Wanting it badly
Yimin Cheng, Anirban Mukhopadhyay & Rom Schrift
Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
People often assume that costlier means lead to better outcomes, even in the absence of an objective relationship in the specific context. Such cost-benefit heuristics in goal pursuit have been observed across several domains but their antecedents have not been fully explored. In this research, we propose that a person's tendency to use cost-benefit heuristics depends on the extent to which that person subscribes to the Protestant Work Ethic (PWE), an influential concept originally introduced to explain the rise of capitalism. The Protestant Work Ethic is a core value predicated on the work-specific belief that hard work leads to success, but people who subscribe strongly to it tend to over-generalize and align other work-unrelated cognitions to be consistent. Across ten studies (N=1,917) measuring and manipulating PWE, we robustly find that people who are high (vs. low) in PWE are more likely to use cost-benefit heuristics, and are more likely to choose costlier means in pursuit of superior outcomes. We suggest how marketers may identify consumers high versus low in PWE and tailor their offerings accordingly.
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He Dies, He Scores: Evidence that Reminders of Death Motivate Improved Performance in Basketball
Colin Zestcott et al.
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety. Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve performance in sport. In Study 1, a mortality salience induction led to improved performance in a “one-on-one” basketball game. In Study 2, a subtle death prime led to higher scores on a basketball shooting task, which was associated with increased task related self-esteem. These results may promote our understanding of sport and provide a novel potential way to improve athletic performance.
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Christoph Eisenegger et al.
Hormones and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Studies in non-human animals and humans have demonstrated the important role of testosterone in competitive interactions. Here, we investigated whether endogenous testosterone levels predict the decision to compete, in a design excluding spite as a motive underlying competitiveness. In a laboratory experiment with real monetary incentives, 181 men solved arithmetic problems, first under a noncompetitive piece rate, followed by a competition incentive scheme. We also assessed several parameters relevant to competition, such as risk taking, performance, and confidence in one's own performance. Salivary testosterone levels were measured before and 20 min after the competition task using mass spectrometry. Participants were also genotyped for the CAG repeat polymorphism of the androgen receptor gene, known to influence the efficacy of testosterone signaling in a reciprocal relationship to the number of CAG repeats. We observed a significant positive association between basal testosterone levels and the decision to compete, and that higher testosterone levels were related to greater confidence in one's own performance. Whereas the number of CAG repeats was not associated with the choice to compete, a lower number of CAG repeats was related to greater confidence in those who chose to compete, but this effect was attributable to the polymorphism's effect on actual performance. An increase in testosterone levels was observed following the experiment, and this increase varied with self-reported high-school math grades. We expand upon the latest research by documenting effects of the androgen system in confidence in one's own ability, and conclude that testosterone promotes competitiveness without spite.
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The Self-Expressive Customization of a Product Can Improve Your Performance
Ulrike Kaiser, Martin Schreier & Chris Janiszewski
Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
This research demonstrates that the self-expressive customization of a product can improve performance on tasks performed using the customized product. Five studies show that the effect is robust across different types of tasks (e.g., persistence tasks, concentration tasks, agility tasks). The evidence further shows that the effect is not due to changes in product efficacy beliefs, feelings of competence, feelings of accomplishment, mood, task desirability, goal activation, or goal attainability. Instead, the self-expressive customization of a product extends an identity (e.g., personal identity, group identity) into the product. When the product is subsequently used to pursue a goal whose desired outcome can affirm the extended identity, performance improves.
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Kenneth DeMarree et al.
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Actual–desired discrepancies in people’s self-concepts represent structural incongruities in their self-representations that can lead people to experience subjective conflict. Theory and research suggest that structural incongruities predict susceptibility to subtle influences like priming and conditioning. Although typically examined for their motivational properties, we hypothesized that because self-discrepancies represent structural incongruities in people’s self-concepts, they should also predict susceptibility to subtle influences on people’s active self-views. Across three studies, we found that subtle change inductions (self-evaluative conditioning and priming) exerted greater impact on active self-perceptions and behavior as actual–desired self-discrepancies increased in magnitude. Exploratory analyses suggested that these changes occurred regardless of the compatibility of the change induction with individuals’ desired self-views.
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Grit Is Associated with Structure of Nucleus Accumbens and Gains in Cognitive Training
Federico Nemmi et al.
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, November 2016, Pages 1688-1699
Abstract:
There is a long-standing interest in the determinants of successful learning in children. “Grit” is an individual trait, reflecting the ability to pursue long-term goals despite temporary setbacks. Although grit is known to be predictive of future success in real-world learning situations, an understanding of the underlying neural basis and mechanisms is still lacking. Here we show that grit in a sample of 6-year-old children (n = 55) predicts the working memory improvement during 8 weeks of training on working memory tasks (p = .009). In a separate neuroimaging analysis performed on a partially overlapping sample (n = 27), we show that interindividual differences in grit were associated with differences in the volume of nucleus accumbens (peak voxel p = .021, x = 12, y = 11, z = −11). This was also confirmed in a leave-one-out analysis of gray matter density in the nucleus accumbens (p = .018). The results can be related to previous animal research showing the role of the nucleus accumbens to search out rewards regardless of delays or obstacles. The results provide a putative neural basis for grit and could contribute a cross-disciplinary connection of animal neuroscience to child psychology.