TY - JOUR
T1 - The Motivating Power of Visionary Images
T2 - Effects on Motivation, Affect, and Behavior
AU - Rawolle, Maika
AU - Schultheiss, Oliver C.
AU - Strasser, Alexandra
AU - Kehr, Hugo M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Objective: Visionary images are identity-relevant, picture-like mental representations of a desirable and attainable future appearing regularly in a person's stream of thought. Prior research indicates that both mental and real images provide access to implicit motives. We therefore proposed that visionary images motivate people by arousing their implicit motives and tested this hypothesis in two experimental studies. Method: We used guided visualizations to administer motive-domain-specific visionary images (Study 1: achievement and neutral, Mage = 24.4, 51 participants, 34 women; Study 2: affiliation and power, Mage = 24.01, 51 participants, 28 women) to arouse the respective implicit motive. Motivation was measured via residual changes in affective (i.e., changes in affective arousal), behavioral (i.e., performance on a concentration task, behavioral choices in a prisoner's dilemma), and mental (i.e., motive imagery in the Picture Story Exercise) indicators of motivation. Results: The results largely confirmed our hypothesis. Visionary images increased motivation in the targeted domain. Some effects were moderated by participants' implicit motives. Conclusions: The findings underscore the role of implicit motives in understanding the motivational effectiveness of visionary images.
AB - Objective: Visionary images are identity-relevant, picture-like mental representations of a desirable and attainable future appearing regularly in a person's stream of thought. Prior research indicates that both mental and real images provide access to implicit motives. We therefore proposed that visionary images motivate people by arousing their implicit motives and tested this hypothesis in two experimental studies. Method: We used guided visualizations to administer motive-domain-specific visionary images (Study 1: achievement and neutral, Mage = 24.4, 51 participants, 34 women; Study 2: affiliation and power, Mage = 24.01, 51 participants, 28 women) to arouse the respective implicit motive. Motivation was measured via residual changes in affective (i.e., changes in affective arousal), behavioral (i.e., performance on a concentration task, behavioral choices in a prisoner's dilemma), and mental (i.e., motive imagery in the Picture Story Exercise) indicators of motivation. Results: The results largely confirmed our hypothesis. Visionary images increased motivation in the targeted domain. Some effects were moderated by participants' implicit motives. Conclusions: The findings underscore the role of implicit motives in understanding the motivational effectiveness of visionary images.
KW - Vision
KW - imagery
KW - implicit motives
KW - motivation
KW - visionary image
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85007499791&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/jopy.12285
DO - 10.1111/jopy.12285
M3 - Article
C2 - 27716917
AN - SCOPUS:85007499791
SN - 0022-3506
VL - 85
SP - 769
EP - 781
JO - Journal of Personality
JF - Journal of Personality
IS - 6
ER -