Self-regulation Flashcards
What is Craver & Scheier’s (1982) definition of ‘self-regulation’?
Craver & Scheier (1982)
People adopt & manage goals & standards for their thoughts, feelings & behaviour & then ensure that these goals & standards are met
What does self-regulation of goal pursuit involve?
- Begins with a wish to set a goal
- Pursue it
- Attain/disengage from the goal
How do we successful pursue a goal?
- identify & act on the means (identify what we need to do to achieve the goal)
- monitor our goal progress
- identify & overcome obstacles (e.g. cope with low progress & negative feedback)
What is ‘persistence’?
Setting a goal, sticking to achieving it & overcoming obstacles
What is the simple process of goal pursuit?
Have a wish → set a goal → strive to reach the goal → act on means/overcome obstacles → achievement/disengagement
What are ‘goals’?
Mental representations of a desired outcome containing info on means, obstacles & the outcome
- goal must be different from the present state
What are ‘means’?
Activities/objects/people instrumental for goal pursuit
A memory representation of a goal may contain info about…
…possible obstacles
On which aspects might goals differ on?
- importance/value
- abstraction level
- motivation
What feature did Atkinson (1964) propose might goals differ on?
Importance/value
The perceived expectancy of success
Vallacher & Wegner (1989) states that goals can vary in abstraction level.
What does this mean?
- higher-order goals often lead to lower-order goals to help achieve them
When do we usually think about lower-order goals, according to Vallacher & Wegner (1989)?
When we want to get something specific done, we tend to think about lower-order goals
When do we usually think about higher-order goals, according to Vallacher & Wegner (1989)?
When we have problems with motivation, we tend to think about higher-order goals
Which researcher/s states that goals can differ in terms of motivational orientation (e.g. regulatory focus)?
Higgins (1998)
According to Higgins (1998), how might goals differ in terms of motivational orientation?
We can have promotion goals & prevention goals
- promotion goal = “I want a 2:1”
- prevention goal = “I want to avoid a 2:2”
How we approach goals (i.e. the focus) can be result of a chronic behavioural tendency/situational factors
What are we more motivated by when our goals have a promotion focus?
When goals have a promotion focus → more motivated by gains
What are we more motivated by when our goals have a prevention focus?
When goals have a prevention focus → more motivated by losses
The focus of a goal influences how people pursue that goal.
Name a study that supports this statement.
Crowe & Higgins, 1997 found that a prevention focus caused people to work slower but more carefully
According to Kruglanski et al. (2001), what types of links join goals to other goals in memory?
Kruglanski et al. (2001) – goals are represented with FACILITATIVE & INHIBITORY links to other goals in memory
If your goal is to be skinny, what type of link in memory will it have to ‘drinking beer’?
If the goal is to be skinny → it will have an inhibitory link to drinking beer
We must inhibit thoughts about one goal to complete another goal. What mechanism do we have to help us with this?
We have a mechanism that, when an important goal is activated, it makes us forget about other conflicting goals
Who proposed the idea of ‘goal shielding’?
Shah et al. (2002)
What is ‘goal shielding’?
Activating an important goal lowers the accessibility of other conflicting goals
What did Shah et al. (2002) do to investigate ‘goal shielding’?
Shah et al. (2002) - pps listed an important goal & focused on this goal, then thought about other goals
–> pps listed fewer other goals when they were highly committed to one important goal
In what type/s of people did Shah et al. (2002) find that goal shielding occurred in?
This goal shielding effect only occurred in people whom were highly committed to their primary goal & who had high goal tenacity
When a goal is not important & the person is not good at achieving their goals, what is the result?
When a goal is not important & the person is not good at achieving their goals, the goal is not achieved
What makes goals motivating?
When they have a high value (i.e. are desirable)
What types of motivation are there?
- extrinsic motivation
- intrinsic motivation
Where does extrinsic motivation originate?
Extrinsic motivation originates from external factors that are associated with achieving a goal (social approval, money, etc.)
Where does intrinsic motivation originate?
Intrinsic motivation originates from within the person, when we enjoy the activity
What did Wolley et al. (2015) find it associated with pursuing goals?
Wolley et al. (2015) - ‘fun’ is associated with pursuing goals
What did Deci & Ryan (1985) claim that a goal reflects?
Deci & Ryan (1985) – a goal reflects a person’s ‘true’ interests & needs
When we are PLANNING to pursue a goal, what type of incentives are important?
When planning to pursue a goal, EXTERNAL incentives are important
When we are PURSUING a goal, what type of incentives are important?
While we are pursuing goals → INTERNAL incentives are important – we keep trying to achieve the goal because it is fun & challenging, we are less concerned about what others think
What did Walz & Deterding (2015) find about the effect of incentives on running on a treadmill?
When people focused on internal incentives (the experience of doing something fun/cleaning the mind/internal benefits), they spent more time running on a treadmill
When people focused on external incentives, they ran for less time
What did Walz & Deterding (2015) conclude from their treadmill incentives study?
It is more effective to think about internal reasons when trying to continue achieving goal
What did Walz & Deterding (2015) find about the effect of incentives on going to the gym?
Asked people who went to the gym to focus on what they could get from going to gym (external) or what they could get from exercising (internal)
–> the internal group exercised for 10 mins more than the external group
What did Walz & Deterding (2015) conclude from their gym incentives study?
External get people to start going to gym (begin a goal), internal get people to continue (continue pursuing a goal)
What is the overjustification effect?
Extrinsic reward can extinguish intrinsic motivation
Who did a study on children & the effect of motivation to play with marker pens?
Lepper et al. (1973)
What did Lepper et al.’s (1973) marker pen study involve?
Lepper et al. (1973) – children were intrinsically motivated to play with marker pens
Children either…
a) expected a reward for playing with them
b) got given an unexpected reward
c) got given no reward
Lepper et al. (1973) observed which activities each group spent most time doing
- -> those who expected a reward for playing with the markers (extrinsically motivated) used them enough to get then reward, then stopped
- -> those who genuinely enjoyed using the markers (intrinsically motivated) used for them longer
Can goals be automatic?
Goals can be automatically activated & pursued
Schemas can be activated when we encounter something that reminds you of that schema.
How does this relate to goals?
Goals are schemas so…
Goals can be activated when we encounter something that reminds you of that goal.
Who did a study on the effect of parents & their ability to activate goals in us?
Shah (2003)
What did Shah’s (2003) study involve?
- parents are good primers for goals (they know what we want to achieve)
Shah (2003) investigated whether thinking about our mother would activate goals related to our mother
Pps thought about their mother’s name & goals that their mother wanted them to achieve → activates their mother in memory
Pps also rated how close their relationship with their mother was
What did Shah (2003) find?
Shah (2003):
–> if pps were close to their mother, when they thought about her they were motivated to pursue goals that their mother wanted them to achieve
Who did a study investigated how goals might impact our vision?
Vogt et al. (2011)
What did Vogt et al. (2011) to investigate how our goals impact our vision?
Vogt et al. (2011):
The disgust group had a goal to be clean → touched a gross object (plastic faeces)
The control group had a neutral goal → touched a neutral object, (tape)
Vogt et al. (2011) investigated whether pps were more likely to see soap & water in the environment
Wold goal activation (of the ‘to be clean’ goal) lead pps to attend to disgust & cleanliness?
–> the disgust group only paid attention to pictures of water & chose things relevant to their goal (being clean)
Ferguson & Bargh (2004) found that our attitudes can be affected by our goals. What did they find?
Ferguson & Bargh (2004) – when a goal is activated, people have more positive attitudes towards ‘instrumental’ stimuli (stimuli that would help us to achieve our goal)
Have more negative attitudes towards stimuli that obstruct goal achievement
We feel closer to people that help us achieve our goals.
Who found this?
Fitzsimmons & Fishbach (2010)
What is the Zeigarnik effect?
Zeigarnik (1929) – = people remember uncompleted tasks & goals better than completed ones
When a goal is activated, what happens to it?
When a goal is activated it stays activated until it is achieved
When we are interrupted from achieving a goal, what do we experience?
When we are interrupted from achieving a goal, we experience the Zeigarnik effect
What study supports the Zeigarnik effect?
Rothermund (2003) – after people completed a task, they could forget about it; if pps couldn’t finish a task, they always thought about it (had intrusive thoughts)
What is the exception to the Zeigarnik effect?
People like to dwell on important completed tasks
What is the difference between ‘goal representation’ & ‘non-goal representation’?
Goal representation = (e.g. buying a newspaper → thoughts about the newspaper become more activated until the goal is achieved); once a goal is achieved, the goal is inhibited to free the system for other goals
Non-goal representation = a goal stays active for a while that so we don’t forget about it
What is the planning fallacy?
The tendency for plans to be overly optimistic because we underestimate the impact of unexpected problems
What study supports the planning fallacy?
Buehler et al. (1994) – students underestimated how long it would take them (but not others) to finish assignments, even when they were making pessimistic predictions
Peetz et al. (2011, 2013) found that the planning fallacy occurred even when…
…pps predicted romantic promises & caring behaviour towards their partner, & saving behaviours
What does goal pursuit require for the goal to be achieved?
Goal pursuit requires monitoring for progress
What type of feedback is more important when we are STARTING a task?
Positive feedback is more important when we are starting a task
What type of feedback is more important when we are EXPERTS?
When we are experts, we are more motivated by negative feedback
Positive feedback can lower motivation & negative feedback can make people work harder.
Who found this?
Carver & Sheier (2001)
What did Effron et al. (2013) find sometimes happens when people receive positive feedback?
Effron et al. (2013) – positive feedback/imagined progress ‘licenses’ people to disengage from the goal, sometimes too soon
According to Fishbach & Finkelstein (2012), what type of feedback is more motivating when the value of the goal/ability to achieve the goal is unclear?
Positive feedback is more motivating when the value of the goal/ability to achieve the goal is unclear
According to Fishbach & Finkelstein (2012), what type of feedback is more motivating when the process (to achieve the goal) is unclear?
Negative feedback is more motivating when the process is unclear
Who proposed the formula of SMART goals?
Latham (2003)
What is the formula of SMART goals?
S – specific M – measurable A – attainable R – relevant T – time-bound
When aren’t we motivated to achieve a goal?
We aren’t motivated to achieve a goal without the expectancy of success - we must believe/know that the goal is attainable
Atkinson (1964) claims that motivation is a function of ______ & ______.
Atkinson (1964) claims that motivation is a function of VALUE & SUCCESS EXPECTANCY.
Oettingen (2011) says that goals are different because they lead to the recruitment of ______.
Oettingen (2011) says that goals are different because they lead to the recruitment of RESOURCES.
We prefer delayed larger rewards over smaller immediate rewards.
Who found this?
Ainslie (1975)
Shoda et al. (1990) found that 4 y/o who could wait longer showed…
…better self-control when they were adolescents & adults
What does Shoda et al.’s (1990) study suggest about self-control?
Shoda et al.’s (1990) study suggests that self-control is an innate ability
Good self-controllers can apply skills that can be adopted, such as…
Mischel et al. (1989) - avoiding exposure to temptation
Hofmann et al. (2012) - avoid exposure to several self-control conflicts in sequence
