Taking chances in the face of threat: romantic risk regulation and approach motivation.
Four studies examine the hypothesis that goals adopted by high and low self-esteem people (HSEs and LSEs) to manage risk in romantic relationships may reflect global shifts in approach motivation and subsequently affect risk taking in nonsocial domains. In Studies 1 and 2, threats to participants' romantic relationships heightened HSEs' self-reported general approach motivation while lowering LSEs' approach motivation. In Studies 2 through 4, HSEs exhibited riskier decision making (i.e., a greater tendency to pursue rewards and ignore risks) in nonsocial domains following a relationship threat manipulation whereas LSEs made more conservative decisions. These results suggest that the romantic risk regulation may be inherently linked to a broader approach and avoidance system and that specific risk regulation behaviors may be driven by global motivational shifts to a greater degree than previously theorized.
Cavallo
Justin V
JV
Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. jvcavall@uwaterloo.ca
Fitzsimons
Gráinne M
GM
Holmes
John G
JG
D002755:Choice Behavior; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D012059:Rejection, Psychology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012649:Self Concept; D012927:Social Control, Informal