Lectures 11-12: Setting and Striving Towards Goals Flashcards
Define self-regulation
Process of regulation, control and alteration of behavior in pursuit of a goal
What is required for self-regulation?
Ability to prioritize long-term goals over immediate rewards
What does self-discrepancy theory suggest?
That we have multiple versions of ourselves
What are the different versions of our self? (According to self-discrepancy theory)
- Actual self
- Ideal self
- Ought self
Actual self
Who you believe you are right now
Ideal self
Who you wish you could be
Ought self
Who you think you should be based on responsibilities, expectations, and obligations
What do discrepancies between actual and ideal and/or ought selves lead to?
Plan of action to eliminate discrepancies
Regulatory focus theory
Proposes that different emotions arise because we use two distinct motivational systems when pursuing different goals
What are the two systems according to regulatory focus theory
Promotion and Prevention systems
Promotion system is associated with ______-self goals
Ideal
Prevention system is associated with ______-self goals
Ought
Promotion system focuses on _____ and _____ whereas Prevention system focuses on _____ and _____
Gain and Growth; Safety and Security
Promotion system is motivated by _______ ______ and ____ _____ opportunities, whereas Prevention system is motivated by ______ _____
Maximizing gains and Minimizing lost opportunities;
Loss aversion
In promotion system, success leads to ______ and _____ while failure leads to ____ and _________
Happiness and pride; disappointment and dejection
In prevention system, success leads to ______ and _____ while failure results in _____, ______ and ______
Relief and calm; Anxiety, Stress, and guilt
Where does regulatory focus motivation come from? (3)
- Temperament
- Culture
- Identity
(TCI)
What kind of parenting encourages promotion focus?
Bolstering and nurturing parenting that focuses on aspirations and progress
What kind of parenting encourages prevention focus?
Punitive, controlling parenting that focuses on obedience, obligations, and safety
Being in an __________ culture increases the chances of developing promotion focus
Individualistic
Being in a ____________ culture increases chances of developing a prevention focus
Collectivistic
Interacting with someone who resembles an _____ _____ can activate regulatory focus
Important person
Explicit rejection triggers ______ focus
Prevention
Being ignored triggers _________ focus
Promotion
Dan got overtly rejected, what are the likely two reactions to be displayed?
- He will pull back to avoid further harm - Anxiety and withdrawal
- He will start second-guessing what he said or did wrong - Regret over actions
Justin got ignored, what reactions is he likely to display? (2)
- Increased motivation to engage - Sadness but motivation to reconnect
- Wishing he had spoken or done more - regret over inactivity
Direct rejection leads to _______ physical ________ sensitivity
Greater, Pain
What does explicit rejection trigger
Anxiety, withdrawal, hyper-vigialnce to avoid further harm
Why hyperalgesia in face of elicit rejection may be perceived as an adaptive response?
Increased pain sensitivity allows for detection and avoidance of further social threats
Passive exclusion can lead to _______ physical _______ sensitivity
reduced pain
What could be a potential adaptive function of analgesia in face of being ignored
Body dampens the pain to keep focus on reconnecting
Properties of promotion focus (Eager Approach) (5)
- Growth and achievement focus
- Active opportunity seeking
- Risk taking for advancement
- Sensitive to gains and missed gains
- Ability to maintain enthusiasm by imagining success or inflating positive self-valuations
Properties of prevention focus (vigilant avoidance) (3)
- Use of vigilant strategies - more careful, cautious, focused on avoiding mistakes
- Sensitive to losses and non-losses
- Ability to maintain vigilant approach by imagining possibility of failure or deflating positive self-valuations
As promotion-focused individuals get closer to their goals, they become even more _______ to _______ their _______ outcome
Eager to reach their ideal outcome
As prevention-focused individuals get closer to their goals, they become even more _____ to ensure they _______ make _______
Vigilant to ensure they don’t make mistakes
Are both promotion- and prevention-focused individuals strictly rigid in their approaches as they get closer to reaching their goals?
No, both types of individuals can use different strategies, depending on their goals and current status
Let’s say Dan has an prevention focus and he is in a neutral state, what will he aim to do?
Maintain his position at zero to hold on to stability
Let’s say Alex has a promotion focus and they are in a neutral state, what will they aim to do?
Move forward from the neutral state, take risks just to go above neutrality
Let’s say someone with a promotion focus fell into a state of failure or loss (below zero), how is it likely to influence them as opposed to neutral state?
Likely to have no influence since both neutral and failure states are seen as failure states
Let’s say someone with a prevention focus falls below neutrality into a state of failure, how is it likely to affect them compared to neutral state?
It is likely to make them take more risks to get back to the state of safety
Dan is prevention focused, he just lost a fair sum of cash, what behavior are we likely to see in regard to his financial decisions?
He is likely to take a risk, but only if it has a potential to recover his loss
If a prevention-focused individual moves past neutrality (success), how is it likely to affect them compared to neutral state?
No effect since both neutral state and state of success are seen as success
If a promotion-focused individual moves into a state of success, what changes are we likely to see in their behavior compared to neutral state?
Will take fewer risks if they believe they’ve made enough progress, will continue taking risks if they think that not enough progress has been made
What are the trade-offs when it comes to speed in promotion and prevention focuses?
Promotion focus individuals prioritize speed over accuracy, which may lead to faster decision making, but lead to more errors
Prevention focus individuals prioritize accuracy over speed, which may lead to fewer errors at the cost of time
Promotion-focused individuals thrive on _______, whereas prevention-focused individuals thrive on ________
Success, failure
Success allows promotion focused individuals to ….
Failure allows prevention focused individuals to …
Reflect on their achievements to boost confidence
Sharpen their focus and remain cautions
Promotion-focused individuals struggle with _____ because it makes them lose momentum
Prevention-focused individuals struggle with _____ because it makes them less alert and engaged
Failure
Success
Promotion-focused individuals persist longer when they focus on …
Prevention-focused individuals persist longer when they focus on…
Strength and potential
Weakness and risks
What type of feedback is more beneficial for promotion-focused individuals?
What about prevention-focused invidividuals?
Feedback on their success
Feedback on their failure
Promotion-focused individuals are inspired by …..
Prevention-focused individuals are inspired by ……
Role models and inspiring stories
Negative role models and cautionary tales
What are the expectations each type of focus employs?
Promotion focus employs high expectations, increasing pursuit of high-value rewards
Prevention focus employs low expectations to fuel their vigilance
Main weakness of promotion is _______ and ______ ______whereas the main weakness of prevention is ______ ______ and ______
Overconfidence and ignoring failure; excessive caution and anxiety
Optimism allows promotion-focused individuals to ______ _____ but it can also lead them to _____ _____
Bounce back, ignore weaknesses
Vigilance helps prevention-focused individuals to _____ ______ but it can also be _____ ______
Stay alert; Mentally exhausting
Promotion-focused individuals are more likely to _______ their control over outcome and _______ risks
overestimate, downplay
Prevention-focused individuals are likely to _______ on failure, which allows them to ______ their cautious mindset
Fixate, maintain
In extreme cases, over-eagerness in promotion-focused individuals leads to ______ optimism or even _______ ________
Unrealistic, manic tendencies
To maintain vigilance, prevention-focused individuals may ______ their expectations too much, leading to _____-_____ and excessive _____
Lower, self-doubts, excessive worry
In extreme cases, hypervigilance in prevention-focus may lead to ______ ______
Anxiety disorders
