Motivational Mindsets Research Articles

Modeling L2 motivation change and its predictive effects on learning behaviors in the extramural digital context: a quantitative investigation in China

Abstract Language learning in the extramural digital (ED) context has recently gained momentum because it focuses on second language (L2) learners’ autonomous, unstructured, online learning activities beyond the classroom. Drawing upon Dörnyei’s L2 motivational self system (including the ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and L2 learning experience) to operationalize L2 learners’ motivational mindsets, this study aims to investigate whether L2 English learners’ ought-to L2 self can be translated into their ideal L2 self and predict learning behaviors within the ED context. Survey data from 310 undergraduate students in a top-tier Chinese university were collected and analyzed following a structural equation modeling approach. The results indicate that participants’ ought-to L2 self can facilitate the development of their ideal L2 self only through the full mediation effect of the L2 learning experience in the ED environment. Also, while students’ ought-to L2 self cannot directly predict their motivated learning behaviors in the ED context, there exists a significant indirect impact through the joint mediation of the L2 learning experience and ideal L2 self. These findings contribute to the ongoing conversation about L2 motivational dynamics by unveiling the conversion and interaction of different L2 motivational forces in digital and out-of-class settings.

What motivates bridge building across pernicious group divides? The effects of regulatory motives, framing, and fit on increasing constructive engagement across political and racial divisions

IntroductionToday, the U.S. and countless other democracies have found themselves dangerously divided across political and racial-ethnic differences. Under these conditions, more extreme actors often wield disproportionate influence, with moderate citizens tending to disengage politically, sparking a vicious cycle.MethodsSix studies (N = 2,179) were conducted to investigate ways to mobilize citizens to engage in bridge-building activities fostering intergroup tolerance and compassion. Derived from basic regulatory theories of motivation, we tested the effects of stronger prevention (mitigating negative outcomes) vs. promotion (seeking ideal outcomes) and assessment (evaluating the best way to proceed) vs. locomotion (just “getting it done”) motivational orientations and the fit vs. non-fit framing effects of how the activities were presented on differences in engagement with political and racial bridge-building activities across political, racial, and gender groups in the U.S. We hypothesized that individuals with stronger levels of each of the four motivational mindsets would be more likely to express willingness to engage in bridging activities when they were framed in ways consistent (fitting) vs. inconsistent (non-fitting) with their more chronic orientations.Results and discussionFindings supported our hypotheses with some qualifiers and revealed important political, racial, and gender group differences on motivation and bridge-building for different types of engagement activities.

Do celebrities in advertisements matter? Familiar endorsers as an accelerator of gestural cues of persuasion

Regulatory focus theory has been used as a framework to elucidate the effects of advertising messages as well as those of some non-verbal advertising elements including endorsers’ gestures. However, previous advertising research has not discussed the role of celebrity endorsement based on this theory. In this research, we conducted three experiments to examine the moderating effect of the endorser type (celebrity vs. noncelebrity) on the causal relationships of the gesture style (eager vs. vigilant) and the message framing (promotional vs. preventive) via consumer motivational mindset changes. We found that, compared to unknown, noncelebrity endorsers, familiar celebrity endorsers are more likely to promote eager (vigilant) gestures to generate consumers’ promotion (prevention) focus orientation, leading to a favorable evaluation of the product of which advertising message is framed in a promotional (preventive) way. This research contributes to research on both regulatory focus and celebrity endorsement.

(Why) See Yourself as Plurilingual: Intercomprehension and Motivation Towards the Learning of LOTEs in Young Learners

ABSTRACT This mixed-method study explores the motivational mindsets towards the learning of LOTEs of two groups of Italian preadolescents (aged 10–14) after Romance Intercomprehension (RIC) training in a school context. Reference is made to the notions of self-efficacy, the extrinsic/intrinsic spectrum and the emergence of a desired plurilingual identity. Data—collected through a close-ended questionnaire item (with control groups of untrained peers), and semi-structured post-training interviews—are discussed following a descriptive interpretive paradigm with an ethnographic approach. Findings allow to characterise participants’ post-training motivation towards the learning of LOTEs as more intrinsic and self-regulated than that of control groups, and indicate awareness of increased self-efficacy and the emergence of an embryonic ideal plurilingual identity. Further research is needed to substantiate these findings with more generalisable data. However, findings suggest that RIC training positively affects motivation to learn LOTEs, and its curricular implementation holds potential for fostering openness in a multilingual and multicultural society.

Effects of Affect and Message Framing on Responses to Charity Advertising: A Construal Level and Regulatory Focus Perspective

ABSTRACT Charitable donation appeals can be framed to highlight the attainment of desirable outcomes (promotion framing) or the avoidance of undesirable situations (prevention framing). Drawing from regulatory focus theory, construal level theory, and the linguistic categorization model, this study reveals how the impact of the two messages frames can be influenced by the emotional state of the message recipient. Participants had more favorable attitudes toward charity advertisements, were more likely to donate to a food bank, and placed more value on donating when charity ads highlighted desirable end-states, but only if they were in a positive mood. In a negative mood, participants responded better to charity ads that described how donations could be used to avoid undesirable situations. Analysis showed these effects might occur because people process information differently under the two mood conditions and the two message frames trigger different motivational mind-sets.

Advancing the study of levels of best practice pre-service teacher education students from Spain: Associations with both positive and negative achievement-related experiences.

The study of optimal best practice, coinciding with a person's 'motivational mindset', is an interesting research inquiry for development. Optimal best practice, in brief, relates to the maximization of a person's state of functioning (e.g., cognitive functioning). Moreover, the nature of optimal best practice is positive and motivational, helping individuals to flourish in different courses of action (e.g., academic performance at school). Several research undertakings, non-experimental in design, have provided clear and consistent evidence to substantiate the existing viewpoints and perspectives of optimal best practice. Our proposed investigation, which involved physical education pre-service teacher students from Spain (N = 681), explored one notable focus of inquiry-namely, the formation of optimal best practice and its predictive and explanatory account on future adaptive outcomes. As such, using Likert-scale measures and path analysis techniques, we were able to identify two associative patterns: achievement of optimal best practice is positively accounted for by academic self-concept, optimism, and current best practice and, in contrast, negatively accounted for by pessimism; and that optimal best practice could act as a determinant of academic engagement for effective learning. Such associations are significant, providing relevant information for different teaching and research purposes.

Goalsetting is Mindsetting: Guided Reflection on Life Goals Taps Into the Plasticity of Motivational Mindsets.

The working mechanism of an effective online lifegoal-setting intervention was recently proposed by means of the motivational mindset model (MMM). The MMM contains four types of mindset profiles (high-impact, low-impact, social-impact, and self-impact) based on multiple, co-occurring motives that students hold for studying. The present paper aims to qualitatively investigate the mechanism and explores whether the goal-setting intervention fosters a favorable change in mindset. To this end, a deductive content analysis was used to examine the life goal motives in the written goal-setting essays of 48 first-year university students (33% female; 8.3% ethnic minority; Mage = 19.5, age range 17-30years). Life goal motives were coded according to four dimensions along two distinctions (self-oriented versus self-transcendent, and intrinsic versus extrinsic) and analyses were focused on comparisons between changed and stable mindsets. Results show that students who changed from a low-impact mindset to a social-impact mindset expressed intrinsic self-oriented and intrinsic self-transcendent motives to a similar extent as stable social-impact mindset students. This pattern indicates that the positive change in mindset already occurred during the reflection assignment and substantiates the proposed mechanism of the goal-setting intervention. The implications of the findings are discussed as well as directions for future research.

Running to get "lost"? Two types of escapism in recreational running and their relations to exercise dependence and subjective well-being.

Escapism is a fundamental motivation in many forms of activity engagements. At its core, escapism is "a habitual diversion of the mind … as an escape from reality or routine". Accordingly, escapism may entail many adaptive and maladaptive psychological antecedents, covariates, and outcomes. However, few studies have been conducted on escapism as a motivational mindset in running. Here, in a sample of recreational runners (N = 227), we applied a two-dimensional model of escapism, comprising self-expansion (adaptive escapism) and self-suppression (maladaptive escapism), and examined how they were related to exercise dependence and subjective well-being. First, confirmatory factor analyses showed that the escapism dimensions were highly diversifiable in the sample. Then, correlational analyses showed that self-expansion was positively correlated to subjective well-being, whereas self-suppression was negatively related to well-being. Self-suppression was more strongly related to exercise dependence compared to self-expansion. Finally, path analyses evidenced an explanatory role of self-expansion and self-suppression in the inverse relationship between exercise dependence and well-being. In conclusion, the present findings support escapism as a relevant framework for understanding the relationship between exercise dependence in running and subjective well-being.

Growth mindset, persistence, and self-efficacy in early adolescents: Associations with depression, anxiety, and externalising behaviours

ABSTRACT Growth mindset, persistence, and self-efficacy are important protective factors in understanding adolescent psychopathology, including depression, anxiety, and externalising behaviours. Previous studies have shown that dimensions of self-efficacy (academic, social, and emotional) have differential protective effects with mental health outcomes and these differences vary by sex. This study examines the dimensional mediation of self-efficacy from motivational mindsets on anxiety, depression, and externalising behaviours in a sample of early adolescents ages 10-11. Surveys were administered to participants to measure growth mindset and persistence on internalising and externalising symptoms. The Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (SEQ-C) was used to measure domains of self-efficacy for mediation analysis. Multi-group structural equation modelling by sex indicated that structural paths were not invariant by sex. Significant direct effects were identified from persistence to externalising behaviours in boys, and significant direct effects were identified from growth mindset to depression in girls. In a sample of Tanzanian early adolescents, self-efficacy mediates the protective association between motivational mindsets on psychopathology. Higher academic self-efficacy was associated with reduced externalising problems in both boys and girls. Implications for adolescent programmes and future research are discussed.

Feeling exhausted and isolated? The connections between university students’ remote teaching and learning experiences, motivation, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

We examined university students’ experiences of remote teaching and learning, how the experiences are associated with well-being, and whether those associations differ according to motivation. Using latent variable modelling, we classified Finnish university students (N = 2686) based on their expectancy-value-cost profiles, compared latent means, and tested whether the predictions varied across profiles. Six expectancy-value-cost profiles were identified: moderately motivated, utility-oriented, disengaged, indifferent, positively ambitious, and struggling ambitious. Overall, positively ambitious students seemed most adaptive in terms of their study experiences and well-being. Similarly across the profiles, engagement was predicted positively by the evaluation of remote teaching and negatively by experienced strain, exhaustion positively by the evaluation of teaching and strain, and depressive symptoms positively by strain and sense of alienation. Findings suggest that subjective experiences of remote teaching and learning during the pandemic contribute to students’ well-being in unique ways and that distinct motivational mindsets may buffer against the negative outcomes.

Conciliating the Dimensionality Debate Surrounding SDT and Redefining Motivation? A Comment on Meyer et al.’s (2022) Article “Motivational Mindsets Versus Reasons for Action”

Conciliating the Dimensionality Debate Surrounding SDT and Redefining Motivation? A Comment on Meyer et al.’s (2022) Article “Motivational Mindsets Versus Reasons for Action”

Understanding the relations between self-monitoring and authenticity: What are the roles of theory of mind and Machiavellianism?

The current study examined the role of two constructs in potentially explaining the linkages between Snyder's (1974) self-monitoring construct (adapting behavior to fit social expectations like a social chameleon) and authenticity (behaving consistently with one's thoughts)/well-being. The proposed explanatory constructs were theory of mind (ToM; predicting feelings/thoughts of others) and Machiavellianism (manipulating others for one's own benefit), with the first representing a skill set facilitating the healthy negotiation of successful relationships and the second representing a motivational mindset focused on obtaining advantages and status. Participants (N = 384, 17 to 60 years; Mage = 19.49; 69.5% female) responded to a questionnaire that included tests and measures of the aforementioned constructs. Regression analyses indicated that the link between other-directedness, one of two major self-monitoring dimensions, and authenticity (as well as well-being) could be explained in part as a function of Machiavellianism. On the other hand, the eyes-test, which serves as a measure of social-perceptual features of ToM, was not found to be related to self-monitoring, authenticity, or well-being in our data. The implications for advancing our understanding of the linkages between self-monitoring and authenticity are discussed.

Motivational mindsets, mindset churn and academic performance: The role of a goal-setting intervention and purpose in life

The motivational mindset model (MMM) is a new student-centered, multidimensional perspective on motivation in higher education and aims to better explain differences in wellbeing, study success and intervention effectiveness. The four types of mindsets within the model (high-impact, low-impact, social-impact, and self-impact) have proven to differ in two important dimensions of wellbeing and predictors of study success, namely a sense of purpose in life and study engagement. The present study expands the MMM by (1) examining the relationship between the mindsets and academic performance, (2) observing the mindset churn in the first year, and (3) exploring the role of the mindsets in the effectiveness of an online, narrative goal-setting intervention. To this end, the mindset of 748 first-year university students was measured at the beginning and the end of the first academic year. Results show that the mindset churn was considerable: on average 58% of the students had changed their mindset at follow-up. Results further show that students with a low-impact mindset at follow-up were more likely to drop out of the first year compared to the other three mindsets. Finally, a group of low-impact mindset students show an increased sense of purpose after participating in the goal-setting intervention and moved to a social-impact mindset during the year. This pattern provides preliminary support that the goal-setting intervention is a purpose-fostering intervention for students entering higher education with a low-impact mindset. A potential working mechanism of the goal-setting intervention is discussed as well as implications and directions for future research.

Motivational mindsets versus reasons for action: implications for the dimensionality debate in self-determination theory

Motivational mindsets versus reasons for action: implications for the dimensionality debate in self-determination theory

The Pet Exposure Effect: Exploring the Differential Impact of Dogs Versus Cats on Consumer Mindsets

Despite the ubiquity of pets in consumers’ lives, scant research has examined how exposure to them (e.g., recalling past interactions with dogs and cats, viewing ads featuring a dog or a cat) influences consumer behavior. The authors demonstrate that exposure to dogs (cats) reminds consumers of the stereotypical temperaments and behaviors of the pet species, which activates a promotion- (prevention-) focused motivational mindset among consumers. Using secondary data, Study 1 shows that people in states with a higher percentage of dog (cat) owners Google more promotion- (prevention-) focused words and report a higher COVID-19 transmission rate. Using multiple products, Studies 2 and 3 demonstrate that these regulatory mindsets, when activated by pet exposure, carry over to influence downstream consumer judgments, purchase intentions, and behaviors, even in pet-unrelated consumption contexts. Study 4 shows that pet stereotypicality moderates the proposed effect such that the relationship between pet exposure and regulatory orientations persists to the extent consumers are reminded of the stereotypical temperaments and behaviors of the pet species. Studies 5–7 examine the role of regulatory fit and evince that exposure to dogs (cats) leads to more favorable responses toward advertising messages featuring promotion- (prevention-) focused appeals.

Motives for Studying and Student Wellbeing: Validation of the Motivational Mindset Model.

Research on the joint effect of multiple motives for studying was recently given a push in a new direction with the introduction of the motivational mindset model (MMM). This model contributes to a better understanding of study success and student wellbeing in higher education. The aim of the present study is to validate the newly developed model and the associated mindset classification tool (MCT). To this end, 662 first-year university students were classified in one of the four types of motivational mindset using the classification tool and three exploratory validation procedures were conducted through sense of purpose, study engagement, and students’ background characteristics in terms of gender and ethnicity. Both purpose and study engagement are central dimensions of student wellbeing and predictors of study success. The results show that (1) sense of purpose and study engagement differ across the four types of mindset, (2) students in the low-impact mindset show the least optimal pattern of study engagement and sense of purpose, (3) sense of purpose and study engagement are positively related and this relationship is consistent across mindsets, and (4) overall differences in purpose and study engagement between gender and ethnic subgroups stem from one specific type of motivational mindset. The results provide support for the validity of the MMM and the usefulness of the MCT. The implications of the findings are discussed as well as promising avenues for future research.

Qualitative differences in the mindsets associated with dual nature of normative commitment.

This study aims to o uncover how employees’ normative commitment (sense of obligation) to their organization is experienced in terms of dual normative commitment (moral imperative or indebted obligation) and to describe the potential for different mindsets arising through the dynamic combination of the various components in the commitment profile. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants. The interviews were designed to identify the respondents’ perceptions of obligation to their organisation, and their underlying motivational mindset associating with dual nature of normative commitment The interview findings for the affective-normative commitment dominant and the continuance commitment dominant participants were consistent with normative commitment experienced as either moral imperative or an indebted obligation, depending on the relative levels of affective and continuance commitment. All participants irrespective of their commitment profile noted that they had commitment to multiple foci, however, the alignment between commitment to these various foci differed by commitment profile. The qualitative differences among the commitment profiles indicated that the interaction of the commitment components is more complex than current commitment profile propositions suggest and that further theory development beyond the mindsets associated with continuance commitment and affective-normative commitment dominant profiles is required.

Personality dynamics at work: The effects of form, time, and context of variability

The study aimed to investigate the status of within-person state variability in neuroticism and conscientiousness as individual differences constructs by exploring their (a) temporal stability, (b) cross-context consistency, (c) empirical links to selected antecedents, and (d) empirical links to longer term trait variability. Employing a sample of professionals ( N = 346) from Australian organisations, personality state data together with situation appraisals were collected using experience sampling methodology in field and repeatedly in lab-like settings. Data on personality traits, cognitive ability, and motivational mindsets were collected at baseline and after two years. Contingent (situation contingencies) and non-contingent (relative SD) state variability indices were relatively stable over time and across contexts. Only a small number of predictive effects of state variability were observed, and these differed across contexts. Cognitive ability appeared to be associated with state variability under lab-like conditions. There was limited evidence of links between short-term state and long-term trait variability, except for a small effect for neuroticism. Some evidence of positive manifold was found for non-contingent variability. Systematic efforts are required to further elucidate the complex pattern of results regarding the antecedents, correlates and outcomes of individual differences in state variability.

A multidimensional approach to motives for studying explains differences in student wellbeing: Validation of the motivational mindset model

Research on the joint effect of multiple motives for studying was recently given a push in a new direction with the introduction of the motivational mindset model. This model contributes to a better understanding of study success and student wellbeing in higher education. The aim of the present study is to further validate the newly developed model and the associated mindset classification tool. To this end, 662 first-year university students were classified in one of the four types of motivational mindset using the classification tool and three validation procedures were conducted through sense of purpose, study engagement, and students’ background characteristics in terms of gender and ethnicity. Both purpose and study engagement are central dimensions of student wellbeing and predictors of study success. The results show that (1) sense of purpose and study engagement differ across the four types of mindset, (2) students in the low- impact mindset show the least optimal pattern of study engagement and sense of purpose, (3) sense of purpose and study engagement are positively related and this relationship is consistent across mindsets, (4) overall differences in purpose and study engagement between gender and ethnic subgroups stem from one specific type of motivational mindset. The implications of these results are discussed as well as promising avenues for future research. This study provides further support for the value of the motivational mindset model and the usefulness of the mindset classification tool.

Motivational Mindsets and Reasons for Studying: Development and Validation of a Classification Tool.

First-year university students have multiple motives for studying and these motives may interact. Yet, past research has primarily focused on a variable-centered, dimensional approach missing out on the possibility to study the joint effect of multiple motives that students may have. Examining the interplay between motives is key to (a) better explain student differences in study success and wellbeing, and (b) to understand different effects that interventions can have in terms of wellbeing and study success. We therefore applied a student-centered, multidimensional approach in which we explored motivational profiles of first-year university students by combining three dimensions of motives for studying (self-transcendent, self-oriented, and extrinsic) which have been shown to be differently related to academic functioning. Using cluster analysis in two independent, consecutive university student cohorts (n = 763 and n = 815), we identified four meaningful profiles and coined them motivational mindsets. We validated the four mindset profiles not only within each student sample but also found almost identical profiles between the student samples. The motivational mindset profiles were labeled: high-impact mindset, low-impact mindset, social-impact mindset, and self-impact mindset. In addition to validating the paradigm, we developed a mindset classification tool to further use these mindsets in practice and in future research.