self-fulfilling prophecy hypothesis, associated with selection to a youth national team. Because of the high degree of exchange of players in the period, the advantages of early selection could be smaller than earlier expected in a talent development perspective.

Motivational approach and avoidance in autism spectrum disorder: A comparison between real photographs and cartoons

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a lack of motivation to engage in spontaneous social encounters with other human beings. However, the basis for these diminished approach-related social behaviours is still unclear. This study investigated social motivation in ASD using an approach-avoidance task. In particular, we presented a group of ASD and a group of neurotypical adolescents with a series of emotionally positive, negative, and neutral visual stimuli, comprised of real photographs and cartoons – a stimulus with incentive salience for individuals with ASD. Participants were asked to either push or pull a joystick in response to an emotionally independent feature of the stimuli (colour frame). Following the main task, participants also rated the stimuli for affective valence and arousal. Results showed a dissociation in motivational responses towards positive stimuli for the ASD group only: faster avoidance from positive real photographs, but greater approach to positive cartoons, while no differences were found between emotionally negative or neutral stimuli. By contrast, no differences between the groups were found for the self-reported affective ratings. In light of the social motivation hypothesis, these atypical motivational responses suggest a deficit in assigning reward to socio-emotional stimuli in adolescents with ASD.

Effect of relationship status on perceptions of physical attractiveness for alternative partners

AbstractCoupled people, those in a relationship, devaluate the attractiveness of an alternative partner compared to noncoupled people (D. J. Johnson &amp; C. E. Rusbult, 1989). The present research tested two competing hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. According to the motivational hypothesis, coupled and noncoupled people initially perceive opposite‐sex others as equally attractive. Coupled people, however, recalibrate their perceptions. In contrast, the perceptual hypothesis proposes that coupled people do not perceive opposite‐sex others as attractive. The present study tested these competing hypotheses by measuring both involuntary and self‐reported perceptions of attractiveness of opposite‐sex models. Supporting the motivational hypothesis, coupled participants (n = 38) and noncoupled participants (n = 34) exhibited the same degree of pupil dilation, however, coupled participants reported lower attractiveness ratings.

Common and Distinct Impacts of Autistic Traits and Alexithymia on Social Reward

According to the social motivation hypothesis of autism, individuals with high levels of autistic traits experience reduced levels of reward from social interactions. However, empirical evidence to date has been mixed, with some studies reporting lower levels of social reward in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and others finding no difference when compared to typically developing controls. Alexithymia, a subclinical condition associated with the reduced ability to identify and describe one’s own emotions, has been found to account for other affective difficulties observed inconsistently in individuals with ASD. The current study used a nonclinical sample (N = 472) to explore the associations between autistic traits and the value of six types of social reward, as measured by the Social Reward Questionnaire. In addition, we measured alexithymia to assess if this accounted for associations between autistic traits and social reward. There were three main findings. Firstly, higher levels of autistic traits were associated with significantly less enjoyment of admiration and sociability, and adding alexithymia to these models did not account for any additional variance. Secondly, both autistic traits and alexithymia were uniquely associated with reduced levels of enjoyment of prosocial interactions and sexual relationships. Thirdly, autistic traits were associated with higher levels of enjoyment of passivity and negative social potency, but these associations were no longer significant once alexithymia was taken into account, suggesting that co-occurring alexithymia accounted for these apparent associations. Overall, the current findings provide a novel and more nuanced picture of the relationship between autistic traits and social reward.

Examining the link between crime and unemployment: a time-series analysis for Canada

We use national and regional Canadian data to analyse the relationship between economic activity (as reflected by the unemployment rate) and crime rates. Given potential aggregation bias, we disaggregate the crime data and look at the relationship between six different types of crimes rates and unemployment rate; we also disaggregate the data by region. We employ an error correction model in our analysis to test for short-run and long-run dynamics. We find no evidence of long-run relationship between crime and unemployment, when we look at both disaggregation by type of crime and disaggregation by region. Lack of evidence of a long-run relationship indicates we have no evidence of the motivation hypothesis. For selected types of property crimes, we find some evidence of a significant negative short-run relationship between crime and unemployment, lending support to the opportunity hypothesis. Inclusion of control variables in the panel analysis does not alter the findings, qualitatively or quantitatively.

Crowding out of long-term care insurance: evidence from European expectations data.

Long-term care (LTC) is the largest insurable risk that old-age individuals face in most western societies. However, the demand for LTC insurance is still ostensibly small in comparison with the financial risk. One explanation that has received limited support is that expectations of either 'public sector funding' and 'family support' crowd out individual incentives to seek insurance. This paper aims to investigate further the aforementioned motivational crowding-out hypothesis by developing a theoretical model and by drawing on an innovative empirical analysis of representative European survey data containing records on individual expectations of LTC funding sources (including private insurance, social insurance, and the family). The theoretical model predicts that, when informal care is treated as exogenously determined, expectations of both state support and informal care can potentially crowd out LTC insurance expectations, while this is not necessarily the case when informal care is endogenous to insurance, as happens when intra-family moral hazard is integrated in the insurance decision. We find evidence consistent with the presence of family crowding out but no robust evidence of public sector crowding out.

The Role of Cognitive Mechanisms and Semantic Motivation in Business English Idioms Acquisition: An experimental study

This paper aims to explore the possible application of cognitive semantics in the process of teaching and learningBusiness English idioms. The theoretical assumptions of this study are based on the cognitivist view that idioms are, to a certain extent, semantically motivated by cognitive mechanisms, with the conceptual metaphor being the most dominant one. This study is an attempt to test the hypothesis that metaphoric conceptualisation can contribute to a more successful acquisition of idioms, especially in comparison to pure memorisation of the same linguistic expressions. This small-scale experiment was carried out with 20 Business and Economics students divided into the experimental group and the control group. The students in the experimental group were introduced to the semantic motivation of idiom meaning, whereas the control-group students were taught the same idioms in the traditional way. After being presented with the carefully selected idioms in two different ways, the students in both groups were required to do four different types of exercises with a view to testing the semantic motivation hypothesis. As a result, the research findings and the results obtained in this experimental study suggest that the awareness of cognitive mechanism and semantic motivation behind the meaning of idioms can significantly assist students in the process of a somewhat systematic and consistent acquisition of Business English idioms. Keywords: Idiomatic expressions, Business English, cognitive mechanisms, conceptual metaphor, semantic motivation, language acquisition

Development of Risk Perception and Substance Use of Tobacco, Alcohol and Cannabis Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults: Evidence of Directional Influences

Background: While several studies have investigated the relationship between risk perception and substance use, surprisingly little is known about mutual influences between both variables over time. Objectives: The present study aimed to explore two different hypotheses separately for tobacco, alcohol and cannabis: influences from risk perception on behavior (motivational hypothesis) and influences from behavior on risk perception (risk reappraisal hypothesis). Methods: A prospective and longitudinal cross-lagged panel design was used with substance use and risk perception measured five times over the course of 10 years. Participants were 318 German youths aged 14–15 at the beginning of the study. Risk perception and substance use frequency were measured using self-reports. Results: Structural equation modeling indicated significant influences of risk perception on substance use behavior for all substances, which supports the motivational hypothesis. Changes in risk perception predict changes in future substance use of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis. Specifically for cannabis, influences of substance use on risk perception can also be shown, thus, supporting the risk reappraisal hypothesis. Conclusions: While there is support for the rationale behind adequate risk perception as a goal of preventive interventions, the possibility of risk reappraisal should not be neglected, especially regarding illicit substances.

Testing the Affiliation Hypothesis of Homoerotic Motivation in Humans: The Effects of Progesterone and Priming.

The frequency of homoerotic behavior among individuals who do not identify as having an exclusively homosexual sexual orientation suggests that such behavior potentially has adaptive value. Here, we define homoerotic behavior as intimate erotic contact between members of the same sex and affiliation as the motivation to make and maintain social bonds. Among both male and female nonhuman primates, affiliation is one of the main drivers of homoerotic behavior. Correspondingly, in humans, both across cultures and across historical periods, homoerotic behavior appears to play a role in promoting social bonds. However, to date, the affiliation explanation of human homoerotic behavior has not been adequately tested experimentally. We developed a measure of homoerotic motivation with a sample of 244 men and women. Next, we found that, in women (n = 92), homoerotic motivation was positively associated with progesterone, a hormone that has been shown to promote affiliative bonding. Lastly, we explored the effects of affiliative contexts on homoerotic motivation in men (n = 59), finding that men in an affiliative priming condition were more likely to endorse engaging in homoerotic behavior compared to those primed with neutral or sexual concepts, and this effect was more pronounced in men with high progesterone. These findings constitute the first experimental support for the affiliation account of the evolution of homoerotic motivation in humans.

Trait approach motivation moderates the aftereffects of self-control.

Numerous experiments have found that exercising self-control reduces success on subsequent, seemingly unrelated self-control tasks. Such evidence lends support to a strength model that posits a limited and depletable resource underlying all manner of self-control. Recent theory and evidence suggest that exercising self-control may also increase approach-motivated impulse strength. The two studies reported here tested two implications of this increased approach motivation hypothesis. First, aftereffects of self-control should be evident even in responses that require little or no self-control. Second, participants higher in trait approach motivation should be particularly susceptible to such aftereffects. In support, exercising self-control led to increased optimism (Study 1) and broadened attention (Study 2), but only among individuals higher in trait approach motivation. These findings suggest that approach motivation is an important key to understanding the aftereffects of exercising self-control.

Frontal brain asymmetry in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Extending the motivational dysfunction hypothesis

ObjectiveAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) involves motivational dysfunction, characterized by excessive behavioral approach tendencies. Frontal brain asymmetry in the alpha band (8–13Hz) in resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) represents a neural correlate of global motivational tendencies, and abnormal asymmetry, indicating elevated approach motivation, was observed in pediatric and adult patients. To date, the relation between ADHD symptoms, depression and alpha asymmetry, its temporal metric properties and putative gender-specificity remain to be explored. MethodsAdult ADHD patients (n=52) participated in two resting-state EEG recordings, two weeks apart. Asymmetry measures were aggregated across recordings to increase trait specificity. Putative region-specific associations between asymmetry, ADHD symptoms and depression, its gender-specificity and test–retest reliability were examined. ResultsADHD symptoms were associated with approach-related asymmetry (stronger relative right-frontal alpha power). Approach-related asymmetry was pronounced in females, and also associated with depression. The latter association was mediated by ADHD symptoms. Test–retest reliability was sufficient. ConclusionsThe association between reliably assessable alpha asymmetry and ADHD symptoms supports the motivational dysfunction hypothesis. ADHD symptoms mediating an atypical association between asymmetry and depression may be attributed to depression arising secondary to ADHD. Gender-specific findings require replication. SignificanceFrontal alpha asymmetry may represent a new reliable marker of ADHD symptoms.

The Social Motivation Hypothesis for Prosocial Behavior

Existing economic models of prosociality have been rather silent in terms of proximate psychological mechanisms. We nevertheless identify the psychologically most informed accounts and offer a critical discussion of their hypotheses for the proximate psychological explanations. Based on convergent evidence from several fields of research, we argue that there nevertheless is a more plausible alternative proximate account available: the social motivation hypothesis. The hypothesis represents a more basic explanation of the appeal of prosocial behavior, which is in terms of anticipated social rewards. We also argue in favor of our own social motivation hypothesis over Robert Sugden’s fellow-feeling account (due originally to Adam Smith). We suggest that social motivation not only stands as a proximate account in its own right but also provides a plausible scaffold for other more sophisticated motivations (e.g., fellow-feelings). We conclude by discussing some possible implications of the social motivation hypothesis on existing modeling practice.