The current study presents a conceptual framework for the moderation of the relationship between implicit and self-attributed motive congruency and psychological well-being. Consistent with this framework, we found evidence for such moderation effects for predicting life satisfaction in a secondary data analysis of a sample (N = 441) drawn from the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample longitudinal dataset. First, we found that, compared to low/low affiliation motive congruence, the positive effects (i.e., high life satisfaction) of high/high congruence were neutralized at high levels of dependence. Second, compared to low/low congruence, the negative effects of either type of affiliation motive incongruence (i.e., high/low, or low/high) were ameliorated at high levels of locus of control. The proposed conceptual framework not only offers a better predictive model of motive congruence moderation, it also directs our attention toward targeted interventions for increasing psychological well-being in the normal population.
The satisfaction of a high implicit affiliation motive – i.e., the desire “to establish and/or maintain warm and friendly interpersonal relations” (French & Chadwick, 1956, p. 296) – that operates outside of conscious awareness is positively associated with psychological well-being (Deci and Ryan, 2000 and McClelland, 1985b). Moreover, frustration of a high affiliation motive causes such well-being impairments as anxiety and somatization (Baard, Deci, & Ryan, 2000). Recent research has further demonstrated that the combination of a high implicit affiliation motive and a corresponding high consciously accessible, self-attributed motive is positively associated with life satisfaction (Schuler, Job, Frohlich, & Brandstatter, 2008). This follows the general finding that motive congruence leads to positive well-being outcomes (Brunstein et al., 1998, Hofer and Chasiotis, 2003 and Sheldon and Kasser, 1995) and motive incongruence leads to negative outcomes (Baumann et al., 2005 and Brunstein et al., 1998). Whereas in the domain of the achievement motive – i.e., the need for accomplishing something difficult and attaining a high standard (Murray, 1938) – moderators have been found that neutralize the positive effect of motive congruence (Langens, 2007) and mitigate the negative effects of motive incongruence (Langan-Fox et al., 2008 and Langan-Fox et al., 2009a), research has failed to uncover corresponding moderators of affiliation motive (in)congruence (with the notable exception of Langan-Fox, Sankey, and Canty (2009b).
The current paper aims to address this issue by: (a) advancing the literature on dual motive systems with a proposed conceptual framework of motive congruency; (b) providing a preliminary test of this framework by examining dependence and locus of control (LOC) as potential moderators of the relationship between affiliation motive congruence and life satisfaction; and (c) increasing our understanding of how psychological well-being can be promoted.
Implicit and self-attributed motives represent discrete motivational systems ( McClelland, Koestner, & Weinberger, 1989). Implicit motives have been conceptualized as associative networks connecting situational cues with basic affective reactions and implicit behavioral tendencies that energize, select, and direct behaviour towards motive congruent goal states ( McClelland, 1985a), whereas self-attributed motives are linked to individuals’ conscious goals and expectations ( McClelland et al., 1989). Implicit motives are assessed by fantasy-based methods such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943); self-attributed motives are assessed directly via self-report questionnaires.
The positive effects of implicit and self-attributed motive congruence may be due to a reduction in anxiety caused by motive incongruence (Brunstein et al., 1998). Recently, Langens (2007) found that activity inhibition (AI) – the degree of restraint an individual exercises over emotional and motivational impulses (McClelland, 1979) – neutralized the beneficial effects of achievement motive congruence. Complementing this finding, Langan-Fox et al. (2009a) found that low external LOC counteracted the negative effects of achievement motive incongruence. This mitigation effect occurred particularly in comparison to low implicit and low self-attributed achievement motive congruence. However, research is yet to empirically substantiate motive congruence moderation effects based on a priori theoretical distinctions between the types of motive (in)congruencies (e.g., Bing et al., 2007, Borstein, 1998, Borstein, 2002 and Langens and McClelland, 1997; see Table 1).
