The effects of promotion and prevention cues on creativity

A shared "optimal-level of arousal": Seeking basis for creativity and curiosity

We argue that the phases identified in the novelty-seeking model can be clarified by considering an updated version of the optimal-level of arousal model, which incorporates the "arousal" and "mood changing" potentials of stimuli and contexts. Such a model provides valuable insights into what determines one's state of mind, inter-individual differences, and the rewarding effects of curiosity and creativity.

The Moderation Effect of Approach Motivation Between Schizotypy and Creative Ideational Behavior

Introduction

The schizotypy-creativity link has been studied from different perspectives over the past few decades, yet the results of this relationship are inconsistent in the literature. Previous studies have suggested that two basic motivational systems-Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS, avoidance motivation) and Behavioral Activation System (BAS, approach motivation)-underlie the relationship between schizotypy and creativity. Few empirical studies, however, have examined how the relationship interacts with other variables. This study fills these gaps and explores the role of the approach and avoidance motivation assessed by trait behavioral activation and inhibition in the link between schizotypy as a dimensional personality trait and creative ideational behavior as a measure of creativity.

Method

Undergraduate students (N = 388) completed questionnaires including the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) measuring 3 dimensions of schizotypy, Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS) measuring creative ideational behavior, and BIS/BAS Scales measuring trait behavioral motivation. Bivariate Pearson correlation was computed, and hierarchical linear regression was performed to explore the effects of schizotypy, BIS/BAS, and their interaction on creative ideational behavior. The conditional effect of schizotypy based on different levels of the moderator was further tested.

Results

The total score, positive dimension and disorganized dimension of SPQ were all positively correlated with RIBS, BAS, and BIS. Negative dimension of SPQ was not significantly correlated with the RIBS score but was positively correlated with BIS. Additionally, after controlling gender and age, BAS significantly moderated the relationship between the positive and disorganized dimensions of schizotypy and creative ideational behavior measured by RIBS. However, BIS was not a significant moderator.

Discussion

The findings of this study regarding the relationships between different dimensions of schizotypy, two motivational systems, and creative ideational behavior were mostly consistent with previous findings. The significant moderated effect of BAS on the relationship between two dimensions of schizotypy and creative ideational behavior made significant contributions to the understanding of the relationship between schizotypy and creativity.

The Effect of Induced Regulatory Focus on Frontal Cortical Activity

The motivation-direction model has served as the primary framework for understanding frontal cortical activity. However, research on the link between approach/avoidance motivation and left/right frontal cortical activity has produced inconsistent findings. Recent studies suggest that regulatory systems may offer a more accurate explanation than the motivational direction model. Despite being regulatory systems, the relationship between regulatory focus and frontal cortical activity has received limited attention. Only one experimental study has explored this connection through correlational analysis, yet it lacks causal evidence. The present study aimed to address this gap by manipulating regulatory focus and measuring frontal cortical activity in 36 college students. Our results revealed that induced promotion focus led to increased left frontal cortical activity, whereas induced prevention focus led to increased right frontal cortical activity. These findings enhance our physiological understanding of regulatory focus and offer a deeper explanation of how regulatory focus influences alterations in psychology and behavior.

Better safe than sorry: Oxytocin shifts the regulatory focus

Oxytocin (OT) is known to play a major role in social cognition and behavior. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether OT also affects the motivational system, specifically, the regulatory focus. Because OT weakens the self- and promotes the other-bias, we hypothesized that OT would decrease promotion focus and increase prevention focus. To test this, we conducted two experiments. In each, male participants intranasally administered OT or a placebo and assessed their regulatory focus using validated paradigms. Results revealed that OT led to an increase of prevention focus (Studies 1 and 2) and a slight but non-significant decrease of promotion focus (Study 2). Thus, participants under OT (vs. placebo) saw potential losses as more important, while they tended to devaluate potential gains. This was unrelated to the perceived likelihood of success. These findings indicate that OT might provide adaption to the social environment by pursuing a vigilant motivational strategy.

Coaching as a growth- or security-oriented process-How regulatory fit increases coaching success

Regulatory focus theory suggests that promoters are more concerned with growth and preventers are more concerned with security. Since coaching is a growth-oriented process, it seems to be more suitable for clients high on promotion than for clients high on prevention. Applying regulatory fit theory, the present research investigates how preventers can also benefit from coaching. First, a study looking at real coaching processes (N1 = 103) found that a higher promotion than prevention focus was indeed related to more coaching success, i.e., satisfaction and approach motivation. Next, testing the hypothesis that fit effects should also be present in coaching, a study using a vignette approach (N2 = 99) shows that participants experiencing a fit between their focus and a promotion versus a prevention coaching indicate a better coaching evaluation than participants experiencing no fit. In three studies (N3a = 120, N3b = 85, N3c = 189), we used an experimental approach and manipulated the regulatory focus of coaching interventions. We found promotion as well as prevention fit effects showing that participants experiencing a fit indicate more coaching success than participants experiencing no fit. Two studies (N4a = 41, N4b = 87) further tested interpersonal fit, i.e., the fit between the coach's and client's regulatory focus. We found promotion as well as prevention fit effects on participants' satisfaction with and trust in a coach (Study 4a) and promotion fit effects on participants' goal attainment and coaching progress (4b). The findings suggest that by adapting coaching to the client's focus, coaching success can be increased not only for promoters but also for preventers. Thus, we found that regulatory fit effects, albeit small to medium, are also present in coaching. Multiple studies assessing multiple variables relevant to coaching showed that the findings differ regarding the interventions used and the variables that we looked at. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

The relationship between metamotivational knowledge and performance

Self-regulation research highlights the performance trade-offs of different motivational states. For instance, within the context of regulatory focus theory, promotion motivation enhances performance on eager tasks and prevention motivation enhances performance on vigilant tasks (i.e., regulatory focus task-motivation fit). Work on metamotivation-people's understanding and regulation of their motivational states-reveals that, on average, people demonstrate knowledge of how to create such task-motivation fit; at the same time, there is substantial variability in this normative accuracy. The present research examines whether having accurate normative metamotivational knowledge predicts performance. Results revealed that more accurate metamotivational knowledge predicts better performance on brief, single-shot tasks (Study 1) and in a consequential setting (course grades; Study 2). The effect was more robust in Study 2; potential implications of this variability are discussed for understanding when and why knowledge may be associated with performance.

Shared Leadership and Improvisation: Dual Perspective of Cognition-Affection

Improvisation is an effective way to cope with rapid changes and obtain unexpected opportunities in a complex environment. Based on the cognitive-affective system theory, this study investigates the dual mediating role of cognitive flexibility and emotional intelligence between shared leadership and improvisation and the moderating role of promotion focus. We used multilevel and multi-sourced data to test the theoretical model and used a social network approach to measure shared leadership in teams. Our sample was comprised of 40 teams and 240 team members. The empirical findings indicated that cognitive flexibility and emotional intelligence mediated the relationship between shared leadership and improvisation; promotion focus moderated the relationship between shared leadership and improvisation, and the mediation effect via cognitive flexibility. This study contributes to expanding on improvisation research from the perspective of shared leadership and incorporating both the cognitive and the emotional process of the generation of improvisation into a theoretical framework from a compound perspective, which will open the black box for the mediation mechanism from shared leadership to improvisation. Furthermore, promotion focus is introduced into the research and creatively corresponds to the cognition-affection mediation mechanism, which expands the applicable scope of the regulatory focus theory.

Examining the moderating role of regulatory fit on stereotype threat among Ugandan adolescents

Prior research in Western contexts has tested the hypothesis that stereotype threat induces a prevention focus and that in contexts where both prevention focus and stereotype threat are simultaneously activated, members of stereotyped groups experience a performance boost due to the fit between one's goal orientation and the task demands (i.e. regulatory fit or stereotype fit). The present Study tested this hypothesis with high school students in Uganda, East Africa. Study findings revealed that in this cultural context where high-stakes testing fosters a predominantly promotion-focused testing culture, individual differences in regulatory focus interacted with the broader cultural, regulatory focus test culture to impact student performance.

What’s inside the Mind of a CEO? The Effects of Discretionary Slack Resources on R&D Investment

This study investigates the effects of discretionary slack resources on a firm’s R&D investment. Specifically, we examine whether and how a CEO’s psychological traits play a role in the relationship between discretionary slack and R&D investment. Using a panel sample from U.S. manufacturing firms in 2006–2010, we found that slack resources lead to an increase in R&D intensity. Furthermore, this positive effect is stronger when CEOs have a strong promotion focus and perceive an addressable negative attainment discrepancy. Thus, our findings show how (a) the level of discretionary slack and (b) CEOs’ promotion focus and aspiration level jointly shape R&D investment decisions. Considering CEOs’ psychological traits contributes to a more comprehensive view of the conditions under which discretionary slack resources matter for a firm’s strategic decisions.

Team Regulatory Strategies and Performance in Elite Handball

Purposes: The purposes of this research were: 1) in a preliminary study, to identify regulatory strategies used by players and coaches according to situation reward structure (Gains vs. Losses); and 2) in the main study, to analyze the effect of the interaction between situation reward structure (Gains vs. Losses) and regulatory strategy (Prevention vs. Promotion) on team performance (scoring a goal) in real-world settings. Methods and Results: In the preliminary study, 25 adult male handball players and 19 coaches playing and coaching at national level in the French championships completed a version of the Regulatory Focus Strategies Scales after reading four handball game scenarios (two gain-oriented and two loss-avoidance oriented). Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures revealed that when the reward structure was gain-oriented, participants had higher scores in promotion regulatory strategy than in prevention regulatory strategy, and conversely. For the main study, a sample of 199 game phases was selected from 84 games played in the Lidl Star League (2017-2018 season). Mixed method analysis revealed a significant team regulatory fit effect, that is an interaction effect between reward structure and regulatory focus strategy on team performance. When there was a fit, both in loss-avoidance oriented and gain-oriented reward structure, performance was higher (OR = 1.64 and OR = 0.86, respectively) than when there was a mismatch (OR = 0.59 and OR = 0.27). Conclusion: These results confirm the applicability of the Regulatory Fit Theory in a real-world setting with professional players, and extend grounded social cognition research regulatory fit literature to team level.

The Impacts of Anxiety and Motivation on Spatial Performance: Implications for Gender Differences in Mental Rotation and Navigation

Despite extensive research on gender differences in spatial cognition, the potential roles of affective and situational factors in accounting for these differences remain relatively understudied. Here, we discuss the impacts of spatial anxiety and motivation in mental rotation and navigation tasks, particularly their roles in explaining the gender performance gaps. We highlight the distinction between approach and avoidance motivation, as well as interactions between anxiety and motivation. Attention, working memory, and response strategy are discussed as mechanisms by which anxiety and motivation may affect performance on spatial tasks. Implications for a broader approach that also considers other psychological variables, such as confidence, are discussed.

Assessing psychological and environmental factors influencing the long-term orientation of TMTs

Purpose

This study identifies and examines psychological and environmental factors that influence the long-term orientation of top management teams (TMTs).

Design/methodology/approach

Data on S&P 500 companies from 2011 to 2020 are collected from the Compustat database. Additional variables were measured through content analysis of earnings conference calls. This study used two-stage least squares regression with fixed effects to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Appropriate diagnostic tests were conducted to ensure validity and eliminate endogeneity.

Findings

The results indicate that a chief executive officer’s (CEO) promotion focus positively and significantly influences the TMT's long-term orientation. However, the influence of prevention focus is statistically insignificant. Furthermore, the results indicate that environmental hostility moderates both relationships.

Practical implications

The TMT's long-term orientation can be improved through the insights provided by this study.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the collective effects of psychological and task environmental factors on the long-term orientation of the TMT. Additionally, this study sheds light on the internal dynamics of the top-management team.

Motivational consequences of counterfactual mindsets: Does counterfactual structure influence the use of conservative or risky tactics?

Motivational states are important determinants of human behavior. Regulatory focus theory suggests that a promotion focus stimulates risky behavior, whereas a prevention focus fosters conservative tactics. Previous research linked counterfactual structure with regulatory focus. Extending this work, we predicted that additive counterfactual mindsets ("If only I had…") instigate risky tactics in subsequent situations, whereas subtractive counterfactual mindsets ("If only I had NOT…") lead to conservative tactics. We tested this prediction and the underlying assumptions in four preregistered studies (total N = 803) and obtained consistent null results. Additive and subtractive counterfactual mindsets did not elicit different tactics - neither on behavioral nor on self-report measures - and they did not influence participants' motivation compared to a neutral control condition. Likewise, our results put doubts on previous findings on counterfactuals and regulatory focus as well as regulatory focus and conservative or risky behavior. More general implications for research on counterfactuals and motivation are discussed.

Which type of tourism short video content inspires potential tourists to travel

While user-generated short videos have become very common in tourism marketing, how they affect potential tourists' decisions has not been discussed academically. Based on the customer inspiration theory, this study explored the effects of different tourism short video contents on potential tourists' travel intentions, as well as the mediating effect of customer inspiration and the moderating effect of consumption orientation through three experiments. The following conclusions were drawn. (1) Tourism short videos significantly increased potential tourists' customer inspiration and travel intention; (2) The customer inspirations ("inspired-by" and "inspired-to") chain-mediated the relationship between tourism short videos and potential tourists' travel intentions; (3) Consumption orientation positively moderated the chained mediation effect above, and the chained mediation effect of tourism short videos on the travel intentions of tourists with hedonistic motivations through inspire-by and inspire-to is stronger than that of tourists with utilitarian motivations. The above findings could help expand the perspective of tourism short video research and provide suggestions for tourism business managers to apply short video content to marketing.

Creation and validation of the Chinese regulatory focus in relationships scale across multiple relationships context

A regulatory focus in relationships motivates individuals to be concerned about the presence/absence of positives (promotion focus)/negatives (prevention focus) in social interactions. How to capture the regulatory focus in relationships remains unclear. Based on regulatory focus theory, we created a regulatory focus in relationships scale (RFRS) with a sample of Chinese undergraduates. The RFRS included four subscales of interpersonal relationships (parent-child, teacher-student, friend, classmate), each of which consists of a model of promotion-prevention focus. With a series of interviews and tests, we found that the RFRS had acceptable validation and reliability. And promotion-prevention focus in relationships is context-dependent: Chinese undergraduates hold high promotion and low prevention focus for parents, friends, and classmates, while they hold high prevention focus and low promotion focus for teachers. The regulatory focus in relationships newly created can be used for future studies to test relational motivation in the specific interpersonal context.

As long as it circulates, we've got to keep fighting: COVID-19 and the motivation to get vaccinated

OBJECTIVE

The first purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between goal-directed motivation and vaccination behavior. The second purpose was to find ways to motivate people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and infectious diseases in general.

RATIONALE

According to regulatory focus theory, goal-directed behavior is regulated by two motivational systems - prevention and promotion. Prevention-focused behavior is motivated by needs for security and safety, and it is associated with a strategic preference for vigilant means of goal-pursuit. Promotion-focused behavior is motivated by needs for self-development and growth, and it is associated with a strategic preference for eagerness means. Based on regulatory focus theory, this research examined the proposal that motivation in goal-pursuit and self-regulatory processes would play a central role in shaping vaccination intention and behavior.

METHOD

Two studies tested the relationship between participants' self-reported intention to get vaccinated and regulatory focus. In Study 1, regulatory focus was measured as a chronic variable. In Study 2, regulatory focus was experimentally induced.

RESULTS

Study 1 showed that chronic prevention focus moderated the relationship between vaccine safety concerns and vaccination intention. The higher the concerns about vaccine safety, the lower was the probability of expressing an intention to get vaccinated, and the stronger the prevention focus the stronger was the effect. Moreover, vaccine safety concerns mediated the relationship between chronic promotion focus and vaccination intention. The stronger the promotion focus, the lower was the concern over vaccine safety, and thus the higher was the probability of expressing an intention to get vaccinated. In Study 2, a situationally induced regulatory focus moderated the relationship between vaccination intention and vaccine safety concerns. As concerns about vaccine safety decreased, the intention to get vaccinated increased, and the effect was stronger for prevention compared with promotion focus. Implications for public health and health communication are discussed.

Relationship Formation and Change in Ego Networks: A Regulatory Focus Framework

Drawing on regulatory focus and brokerage literatures, we develop new theory that explains individuals’ motivation to form and change their relationships in organizational networks. Specifically, we examine how promotion and prevention regulatory foci influence such relational processes as tie formation, maintenance, dissolution, and reconstitution. We further explore the relationship between motivational orientations of regulatory foci and relational orientations to brokerage (i.e., tertius iungens/gaudens) and develop a typology that outlines four major ego-level configurations. Each of the four configurations, labeled dutiful coordinators, aspirational arbitrators, versatile brokers, and indifferent egos, offers distinct predictions on network change and structuring. Overall, our theory contributes to organization theory by elaborating on the important role of ego motivation and strategy in organizational networks, and in so doing, advances research that focuses on individual agency in social networks and complements structuralist approaches to understanding social network dynamics.

No Correlation Between Mood or Motivation and the Processing of Global and Local Information

Mood has been argued to impact the breadth of human attention, but the empirical evidence supporting this claim remains shaky. Gable and Harmon-Jones (2008) have attributed previous empirical inconsistencies regarding the effect of mood on attentional breath to a critical role of approach/avoidance motivation. They demonstrated that the combination of positive affect with high, but not with low, motivational intensity improves performance during processing local information and impairs performance during processing global information. The latter, but not the former, was replicated by Domachowska et al. (2016). Since we were interested in the modulation of attention by valence and motivation, and considering the inconsistencies in the findings, we replicated the critical experiments of both studies in four online experiments but found no significant effect of either valence or motivational intensity on attention. Taken together, our evidence casts doubt on a systematic relationship between mood or motivation on the one hand and global/local processing on the other.

Focus meets motivation: When regulatory focus aligns with approach/avoidance motivation in creative processes

According to Regulatory Focus Theory, two systems determine our strategies to pursue goals – the promotion and the prevention system. Individuals with a dominant promotion system focus on achieving gains, i.e., promoters, and individuals with a dominant prevention system focus on avoiding losses, i.e., preventers. Regulatory Fit Theory suggests that a fit between this focus and the situation causes superior performance and makes individuals feel right. We transfer the fit idea to the interaction of dominant regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) with motivational direction (approach vs. avoidance motivation). We investigated these interaction effects on individuals’ performance and their experience within creativity workshops. In Study 1 (N₁ = 172), using multi-level analyses, we found that a promotion focus was associated with fluency and a prevention focus with elaborated ideas. This effect was stronger, when preventers also scored high on avoidance motivation. Further, preventers experienced more autonomy support and were more satisfied when they scored high on avoidance. Promoters high on approach motivation reported more autonomy support and more satisfaction than preventers high on approach motivation. For Study 2 (N₂ = 112), we used an experimental design: After measuring regulatory focus, we manipulated approach vs. avoidance motivation in creativity workshops. Using multi-level analyses, we did not find main or interaction effects on fluency or elaboration but we found interaction effects on participants’ experience of the creativity workshop. Preventers were more satisfied when they received the avoidance condition. Promoters reported less autonomy support, lower satisfaction, and more perceived conflicts within their teams in the avoidance condition.

Linking managerial capital with explorative strategy and growth in China

Purpose

This study aims to consider the effect of managerial capital (psychological, intellectual and social) on business strategy and growth. Per upper echelon theory, managerial capital enables high-level managers to drive firm performance in uniquely personal ways. The authors test the effects of managerial capital on a manager’s dominant regulatory focus (promotion and prevention balance) and whether having an explorative strategy mediates the relationship between dominant regulatory focus and the percentage of business unit growth expected from new lines of business.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data from a sample of 211 Chinese executives were used to assess measurement and test hypotheses by means of structural equation modeling.

Findings

Results indicate that the direction of business strategy is influenced by the balance between promotion and prevention focus, which is shaped by managers’ risk propensity, product-market familiarity and bonding tie diversity. Explorative strategy, in turn, mediates the relationship between dominant regulatory focus and expectations of innovative growth.

Originality/value

Examining the effects of managerial capital on innovative firm strategy reveals the role of psychosocial traits of decision-makers.

Family Resilience and Adolescent Mental Health during COVID-19: A Moderated Mediation Model

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and is still impacting people’s lives, including physical and mental health. Family plays an important role in adolescent mental health due to the long staying at home. Aims: This paper aimed to investigate the impact of family resilience on adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the mediation role of pandemic stress perception and the moderation role of meta-mood. Methods: A total of 2691 Chinese adolescents were recruited using convenient sampling. Their mental health, family resilience, pandemic stress perception and meta-mood were surveyed. Multivariate statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: Our results showed that (1) about 36.7% adolescents in our sample have some mental health problems; (2) family resilience can positively predict adolescent mental health, whereas pandemic stress perception can negatively predict mental health; (3) pandemic stress perception mediates the relationship between family resilience and adolescent mental health; (4) meta-mood moderates the relationship between family resilience and pandemic perception, i.e., the first half of the mediation role. Conclusions: Our results indicate that one can either improve family resilience or improve adolescents’ meta-mood to relieve adolescents’ mental health problems.

Experiencing tensions, regulatory focus and employee creativity: the moderating role of hierarchical level

Purpose

This study aims to explore how employees respond to tensions in groups and whether experiencing tensions could spur on their creativity (including radical and incremental creativity). Through integrating the literature on tension and regulatory focus theory, this study develops a model depicting the process from experiencing tensions to creativity via regulatory foci. This study further investigates the moderating effect of employees’ hierarchical level on these processes.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-wave survey was conducted with a sample of 375 employees in China. MPLUS was used to examine the moderated mediation model.

Findings

The results show that experiencing tensions can simultaneously activate employees’ prevention focus and promotion focus, both of which in turn influence radical and incremental creativity. Specifically, prevention focus mediates the negative relationship between experiencing tensions and the two aforementioned types of creativity, and promotion focus mediates the positive relationship between experiencing tensions and radical creativity. Employees’ hierarchical level significantly buffers the link between experiencing tensions and prevention focus.

Practical implications

Organizations should optimize their work design to simplify the role demand of employees in the early stages of their careers. Top-tier employees should be encouraged and empowered to think and act with a paradoxical approach, which can drive them to generate more creative outcomes. Besides, when aiming to discover radical ideas, managers should emphatically cultivate employees’ promotion focus.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on tension through revealing and testing the dual paths resulted by employees’ experiencing tensions. It also advances current research by contrasting the effects of experiencing tensions on different types of creativity.

Can Regulatory Fit Improve Elementary School Students’ Performance? Effects of Different Types of Regulatory Fit

Previous studies have demonstrated the effect of regulatory fit on Japanese elementary school students (aged 9–12 years). The hypotheses were that promotion focused students tend to show good performance related to speed when they use an eager manner; on the other hand, prevention focused students tend to show good performance related to accuracy when they use a vigilant manner. In Study 1, the class teacher assessed their student’s regulatory focus and then manipulated the students’ manner of solving a calculation task by asking the students to engage speedily so that they solve many tasks in eager manner condition, or accurately so that they can avoid making errors in the vigilant manner condition. The results indicated that students with a promotion focus tended to solve more tasks in the eager manner condition. In addition, the same result was replicated in Study 2. These combined results suggest that regulatory fit is experienced not only by adults but also by young children. Moreover, the influence of regulatory fit depended on the type of regulatory fit. It is suggested that regulatory fit theory could be applied to educational settings to efficiently enhance the performance of students.

A Multilevel Analysis of the Impact of Unit Tightness vs. Looseness Culture on Attitudes and Behaviors in the Workplace

This study examines the impact of work unit-level perceived Tightness vs. Looseness (T-L) culture on individual-level perceived stress, intention to leave, organizational deviance, job satisfaction, effort investment, and organizational commitment. Using quantitative cross-sectional data (N=417) collected from preexisting work units (N=57) in different organizations in Italy, multilevel analysis results revealed that a perceived cultural tightness at the unit level was significantly and positively related to individual-level job satisfaction, effort investment, and organizational commitment and significantly and negatively related to individual-level stress, intention to leave, and organizational deviance. The findings suggest that organizations should promote a culture of tightness to positively influence employee attitudes and behaviors. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Research on the Influence Mechanism of Dual Leadership on the Constructive Deviant Behavior of the New Generation of Employees-The Chain Mediating Effect of Promoting Regulatory Focus and Role Width Self-Efficacy

Under the background of innovation to win, employees' constructive deviant behavior has become an important way for organizations to break through the bottleneck of change and realize transformation and upgrading. At present, it has become the focus of academic and practical circles. Based on cognitive evaluation theory and social cognitive theory, this study explores the impact mechanism of dual leadership on employees' constructive deviant behavior. Using hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrap method, this article empirically tests the questionnaire data of 333 new generation employees. It is found that dual leadership has a significant positive impact on constructive deviant behavior; role width, self-efficacy, and promoting regulatory focus play a complete intermediary role between dual leadership and constructive deviant behavior. Promoting regulatory focus and role width self-efficacy play a chain intermediary role in the action path of dual leadership on constructive deviant behavior. The research results enrich the theoretical framework of employees' constructive deviant behavior from the perspective of leadership style, and provide a practical reference for leaders to effectively guide employees to make constructive deviant behavior.

Development and Validation of a Questionnaire to Assess Creative Potential Traits

The aim of the study was to develop an inventory to assess traits of creative potential and to analyze its psychometric properties. Three dimensions that could be associated with creative potential were proposed: willingness to transgress, willingness to take on challenges, and willingness to explore. For this purpose 551 participants were chosen to respond to an inventory composed of 12 items: Traits of Creative Potential Questionnaire, (TCPQ-12) and other tests to determine concurrent validity. The correlations between these instruments were significant. In addition, the instrument showed adequate internal consistency (Ω = 0.813) and the exploratory factor analysis yielded salient factors coincident with the proposed dimensions. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated an optimal fit (CFI = 0.984, TLI = 0.979, GFI = 0.963, RMSEA = 0.035). with composite reliability (CR) values > 0.70 in two factors and in one was slightly lower (CR = 0.684). The average variance extracted (AVE) was > 0.5 in two factors and in one < 0.5. The study data allow to highlight that the instrument presented here is a concise instrument with adequate psychometric properties.

I use a COVID-19 contact-tracing app. Do you? Regulatory focus and the intention to engage with contact-tracing technology

Based on regulatory focus theory, it is proposed that there is a relationship between the intention to use COVID-19 contact-tracing apps and goal-directed motivation. Two studies tested this proposal. Study 1 examined the relationship between participants’ chronic regulatory focus and the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Apps usage intention was positively associated with prevention focus. A mediation analysis showed that the relationship between prevention focus and apps usage intention was mediated by privacy and information security concerns. The stronger the prevention focus, the weaker the concerns, thus, the stronger the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Study 2 used priming to have participants adopt either a momentary promotion or prevention focus, after which they were asked about their intention to use contact-tracing apps. A situationally induced regulatory focus influenced the intention to use contact-tracing apps. A moderation analysis showed that age moderated the relationship between regulatory focus and apps usage intention.

Influence of Prosocial Motivation on Employee Creativity: The Moderating Role of Regulatory Focus and the Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing

Stimulating and improving the creativity of employees are both theoretically and practically important. The relationship between prosocial motivation and creativity has gradually gained attention in recent years; however, in the context of controlling for intrinsic motivation, the influence process and results between the two are not yet clear. Based on the motivated information processing model, componential theory of creativity, and regulatory focus theory, this study analyzed the mediating role of knowledge sharing and the moderating role of regulatory focus in the relationship between prosocial motivation and the creativity of employees. For this, we used the PROCESS program and the bootstrap method to test the theoretical hypotheses. Consequently, a survey of 320 Chinese employees revealed that, under the condition of controlling for intrinsic motivation, the prosocial motivation of employees was positively related to creativity and partially mediated by knowledge sharing. Furthermore, regulatory focus negatively moderated the correlation between prosocial motivation and knowledge sharing. Specifically, we found that the higher the prevention focus was, the weaker the effect prosocial motivation had on knowledge sharing. Contrary to the hypothesis, promotion focus also played a negative moderating role. Thus, the results revealed the mechanism and boundary conditions of prosocial motivation on creativity. This study expands the research on prosocial motivation and provides guidance on how managers can enhance the creativity of their employees.

Regulatory Focus, Boundaryless Mindset, and Creativity Among Chinese College Students: A Trait Activation Perspective

We explored the impact of two types of regulatory focus on creativity among 330 college students in China, along with the mediating role of boundaryless mindset and moderating role of stressful life events. A three-wave survey showed that both promotion focus and prevention focus positively predicted the creativity in college students, but the positive effect of promotion focus on the creativity in college students was greater than that of prevention focus; boundaryless mindset mediated the relationship between regulatory focus and creativity; stressful life events moderated the direct effect that promotion focus has on boundaryless mindset, and it also moderated the indirect effect that promotion focus has on creativity via boundaryless mindset. These results extend the existing research on creativity and establish a new mediating mechanism and boundary conditions between regulatory focus and creativity in college students. Finally, we hope to provide a reference for innovation education.

Public transport and public health: Regulatory focus and the impact of COVID-19 on the choice of public transport mode

OBJECTIVE

Based on regulatory focus theory, it was predicted that there would be a relationship between regulatory focus, health-related perceived risk of using public transport during COVID-19, and choice of public transport mode.

METHOD

The study focused on choice between demand responsive transport (DRT), and more traditional modes of public transport, buses and private taxis. Participants completed online questionnaires to measure chronic regulatory focus, perception of health-related risk of using public transport, and choice of public transport mode (choice between buses and DRT, and separately, between taxis and DRT).

RESULTS

The choice between buses and DRT is explained by moderation. The relationship between promotion focus and choice is moderated by risk perception whereas the relationship between prevention focus and choice is moderated by age. Specifically, the probability of choosing DRT is smaller for those saying DRT is riskier (relative to bus is riskier), and the effect gets stronger with increasing strength of promotion focus. Furthermore, the probability of choosing DRT increases with increasing strength of prevention focus for individuals older in age, but decreases with increasing strength of prevention focus for those younger in age. The choice between taxis and DRT is explained by mediated-moderation. The relationship between promotion focus and choice is moderated by age and mediated by risk perception. Specifically, the probability of saying that DRT is riskier than taxis decreases with increasing strength of promotion focus for individuals older in age. As a result, the probability of choosing DRT increases with increasing strength of promotion focus for older people. Moreover, the probability of saying that DRT is riskier than taxis increases with increasing strength of promotion focus for individuals younger in age. As a result, the probability of choosing DRT decreases with increasing strength of promotion focus for younger people. Implications for transport and health are discussed.

Need for Cognition Is Positively Related to Promotion Focus and Negatively Related to Prevention Focus

Need for cognition (NFC) and regulatory focus (RF) are important variables with individual differences relevant to motivation and goal pursuit. These constructs are widely used in the literature, often separately; no work has simultaneously examined the need for cognition scale (NCS) and Lockwood’s general regulatory focus measure (GRFM). Here, we explore shared theoretical underpinnings of the two constructs and assess whether they may be driven by common underlying factors. Considering purported overlaps between these scales and other constructs (e.g., personality and cognitive processes), we take a strong inference approach to test hypothesized bridges between the two measures. In a large (N = 853) sample, we found NCS to be related positively to GRFM promotion and negatively to GRFM prevention scores, suggesting mutual ties with behavioral inhibition system/behavioral activation system, intrinsic motivation, openness, and creativity. A generalized approach motivation, as well as intrinsic motivation, may thus drive both NFC and RF.

The Impact of Emotional Labor on User Stickiness in the Context of Livestreaming Service-Evidence From China

Improving the user stickiness becomes increasingly valued, due to the severe user churn of livestreaming services. Previous studies pay much attention to the influencing factors of technology on user stickiness, ignoring the emotional factors. This study examined the impact of the emotional labor of network anchors (deep acting vs. surface acting) on user stickiness in the context of livestreaming service. We extended prior findings in three ways. The results of Study 1 (i.e., questionnaire method, 305 livestreaming users, and 56.4% females) demonstrated that the emotional labor of network anchor positively influenced user stickiness, and immersion experience plays a mediating role. The results of Study 2 (i.e., situational simulation method, 203 volunteers, and 54.09% females) demonstrated that the deep acting strategies of emotional labor had a stronger effect when compared with surface acting strategies. The results of Study 3 (i.e., situational simulation method, 235 volunteers, and 51.9% females) demonstrated that the effect of emotional labor on user stickiness was stronger for the users with prevention focus compared with promotion focus. Based on the perspective of emotional labor, this study extends the previous research on user stickiness and is valuable for guiding the practice of livestreaming services.

Hurry Up, We Need to Find the Key! How Regulatory Focus Design Affects Children's Trust in a Social Robot

In educational scenarios involving social robots, understanding the way robot behaviors affect children's motivation to achieve their learning goals is of vital importance. It is crucial for the formation of a trust relationship between the child and the robot so that the robot can effectively fulfill its role as a learning companion. In this study, we investigate the effect of a regulatory focus design scenario on the way children interact with a social robot. Regulatory focus theory is a type of self-regulation that involves specific strategies in pursuit of goals. It provides insights into how a person achieves a particular goal, either through a strategy focused on "promotion" that aims to achieve positive outcomes or through one focused on "prevention" that aims to avoid negative outcomes. In a user study, 69 children (7-9 years old) played a regulatory focus design goal-oriented collaborative game with the EMYS robot. We assessed children's perception of likability and competence and their trust in the robot, as well as their willingness to follow the robot's suggestions when pursuing a goal. Results showed that children perceived the prevention-focused robot as being more likable than the promotion-focused robot. We observed that a regulatory focus design did not directly affect trust. However, the perception of likability and competence was positively correlated with children's trust but negatively correlated with children's acceptance of the robot's suggestions.

State-trait interactions in regulatory focus determine impulse buying behavior

Little research has focused on motivational state-trait interactions to explain impulse buying. Although the trait chronic regulatory focus has been linked to impulse buying, no evidence yet exists for an effect of situational regulatory focus and no research has examined whether the fit of chronic and situational regulatory focus can influence impulse buying with actual consumptive consequences rather than purchase intentions. Two laboratory experiments (total N = 250) manipulated situational regulatory focus before providing opportunities for impulse buying. In addition, cognitive constraint was manipulated as a potential boundary condition for regulatory focus effects. Situational promotion focus increased impulse buying relative to situational prevention focus in participants with strong chronic promotion, consistent with regulatory fit theory and independently of cognitive constraint. Surprisingly, situational promotion focus also increased impulse buying in participants with strong chronic prevention, but only under low cognitive constraint. These results may be explained by diverging mediating cognitive processes for promotion vs. prevention focus’ effect on impulse buying. Future research must focus more on combining relevant states and traits in predicting consumer behavior. Marketing implications are discussed.

Does Co-worker Presenteeism Increase Innovative Behavior? Evidence From IT Professionals Under the 996 Work Regime in China

Drawing on the event system and regulatory focus theory, this study constructed an impact mechanism model to investigate the relationship between the event strength of co-worker presenteeism and innovative behavior among IT professionals under the 996 work regime. In addition to test the direct effect, we examined the indirect effect of promotion focus and the moderating effect of event time in this relationship. Data were collected through an online survey administered to 374 IT professionals in China. The results showed a positive relationship between the criticality of co-worker presenteeism events and innovative behavior. An indirect effect of promotion focus was also found in this relationship. The timing of co-worker presenteeism events moderated the relationship between the criticality of co-worker presenteeism events and promotion focus. Specifically, the effect was more significant when co-worker presenteeism events occurred during project delays.

Information Matching: How Regulatory Focus Affects Information Preference and Information Choice

Individuals often prefer information that matches their needs. In this study, we aimed to explore the relationship between regulatory focus and information preference. Specifically, we investigated the effects of promotion-focused information and prevention-focused information on explicit and implicit information preferences and choice behavior, and examined the mediating roles of information preference. In Experiment 1, we found that prevention-focused individuals were more likely to choose functional information, whereas promotion-focused people were more likely to choose hedonic information. However, there was no significant relationship between regulatory focus and explicit preference and no mediating effect of explicit information preference. In Experiment 2, we found that promotion-focused individuals had a greater implicit preference for hedonic information than did prevention-focused individuals. Implicit information preference mediated the influence of regulatory focus on information choice. The findings of this study may help us understand the psychological mechanism underlying information preference and have important implications for information dissemination.

Knowledge territorial behavior congruence and innovation process: the moderating role of team territorial climate

Purpose

Building on the territoriality perspective and innovation process theory, to the purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of transmission and influence of knowledge territorial behavior congruence on innovation process, which provides theoretical implications for innovative teams to execute territoriality management and create a constructive knowledge sharing climate and platform for sustainable innovation of individuals and organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected by the paired method from 311 creative R&D members. In addition, polynomial regressions and response surface method were adopted to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The more congruent the marking behavior and defensive behavior were, the higher the creative idea generation and idea implementation became. The congruence of “high marking high defensive behavior” was more conducive to triggering creative idea generation and promoting idea implementation. Compared with the incongruence of “low marking high defensive behavior,” the incongruence of “high marking low defensive behavior” was more conducive to stimulating creative idea generation. However, there was no significant difference in the incongruence effect of marking defensive behavior on idea implementation. In addition, creative idea generation mediated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and idea implementation. Furthermore, team territorial climate moderated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and creative idea generation.

Originality/value

The study highlights the theoretical research of territoriality and innovation process. By deconstructing the relationship between the territorial behavior congruence and the innovation process, this study establishes that the congruence and incongruence of the marking defensive behavior in knowledge territoriality exerts different effects on creative idea generation and idea implementation.