Does Sequence Matter?: An Investigation Into the Motivated Processing of Sequentially Coactive Messages

Abstract. This study examined the role of motivation in processing sequentially coactive content (i.e., positive leading to negative or the reverse). A motivational inhibition hypothesis was proposed to predict the processing of sequentially coactive content as a function of changes in arousing content. Results provided evidence in support of the mutual inhibitory effects between the appetitive and aversive systems during sequential coactivation and further revealed the role of change in arousing content in resource allocation during different patterns of motivational inhibition. Theoretically, this study extended previous work in offering a clarification on the boundary conditions governing the effect of proposed motivational inhibition when processing sequentially coactive content.