Forecasting the duration of emotions: A motivational account and self-other differences.

The effect of event valence on unrealistic optimism was studied. 94 Deakin University students rated the comparative likelihood that they would experience either a controllable or an uncontrollable health-related event. Valence was manipulated to be positive (outcome was desirable) or negative (outcome was undesirable) by varying the way a given event was framed. Participants either were told the conditions which promote the event and rated the comparative likelihood they would experience it or were told the conditions which prevent the event and rated the comparative likelihood they would avoid it. For both the controllable and the uncontrollable events, unrealistic optimism was greater for negative than positive valence. It is suggested that a combination of the ‘motivational account’ of unrealistic optimism and prospect theory provides a good explanation of the results.

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The Motivated Self: Self-Affirmation and the Better-Than-Average Effect

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin ◽

10.1177/0146167212457074 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 014616721245707

Author(s):

Corey L. Guenther ◽

Elizabeth A. Timberlake

Keyword(s):

Future Research ◽

Average Effect ◽

Self Knowledge ◽

And Behavior ◽

Motivational Account ◽

Better Than

Research has shown that individuals routinely espouse “better-than-average” beliefs across a host of traits, skills, and abilities. Although some theorists take this tendency as evidence of self-enhancement motives guiding the organization and understanding of self-knowledge, others argue that better-than-average perceptions can be fully explained by nonmotivational processes. The present studies inform this controversy by exploring whether self-affirmation attenuates the magnitude of this comparative bias. Consistent with a motivational account, Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that the better-than-average effect is reliably reduced following the affirmation of an important self-aspect. Moreover, Study 2 shows this attenuation to be primarily the product of self-ratings becoming more modest following an affirmation. Discussion focuses on potential avenues for future research as well as on the current findings’ implications for understanding the role of self-enhancement in judgment and behavior.

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Understanding the Terrorist Threat

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1177/2372732214549747 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 248-255 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Edward Orehek ◽

Anna Vazeou-Nieuwenhuis

Keyword(s):

Emotional Response ◽

Political Context ◽

Terrorist Threat ◽

Counter Terrorism ◽

Personal Significance ◽

Psychological Warfare ◽

Motivational Account

Terrorism is a tool designed to reach political objectives. Terrorism emerges in a social and political context, representing a form of psychological warfare aimed at achieving political goals by eliciting an emotional response in the populace of a perceived adversary. As such, terrorism requires both the ability to penetrate the enemy’s defenses and the motivation to justify violence. This article presents a means-end motivational account of terrorism, reviewing (a) the scope of the terrorist threat, (b) what drives perceiving terrorism as an instrumental means of reaching political goals, (c) how the quest for personal significance motivates adopting terrorism-justifying ideologies, and (d) how this understanding of terrorism may inform counter-terrorism policy considerations.

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Relational Discrepancy Theory: The Implications of Self-Discrepancy Theory for Dyadic Relationships and for the Emergence of Social Structure

Personality and Social Psychology Review ◽

10.1207/s15327957pspr0701_4 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 56-74 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Garry Robins ◽

Jennifer Boldero

Keyword(s):

Social Structure ◽

Dyadic Relationships ◽

Relationship Formation ◽

Discrepancy Theory ◽

Constrained Environments ◽

Relational Partners ◽

Self Discrepancy ◽

Relationship Cognition ◽

Motivational Account

Relationship formation and maintenance is guided by more than similarity between partners' actual selves. Expanding the domain of self-discrepancy theory (SDT; Higgins, 1987), we propose that a type of discrepancy previously not considered—discrepancies between self-aspects of relational partners—is central to relationship cognition, including perceptions of intimacy and trust, and to the emergence of roles within relationships. Our argument relates both to unconstrained environments, where individuals freely choose partners, and constrained environments (e.g., workplaces) with relationships imposed. We argue that SDT's prediction of emotional consequences from discrepancies permits a motivational account of why individuals might form and maintain relationships in terms of hierarchies and roles.

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