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Many teachers experience high levels of work-related strain due to time pressure, which over time can lead to various health problems, such as emotional exhaustion. However, there is growing evidence that this could be a reciprocal effect. Moreover, it is known that perceived social support can buffer the negative effects of stress, such as time pressure, on health outcomes. Less is known about buffering effects of received social support. Based on longitudinal data of n=1071 Swiss primary and secondary school teachers over the course of one school year, the present study examined the reciprocal relationship between teachers��� perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion and whether received social support from the school principal buffers this relationship. Results of a random intercept cross-lagged panel model show a strong relationship between teachers��� perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion at the between-person level, but no effects at the within-person level. Further, received social support was directly related to less perceived time pressure and less emotional exhaustion. The results showed neither evidence for reciprocal effects between perceived time pressure and emotional exhaustion nor for a buffering effect of received social support from the school principal. Concluding, present findings indicate that the receipt of social support from the school principal is a central job resource that beneficially relates to teachers��� experience of time pressure and emotional exhaustion., +repphzhbib2021F

Basic psychological need satisfaction is essential for the wellbeing of teachers and motivation at work. Transformational leadership contributes to the development and maintenance of a respectful, constructive atmosphere, a supportive working climate, and has been suggested to be a crucial factor for the satisfaction of the need for relatedness of employees. Transformational leadership is also considered as an ideal leadership style in the school setting, but most studies did not distinguish between individual and team effects of this leadership behavior. In the present study, we applied the dual-focused model of transformational leadership and focused on social processes to address the question of whether individual- and group-focused transformational leadership behavior contribute differently to satisfaction of the need for relatedness of teachers. Based on longitudinal data with three measurement points across one school year of n=1,217 teachers, results of structural equational models supported the notion of the dual effects of transformational leadership: Individual-focused transformational leadership was directly positively related to change in satisfaction of the need for relatedness of teachers. The relationship between group-focused transformational leadership and change in satisfaction of the need for relatedness was mediated by received social support from team members. These findings emphasize the importance of school leadership behavior of principals for satisfaction of the need for relatedness of teachers. The satisfaction of the need for relatedness is, therefore, not only satisfied through the direct interaction between the school principal and the individual teacher but also through interactions of the school principal with the whole team. Our results confirm that school principals should focus their leadership behavior both on individual need satisfaction of teachers as well as on team development., +repphzhbib2021F

Implicit motive research has shown that implicit motives are important predictors of behavior and well-being. However, little is known about the interrelationship between the different implicit motives measures frequently applied. We aimed to shed light on the convergent validity of three implicit motive measures and wanted to test their assumed statistical independence from three explicit motive measures. Therefore, we administered the picture story exercise (PSE), the operant motive test (OMT), and the multi-motive grid in one and the same study. As explicit measures, we used the personality research form, the motive enactment test, and a goal questionnaire. We investigated the statistical overlaps between all these measures (sample: 202 undergraduate students) and found that the implicit motive measures showed either no or only little correlation with each other. Furthermore, they also partly correlated with explicit motive measures. Supplementary analyses showed that the lack of statistical overlap between PSE and OMT can partly be ascribed to their different scoring systems. published

Endurance sports pose a plethora of mental demands that exercisers have to deal with. Unfortunately, investigations of exercise-specific demands and strategies to deal with them are insufficiently researched, leading to a gap in knowledge about athletic requirements and strategies used to deal with them. Here, we investigated which obstacles exercisers experience during an anaerobic (Wingate test) and an aerobic cycling test (incremental exercise test), as well as the strategies they considered helpful for dealing with these obstacles (qualitative analysis). In addition, we examined whether thinking of these obstacles and strategies in terms of if-then plans (or implementation intentions; i.e., “If I encounter obstacle O, then I will apply strategy S!”) improves performance over merely setting performance goals (i.e., goal intentions; quantitative analysis). N = 59 participants (age: M = 23.9 ± 6.5 years) performed both tests twice in a 2-within (Experimental session: 1 vs. 2) × 2-between (Condition: goal vs. implementation intention) design. Exercisers’ obstacles and strategies were assessed using structured interviews in Session 1 and subjected to thematic analysis. In both tests, feelings of exertion were the most frequently stated obstacle. Motivation to do well, self-encouragement, and focus on the body and on cycling were frequently stated strategies in both tests. There were also test-specific obstacles, such as boredom reported in the aerobic test. For session 2, the obstacles and strategies elicited in Session 1 were used to specify if-then plans. Bayesian mixed-factor ANOVA suggests, however, that if-then plans did not help exercisers to improve their performance. These findings shed novel light into the mental processes accompanying endurance exercise and the limits they pose on performance.

Objectives Successful sprint starts require self-control: Athletes need to avoid a false start (impulse control) and at the same time need to start as fast as possible (action initiation). Research from cognitive neuroscience shows that such self-control acts hinge on activity in areas in the lateral Prefrontal Cortex (lPFC). We are harnessing these findings in order to accurately analyze and better understand the neural basis of self-controlled sprint start performance. Design In a within-subject experimental design, participants executed three different sprint start sequences (Ready-Set-Go) for ten times each. In the no-start condition, participants only had to avoid producing a false start (impulse control) and in the experimental conditions - either with fixed or with supposedly variable set-start intervals - they additionally had to execute a fast start (impulse control + action initiation). Methods We used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cerebral oxygenation in the lPFC during sprint start in 33 male participants. Results Results show that cerebral oxygenation increased after the set-signal and this increase was particularly pronounced in the fixed and supposedly-variable start conditions. Post-hoc analyses further indicated that oxygenation differences between no-start and the two start conditions were particularly pronounced in anterior parts of the LPFC. Discussion This is the first study to reveal oxygenation changes in self-control relevant cortical areas during sprint start performance. This substantiates the claim that sprint starts impose self-control demands and provides a much called for application of neuroscience findings to the sport context.

(1) Background: A large body of research has examined the positive effects of physical activity on physical and mental health. However, for some, excessive exercise can develop into an addiction that is detrimental to their health. In the present study, we examine potential personal (self-control, self-concordance) and social (social support) resources that we assume to be related to exercise dependence. (2) Methods: One hundred and forty athletes from different endurance sports participated in an online survey. Exercise dependence, self-control, self-concordance, and social support were assessed using questionnaires that are well-established in health and sport psychology. Additionally, further sport-relevant and demographic variables were assessed. (3) Results: Correlational analyses supported our hypotheses that exercise dependence is negatively correlated with the personal resources trait, state self-control, and self-concordance. Social support, however, was not significantly correlated with exercise dependence. Furthermore, the results of a mediation analysis revealed that the relationship between both personal traits (self-control, self-concordance) and exercise dependence was mediated by state self-control. (4) Conclusions: Our results indicate that trait self-control and self-concordance might be important personal resources that protect against exercise dependence by making state self-control available.

Achievement incentives in sports are assumed to trigger achievement motivation, which in turn increases performance. We used a within-subject-design to test achievement motive arousal (using an A-B-A design) using video clips. We hypothesized that an ACH-video clip arouses the achievement motive (PSE) stronger, leads to better performance in a skipping task and elicits stronger perceived effort and commitment for the task than the NEUTRAL- and NO-video conditions. We investigated gender differences. 184 students (92 women, age: M = 27.66 years, SD = 9.72) participated in a three-part web-survey. Neither main nor interaction effects of Video-Condition and Gender were found on motive arousal and skipping frequency. Significant interaction effects on skipping slope and perceived effort, however, showed that women are more engaged after the ACH-video than after the NEUTRAL-video and NO-video and here even outperformed men. Results are discussed in terms of why external “motivators” (e.g., videos) affect men and women differently.

People often struggle with attaining their goals. One important reason for this intention-behavior gap pertains to the difficulties of goal striving: to be successful, people must get started, stay on track, and bring their goal pursuits to a successful close. We show the importance of goal striving for endurance activities and describe the self-regulatory strategy of if-then planning (implementation intentions), which is known to facilitate goal striving in several domains. We illustrate when and how implementation intentions work, summarise the literature regarding their facilitative effects on goal attainment, and discuss their potential for enhancing endurance performance.

Self-control is associated with several positive outcomes such as high performance in different life domains. The exertion of self-control, however, is experienced as strenuous and aversive. Referring to theoretical approaches from motivation psychology, we assume that striving for performance goals can feel more or less strenuous, because the goal is based on the implicit or on the explicit achievement motive or on both types of motives. We argue that three sources of self-control demands (difficulty of the task, lack of activity-related incentives and motive-goal incongruence) determine whether the process of goal striving feels easy, moderate, or hard, or, in other words, whether the path to high performance is “paved”, “graveled”, or “stony”.

Patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) frequently suffer from fatigue, but this debilitating symptom is not yet fully understood. We propose that self-control can be conceptually and mechanistically linked to the fatigue concept and might help explain some of the diversity on how PwMS who suffer from fatigue deal with this symptom. To test this claim, we first assessed how cortical oxygenation and measures of motor and cognitive state fatigue change during a strenuous physical task, and then we tested the predictive validity of trait fatigue and trait self-control in explaining the observed changes. A sample of N=51 PwMS first completed a test battery to collect trait measures of fatigue and self-control. PwMS then performed an isometric hand contraction task at 10% of their maximum voluntary contraction until exhaustion while we repeatedly assessed ratings of perceived cognitive and motor exertion. In addition, we continuously measured oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Linear mixed-effect models revealed significant increases in perceived motor and cognitive exertion, as well as increases in PFC oxygenation. Hierarchical stepwise regression analyses showed that higher trait self-control predicted a less steep increase in PFC oxygenation and perceived cognitive exertion, while trait fatigue did not predict change in any dependent variable. These results provide preliminary evidence for the suggested link between self-control and fatigue. As self-control can be enhanced with training, this finding possibly has important implications for devising nonpharmacological interventions to help patients deal with symptoms of fatigue.

Physical exercise is an effective tool for improving public health, but the general population exercises too little. Drawing on recent theorizing on the combined role of boredom and self-control in guiding goal-directed behavior, we test the hypothesis that individual differences in boredom and self-control differentiate high from low exercisers. The role of boredom as a non-adaptive disposition is of particular interest, because research on boredom in sports is scarce. Here, we investigate the role of such individual differences in self-reported weekly exercise behavior (in minutes) in a sample of N = 507 participants (n = 200 female, Mage = 36.43 (±9.54)). We used the robust variant of Mahalanobis distance to detect and remove n = 51 multivariate outliers and then performed latent profile analysis to assess if boredom (boredom proneness; exercise-related boredom) and self-control (trait self-control; if-then planning) combine into identifiable latent profiles. In line with theoretical considerations, the Bayesian Information Criterion favored a solution with two latent profiles. One profile was characterized by higher-than-average exercise-related boredom and boredom proneness and lower-than-average self-control and if-then planning values. This pattern was reversed for the second profile. A one-sided Bayesian two-sample t-test supported the hypothesis that the first profile is associated with less exercise behavior than the second profile, BF = 16.93. Our results foster the notion of self-control and if-then planning as adaptive dispositions. More importantly, they point to an important role of boredom in the exercise setting: exercise-related boredom and getting easily bored in general are associated with less exercise activity. This is in line with recent theorizing on boredoms' and self-controls’ function in guiding goal-directed behavior.

The empirical evidence for the relationship between autonomy-supportive environments and physiological stress is inconsistent. Whereas some studies report a decrease in stress in autonomy-supportive environments, other studies show a negative effect of autonomy on physiological stress. As previous research has not considered individual differences within this relationship, the present research aims to close this empirical gap by proposing that an implicit autonomy disposition, which is defined as a dispositional preference for self-determination, serves as a moderator. In an experiment, we tested whether the autonomy disposition moderates the effect of different teaching styles (controlling, autonomy-supportive, and neutral) on the acute physiological stress response (salivary alpha-amylase) in adolescents ( N = 69). The study revealed that participants with a high implicit autonomy disposition displayed lower salivary alpha-amylase responses when exposed to autonomy-supportive vignettes compared to when they were exposed to controlling or neutral teaching styles. The opposite pattern was found in students with a low implicit autonomy disposition. The results illustrate that experimentally induced variations in autonomy support lead to different physiological stress responses, depending on individual differences in the implicit autonomy disposition.

In the present study we examined the moderating effect of the power motive on salivary cortisol responses to acute psychosocial stress and exercise in adolescents. Fifty-seven high school students aged M = 14.8 years participated in the study. The Operant Motive Test was applied to measure the implicit power motive and the Personality Research Form was used to measure the explicit power motive. Salivary cortisol levels were assessed before and after the stress stimuli. Participants were randomly assigned to three experimental groups. An exercise group ran 15 minutes at a defined heart rate of 65-75% HRmax. A psychosocial stress group worked on a standard intelligence test for the same amount of time under the assumption, that their test scores will be made public in class after the test. The control group participated in a regular class session. The implicit power motive was significantly associated with increased cortisol levels in the psychosocial stress group. The explicit power motive was not associated with cortisol responses. Findings suggest that the implicit power motive moderates the cortisol responses to acute stress in an adolescent age group with higher responses to psychosocial stress in comparison to exercise or control conditions. published

Previous research showed that failure primes in academic learning contexts can impair the performance of both older school children and college students. The present research tested the effect of failure priming on cognitive and motor performance in elementary school children. We hypothesized that children incidentally confronted with a cue previously learned to indicate failure would perform worse on a cognitive task (Study 1, N = 54 second-graders) and a motor task (Study 2, N = 60 third-graders) than children confronted with a cue indicating success or children in a control group. The results showed that the failure prime group performed worse than the success prime group on an intelligence test (Study 1) and a ball-throwing exercise (Study 2). Neither experimental group differed from the control group. Our studies confirmed previous findings, showing that failure primes can be learned early in life and quickly (e.g., 1 year of failure prime exposure, Study 1). Furthermore, even a one-trial learning process (Study 2) suffices to turn an inherently neutral cue into a failure prime. This failure prime, in turn, can impair different types of performance such as cognitive and motor performance.

The present studies examined whether implicit or explicit autonomy dispositions moderate the relationship between felt autonomy and well-being. Study 1 (N = 187 undergraduate students) presents an initial test of the moderator hypothesis by predicting flow experience from the interaction of autonomy need satisfaction and autonomy dispositions. Study 2 (N = 127 physically inactive persons) used vignettes involving an autonomy (un)supportive coach to test a moderated mediation model in which perceived coach autonomy support leads to well-being through basic need satisfaction. Again, the effects of need satisfaction on well-being were hypothesized to be moderated by an implicit autonomy disposition. Study 1 showed that individuals with a strong implicit autonomy (but not power or achievement) motive disposition derived more flow experience from felt autonomy than individuals with a weak implicit autonomy disposition. Study 2 revealed that perceived autonomy support from sports coaches, which we experimentally induced with a vignette method, leads to autonomy satisfaction, leading in turn to positive effects on well-being. This indirect effect held at high and average but not low implicit autonomy disposition. The results indicate that the degree to which people benefit from autonomy need satisfaction depends on their implicit disposition toward autonomy.

Summary It has been previously shown that the implicit affiliation motive – the need to establish and maintain friendly relationships with others – leads to chronic health benefits. The underlying assumption for the present research was that the implicit affiliation motive also moderates the salivary cortisol response to acute psychological stress when some aspects of social evaluation and uncontrollability are involved. By contrast we did not expect similar effects in response to exercise as a physical stressor. Fifty-nine high school students aged M = 14.8 years were randomly assigned to a psychosocial stress (publishing the results of an intelligence test performed), a physical stress (exercise intensity of 65–75% of HRmax), and a control condition (normal school lesson) each lasting 15 min. Participants’ affiliation motives were assessed using the Operant Motive Test and salivary cortisol samples were taken pre and post stressor. We found that the strength of the affiliation motive negatively predicted cortisol reactions to acute psychosocial but not to physical stress when compared to a control group. The results suggest that the affiliation motive buffers the effect of acute psychosocial stress on the HPA axis.

In the present research, we conducted two studies designed to examine the joint influence of avoidance temperament and avoidance-based achievement goals on the experience of flow on a creativity task. In both a laboratory study (N = 101; Mage = 22.61, SDage = 4.03; 74.3% female) and a naturalistic study (N = 102; Mage = 16.23, SDage = 1.13; 48% female), participants high in avoidance temperament were shown to experience greater flow when performance-avoidance goals were induced; no differences were found in any of the other three achievement goal conditions from the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. These findings reveal a short-term benefit for a disposition-goal match grounded in avoidance motivation, and point to the need for more research on both avoidance-based matches and the short-term versus long-term implications of such matches.

The present research investigates whether and how learned symbols for failure reduce task performance. We tested the effect of number priming in two countries with different learning histories for numbers. Priming numbers associated with failure (6 in Germany and 1 in Switzerland) were hypothesized to reduce performance. As expected, in Switzerland, priming with the failure number 1 reduced performance (Study 1), whereas in Germany, priming with the failure number 6 impaired performance in analogy tasks (Study 2). Study 2 additionally analyzed the mechanism and showed that the relationship between failure number priming and performance was mediated by evoked avoidance motivation and that dispositional fear of failure moderated this mediation.

Background: Previous research has focused on the positive consequences of flow, an intrinsically rewarding state of deep absorption. In contrast, the present research links flow to impaired risk awareness and to risky behaviour. We expected flow to enhance self-efficacy beliefs, which in turn were hypothesised to result in low risk awareness and risky behaviour in sports. In addition, we predicted that individuals' level of experience in the activity would moderate the expected effects. Methods: One study with kayakers (Study 1) and two studies with rock climbers (Studies 2 and 3) were conducted. Kayakers completed a survey while still on the river; climbers responded during and upon completion of a climb. Results: In all studies flow was related to risk awareness. Study 2 additionally showed its association with risky behaviour. Studies 2 and 3 revealed that these relationships were mediated by self-efficacy. The mediations were moderated by level of experience (Study 3). Conclusions: The results indicated that inexperienced but not experienced participants respond to self-efficacy beliefs evoked by flow with impaired risk awareness and with risky behaviour. Theoretical implications for flow and risk research as well as practical implications for risk prevention are discussed.

The present research is based on the notion that disengagement from goals is not a discrete event but a process (Klinger, 1975). A critical phase in this process is when difficulties and setbacks in striving for a goal accumulate. This critical phase is termed here as an action crisis. Given the profound effects that people's thoughts have on their self-regulatory efficiency, it is essential to understand the cognitive correlates of an action crisis. In two experimental lab and two correlational field studies, the hypothesis that goal-related costs and benefits become cognitively highly accessible during an action crisis was tested and supported. Participants who were experiencing an action crisis in such diverse goal areas as intimate relationships, sports, and university studies, thought about goal-related costs and benefits more intensively and frequently in comparison to participants who were not in an action crisis. In an incidental learning task they recognized more of cost–benefit-items and less of implementation-items than the control group. Results are interpreted in terms of action phase specific mindsets (Gollwitzer, 1990, 2012). published

We have integrated the basic psychological needs approach from self-determination theory with motive disposition theory in order to enhance the prediction of flow experience in sports. We hypothesize that an environment that enables people to fulfill their basic psychological needs for competence and social relatedness results in flow. Additionally, we assume that the effect of competence need satisfaction is moderated by the achievement motive and that the effect of need-for-relatedness satisfaction is moderated by the affiliation motive. Four studies show the expected positive effects of need satisfaction on flow and further confirm that high achievement and affiliation-motivated individuals benefit more from competence and relatedness sports environments, respectively, than individuals low in these motives.

Objective Research on the strength model of self-regulation is burgeoning, but little empirical work has focused on the link between distinct types of daily goal pursuit and the depletion of self-regulatory resources. The authors conducted two studies on the link between avoidance goals and resource depletion. Method Study 1 (283 [228 female] Caucasians, ages 18–51) investigated the concurrent and longitudinal relations between avoidance goals and resource depletion over a 1-month period. Study 2 (132 [93 female] Caucasians, ages 18–49) investigated the concurrent and longitudinal relations between avoidance goals and resource depletion over a 1-month period and explored resource depletion as a mediator of the avoidance goal to subjective well-being relation. Results Studies 1 and 2 documented both a concurrent and a longitudinal negative relationship between avoidance goals and self-regulatory resources, and Study 2 additionally showed that self-regulatory resources mediate the negative link between avoidance goals and subjective well-being. Ancillary analyses demonstrated that the results observed in the two studies were independent of neuroticism. Conclusions These findings advance knowledge in both the resource depletion and avoidance goal literatures, and bolster the view that avoidance goal pursuit over time represents a self-regulatory vulnerability.

Zusammenfassung. Autonomieförderung gilt als ein wichtiger Prädiktor für intrinsische Motivation im Sport. Anlehnend an bestehende Arbeiten, die zeigen, dass der Zusammenhang von Autonomie und Motivation durch Unterschiede in der dispositionellen Autonomieneigung moderiert wird, prüft die vorliegende Arbeit die zugrundeliegende Passungshypothese für intrinsische Motivation direkt im Schulsportunterricht. Es wird angenommen, dass autonomieförderliche Instruktionen besonders für Schüler und Schülerinnen mit starker Autonomiedisposition die intrinsische Motivation für den Schulsport begünstigen, während sie für Personen mit schwächerer Autonomieausprägung weniger wirksam sind. In einem experimentellen Design wurden 45 Schülerinnen und Schülern entweder einer Autonomie-fördernden (AF) Bedingung, einer Autonomie-einschränkenden (AE) Bedingung oder einer Kontrollgruppe (KG) zugeordnet und die intrinsische Motivation bei einer Basketballübung erfasst. Wie erwartet berichten Personen mit stark ausgeprägter Autonomiedisposition eine signifikant höhere intrinsische Motivation in der Autonomieförderungsbedingung als Personen mit schwacher Autonomieausprägung. Die Ergebnisse sprechen für eine differentielle Betrachtung von Autonomieförderung im Schulsport.

Abstract. The aim of this study was to examine whether athletes differ from nonathletes regarding their mental rotation performance. Furthermore, it investigated whether athletes doing sports requiring distinguishable levels of mental rotation (orienteering, gymnastics, running), as well as varying with respect to having an egocentric (gymnastics) or an allocentric perspective (orienteering), differ from each other. Therefore, the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) was carried out with 20 orienteers, 20 gymnasts, 20 runners, and 20 nonathletes. The results indicate large differences in mental rotation performance, with those actively doing sports outperforming the nonathletes. Analyses for the specific groups showed that orienteers and gymnasts differed from the nonathletes, whereas endurance runners did not. Contrary to expectations, the mental rotation performance of gymnasts did not differ from that of orienteers. This study also revealed gender differences in favor of men. Implications regarding a differentiated view of the connection between specific sports and mental rotation performance are discussed.

Three studies investigated the relationship between the achievement motive and sport participation. It was expected that both the implicit and the explicit achievement motives are positively associated with how frequently people engage in sport activities. The implicit achievement motive was assessed with indirect motive measures; the explicit achievement motive was either inferred from participants’ personal goals or measured with self-reports. Two hundred five athletes participated including college students enrolled in leisure sport programs offered at their university (Study 1), amateur athletes registered in sports clubs (Study 2), and elite tennis athletes (Study 3). The implicit achievement motive consistently predicted sport participation in all three studies. In contrast, the explicit achievement motive was uncorrelated with sport participation. The interaction between the two motives did not yield an effect on sport participation. The results indicate that the implicit, unconscious need to achieve facilitates regular engagement in sport activities, but the explicit, conscious orientation toward achievement does not. The enrichment of sports environments with incentives for the implicit achievement motive may thus attract more people to participate in sport activities.

Taking the affiliation motive as an example, present research examines whether the negative effects of implicit–explicit motive incongruence on health is moderated by emotional disclosure. Starting from the point of view that motive incongruence works as a chronic stressor and therefore causes impairment of health, we predicted that participants who use the stress-reducing coping strategy of emotional disclosure should be less affected by the negative effects of motive incongruence on health than participants who do not use this stress-coping strategy. Two studies confirmed this hypothesis. Participants with affiliation motive incongruence who practiced emotional disclosure used less medication (Study 1, n = 85) and reported lower somatization symptoms (Study 2, n = 102) than motive incongruent individuals who did not disclose their emotions to others. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Some individuals feel strong conviction and interest in pursuing personal goals, and minimal pressure and compulsion (i.e., they feel more ‘‘self-concordant’’ in their goal pursuits). Sheldon and colleagues argue that this is because their goals well match their implicit personalities (Sheldon, Pers Soc Psychol Rev 18:349–365, 2014). We evaluated this claim in a new way by first measuring participants’ implicit and explicit Need for Affiliation and Need for Achievement (using the Picture Story Exercise and the Personality Research Form), then randomly assigning them to list and pursue either Relationship or Competence goals during the semester, then measuring the rated self-concordance of the resultant goals. We tested four goal-type by motive-type interactions as predictors of rated self-concordance, finding good support for three of the interaction hypotheses and suggestive support for the fourth. It appears that the self-concordance measure indeed assesses ‘‘fit’’ between personal goals and both implicit and explicit motives. published

Objectives: The present study investigated the predictive value of the explicit and implicit affiliation motive for social behavior in sport competitions. From an information processing perspective, an explicit motive is linked to verbal cues and respondent behavior. The implicit motive in turn is linked to nonverbal stimuli and operant behavior (McClelland, Koestner, & Weinberger, 1989; Schultheiss, 2008). Both respondent affiliative behavior (e.g., verbal interactions with teammates) and operant nonverbal social behavior (e.g., pleasant to opponents) can be observed in racquet sports team competitions.Design & Methods: Fifty-two male racquet sportsmen completed the Personality Research Form (explicit affiliation motive) and the Operant Motive Test (implicit affiliation motive). Motive measures were used to predict social behavior during competitions using multiple regression analyses. To this aim real competitive matches were videotaped and analyzed.Results: Results show that the explicit affiliation motive is associated with time spent in verbal team contact. The implicit affiliation motive, by contrast, is linked to pleasant nonverbal behavior shown toward opponents.Conclusions: Findings suggest that implicit and explicit affiliation motives predict different kinds of social behavior in sports competition respectively. Indirect motive measures may be of additional predictive value for different behavior in real sports settings. published

A critical phase in goal striving occurs when setbacks accumulate and goal disengagement becomes an issue. This critical phase is conceptualized as an action crisis and assumed to be characterized by an intrapsychic conflict in which the individual becomes torn between further goal pursuit and goal disengagement. Our theorizing converges with Klinger's conceptualization of goal disengagement as a process, rather than a discrete event. Two longitudinal field studies tested and found support for the hypothesis that an action crisis not only compromises an individual's psychological and physiological well-being, but also dampens the cognitive evaluation of the respective goal. In Study 3, marathon runners experiencing an action crisis in their goal of running marathons showed a stronger cortisol secretion and a lower performance in the race 2 weeks later. Results are interpreted in terms of action-phase-specific mindsets with a focus on self-regulatory processes in goal disengagement. published

A fundamental distinction in scientifi c analyses of behavior is that between approach motivation and avoidance motivation (see also Higgins, this volume). Approach motivation represents energization by and/or physical or psychological direction toward an incentive or reward (i.e., an appetitive object, event, possibility), whereas avoidance motivation represents energization by and/or physical or psychological direction away from a threat or punishment (i.e., an aversive object, event, possibility; Elliot, 2008a). This distinction between approach and avoidance motivation has been present in scholarly thought for millennia (since Democritus, 460-370 B.C.E.) and in scientifi c psychology since the advent of the discipline in both Europe (Wundt, 1887) and the United States (James, 1890). It is popular in the contemporary psychological literature, as illustrated by the recent publication of edited books and journal special issues (Eder, Elliot, & Harmon-Jones, 2013; Elliot, 2008b; Ryan, 2006). It is being applied to many different types of psychological constructs and phenomena, and it is being operationalized in myriad ways in diverse areas of inquiry. In short, the approach-avoidance motivational distinction is longlasting and generative.

Self-Determination Theory (Deci and Ryan in Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Plenum Press, New York, 1985) suggests that certain experiences, such as competence, are equally beneficial to everyone’s well-being (universal hypothesis), whereas Motive Disposition Theory (McClelland in Human motivation. Scott, Foresman, Glenview, IL, 1985) predicts that some people, such as those with a high achievement motive, should benefit particularly from such experiences (matching hypothesis). Existing research on motives as moderators of the relationship between basic need satisfaction and positive outcomes supports both these seemingly inconsistent views. Focusing on the achievement motive, we sought to resolve this inconsistency by considering the specificity of the outcome variables. When predicting domain-specific well-being and flow, the achievement motive should interact with felt competence. However, when it comes to predicting general well-being and flow, felt competence should unfold its effects without being moderated by the achievement motive. Two studies confirmed these assumptions indicating that the universal and matching hypotheses are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. published

The present studies adopted the theoretical framework of activity- and purpose-related incentives (Rheinberg, 2008) to explain the maintenance of physical activity. We hypothesized that activity-related incentives (e.g., “fun”) increase more than purpose-related incentives (e.g., “health”) between the initiation and maintenance phase of physical activity. Additionally, change in activity-related incentives was hypothesized to be a better predictor of maintenance of physical activity than change in purpose-related incentives. Two correlative field studies with rehabilitation patients (Study 1) and Nordic Walkers (Study 2) were conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants’ incentives of physical activity were measured at the beginning of exercising and two weeks (Study 1; T2) and three months (Study 2; T2) later. At T2, participants were asked for their current physical activity. Both studies showed a greater change of activity-related incentives than purpose-related incentives. Furthermore, change in activity-related incentives was more predictive of the maintenance of physical activity than change in purpose-related incentives. The results showed the important role of activity- related incentives in maintenance of physical activity. The theoretical contribution to physical activity maintenance research and practical implications for health promotion programs were discussed. published

When talking about flow, most people probably think of a highly desirable state associated with a broad variety of positive outcomes in terms of positive motivation, well-being, and performance. In contrast, this chapter suggests that the characteristics of flow also have the potential to be evil. First, we will explain how flow can lead to addiction when exercising, playing games, and using the Internet. Then we will consider how flow is linked to impaired risk perception and risky behavior. As a third negative facet of flow, we will outline how it can also be experienced in antisocial contexts and during combat. This chapter ends with some broader comments on the dark and bright sides of flow, including flow as a universal experience, the implications for practical interventions, ethical questions related to flow, and future research questions.

The present study hypothesized that unfulfilled basic needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness (SDT, Deci and Ryan, Psychol Inq 11:227–268, 2000) are associated with the impulse to eat and with binge eating. In addition, we assumed that individuals with a high achievement motive, who are characterized by high selfcontrol competences, have the same impulse to eat when confronted with unfulfilled basic needs, but are better able to control the impulse to binge eat than individuals with a low achievement motive. In accordance with these hypotheses, unfulfilled basic needs significantly positively predicted the impulse to eat as well as binge eating behavior. As also expected, the achievement motive did not moderate the effect of unfulfilled needs on the impulse to eat, but did influence the effect of unfulfilled needs on binge eating. The results are discussed in terms of a broader debate about the interaction between basic needs and implicit motives. published

Four studies explored the motivational and experiential dynamics of psychological needs, applying both self-determination theory and motive disposition theory. In all 4 studies, motive dispositions toward achievement and affiliation ("wanting" particular experiences) predicted corresponding feelings of competence and relatedness ("having" those experiences). Competence and relatedness in turn predicted well-being, again indicating that these 2 experiences may really be "needed." Illuminating how wanting gets to having, in Studies 2 and 3, participants reported greater self-concordance for motive-congruent goals, which, in longitudinal Study 3, predicted greater attainment of those goals and thus enhanced well-being. Study 4 replicated selected earlier results using an implicit as well as an explicit motive disposition measure. Supporting the presumed universality of competence and relatedness needs, in no studies did motive dispositions moderate the effects of corresponding need-satisfaction on well-being. Discussion focuses on a "sequential process" model of psychological needs that views needs as both motives that instigate and outcomes that reward behavior. published

Previous research has shown that incongruence between implicit and explicit achievement motives impairs flow experience. We examined this relationship in a more differentiated manner by arguing that achievement-motive incongruence only exerts negative effects when individuals act in situations in which achievement incentives are present and arouse conflict between the two motives. In nonachievement situations, no negative effects of achievementmotive incongruence on flow experience are expected. Study 1 and Study 2 showed that participants with incongruent implicit and explicit achievement motives reported less flow in achievement- as compared to non-achievementoriented sport situations. In Study 3, we experimentally manipulated achievement and non-achievement situations. Again, motive incongruence impaired the experience of flow in achievement but not in non-achievement situations. published

Self-determination theory (SDT) proposes that all humans have a need for competence. But is this need modulated by individual differences? Our research integrated SDT, which defines psychological needs (including competence) as universally essential experiences, and motive disposition theories, which define psychological needs as individually varying non-conscious motives. A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study showed that felt competence in a sports activity has especially positive effects on subsequent flow and intrinsic motivation for individuals high in the need for achievement. Study 3 showed that felt competence more strongly influences subsequent academic goal motivation for those high in the need for achievement. Discussion focuses on the importance of integrating universalist and individual difference approaches to motivation, to derive the most complete understanding.

ObjectivesThis research aimed to shed light on the relationship between flow experience and performance in sports using a marathon race as an example. We hypothesized that flow influences the marathon race performance by an indirect rewarding effect.We assumed that the positive quality of flow experience rewards the pre-race running activity and thereby enhances training behavior which again leads to high race performance. A methodological issue of the this was to compare the retrospective with the experience-sampling measure of flow.DesignThree studies with marathon runners (Ns ¼ 109, 112, 65 for Studies 1, 2, and 3, respectively) were conducted.MethodThey measured flow experience four times during a marathon race either retrospectively (Studies 1 and 2) or using an experience-sampling method during the race (Study 3). Additionally race performance and future running motivation (Studies 1, 2, and 3), pre-race training behavior (Studies 2 and 3) and flow experience in training (Study 3) were measured.ResultsThe results confirmed the hypothesis showing that flow during a marathon race is related to future running motivation, but is not directly linked to race performance. Instead, race performance was predicted by pre-race training behavior (Studies 2 and 3) which again was fostered by flow during the training (Study 3). The descriptive flow courses of the retrospective and the experience-sampling flow measures were comparable but also showed important differences.ConclusionsWe critically discuss the practical implications of the rewarding effect of flow on performance and the advantages of the retrospective and experience-sampling measure of flow. published

Satisfaction of the implicit affiliation motive is known to be positively related to emotional well-being, whereas the frustration of the implicit affiliation motive leads to impairment of well-being. In the present research we specified two conditions that are responsible for the satisfaction and frustration of the implicit motive. Referring to research on the congruence of implicit and explicit motives, we assumed that a corresponding explicit affiliation motive leads to satisfaction of the implicit motive. Corresponding affiliation behavior constitutes the second condition. Three studies confirmed the hypothesis that both conditions must be fulfilled in order to positively connect the implicit affiliation motive to emotional well-being. Participants with high implicit and explicit affiliation motives and who additionally showed a large amount of affiliation behavior reported the lowest negative affectivity and the highest life satisfaction compared to participants who lacked one of the conditions. published

In the present study, we investigated the effects of psychological crises on goal striving and the buffering effects of self-verbalizations in the context of a marathon race. Study 1 showed that during a marathon, a psychological crisis—which is characterized by a strong impulse of goal disengagement and thoughts about benefits and costs—occurred at about Kilometer 30 and that this crisis had negative effects on race performance. Study 2 experimentally induced the use of self-verbalizations. The results confirmed the hypothesis that self-verbalizations are an effective strategy to buffer against negative effects of psychological crisis on race performance. Selfverbalizations are discussed as a general self-regulatory tool in goal striving. published