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The concept of a human need for relatedness is among the oldest and most generative topics in psychology. Yet despite the considerable attention relatedness has received, some basic aspects of this important construct remain poorly understood. Specifically, the literature to this point has been inconclusive with regard to how one's lifetime experiences of relatedness may be related to how much individuals value additional or new experiences of relatedness. The present investigation directly addressed this question using a multimethod approach. Three studies found consistent support for a positive association between person-level relatedness and the incremental value of new relatedness experiences. That is, those who reported having experienced more relatedness in their lives nevertheless reported anticipating and extracting more affective value from additional social encounters. By contrast, those having experienced less relatedness in life reported less incremental value-a pattern consistent with a process of person-level accommodation or desensitization.

This research tests whether the perception of red in an achievement context evokes avoidance behavior without conscious awareness and also examines the context specificity of the hypothesized red effect. In Experiment 1, participants were briefly shown red or green on the cover of an analogies test that they would ostensibly take (an achievement context) or rate on likability of (a nonachievement context) in an adjacent lab. Those shown red, relative to those shown green, knocked fewer times on the door of the adjacent lab in the achievement context; no red-green difference in knocking was observed in the nonachievement context. In Experiment 2, participants were briefly shown red, green, or gray on the cover of an IQ test that they would ostensibly take. Those shown red moved their body away from the test cover to a greater degree than did those shown green or gray. This research contributes to incipient work on color psychology and to the more established literature on the automatic link between evaluation and behavior. Keywords: color; red; movement; avoidance; evaluation

This research examines the hypothesis that an attentional process grounded in avoidance motivation--local relative to global processing--mediates the negative effect of red on intellectual performance. This hypothesis was tested in a series of experiments using two approaches to documenting mediation. Experiment 1 established that the perception of red undermines IQ test performance. Experiments 2a and 2b documented mediation via the experimental causal chain approach, and Experiment 3 documented mediation via the measurement of mediation approach. This represents the first demonstration of a mediational process in the domain of color psychology. A call is made to broaden priming research to include color stimuli. Keywords: red; avoidance; focus of attention; performance; mediation

In this research, the authors questioned the statistical independence of implicit and explicit motives. Their first aim was to identify a methodological factor that may have weakened implicit-explicit motive correlations in past research. Their second aim was to identify personality traits that moderate implicit-explicit motive congruence. They found that implicit and explicit need for achievement (nAch) are significantly correlated, but only if the implicit and explicit measures are matched in content. Three traits were found to uniquely moderate the relationship between implicit and explicit nAch: private body consciousness, self-monitoring, and preference for consistency. These findings indicate that implicit and explicit nAch are systematically related and suggest that some individuals may use implicit nAch as a foundation for the development of explicit nAch. Keywords: implicit and explicit motives; congruence; moderation; self-monitoring; interoception; private body consciousness

This research put Gable's (in press) hierarchical model of approach-avoidance social motivation to empirical test using newly developed measures of friendship-approach and avoidance goals. The results from Study 1 supported the psychometric soundness of the new goal measures and showed the anticipated differential predictive patterns for the two goals. The results from Study 2 provided further evidence of the psychometric soundness of the new goal measures and provided support for the full hierarchical model in longitudinal analyses of subjective well-being and physical symptomotology. Implications of the present research for understanding motivation both within and beyond the social domain are discussed. Keywords: social; motivation; relationships; approach-avoidance; goals

The present research was designed to examine hypotheses derived from the proposition that shame is the core of fear of failure. Study 1 was conducted in a naturalistic setting and demonstrated that individuals high in fear of failure reported greater shame upon a perceived failure experience than those low in fear of failure. These findings were obtained controlling for other negative emotions. Study 2 was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting and demonstrated that high fear of failure individuals reported greater shame, overgeneralization, and closeness to their mother (controlling for baseline levels of these variables) than those low in fear of failure. Those high in fear of failure also reported that they would be less likely to tell their mother and father about their failure experience and would be more likely to tell their mother and father about their success experience. The implications of these findings for acquiring a deeper understanding of fear of failure are discussed. Keywords: shame; fear of failure; motivation; avoidance

The intergenerational transmission of fear of failure was examined in two studies with undergraduates and their parents. Parent-undergraduate concordance in fear of failure was documented for mothers and fathers, controlling for parents' and undergraduate's impression management and self-deceptive enhancement response tendencies. Love withdrawal was validated as a mediator of parent-undergraduate concordance in fear of failure for mothers but not for fathers. Mothers' and fathers' fear of failure was also a positive predictor of undergraduate's adoption of performance-avoidance goals in the classroom, and undergraduate's fear of failure was shown to mediate this relationship. Fathers 'fear of failure was also a negative predictor of undergraduate's mastery goal adoption, and this relationship was likewise mediated by undergraduate's fear of failure. The results are discussed in terms of the reorienting of positive, appetitive achievement motivation toward negative, aversive achievement motivation. Keywords: motive; goals; achievement; failure; avoidance

To test Harackiewicz and Sansone's prediction that task-specific target goals would enhance intrinsic motivation when they were congruent with higher order purpose goals, we varied performance and mastery-oriented target goals in neutral and performance-oriented purpose goal contexts and included a no-goals control group. Results provided strong support across three measures of intrinsic motivation, indicating that performance target goals undermined interest relative to mastery target goals in a neutral context but that performance target goals enhanced intrinsic motivation relative to mastery target goals in Performance purpose goal contexts. Process analyses revealed that competence valuation and task involvement mediated these effects., When people sit down with a crossword puzzle or stand at a pinball machine, ready to play, they often have multiple goals for their behavior. Some of these goals may [...]

Even when goals are self-generated, they may not feel truly 'personal,' that is, autonomous and self-integrated. In three studies (one concurrent and two prospective), we found that the autonomy of personal goals predicted goal attainment. In contrast, the strength of 'controlled' motivation did not predict attainment. Studies 2 and 3 validated a mediational model in which autonomy led to attainment because it promoted sustained effort investment. In Study 3, the Goal Attainment Scaling methodology was used to provide a more objective measure of goal attainment, and additional analyses were performed to rule out expectancy, value, and expectancy x value explanations of the autonomy-to-attainment effects. Results are discussed in terms of contemporary models of volition and self-regulation., Many of us have had the experience of making a New Year's resolution that quickly faded. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not limited to New Year's resolutions but occurs throughout the [...]

The present research comprises two studies designed to investigate both antecedents and consequences of pursuing avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals over the course of a semester-long period. Results revealed [...]

Typical human color vision is trichromatic, on the basis that we have three distinct classes of photoreceptors. A recent evolutionary account posits that trichromacy facilitates detecting subtle skin color changes to better distinguish important social states related to proceptivity, health, and emotion in others. Across two experiments, we manipulated the facial color appearance of images consistent with a skin blood perfusion response and asked participants to evaluate the perceived attractiveness, health, and anger of the face (trichromatic condition). We additionally simulated what these faces would look like for three dichromatic conditions (protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia). The results demonstrated that flushed (relative to baseline) faces were perceived as more attractive, healthy, and angry in the trichromatic and tritanopia conditions, but not in the protanopia and deuteranopia conditions. The results provide empirical support for the social perception account of trichromatic color vision evolution and lead to systematic predictions of social perception based on ecological social perception theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the strategic use of competence valuation in achievement settings and examined the consequences of implementing this self-enhancement strategy for intrinsic motivation. In two studies, participants reported higher competence valuation following positive feedback; in turn, competence valuation was positively related to intrinsic motivation. Competence valuation mediated the direct relationship between feedback and intrinsic motivation, and this mediation was independent of perceived competence, which also served a mediational function. Study 2 identified the specific nature of the observed effects. Participants receiving positive feedback reported higher competence valuation (and perceived competence), which led to enhanced intrinsic motivation; the reciprocal processes were not operative for those receiving negative feedback.

We created a life-goal assessment drawing from self-determination theory and achievement goal literature, examining its predictive power regarding immoral behavior and subjective well-being. Our source items assessed direction and energization of motivation, via the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic aims and between intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for acting, respectively. Fused source items assessed four goal complexes representing a combination of direction and energization. Across three studies ( Ns = 109, 121, and 398), the extrinsic aim/extrinsic reason complex was consistently associated with immoral and/or unethical behavior beyond four source and three other goal complex variables. This was consistent with the triangle model of responsibility's claim that immoral behaviors may result when individuals disengage the self from moral prescriptions. The extrinsic/extrinsic complex also predicted lower subjective well-being, albeit less consistently. Our goal complex approach sheds light on how self-determination theory's goal contents and organismic integration mini-theories interact, particularly with respect to unethical behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has shown that men perceive women wearing red, relative to other colors, as more attractive and more sexually receptive; women's perceptions of other women wearing red have scarcely been investigated. We hypothesized that women would also interpret female red as a sexual receptivity cue, and that this perception would be accompanied by rival derogation and intentions to mate-guard. Experiment 1 demonstrated that women perceive another woman in a red, relative to white, dress as sexually receptive. Experiment 2 demonstrated that women are more likely to derogate the sexual fidelity of a woman in red, relative to white. Experiment 3 revealed that women are more likely to intend to guard their romantic partner from a woman wearing a red, relative to a green, shirt. These results suggest that some color signals are interpreted similarly across sex, albeit with associated reactions that are sex-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that performance is particularly undermined by time pressure when people are avoidance motivated. The results supported this hypothesis across three different types of tasks, including those well suited and those ill suited to the type of information processing evoked by avoidance motivation. We did not find evidence that stress-related emotions were responsible for the observed effect. Avoidance motivation is certainly necessary and valuable in the self-regulation of everyday behavior. However, our results suggest that given its nature and implications, it seems best that avoidance motivation is avoided in situations that involve (time) pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research sought to extend the nascent literature on color and psychological functioning by examining whether perception of the color green facilitates creativity. In four experiments, we demonstrated that a brief glimpse of green prior to a creativity task enhances creative performance. This green effect was observed using both achromatic (white, gray) and chromatic (red, blue) contrast colors that were carefully matched on nonhue properties, and using both picture-based and word-based assessments of creativity. Participants were not aware of the purpose of the experiment, and null effects were obtained on participants’ self-reported mood and positive activation. These findings indicate that green has implications beyond aesthetics and suggest the need for sustained empirical work on the functional meaning of green. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little research has been conducted on achievement motivation and memory and, more specifically, on achievement goals and memory. In the present research, the authors conducted two experiments designed to examine the influence of mastery-approach and performance-approach goals on immediate and delayed remember–know recognition memory. The experiments revealed differential effects for achievement goals over time: Performance-approach goals showed higher correct remember responding on an immediate recognition test, whereas mastery-approach goals showed higher correct remember responding on a delayed recognition test. Achievement goals had no influence on overall recognition memory and no consistent influence on know responding across experiments. These findings indicate that it is important to consider quality, not just quantity, in both motivation and memory, when studying relations between these constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]