Striving for unwanted goals: stress-dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well-being and increase psychosomatic symptoms.
Three studies investigated the relevance of affect regulation, stressful life events, and congruence between explicit achievement orientation and implicit achievement motive for subjective well-being and symptom formation. According to personality systems interactions (PSI) theory, stressful life events were expected to reduce motive congruence when the ability to self-regulate affect was impaired (i.e., state orientation). Consistent with expectations, the State Orientation x Stress interaction predicted incongruence in healthy participants (Studies 1 and 3) and in patients (Study 2). Furthermore, incongruence partially mediated the direct State Orientation x Stress effect on subjective well-being (Studies 1 and 3) and the course of psychosomatic complaints over 3 months (Study 2). In Study 3, the experimental induction of threat reduced motive congruence in state-oriented participants compared with an acceptance condition. Findings underscore the importance of assessing motive congruence as a "hidden stressor" and validate a new operant multi-motive test.
Baumann
Nicola
N
Department of Human Sciences, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany. nbaumann@uos.de
Kaschel
Reiner
R
Kuhl
Julius
J
D000124:Achievement; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D010551:Personality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D014836:Volition