1. Turning duty into joy
Boosting positive affect and vitality regarding an unpleasant
obligation through a personal motto-goal
Thomas Dyllick and Oliver Dickhäuser
University of Mannheim
2.07.2014

2. 1
„The printer and the rare wine“

3. 2 systems
2
automatic/ experiential
system
controlled/ verbal-
symbolic system
Intuition Reasoning, logic
Maximize pleasure/minimize
pain
Regulate behaviour
„hot“ – connected to
motivations, reward centers
„cool“ – not connected to
motivational centers
affect language
pictures language
(Schultheiss, 2001, Haidt, 2001, 2006)

4. Motto-Goals
(Storch, 2009)
– figurative, metaphorical language
– guiding principle of how to approach a personal
goal or obligation
3
„With the inner strength of a
bear I am forging ahead.“
„I will study for my exam
every day.“

5. has a thick fur
big and strong
forging ahead
Motto-Goal Intervention
4
x
„With the inner
strength of a bear
I am forging ahead.“
„Studyin
g for the
exam“
write
duty
choose
picture
choose
words
form
motto-goal
x

6. Motto-Goals research
• Zurich Resource Model (Storch & Krause, 2007)
Research:
• Lower stress and cortisol levels during stressful
task (Storch, Gaab, Küttel, Stüssi,& Fend, 2007)
• Higher commitment and optimism (Weber, 2013)
• Higher achievement motive congruence (Pinsdorf,
2013)
5

7. Research Question
• Is a short intervention effective?
• What is the mechanism?
Study 1
• More than just a positive picture?
• H1: motto-goals boost vitality
• H2: motto-goals boost positive affect
6

8. Study 1
• Design
– Pre-post-control group in the laboratory
• Control group
– Positive picture condition
• Participants
– N= 69, age 18-33 (M = 21.86, SD = 2.97), 36 men,
33 women
7

9. 8
• Vitality
– SubjectiveVitality State Scale, (Bostic,T. J.,
Rubio, D. M., & Hood, M., 2000) (6 items, α = .92-.95)
– Adapted version
„When I think of my obligation, I feel very
energized.“
• Positive affect
– BEF (Kuhl & Kazén, 2013) (23 items, α = .78-.91)
– Adapted version
„Imagine working at fulfilling your obligation.
How do you feel?“
Main Instruments

10. H1:Vitality
9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Pre Post
Motto-Goal
Positive Picture
* p < 0.05

11. H2: Positive Affect
10
1
2
3
4
5
Pre Post
Motto-Goal
Positive Picture
* p < 0.05

12. Source of positive affect
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Motto-Goal Positive Picture
not helpful
source outside
obl.
source inside obl.
not classifiable
11
++ +
+ +
+ ++

13. Source of positive affect
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Motto-Goal Positive Picture
not helpful
source outside
obl.
source inside obl.
not classifiable
12
χ2(1, N = 69) = 10.67, p < .05

14. Discussion
Motto-goal
• more effective in boosting vitality
• no difference in positive affect, but motto-
goals can help form a more positive view of
the obligation
More than just a postive picture
13
?!

15. THANKYOU FORYOUR ATTENTION!
14

16. Literature
Bostic,T. J., Rubio, D. M., & Hood, M. (2000).A validation of the subjective
vitality scale using structural equation modeling. Social Indicators Research,
52, 313–324.
Haidt, J. (2001).The emotional dog and its rational tail: a social intuitionist
approach to moral judgment. Psychological review, 108(4), 814.
Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient
wisdom. Basic Books.
Kuhl, J., & Kazen, M. (2013). Putting affect into affect instruments:The mood
adjective checklist (BEF). Manuscript in preparation.
Schultheiss, O. C. (2001).An information processing account of implicit motive
arousal. Advances in motivation and achievement, 12, 1-41.
Storch, M. (2009). Motto-Ziele, S.M.A.R.T.-Ziele und Motivation.In
B.Birgmeier (Hrsg.). Coachingwissen (S. 183-205).Wiesbaden:VSVerlag
Storch, M., & Krause, F. (2007). Selbstmanagement – ressourcenorientiert.
Grundlagen undTrainingsmanual für die Arbeit mit dem Zürcher Ressourcen
Modell. Huber: Bern
15

17. Source of positive affect?
16

18. Source of positive affect?
17
++ +
+ +
+ ++

19. Source of positive affect?
18