The motivational looking glass: how significant others implicitly affect goal appraisals.
Three studies manipulate the accessibility of significant-other representations to explore how these representations may automatically influence how goals are construed and experienced. Study 1 finds that the perceived attainment expectations of a significant other automatically affect participants' own task-goal expectations and their subsequent task performance and persistence. Study 2 finds that the general perceived value that a significant other places in attaining a task goal automatically affects participants' own attainment value appraisals, their task persistence and performance, and the magnitude of their reaction to success and failure feedback. Finally, Study 3 demonstrates that the regulatory focus prescribed by a significant other may automatically affect participants' own regulatory focus with regards to a task goal, with consequences for their cheerfulness-dejection and relaxation-agitation responses to success and failure feedback. The implications for our understanding of social influence and self-regulation are discussed.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013360:Subliminal Stimulation; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis