Regulatory Fit as Input for Stop Rules

Three experiments show that the motivational effects of regulatory fit (consistency between regulatory state and strategic means) are context dependent. With no explicit decision rule about when to stop (Experiment 1) or an explicit enjoyment stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted mor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2006-10, Vol.91 (4), p.601-611
Main Authors: Vaughn, Leigh Ann, Malik, Jill, Schwartz, Sandra, Petkova, Zhivka, Trudeau, Lindsay
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
Attention
Attitudes
Biological and medical sciences
Decision Making
Decision making models
Emotional States
Emotions
Energy Expenditure
Experiments
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Goals
Human
Humans
Male
Motivation
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology
Psychology - statistics & numerical data
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Regulation
Social cognition
Social psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:Three experiments show that the motivational effects of regulatory fit (consistency between regulatory state and strategic means) are context dependent. With no explicit decision rule about when to stop (Experiment 1) or an explicit enjoyment stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted more effort on tasks when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. With an explicit sufficiency stop rule (Experiments 2 and 3), participants exerted less effort when experiencing regulatory fit than when experiencing regulatory nonfit. The interactive effect of regulatory fit and stop rules can be explained by misattribution of rightness feelings from regulatory fit; the effect was eliminated by drawing participants' attention to an earlier event as a source of rightness feelings (Experiments 1 and 3).
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.91.4.601