{"title":"An Examination of the Motivations to Maintain, Approach, and Avoid by Proximity to the Ideal State","authors":"Yael Ecker, Michael Gilead, R. Imhoff","doi":"10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.88","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The current research examined the motivations to maintain, approach, and avoid at different distances from one's ideal state. Although keeping things as they are (maintenance) is often equated with avoiding changes, we predicted pronounced differences between these goals’ motivation gradients. We reasoned that maintenance goals are energized by positive current states, leading motivation to increase with proximity to the ideal. Avoidance, in contrast, is energized by threat, and therefore decreases with proximity to the ideal, which implicates reduced threat. Three studies (N = 599) found a robust pattern wherein the motivation gradient of maintenance is distinct from both approach and avoidance. Participants reported motivation in hypothetical scenarios in the domains of financial gain and weight loss. The motivation to maintain increased with proximity to the ideal state, while both motivations to approach and avoid decreased. Our results support a ternary goal distinction and may inspire future research in that direction.","PeriodicalId":48050,"journal":{"name":"Social Cognition","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Social Cognition","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2023.41.1.88","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The current research examined the motivations to maintain, approach, and avoid at different distances from one's ideal state. Although keeping things as they are (maintenance) is often equated with avoiding changes, we predicted pronounced differences between these goals’ motivation gradients. We reasoned that maintenance goals are energized by positive current states, leading motivation to increase with proximity to the ideal. Avoidance, in contrast, is energized by threat, and therefore decreases with proximity to the ideal, which implicates reduced threat. Three studies (N = 599) found a robust pattern wherein the motivation gradient of maintenance is distinct from both approach and avoidance. Participants reported motivation in hypothetical scenarios in the domains of financial gain and weight loss. The motivation to maintain increased with proximity to the ideal state, while both motivations to approach and avoid decreased. Our results support a ternary goal distinction and may inspire future research in that direction.
期刊介绍:
An excellent resource for researchers as well as students, Social Cognition features reports on empirical research, self-perception, self-concept, social neuroscience, person-memory integration, social schemata, the development of social cognition, and the role of affect in memory and perception. Three broad concerns define the scope of the journal: - The processes underlying the perception, memory, and judgment of social stimuli - The effects of social, cultural, and affective factors on the processing of information The behavioral and interpersonal consequences of cognitive processes.