Studying against your will: Motivational interference in action

Deadlines make you productive, but what do they do to your motivation? Trajectories in quantity and quality of motivation and study activities among university students as exams approach

Introduction

Recent research has emphasized that achievement motivation is context-sensitive and varies within individual students. Ubiquitous temporal landmarks such as exams or deadlines are evident contextual factors that could systematically explain variation in motivation. Indeed, research has consistently found that university students increase their study efforts as exams come closer in time, indicating increasing study motivation. However, changes in study motivation for a specific exam as it comes closer have rarely been investigated. Instead, research on developmental changes in expectancy and value beliefs has consistently founds that achievement motivation declines over a semester. Surprisingly, declining motivation thus apparently coincides with increasing study efforts for end-of-semester exams.

Methods

The present research investigates this apparent contradiction by assessing how exam-specific motivation and study behavior change under equal methodological conditions as an exam draws closer. Using parallel growth curve models, we examine changes in expectancy-value beliefs, performance approach and avoidance motivation and study behavior as well as motivational want- and should-conflicts among 96 students over eight weekly measurement points.

Results and discussion

Results show that students study more for their exam as it comes closer and increase their use of surface learning strategies more rapidly than their use of deep learning strategies. However, even exam-specific expectancy and attainment value beliefs decline while performance-avoidance motivation increases over time, indicating that students increasingly study out of fear to fail as exams come closer. Consistent with these findings, students' experience of should conflicts decreases while their want conflicts increase over time. We discuss several possible mechanisms underlying our findings in addition to potential theoretical consequences and suggest future research opportunities to better understand students' changes in situative motivation and study behavior in the context of temporal landmarks.

Suitability of Motivational Regulation Strategies for Specific Motivational Problems

Abstract. Learners utilize a variety of strategies to regulate their motivation. Theoretical models of motivational regulation imply a connection between the decision for a concrete strategy and the specific situational requirements. Accordingly, one would expect that the suitability of a strategy depends on how well it fits the motivational problem in question. Since reliable findings on this point are missing, we conducted a survey of N = 33 proven experts in the field of self-regulated learning to enlighten the suitability of nine strategies for six different motivational problems. Our findings showed that the suitability of a group of strategies was consistently considered dependent on the given motivational problem (e. g., ability-focus self-talk was suitable to enhance motivation for a difficult task) – pointing to the importance of conditional strategy knowledge for learners. For another group of strategies, experts’ suitability judgments were indifferent, indicating that strategy suitability may also comprise idiosyncratic (i. e., person-specific) aspects.

Mindfulness in everyday life: between- and within-person relationships to motivational conflicts

Mindfulness has shown beneficial relationships with well-being and self-regulation. We aim to improve the understanding of the effects of between- and within-person differences in mindfulness when dealing with situations of motivational conflict. For this purpose, we conducted an experience sampling study with 56 university students who replied to a total of N = 1889 short questionnaires, which they received via their smartphones over a period of eight consecutive days. In addition to a state mindfulness questionnaire with the facets presence and non-judgment (focusing attention on the experience of the current action and a momentary non-judgmental stance towards these, respectively), the participants received questions about their current affective well-being and perceived intensity of want or should conflict experiences. Multi-level analyses revealed that want conflicts were predicted by both state mindfulness facets, even after momentary affect was controlled. In addition, to be non-judgmental (as a trait), and having momentary presence (as a state), related to lower intensity of should conflicts. The results suggest that being mindful might be a particularly beneficial way of dealing with daily motivational conflicts, which is an essential and frequent task of self-regulation.

Self-Efficacy in Habit Building: How General and Habit-Specific Self-Efficacy Influence Behavioral Automatization and Motivational Interference

In this article, we investigate the role of self-efficacy (SE) in intentional habit building. We analyzed event sampling data from a habit building app we created that helps define and track habit data. We used hierarchical growth curve modeling and multilevel mediation to test our hypotheses. In a first study, N = 91 university students built new study habits over a period of 6 weeks in a controlled study. We found that the trait-like (Level 2) general self-efficacy predicted automaticity (i.e., habit strength) but not the experience of motivational interference (MI). In a second study with real user data, N = 265 idiographic habits have been analyzed. The specific SE associated with these habits – habit-specific self-efficacy (Level 1, HSE) – was measured during habit formation. We found that lagged HSE predicted automaticity and that lagged automaticity predicted HSE, indicating a positive feedback mechanism in habit building. Furthermore, we found that lagged HSE predicted less MI during habit performance. A multilevel mediation analysis showed significant effects of lagged HSE (Level 1) and aggregated HSE (Level 2) on MI, which were both partially mediated by automaticity. These results show the importance of defining the specificity of SE beliefs and how they interact with automaticity in the habit building process.

App-Based Habit Building Reduces Motivational Impairments During Studying - An Event Sampling Study

In this app-based event sampling study, we observed the intentional formation of new study habits. A sample of 91 university students defined individual study habits and logged data over 6 weeks on motivational conflict, motivational interference (MI) and automaticity of behavior after each habit repetition using an app on their phone. The app was specifically created for this study and gave feedback on habit automaticity. A total of N = 2,574 habit repetitions have been generated and were analyzed using multilevel modeling. The results suggest that (1) app-based intentional habit building works, as automaticity of behavior could be predicted by habit repetition, (2) motivational impairments during studying can be reduced by building habits, as want conflicts and MI decreased with automaticity, and (3) trait self-control supports studying indirectly by fostering habit building rather than directly by suppressing impulses during the activity, as self-control predicted automaticity, but not motivational impairments during the habit execution. The effect of self-control on automaticity of the new study habit was fully mediated by the general automaticity of the students' other study habits (general study habit strength). This study showcases an app-guided genesis of new study habits and its beneficial motivational effects for learning behavior.

Valence and Motivation as Predictors of Student Time Use in Everyday Life: An Experience Sampling Study

Popular descriptions of studying frequency show remarkable discrepancies: students complain about their workload, and alumni describe freedom and pleasure. Unfortunately, empirical evidence on student time use is sparse. To investigate time use and reveal contributing psychological factors, we conducted an e-diary study. One hundred fifty-four students reported their time use and valence hourly over 7 days, both at the start of the semester and during their examination period. Motivational problems, social support and self-control were assessed once via questionnaires. Whereas the mean academic time use was in the expected range, the between-subject differences were substantial. We used multilevel modeling to separately analyze the within- and between-subject associations of valence as within factor and time use and social support, self-control, and motivation as between factors and time use. The analyses revealed the importance of affective factors on a within-subject level. Before studying, valence was already low, and it deteriorated further during studying. As expected at the between-subject level, motivational problems were related to less time studying, whereas surprisingly, self-control had no effect. The findings at the start of the semester were replicated in the examination period.

Know Your Preferences: Self-Regulation as Need-Congruent Goal Selection

Theory and research on self-regulation is dominated by a social–cognitive perspective that places an emphasis on postdecisional (i.e., volitional) control processes of goal-maintenance in response to dual-motive conflict. In the current contribution, we focus on research on self-regulation that acknowledges the affective fundamentals of motivated action, and we highlight processes of goal selection as vital parts of self-regulation. From our perspective of motivational competence, affective and cognitive processes work together rather than oppose each other in self-regulation, rendering effortless rather than effortful goal pursuit as the hallmark of efficient human action. A precondition for such motive- and self-congruent goal pursuits is that individuals have insight into their basic preferences and (can) act accordingly. Therefore, we address capacities, such as mindfulness, which may take effect in predecisional (i.e., motivational) action phases, thereby determining all subsequent action processes.

Aiming at a Moving Target: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations in the Study of Intraindividual Goal Conflict between Personal Goals

Multiple-goal pursuit and conflict between personal life-defining goals can be considered part of everyday business in most individuals' lives. Given the potentially detrimental effects of goal conflict—for example, impaired well-being or poor performance—the literature on goal conflict is surprisingly scattered due to heterogeneous methodological approaches and technical terms. Little empirical research has addressed the conceptualization of goal conflict against the background of differing understandings from a structure-like and a process-like perspective. In the present article, we outline theoretical foundations of goal conflict from two perspectives: a structure- and a process-like perspective. Based on a comparative analysis and integration of these two perspectives, we systematically review empirical studies on goal conflict over 30 years of research. In doing so, we identify and discuss important conceptual dimensions of goal conflict, namely, goal conflict as a cognitive construct and an experiential instance, a focus on goal interrelations or on specific goal properties, and resource vs. inherent conflict, and the potential of these distinctions to further research on goal conflict. Finally, we present major challenges and pose questions that need to be addressed by future research.

Multiple Ziele und Lernmotivation: Das Forschungsprogramm „Theorie motivationaler Handlungskonflikte“

Zusammenfassung. Der Beitrag berichtet über das Forschungsprogramm „Theorie motivationaler Handlungskonflikte“, das Situationen behandelt, in denen Personen zwei gleichwertige Ziele verfolgen. Die Theorie wird an Lernenden untersucht, die Konflikte zwischen schulischen und außerschulischen Zielen erleben. Diese Konflikte spiegeln prototypisch die gesellschaftlich relevante Konkurrenz zwischen wohlbefindens- und leistungsbezogenen Werten und Zielen wider. Mit dem Anstreben von Zielen zeigen Lernende an, dass sie ihre altersspezifischen Entwicklungsaufgaben bearbeiten. Die Theorie spezifiziert die Interferenz von Anreizen der nichtgewählten Handlung mit der Ausübung der gewählten Lern- oder Freizeithandlung. In quer- und längsschnittlichen-, Experience-Sampling- sowie experimentellen Studien wird gezeigt, dass motivationale Interferenz Leistung und affektives Wohlbefinden der Lernenden beeinträchtigen kann. Bei den Bedingungen motivationaler Interferenz stehen gesellschaftlich vermittelte Werte der Leistung und des Wohlbefindens im Mittelpunkt. Wir schlagen Maßnahmen zur Minimierung von Zielkonflikten und zur Herstellung einer ausgewogenen Zeitverteilung auf verschiedene Lebensbereiche vor.