Psyc3032 - Lecture 7

Front 1

Goals

Back 1

Energise and direct our activities. Give meaning to our lives.

Front 2

Self-Regulation

Back 2

Process by which we pursue our goals

Front 3

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Back 3

We strive to reach our ideals and oughts. Some people are motivated by ideals, others by oughts

Front 4

Higgins' (1987) Self-Discrepancy Theory has 3 versions of the self. What are they?

Back 4

Actual Self, Ideal Self and Ought Self.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory)

Front 5

Actual Self

Back 5

Attributes you think you possess.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory)

Front 6

Ideal Self

Back 6

Attributes you'd like to possess. Ideals can come from self or significant others. Hopes, wishes, aspirations.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory)

Front 7

Ought Self

Back 7

Attributes you think you should or ought to possess. Oughts can come from self or significant others. Duties, Responsibilities, Obligations.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory)

Front 8

Actual-Ideal Discrepancy

Back 8

Absence of positive outcomes. Sad/Dejected.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory)

Front 9

Actual-Ought Discrepancy

Back 9

Presence of negative outcomes. Anxious/Agitated.

(Self-Discrepancy Theory).

Front 10

What are the two forms of focus that help us pursue our goals (Higgins, 1999 & 2000)?

Back 10

Promotion Focus and Prevention Focus.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 11

Promotion Focus

Back 11

Focal points: Strong Ideals, Gain vs. Non-Gain Situations, Eager Strategy: Pursue Opportunities.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 12

Prevention Focus

Back 12

Focal Points: Strong Oughts, Non-Loss vs. Loss Situations, Vigilant Strategy: Avoid Losses/Mistakes.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 13

What happens when there is Regulatory Fit?

Back 13

They feel right about what they are doing. Task engagement is strong (Higgins, 2000).

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 14

Shah et al.'s (1998) Experiment

Back 14

- Assessed whether participants were Chronic Promotion/Prevention Focus.
- Anagram Task (unscrambling letters).
- 2 Colour sets (Red/Green) of letters.
- Either: (A) earn $4 + $1 with 4+ points (Promotion), or (B) $5 - $1 if you don't finish with 4+ points (Prevention)
- Green Letters: +1 point if you find all solutions (Eager Strategy)
- Red Letters: - 1 if you don't (Vigilant Strategy)

FINDINGS:
- Promotion Frame + Chronic Promotion Focus + Eager Strategy = Regulatory Fit = Better Performance.
- Prevention Frame + Chronic Prevention Focus + Vigilant Strategy = Regulatory Fit = Better Performance.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 15

Eager Strategy

Back 15

Think about what you would gain. Pursue opportunities.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 16

Vigilant Strategy

Back 16

Think about what you would lose. Avoid losses/mistakes.

(Regulatory Fit)

Front 17

Social Comparison Theory

Back 17

When we are uncertain about our abilities or opinions, we evaluate ourselves through comparisons with similar others.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 18

Upward Comparison

Back 18

Compare ourselves to someone who is better than us on the key dimension e.g. very successful/attractive person.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 19

Downward Comparison

Back 19

Compare ourselves to someone worse than us on the key dimension e.g. very unsuccessful/unattractive person.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 20

Contrast Effect

Back 20

Evaluate self more negatively after comparing with a positive other (upward comparison).

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 21

Assimilation Effect

Back 21

Evaluate self more positively after comparing with a positive other.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 22

Lockwood & Kund's (1997) Experiment

Back 22

- Participants were 1st and 4th year Accounting students.
- Read outstanding article about same-sex outstanding 4th year accounting student or nothing (control)
- Rated themselves on positive traits related to career success (Self-Evaluation)

FINDINGS: 1st years reported higher levels of Self-Evaluations i.e. they were inspired

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 23

Two outcomes of a comparison

Back 23

A focus on differences or on similarities.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 24

A Focus on Differences

Back 24

- Contrast Effect
- Evaluate self more negatively after comparing with a positive other.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 25

A Focus on Similarities

Back 25

- Assimilation Effect
- Evaluate self more positively after comparing with a positive other.

(Social Comparison Theory)

Front 26

Goal Progress

Back 26

Can free us up to turn to a different goal.

(Multiple Goals)

Front 27

Goal Commitment

Back 27

Inference about the strength of a goal. Ensure future actions in line with focal goal.

(Multiple Goals)

Front 28

Fishbach & Dhar's (2005) Goal Progress Experiment

Back 28

- Participants reported time spent on their course work in the past day
- Visible crossed out entry from another "participant" (30 mins [low standard] vs. 5 hours [high standard])
- Rated extent they felt they were making progress toward completing their academic tasks
- Rated interest in pursuing non-academic activities

FINDINGS:
- Perceived greater progress after exposure to the low standard
- Greater interest in non-academic activities after exposure to the low standard

(Multiple Goals)

Front 29

Fishbach & Dhar's (2005) Goal Commitment Experiment

Back 29

- Participants evaluated level of commitment or progress after having imagined pursuing studying, saving and health goals
- Rated likelihood of doing an incongruent activity after pursuing the goal e.g. hanging out with friends after studying

FINDINGS:
- More likely to do alternate activity when they focused on goal progress.

(Multiple Goals)

Front 30

Bargh et al.'s (2001) Priming Achievement Experiment

Back 30

- Word Search Puzzle
- High performance-goal words (e.g. succeed) vs. Neutral words (e.g. river)
-Measured performance on additional word search puzzles

FINDINGS:
- Participants did better in the performance goal condition (26 vs. 21.5 words)

(Conscious Goals)

Front 31

Bargh et al.'s (2001) Priming Cooperation Experiment

Back 31

- Scrambled sentence test
- Cooperative words (e.g. support) vs. Neutral (e.g. salad)
- Resource management game (how many fishes did they keep vs. return to the lake)
- Conscious cooperation goal (asked to cooperate) vs. nothing

FINDINGS:
- Participants more likely to cooperate when primed
Participants more likely to cooperate in the conscious cooperation goal condition

(Conscious Goals)

Front 32

Goal Intention

Back 32

Specifies what a person wants to achieve

(Implementation Intentions)

Front 33

Implementation Intention

Back 33

Specifies how a person will act toward a goal in if-then format. Produces heightened readiness to detect critical cues and enact behaviour once cue is encountered. Increases rate of goal-attainment.

(Implementation Intentions)

Front 34

Gollwitzer et al.'s (2011) Implementation Intention experiment

Back 34

- 10 minute Concentration Test (Simple but tedious)
- Goal Intention (I will try to find as many solutions as possible) vs. Implementation Intention (If i get distracted, then I will concentrate harder)
- Read about: Prosocial Prime (Mother Teresa) vs. Control (Margaret Thatcher)
- Participants left alone to do test.
- 2 Minutes later, confederate comes in asking for help
- DV how long did they spend helping the confederate

FINDINGS:
- Goal Intention spent more time compared to Implementation Intention. Especially when Prosocially primed.

(Implementation Intentions)

Front 35

Self-Control

Back 35

Restraining or overriding one response in favour of another more appropriate response (in order to pursue goals). Deliberate, conscious, effortful

(Self-Control)

Front 36

Examples of things that require self-control

Back 36

- Controlling thoughts
- Managing emotions
- Overcoming unwanted impulses
- Fixing attention
- Guiding behaviour
- Making choices

Front 37

Baumeister et al.'s (1998) experiment

Back 37

- Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and bowl of radishes on table
- Participants asked to taste only one of the foods
- Impossible line tracing task
- DV persistance on line tracing task

FINDINGS:
- Participants persisted less when eating radishes as the self-control resources were used on not eating the cookies

(Self-Control)

Front 38

How is self-control like a muscle?

Back 38

We can build strength. We conserve resources unless otherwise motivated to do well.

(Self-Control)

Front 39

Goal Disengagement

Back 39

Natural and indispensable aspect of personal development and effective self regulation. Time and resources are limited. Reduces effort (behavioural) and commitment (psychological).

(Goal Disengagement)

Front 40

Goal Reengagement

Back 40

Helps us maintain as sense of meaning and purpose

(Goal Disengagement)

Front 41

Wrosch et al.'s (2007) experiment

Back 41

- Measured level of disengagement and reengagement in University students
- Evaluated Health
- Subjective wellbeing (e.g. Life Satisfaction)

FINDINGS:
- High goal disengagement, low health problems, high sleep efficiency, low emotional upset
- High goal disengagement, Low cold symptoms but only when goal reengagement was low
- High goal disengagement, high life satisfaction but only when low goal reengagement

Front 42

Derrick (2012) Experiment

Back 42

- Free writing task (any story) vs. Regulated writing task (any story; can't use the letters a or i)
- Television Essay (favourite T.V. story) vs. Neutral Listing (list items that are at home)
- DV is RAT performance (3 words with something in common)

FINDINGS:
- Watching T.V. can help replenish self-control!
- Free writers had more correct RAT items with the Neutral Listing condition
- Free Writers and Regulated Writers recorded almost the same number of correct RAT items in the Television Essay condition
- Regulated Writers reported worse moods in the Neutral Listing condition
- Free Writers in both the conditions and Regulated writers in the Television Essay condition reported similar mood levels