Motivation, broadly construed, matters

Personality systems interactions theory: an integrative framework complementing the study of the motivational and volitional dynamics underlying adjustment to chronic pain

In the endeavor to advance our understanding of interindividual differences in dealing with chronic pain, numerous motivational theories have been invoked in the past decade. As they focus on relevant, yet different aspects of the dynamic, multilevel processes involved in human voluntary action control, research findings seem fragmented and inconsistent. Here we present Personality Systems Interactions theory as an integrative meta-framework elucidating how different motivational and volitional processes work in concert under varying contextual conditions. PSI theory explains experience and behavior by the relative activation of four cognitive systems that take over different psychological functions during goal pursuit. In this way, it may complement existing content-related explanations of clinical phenomena by introducing a functional, third-person perspective on flexible goal management, pain acceptance and goal maintenance despite pain. In line with emerging evidence on the central role of emotion regulation in chronic pain, PSI theory delineates how the self-regulation of positive and negative affect impacts whether behavior is determined by rigid stimulus-response associations (i.e., habits) or by more abstract motives and values which afford more behavioral flexibility. Along with testable hypotheses, multimodal interventions expected to address intuitive emotion regulation as a central process mediating successful adaptation to chronic pain are discussed.

Daily Goals and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife and Older Women: Physical Pain Interacts with Goal Conflict

Physical pain is more prevalent with older age and female gender, and pain can interfere with goal pursuit and its psychological benefit. In particular, insofar as pain is associated with fatigue, it may limit resources for goal pursuit and increase goal resource conflict: the competition between goals for time and energy. Therefore, the pursuit of goals with high value and low resource conflict should provide the most psychological benefit, particularly for women who experience physical pain. Women in middle and older age (N = 200) completed up to 7 daily diaries (n = 1,380), in which they reported and rated their daily goals and assessed their daily pain, distress, fatigue, and cognitive function. Raters also assessed goal conflict. Multilevel models tested the within- and between-person relationships of goal value and goal conflict with daily distress, fatigue, and cognitive function, as well as moderation by pain. Higher goal value was associated with less distress and fatigue and better cognitive function within and between women. Depending on whether or not a woman had physical pain, goal conflict had different relationships with fatigue and cognitive function: for women with no pain, there was a modest positive relationship between goal conflict and both cognitive difficulties and subjective fatigue; for women with pain, there was a negative relationship between goal conflict and both cognitive difficulties and subjective fatigue. Results suggest women without pain may be taxed by their goal conflict, whereas women with pain may regulate their goal conflict in response to their available resources.