No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
How affective states, task difficulty, and self-concepts influence the formation and consequences of performance expectancies
Cognition and Emotion
Abstract
Positive versus negative affective states are associated with the use of broad versus specific knowledge structures. We predicted that specific self-concepts and task difficulty would affect performance expectancies only for individuals in a negative mood; for individuals in a positive mood, only the general self-concept, but not task difficulty, would affect performance expectancies. In an experiment, we manipulated task difficulty and mood, and we assessed self-concepts, performance expectancies, and task performance. The expected interactions for the formation of performance expectancies (mood × general self-concept, mood × specific self-concept, mood × difficulty) were found. Concerning the consequences of performance expectancies, we predicted that expectancies would affect actual performance only if the task was difficult and if task difficulty was taken into account when the expectancy is generated. This hypothesis was supported: The relationship between performance expectancies and actual performance was significant only for difficult tasks and given negative mood.
... To determine achievement motivation and performance, the expectancy-value model not only refers to subjective task values but also to performance expectancies, meaning a subjective rating of how well one will perform a given task (Eccles, 1983). Previous research has investigated various factors influencing the formation of such expectancies: affective states (Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2011), task experience (Dickhäuser, Reinhard, & Englert, www.ccsenet.org/ijps International Journal of Psychological Studies Vol. 7, No. 3; 2011), and cognitive factors, such as the dispositional motivation to engage in cognitive processing (Dickhäuser & Reinhard, 2006, 2009, 2010 Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2009). ...
... Previous research has investigated various factors influencing the formation of such expectancies: affective states (Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2011), task experience (Dickhäuser, Reinhard, & Englert, www.ccsenet.org/ijps International Journal of Psychological Studies Vol. 7, No. 3; 2011), and cognitive factors, such as the dispositional motivation to engage in cognitive processing (Dickhäuser & Reinhard, 2006, 2009, 2010 Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2009). Reinhard and Dickhäuser (2009), for example, found that task difficulty affected performance expectancies only when cognitive motivation (i.e., need for cognition; Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) and cognitive capacity are high. ...
According to expectancy-value theory, achievement motivation depends on the intrinsic value and the utility value of a task. The authors hypothesized that utility value determines achievement motivation only when it is formed in a systematic way, because analyzing the utility of a task is a process requiring cognitive capacity as well as cognitive motivation. This was not assumed for intrinsic value, which was therefore hypothesized to determine achievement motivation independently from cognitive factors. As expected, the findings revealed that the utility value of a specific task predicted achievement motivation only for participants reporting high need for cognition (Study 1) and only when cognitive capacity was high (Study 2). By contrast, intrinsic value predicted motivation independently from those cognitive factors.
... A customer will be more attractive towards mobile banking when he perceived that it will be helpful while performing transaction in comparison to any other facility provided by the bank (Tan & Leby Lau, 2016). In this connection, evidence has been observed from (Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2011) that performance expectancies depend on someone personal mood. In above mention experiment, negative and positive moods were assessed using academic tasks. ...
The purpose of current study is to examine perception of mobile banking customers about digital and non-digital factors in Pakistan. The population of current study consists of current and future users of mobile baking in Pakistan. In this study, mobile banking usage is considered as dependent variable and seven variables (5-digital & 2-non-digital) have been selected as independent variables. The SPSS version 16 was used to analyse and report the data collected through an administrative questionnaire. The results of current study indicated that non-digital factors (Need of service and service quality) has insignificant relationship with perception of the mobile banking customers. Also, results indicated a significant relationship between digital factors (Performance expectancy, effort expectancy, relative advantage, trust and security) with perception of mobile banking customers. As a practical implication of the study, current study facilitate banking sector to facilitate their customers and retain their customer base. Banks used these results to identify the social norms of their banking customers and link them with mobile banking technology to facilitate them.
... Mood and cognition are both important aspects of human performance. It is, therefore, not surprising that the close relationships between mood and cognitive processing have been explored extensively [3][4][5][6][7]. Much of the research linking affect and cognition has focused on forms of cognitive performance such as memory [8] and information processing [9]. ...
The goal of this study was to assess how existing handwriting research can contribute to understanding how moods impact the
automatic processing of handwriting performance. We based our hypotheses on extensive research connecting mood with
cognitive functions, because handwriting production was shown to be an automated cognitive task impacted by cognitive load.
As far as we know, no previous research has examined the direct relationship between affect and handwriting (transcription and
text generation when writing by hand). Specifically, evidence exists only for a general relationship between affect and writing
(using written words to express ideas or opinions). In this experiment, 62 participants were divided into three mood groups
(positive, negative, and neutral). Mood manipulation was conducted according to accepted methods of memory recall and film
induction and was evaluated using the PANAS scale. Online measurements of the participants’ handwriting were captured with a
tablet and electronic pen. Results showed that the strokes in the negative mood manipulation were shorter in duration and shorter
in width and height. The findings presented in this article make a twofold contribution to the cognitive and biologically inspired
computational studies: by integrating the study of affect with the study of cognition and by exploring additional objective
performance-based evaluation of functional capabilities with the aid of a computerized device. Practical implications are
discussed, as are ideas for further research.
... Indeed, there is ample evidence suggesting the link between self-concept and performance (e.g. Judge et al. 1998;Reinhard and Dickhauser 2011). Given the strong relationship between employee self-concept and performance, it becomes crucial to understand what self-concept encompasses. ...
Employee self-concept has long been recognized as a critical factor determining employee performance-related outcomes. As such, a considerable amount of research attention has been paid to exploring employee self-concept. However, relatively little is known about how an employee’s self-concept may be affected when the employee is the recipient of help-giving behavior exhibited by other organizational members. Consequently, we attempt to develop a theoretical model describing how an employee’s self-concept, in the forms of task-specific self-efficacy (TSSE) and organization-based self-esteem (OBSE), is affected by receipt of help. Additionally, we investigate the moderating roles of locus of control (LOC) and individualism–collectivism. In particular, we propose that higher levels of help received result in lower levels of TSSE and OBSE perceived. Moreover, we posit that internal LOC strengthens the negative impact of receiving help on TSSE and OBSE. Furthermore, we argue that individualistic tendencies strengthen the negative relationship between receiving help and TSSE and OBSE. Consequently, our theoretical model provides important insights into understanding employee self-concept in the organization.
... Estudos que discutem o engajamento do consumidor propuseram que a dificuldade em realizar uma tarefa e suas condições de engajamento interferem na perseguição de metas (Higgins & Scholer, 2009;Lee, 2009). Tarefas difíceis demandam do indivíduo maior processamento de informações em virtude do alto esforço cognitivo (Faro, Heller, & Irmak, 2011;Reinhard & Dickhauser, 2011;Rice et al., 2012). Essas tarefas podem ou não ser relacionadas a situações de compra, mas disparam maior processamento de informações. ...
The regulatory focus theory suggests that consumers rely on their motivational focus (prevention vs. promotion)
for their evaluations and decisions. Usually consumers prefer products that match their personal motivational
focus. Previous studies show that this pattern preferably occurs when we are not motivated to process information.
However, this study suggests that situations that require greater cognitive effort, in which the consumer needs
more information to decide because of the difficulty of the task, messages that have an opposing motivational
regulatory focus will be more persuasive. When consumers have not been previously exposed to difficult tasks
which require more cognitive effort, their willingness to buy products presented in ways that match their regulatory
fit will increase. Experiment 1 (n=257) showed evidence that task difficulty has a moderating role in ad-message
persuasiveness. Experiment 2 (n=144) presents the same moderating effect of task difficulty on the regulatory fit
(vs unfit) phenomenon for willingness to buy. Therefore, not all information compatible with consumer
motivational focus is well evaluated. When greater cognitive effort is required, unfit messages may be more
persuasive.
... That is, the more positive the view on the self, the poorer the performance and the worse had been the mood but the higher had been the effort invested in the task in case the students had received feedback. The impact of affective variables such as positive or negative mood on the processing of information has been explored by various researchers (e.g., McConnell, 2011;Reinhard & Dickhäuser, 2011;Schwarz & Clore, 2007). On this note, it is assumed that affective reactions result from the perception and the evaluation of various situations with regard to their implications for the individuals' goal achievement (e.g., Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988). ...
This study tested the assumption that the effectiveness of feedback with regard to performance, motivation, and affect is moderated by the learners’ self-concept. A total of 72 sixth-graders completed a web-based interactive learning program. Half of the sample received feedback and the other half received no feedback. Differential feedback effects were detected. For students with a positive academic self-concept, feedback led to a decline in performance and in mood but an increase in effort. With regard to participants with a negative self-concept, feedback worked against the decrease in mood but did not increase performance and motivation. These findings support the claim that feedback effects should be assessed with regard to (1) multiple dimensions and (2) possible moderating variables.
Das Konzept der Achtsamkeit findet immer mehr Beachtung in der Gesellschaft, auch zur Prävention vor psychischen Erkrankungen. Eine Ursache von psychischen Erkrankungen kann der ständige Vergleich mit anderen sein, ohne die eigenen Bedürfnisse zu kennen. Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, Unterschiede zwischen achtsamen und nicht achtsamen Personen in Bezug auf die grundlegenden menschlichen Werte und das Selbstkonzept herauszuarbeiten. Hierfür wurde eine quantitative Umfrage erstellt, die ebenfalls durch das Unternehmen "7-Mind" verbreitet wurde. Zur Erstellung der Umfrage wurden drei bereits validierte Fragebögen verwendet. Ergebnis der vorliegenden Studie ist, dass Achtsamkeit Auswirkungen auf das Selbstkonzept und die menschlichen Grundwerte hat. Detaillierter haben achtsame Personen höhere Ausprägungen in den Grundwerten Macht, Leistung, Sicherheit und Konformität, sowie höhere Werte in den Selbstkonzept-Dimensionen Ich-Stärke-Unsicherheit, Vertrauen-Zurückhaltung und Durchsetzung-Kooperation. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse, vor allem in Bezug auf die menschlichen Grundwerte, können darauf hindeuten, dass achtsame Personen andere Grundwerte im beruflichen Alltag fordern, als Personen, die nicht achtsam sind bzw. nicht mit Achtsamkeit aufwachsen. 3 Abbildungsverzeichnis Abbildung 1 Theoretisches Modell der Beziehungsstruktur zwischen den zehn motivationalen Wertetypen
While existing research findings have highlighted the consequences of employee silence at the interpersonal and organizational levels, little is known about how employee silence influences an employee’s inferences of self. Drawing on a cross-organizational sample of 142 employees, we test the impact of employee silence, in the forms of acquiescent, quiescent, prosocial, and opportunistic silence, on employees’ job self-efficacy and organization-based self-esteem. In addition, we examine how organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization and toward individuals mediates the direct effects. Results indicate that quiescent silence negatively affects organization-based self-esteem, and that opportunistic silence has a negative impact on job self-efficacy. In addition, organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization and organizational citizenship behavior toward individuals fully mediate the relationship between opportunistic silence and organization-based self-esteem, whereas organizational citizenship behavior toward individuals and organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization partially mediate the relationship between opportunistic silence and job self-efficacy. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Previous studies revealed inconsistent results regarding the relative importance of specific and general achievement goals (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, performance-avoidance goals, work-avoidance goals) in predicting specific and general scholastic outcomes (interests, importance, grades).
Therefore, high-school students (N = 1210; grades 7–10) answered a questionnaire assessing these variables on a general academic and school-subject-specific (six school subjects) level. The findings showed (mostly) stronger relationships when achievement goals and scholastic outcomes matched the specificity level than when the variables were mismatched.
Regarding achievement goals, mastery goals were the best predictors. The results evidenced the relevance of matching the specificity level of achievement goals and scholastic outcomthees.
Previous research has suggested certainty to be an important factor when investigating effects of level of expectancies on future behavior. With the present study, we addressed the interplay of expectancy certainty and level of expectancies regarding task performance. We assumed that certain performance expectancies provide a better basis for the regulation of persistence, and therefore lead to improved performance when people expect to perform well. However, when people have bad performance expectations, being certain (compared to being uncertain) about this expectation decreases motivation to work hard on the task because it is assumed it will not pay off anyway. Accordingly, in our study, we found that the performance of participants with high performance expectancies increased with increasing expectancy certainty. By contrast, performance of participants with low performance expectancies decreased with increasing expectancy certainty. Additionally, certainty and expectancy were shown to be unrelated, supporting the idea that they are independent constructs.
Zwei Studien untersuchen den Zusammenhang von Need for Cognition und der Fähigkeit, Lüge und Wahrheit zu erkennen, bei Lehramtsstudierenden. Den Grundannahmen von Zwei-Prozess-Modellen entsprechend führt ein höheres Need for Cognition zur vermehrten Nutzung inhaltlicher Informationen bei Glaubwürdigkeitsurteilen. Personen mit niedrigerem Need for Cognition nutzen dagegen vorrangig stereotype nonverbale Informationen für ihre Urteile. Bisherige Arbeiten zeigen, dass die Nutzung inhaltlicher Informationen im Vergleich zu stereotypen nonverbalen Hinweisreizen bei der Entdeckung von Täuschungen erfolgversprechender ist. Daher wurde die Hypothese aufgestellt und getestet, dass ein höheres Need for Cognition bei Lehramtsstudierenden mit einer besseren Erkennensleistung von wahren und erlogenen Aussagen einhergeht. Die Ergebnisse von Studie 1 bestätigten diese Hypothese. Studie 2 zeigte darüber hinaus, dass der Zusammenhang zwischen Need for Cognition und Erkennensleistung nur dann auftrat, wenn die Aussagen durch die Quellen nicht vorbereitet werden konnten. Mögliche Implikationen dieser Ergebnisse für die Schulpraxis werden diskutiert.
Individual differences in need for cognition (NFC) have been found to correspond with differences in information processing. Individuals with lower NFC process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences may effect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that the formation of performance expectancies can be understood as an information-processing event and that inferring expectancies from the specific self-concept requires cognitive motivation, we tested whether students with higher NFC had performance expectancies in a specific subject that more strongly depended on their specific self-concept. Three hundred seventy-five students from grade 8 and 9 reported their NFC, their performance expectancies for the final report card in Mathematics and German, the general self-concept, and specific self-concepts in Mathematics and German. Multiple linear regressions supported the interaction hypothesis concerning performance expectancies in Mathematics and German. The higher the students' NFC, the stronger performance expectancies were related to the corresponding specific self-concept. Individual differences in NFC influence motivational processes and should be included in models describing the relation between self-concepts and students' beliefs like expectancies. © Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada, Lisboa, Portugal and Springer Science+Business Media BV 2010.
The importance of performance expectancies for predicting behavior has long been highlighted in research on expectancy-value models. These models do not take into account that expectancies may vary in terms of their certainty. The study tested the following predictions: task experience leads to a higher certainty of expectancies; certainty and mean expectancies are empirically distinguishable; and expectancies held with high certainty are more accurate for predicting performance. 273 Grade 8 students reported their performance expectancy and the certainty of expectation with regard to a mathematics examination immediately before and after the examination. Actual grades on the examination were also assessed. The results supported the predictions: there was an increase in certainty between the two times of measurement; expectancies and certainty were unrelated at both times of measurement; and for students initially reporting higher certainty, the accuracy of the performance expectancy (i.e., the relation between expectancy and performance) was higher than for students reporting lower certainty. Given lower certainty, the accuracy increased after the students had experience with the examination. The data indicate that it may be useful to include certainty as an additional variable in expectancy-value models.
Motivational and cognitive mediators of the reduced processing of persuasive messages shown by recipients in a positive mood were tested. Ss in positive or neutral moods read strong or weak counterattitudinal advocacies for either a limited time or for as long as they wanted. Under limited exposure conditions, neutral mood Ss showed attitude change indicative of systematic processing, whereas positive mood Ss showed no differentiation of strong and weak versions of the message. When message exposure was unlimited, positive mood Ss viewed the message longer than did neutral mood Ss and systematically processed it rather than relying on persuasion heuristics. These findings replicated with 2 manipulations of mood and 2 different attitude issues. We interpret the results as providing evidence that reduced cognitive capacity to process the message contributes to the decrements shown by positive mood Ss.
The construct, self-concept, has been evoked to explain overt behavior across a wide spectrum of situations, and the attainment of a positive self-concept has been posited as a desirable goal in personality and child development, in clinical treatments, and in education. Its importance notwithstanding, research and evaluations using self-concept have suffered from imprecise theoretical formulation of the construct and inadequate measurement instruments. In an attempt to remedy this situation, Shavelson, Hubner, and Stanton (1976) posited a multifaceted, hierarchical self-concept with facets becoming more distinct with age, and set forth criteria for evaluating adequate instrumentation. This paper brings together recent research on this model and instrumentation. Each of these hypotheses is supported, though the structure appears to be more complicated than originally proposed and the facets are so distinct by late adolescence that the hierarchy is necessarily very weak. Further empirical research and theoretical clarification are required on the nature of this hierarchy and how it re1ates to the different uses of the general-self construct.
How positive induced mood states affect reasoning was investigated in three experiments. In Experiment 1, consistent with resource allocation theory (H. C. Ellis & P. W. Ashbrook, 1987), both positive and negative mood suppressed performance on a deontic version of Wason's selection task (P. W. Cheng & K. J. Holyoak, 1985)—participants confirmed where they normally falsify. Experiment 2 revealed the same confirmatory responses for participants performing a concurrent distracter task, indicating that induced mood states suppress reasoning by depleting central executive resources. This hypothesis was directly tested in Experiment 3. Participants in a positive, but not in a negative, mood state showed suppressed performance on the Tower of London task (T. Shallice, 1982)—the classical central executive task. The robust positive mood effects and the confirmation effects are discussed in terms of the D. A. Norman and T. Shallice (1986) model of central executive function and recent accounts of selection task performance (L. Cosmides, 1989; K. I. Manktelow & D. E. Over, 1991; M. Oaksford & N. Chater, 1994). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Three experiments test the hypothesis that positive mood facilitates cognitive flexibility in categorization. Study 1 used a sorting task and found that positive mood subjects in relation to subjects in other mood states, formed fewer (broader) categories when focusing on similarities among exemplars and more (narrower) categories when focusing on differences. Study 2 used a within-subject design and assessed more direct measures of flexibility. Study 2 found that compared with neutral mood subjects, positive mood subjects (a) perceived a greater number of both similarities and differences between items, (b) accessed more distinct types of similarities and differences, and (c) listed more novel and creative similarities and differences. Study 3 demonstrated that these effects occur for both positive (mood-congruent) and neutral stimuli and identified intrinsic interest in the task as a possible mediating factor. The implications of these findings for understanding the effects of mood on cognitive organization and processing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated, in 2 experiments, whether judgments of happiness and satisfaction with one's life are influenced by mood at the time of judgment. In Exp I, moods were induced by asking 61 undergraduates for vivid descriptions of a recent happy or sad event in their lives. In Exp II, moods were induced by interviewing 84 participants on sunny or rainy days. In both experiments, Ss reported more happiness and satisfaction with their life as a whole when in a good mood than when in a bad mood. However, the negative impact of bad moods was eliminated when Ss were induced to attribute their present feelings to transient external sources irrelevant to the evaluation of their lives; but Ss who were in a good mood were not affected by misattribution manipulations. The data suggest that (a) people use their momentary affective states in making judgments of how happy and satisfied they are with their lives in general and (b) people in unpleasant affective states are more likely to search for and use information to explain their state than are people in pleasant affective states. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Repeated attempts have been made in the past 35 years to obtain self-report measures of motives originally identified in associative thought. Measures of the same motive obtained in these two ways seldom correlate significantly with each other and relate to different classes of behavior. Recent evidence is summarized showing that implicit motives, derived from stories written to pictures, combine generally with activity incentives to affect behavior, whereas self-attributed motives, derived from self-reports, combine generally with social incentives to affect behavior. Hence, implicit motives generally sustain spontaneous behavioral trends over time because of the pleasure derived from the activity itself, whereas the self-attributed motives predict immediate responses to structured situations because of the social incentives present in structuring the situation. Implicit motives represent a more primitive motivational system derived from affective experiences, whereas self-attributed motives are based on more cognitively elaborated constructs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews 55 studies in which self-evaluations of ability were compared with measures of performance to show a low mean validity coefficient (mean
r = .29) with high variability (
SD = .25). A meta-analysis by the procedures of J. E. Hunter et al (1982) calculated sample-size weighted estimates of
–- r and
SDr and estimated the appropriate adjustments of these values for sampling error and unreliability. Among person variables, high intelligence, high achievement status, and internal locus of control were associated with more accurate evaluations. Much of the variability in the validity coefficients (
R = .64) could be accounted for by 9 specific conditions of measurement, notably (a) the rater's expectation that the self-evaluation would be compared with criterion measures, (b) the rater's previous experience with self-evaluation, (c) instructions guaranteeing anonymity of the self-evaluation, and (d) self-evaluation instructions emphasizing comparison with others. It is hypothesized that conditions increasing self-awareness would increase the validity of self-evaluation. (84 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two experiments are reported examining the impact of recipients' mood on the processing of simple, everyday persuasive communications and on subsequent behaviour. Consistent with the general assumption that affective states may inform an individual about the state of its current environment, it was found that positive (as compared to neutral or negative) mood reduced subjects' motivation to systematically process both content information and contextual cues. Specifically, Experiment I demonstrated that, in a field setting, the behaviour of subjects who had been put in a good mood was less likely to reflect differences in message content than the behaviour of neutral mood subjects. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these findings, showing that good mood subjects' behaviour was uninfluenced by content as well as context information, whereas bad mood subjects did make use of both types of information. Subject's cognitive responses and evaluations paralleled the behavioural data. The results are discussed in terms of their compatibility with contemporary models of persuasion, and their implications for future research on mood and persuasion and on the interplay of affect and cognition in general are considered.
In the present article, the authors analyze how performance expectancies are generated and how they affect actual performance. The authors predicted that task difficulty would affect performance expectancies only when cognitive motivation (i.e., need for cognition [NFC]) and cognitive capacity are high. This should be the case because analyzing task difficulty is a process requiring cognitive capacity as well as cognitive motivation. The findings supported the expected NFC x Difficulty interaction for the formation of performance expectancies (Study 1, Study 2), but only when cognitive capacity was high (Study 2). The authors also predicted that expectancies would affect actual performance only if the task is difficult and if task difficulty is taken into account when the expectancy is generated. This hypothesis was supported: Significant relations between performance expectancies and actual performance were found only for difficult tasks and for participants higher in NFC. Studies 5 and 6 showed clear evidence that the NFC x Difficulty interaction could not be explained by differences in the use of task-specific self-concepts. The findings were robust across academic, social, and physical tasks.
Currently dominant explanations of mood effects on persuasive message processing (i.e., cognitive capacity and feelings as information) predict that happy moods lead to less message scrutiny than neutral or sad moods. The hedonic contingency view (D. T. Wegener & R. E. Petty, 1994) predicts that happy moods can sometimes be associated with greater message processing activity because people in a happy mood are more attentive than neutral or sad people to the hedonic consequences of their actions. Consistent with this view, Experiment 1 finds that a happy mood can lead to greater message scrutiny than a neutral mood when the message is not mood threatening. Experiment 2 finds that a happy mood leads to greater message scrutiny than a sad mood when an uplifting message is encountered, but to less message scrutiny when a depressing message is encountered.
A model explaining how the motive to achieve and the motive to avoid failure influences behavior assumes strength of motivation as being a multiplicative function of motive, expectancy, and incentive. This accounts for level of aspiration and also performance level when only one task is presented. "It also assumes that the incentive value of success is a positive linear function of difficulty as inferred from the subjective probability of success; and negative incentive value of failure to be a negative linear function of difficulty." 2 theoretical implications are "that performance level should be greatest when there is greatest uncertainty about outcome" and people with strong motive to achieve should prefer immediate risk whereas those with strong motive to avoid failure will prefer easy tasks or extremely difficult and risky tasks. Experimental results are cited with implications for research on gambling and social mobility aspirations. 22 references.
It has been assumed that task-specific self-concepts are more important than general self-concepts in determining expectancies of success and subsequent achievement. The authors argue here that the influence varies depending on need for cognition (NFC). Findings from Study 1 (N=104) showed that expectancies of success in an academic task could be predicted from specific self-concept for individuals with a high NFC and from general self-concept for individuals with a low NFC. In Study 2 (N=193), where cognitive load was manipulated, given a high cognitive load, only general self-concept was predictive of success expectancies, independent of NFC. In Study 3 (N=197), given a high relevance of correct expectancy ratings, only specific self-concept was predictive of expectancies and actual achievement, independent of NFC. In Studies 4 and 5, the results from Study 1 concerning the prediction of expectancies (as well as achievement) reappeared in a physical and a social domain.
We investigated how individuals in different mood states are influenced by category membership information, by individuating information, and by the relation of the two in an impression formation task. Subjects in different mood states received positive or negative individuating information and positive or negative category information about a target person. Experiment 1 indicates that sad subjects were influenced by individuating but not by category membership information. In contrast, happy subjects' judgments reflected the implications of the category information as long as the individuating information was not inconsistent with the category, replicating previous research. This pattern was eliminated, however, when category-inconsistent information was provided, suggesting that happy subjects related the individuating information to the category membership information. Additional experiments show that instructing neutral mood subjects to relate category and individuating information or to focus on the individuating information result in patterns that parallel the judgments of happy and sad subjects, respectively, and that these effects are only obtained when the category information precedes (rather than follows) the individuating information. Extending previous theorizing, we conclude that being in a happy mood increases the likelihood that information is processed in the light of pre-existing general knowledge structures.
This chapter examines some of the literature demonstrating an impact of affect on social behavior. It will consider the influence of affect on cognition in an attempt to further understand on the way cognitive processes may mediate the effect of feelings on social behavior. The chapter describes the recent works suggesting an influence of positive affect on flexibility in cognitive organization (that is, in the perceived relatedness of ideas) and the implications of this effect for social interaction. The goal of this research is to expand the understanding of social behavior and the factors, such as affect, that influence interaction among people. Another has been to extend the knowledge of affect, both as one of these determinants of social behavior and in its own right. And a third has been to increase the understanding of cognitive processes, especially as they play a role in social interaction. Most recently, cognitive and social psychologists have investigated ways in which affective factors may participate in cognitive processes (not just interrupt them) and have begun to include affect as a factor in more comprehensive models of cognition. The research described in the chapter has focused primarily on feelings rather than intense emotion, because feelings are probably the most frequent affective experiences. The chapter focuses primarily on positive affect.
Theoretical models posit that self-concept as well as prior accomplishments influence choice behavior. Structural equation models were used to examine the paths from school grades and self-concept to subsequent coursework selection (N = 246). Paths from self-concept to wanting to take a particular subject and, to a lesser extent, actually taking it were significant, but school grades did not contribute consistently beyond the effects of self-concept. When general academic self-concept (GASC) was added to these models, paths from GASC to coursework selection were negative, and paths from the specific components of self-concept increased; a positive self-concept in a specific school subject contributes even more to selection of that subject if self-concepts in other school subjects are lower. The major results were consistent across Years 8 and 10 and reasonably consistent across nine school subjects. The finding that specific components of self-concept are more strongly related to subsequent course selection than are school grades is substantively important and provides further support for the need to consider multiple dimensions of academic self-concept.
Positive vs. negative affective states are associated with the use of broad vs. specific knowledge structures. These findings were applied to the field of performance expectancies. It was predicted that individuals with positive mood should infer their performance expectancies concerning a specific task from their general self-concept, whereas given negative mood, performance expectancies should be inferred from the relevant specific self-concept. In an experiment, positive vs. negative mood was induced in 158 university students. General and specific self-concepts were assessed. Furthermore, we assessed task-specific performance expectancies and task performance. Specific self-concept was predictive of expectancies given negative mood, whereas with positive mood, expectancies could only be predicted on the basis of the general self-concept. Furthermore, mean expectancies were higher and less accurate with positive mood. The results are in line with the theoretical predictions. They underline that affective states also influence the formation of motivational variables like performance expectancies.
IntroductionMood and MemoryMood and Evaluative JudgmentsMood and Style of Information ProcessingConclusions and Outlook
High expectancies of success are widely assumed to have positive effects on performance in achievement situations. However, previous investigations have tended to ignore task difficulty or assume that expectancies affect performance in a linear fashion. In two investigations, we found that (a) expectancies were more closely related to performance at difficult tasks than easy tasks and (b) low expectancies produced the poorest levels of performance, but moderate and high expectancies were equally advantageous. The practical, methodological, and theoretical implications of these findings are considered.
The self-concept construct is one of the oldest in psychology and is used widely in many disciplines. Despite its popularity, reviews prior to the 1980s typically emphasized the lack of theoretical basis in most studies, the poor quality of measurement instruments, methodological shortcomings, and a general lack of consistent findings except, perhaps, support for the null hypothesis. This situation called into question the usefulness of the self-concept construct. In dramatic contrast, the last decade has seen considerable progress in theory, measurement, and research. This progress is due at least in part to a stronger emphasis on a multidimensional self-concept instead of global measures of self. The purpose of this invited review is to summarize how my self-concept research has contributed to these advances. This review further substantiates the claim that self-concept cannot be understood adequately if its multidimensionality is ignored, and recommends that researchers use well-constructed multidimensional measures of self-concept instead of relying solely on global measures of self.
We discuss the expectancy–value theory of motivation, focusing on an expectancy–value model developed and researched by Eccles, Wigfield, and their colleagues. Definitions of crucial constructs in the model, including ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and the components of subjective task values, are provided. These definitions are compared to those of related constructs, including self-efficacy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and interest. Research is reviewed dealing with two issues: (1) change in children's and adolescents' ability beliefs, expectancies for success, and subjective values, and (2) relations of children's and adolescents' ability-expectancy beliefs and subjective task values to their performance and choice of activities.
Four experiments indicated that positive affect, induced by means of seeing a few minutes of a comedy film or by means of receiving a small bag of candy, improved performance on two tasks that are generally regarded as requiring creative ingenuity: Duncker's (1945) candle task and M. T. Mednick, S. A. Mednick, and E. V. Mednick's (1964) Remote Associates Test. One condition in which negative affect was induced and two in which subjects engaged in physical exercise (intended to represent affectless arousal) failed to produce comparable improvements in creative performance. The influence of positive affect on creativity was discussed in terms of a broader theory of the impact of positive affect on cognitive organization.
Motivational determinants of risk taking behavior Self-efficacy: The exercise of control Mood and the use of general knowl-edge structures
- J W Atkinson
- á390 Bandura
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 381Á390. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman. Bless, H. (2001). Mood and the use of general knowl-edge structures. In L. L. Martin & G. L. Clore (Eds.), Theories of mood and cognition (pp. 9Á26).
Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ
- J Cohen
- P Cohen
- S G West
- L S Aiken
- D C Mcclelland
- R Koestner
- J Weinberger
Cohen, J., Cohen, P., West, S. G., & Aiken, L. S. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. MOOD AND PERFORMANCE EXPECTANCIES COGNITION AND EMOTION, 2011, 25 (2) McClelland, D. C., Koestner, R., & Weinberger, J. (1989). How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ? Psychological Review, 96, 690Á702.
Sufficient and necessary conditions in dual process models: The case of mood and information processing
- H Bless
- N Schwarz
Bless, H., & Schwarz, N. (1999). Sufficient and necessary conditions in dual process models: The
case of mood and information processing. In S. Chaiken & Y. Trope (Eds.), Dual-process
theories in social psychology (pp. 423Á440). New York: Guilford Press.
Kognitiver Fä higkeitstest fü r 4
- K Heller
- A K Gädicke
- H Weinläder
Heller, K., Gädicke, A. K., & Weinläder, H. (1985). Kognitiver Fä higkeitstest fü r 4. bis 13.
Klassen [Cognitive aptitude test for grade 4 to grade 13].
The consequences of mood on the processing of social information
- A Bandura
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W. H. Freeman.
Bless, H. (2001a). The consequences of mood on the processing of social information. In A.
Tesser & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Intraindividual processes (pp. 391Á411). Malden, MA: Blackwell.