Attaining your goals: The influence of approach- and avoidance tendencies and personality traits on hand-movement trajectories in the context of valenced distractors

Introduction. Goal attainment in the context of valenced distractors may be influenced by motivation systems and personality traits. There are two motivation systems: the behavioral approach system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). BAS seems to react to rewarding stimuli and seems to be related to Extraversion. BIS is thought to be responsible for avoiding punishment and seems to be related to Neuroticism. In this study, I hypothesized that BIS/BAS sensitivity has an effect on goal attainment. Furthermore, this study looked at the influence of personality traits. It was hypothesized that personality influences BIS/BAS sensitivity and that this in turn had an effect on goal attainment. Methods. Goal attainment was measured using a hand-movement task that featured valenced distractors. During this task, participants (N=32) were asked to move an avatar towards a black target. Presented next to this target was a distractor that was associated with either reward,...Show moreIntroduction. Goal attainment in the context of valenced distractors may be influenced by motivation systems and personality traits. There are two motivation systems: the behavioral approach system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). BAS seems to react to rewarding stimuli and seems to be related to Extraversion. BIS is thought to be responsible for avoiding punishment and seems to be related to Neuroticism. In this study, I hypothesized that BIS/BAS sensitivity has an effect on goal attainment. Furthermore, this study looked at the influence of personality traits. It was hypothesized that personality influences BIS/BAS sensitivity and that this in turn had an effect on goal attainment. Methods. Goal attainment was measured using a hand-movement task that featured valenced distractors. During this task, participants (N=32) were asked to move an avatar towards a black target. Presented next to this target was a distractor that was associated with either reward, punishment, or was a neutral distractor. Deviation towards or away from the distractor was hypothesized to be associated with one’s sensitivity to either BIS or BAS. Results. People with a higher BIS sensitivity were more likely to move away from punishment stimuli. BAS, however, seemed to have no effect on goal attainment. Furthermore, people with neurotic traits seem to have more BIS tendencies. BIS, however, seemed to have no further mediating effect on the relationship between Neuroticism and goal attainment. Conclusion. In sum, this study provides a unique method of measuring goal attainment in the context of valenced distractors. Through this method (i.e. the examining of hand-movement trajectories) underlying factors that may influence goal attainment (e.g. motivation, personality, etc.) may become apparent.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Attaining your goals: The influence of approach- and avoidance tendencies and personality traits on hand-movement trajectories in the context of valenced distractors