Turning duty into joyBoosting positive affect and vitality regarding an unpleasant

obligation through a personal motto-goal

Thomas Dyllick and Oliver Dickhäuser

University of Mannheim

2.07.2014

1

„The printer and the rare wine“

2 systems

2

automatic/ experiential

system

controlled/ verbal-

symbolic system

Intuition Reasoning, logic

Maximize pleasure/minimize

pain

Regulate behaviour

„hot“ – connected to

motivations, reward centers

„cool“ – not connected to

motivational centers

affect language

pictures language

(Schultheiss, 2001, Haidt, 2001, 2006)

Motto-Goals(Storch, 2009)

– figurative, metaphorical language

– guiding principle of how to approach a personal

goal or obligation

3

„With the inner strength of a

bear I am forging ahead.“

„I will study for my exam

every day.“

has a thick fur

big and strong

forging ahead

Motto-Goal Intervention

4

x

„With the inner

strength of a bear

I am forging ahead.“

„Studyin

g for the

exam“

write

duty

choose

picture

choose

words

form

motto-goalx

Motto-Goals research

• Zurich Resource Model (Storch & Krause, 2007)

Research:

• Lower stress and cortisol levels during stressful

task (Storch, Gaab, Küttel, Stüssi,& Fend, 2007)

• Higher commitment and optimism (Weber, 2013)

• Higher achievement motive congruence (Pinsdorf,

2013)

5

Research Question

• Is a short intervention effective?

• What is the mechanism?

Study 1

• More than just a positive picture?

• H1: motto-goals boost vitality

• H2: motto-goals boost positive affect

6

Study 1

• Design

– Pre-post-control group in the laboratory

• Control group

– Positive picture condition

• Participants

– N= 69, age 18-33 (M = 21.86, SD = 2.97), 36 men,

33 women

7

8

• Vitality– SubjectiveVitality State Scale, (Bostic, T. J.,

Rubio, D. M., & Hood, M., 2000) (6 items, α = .92-.95)

– Adapted version

„When I think of my obligation, I feel veryenergized.“

• Positive affect– BEF (Kuhl & Kazén, 2013) (23 items, α = .78-.91)

– Adapted version„Imagine working at fulfilling your obligation.

How do you feel?“

Main Instruments

H1: Vitality

9

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Pre Post

Motto-Goal

Positive Picture

* p < 0.05

H2: Positive Affect

10

1

2

3

4

5

Pre Post

Motto-Goal

Positive Picture

* p < 0.05

Source of positive affect

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Motto-Goal Positive Picture

not helpful

source outside

obl.

source inside obl.

not classifiable

11

++ +

+ ++ ++

Source of positive affect

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Motto-Goal Positive Picture

not helpful

source outside

obl.

source inside obl.

not classifiable

12

χ2(1, N = 69) = 10.67, p < .05

Discussion

Motto-goal

• more effective in boosting vitality

• no difference in positive affect, but motto-

goals can help form a more positive view of

the obligation

More than just a postive picture

13

?!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

14

Literature

Bostic, T. J., Rubio, D. M., & Hood, M. (2000). A validation of the subjective

vitality scale using structural equation modeling. Social Indicators Research,

52, 313–324.

Haidt, J. (2001). The emotional dog and its rational tail: a social intuitionist

approach to moral judgment. Psychological review, 108(4), 814.

Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient

wisdom. Basic Books.

Kuhl, J., & Kazen, M. (2013). Putting affect into affect instruments: The mood

adjective checklist (BEF). Manuscript in preparation.

Schultheiss, O. C. (2001). An information processing account of implicit motive

arousal. Advances in motivation and achievement, 12, 1-41.

Storch, M. (2009). Motto-Ziele, S.M.A.R.T.-Ziele und Motivation. In

B.Birgmeier (Hrsg.). Coachingwissen (S. 183-205). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag

Storch, M., & Krause, F. (2007). Selbstmanagement – ressourcenorientiert.

Grundlagen und Trainingsmanual für die Arbeit mit dem Zürcher Ressourcen

Modell. Huber: Bern15

Source of positive affect?

16

Source of positive affect?

17

++ +

+ ++ ++

Source of positive affect?

18