COURSE 3.3 MOTIVATION, SELFREGULATION
AND PERFORMANCE
PROBLEM 1 – STRUCTURE OF SELF-REGULATION AND
NUDGING
Learning goals:
Part 1
1. What is self-regulation?
2. What are the types and which one is most efectiie?
Part 2
1. What is the control theory?
2. What is the efect of the control theory on self-efcacyc and what are the
diferences?
3. How do you apply the control theory in regulation behaiiour as a coach?
Part 3
1. What is nudging? How does it work?
2. Diferent kinds of nudging?
DIEFENDORFF & LORD (2008): GOAL -STRIVING AND SELF-
REGULATION PROCESSES
Definitnioi of seeff-eegufttnioi: the capacity to guide one’s activities over time
and across changing circumstances. Processes, internal and/or transactional, that
enable an individual to guide his/her goal-directed activities over time and across
changing circumstances. Regulation implies the modulation of thought, afect,
behaviour, or attention via deliberate or automated use of specifc mechanisms
and supportive metaskills. Self-regulation is considered a conscious, willfull
process.
Self-regulation is relevant to a wide range of human phenomenon, including
thought, attention, emotion, behaviour, impulses, desires, physiological
processes, and task performance. It involves conscious, deliberate processes as
well as unconscious, automatic processes. Self-regulatory activities are relevant
for private, intrapersonal processes as well as public, interpersonal processes.
Self-regulation can help explain human problems in many domains.
A Ttxoiomy of Seff-Regufttnioi Theoeniese
Theories of self-regulation: focusing to a greater or lesser extent on the structure,
phases, or content of self-regulation. Diferent kinds:
Steuctuetf theoeniese: describe self-regulatory constructs and their
interrelationship over time, without addressing the contents of what is regulated.
They universally include goals, behaviour, and a cyclical comparison between the
two over time.
- Coiteof theoey (CT)
How a person interacts with his environment over time. Negative feedback loop
consists of four components:
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, o Input function: senses information from the environment and brings it into
the loop. This is equivalent to perception, often performance feedback.
o Reference value
o Comparator: matches the input value with a goal or standard. If the values
are diferent
o Output function: if the values are
diferent, this one is activated so as
to bring subsequent input into line
with the reference value.
The change in output is behaviour for the
sake of creating a perception that no
discrepancy is present.
Short-term, concrete goals are lower in
the hierarchy, long-term, abstract goals
are higher. Lower-level goals can be used
as strategies for attaining higher-level
goals. To achieve a high-level goal, you
have to accomplish several sub goals.
- Socnitf coginitnive theoey (SCT)
Views self-regulation as a cyclical process with feedback about goal progress
being used by individuals to make adjustments to current actions so as to reduce
discrepancies between behaviour and goals. The diference between SCT and CT
is that SCT emphasized discrepancy production (setting new goals), whereas CT
emphasizes discrepancy reduction (striving to reach goals). Motivation resides in
the desire to achieve challenging goals, rather than in the desire to reduce
discrepancies. Discrepancy reduction is only a by-product of motivation.
Criticism of Bandura and Locke on CT: it’s indiferent to whether discrepancies
are eliminated by lowering one’s goal or by working hard to reach one’s goal.
This is actually not the case, because when you lower your goals you create a
bigger discrepancy for more important goals higher in the hierarchy. It’s not a
good long-term option.
Why do individuals create discrepancies that require hard work and increase
stress, rather than why individuals try to achieve goals they have set? SCT
explains discrepancy production as being a result of individuals trying to
motivate themselves. CT argues that individuals raise their goals as part of their
eforts to reduce discrepancies for goals higher in the goal hierarchy, which
reflect important goals that the person is motivated to attain.
According to Vancouver the primary diference between CT and SCT is that SCT
represents a system-level conceptualization of self-regulation and CT represents
a sub-system-level conceptualization.
Phtsee theoeniese: focus on the sequence of activities involved in goal pursuit,
starting with goal selection and ending at goal attainment or goal revision. They
break self-regulation into discrete steps and describe the tasks to be
accomplished and the cognitive, emotional and behavioural resources individuals
bring to bear at each step.
- Lewnii, Dembo, Fesetniigee tid Setese (1944)
Motivation process consists of two phases: goal setting and goal striving. Goal
setting: weighing the reasons for pursuing activities to determine what goal will
‘emerge or become dominant’. Goal striiing: performing behaviours in the
service of goal attainment.
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, - Znimmeemti (2000)
Phase 1: Forethought. Phase 2: Performance. Phase 3: Self-reflection. Phase 1
and 2 are roughly equivalent to the goal-setting and –striving phases, whereas
self-reflection is identifed as a distinct phase pertaining to the evaluative self-
reaction to one’s performance.
- Kteofy (1993)
5 phases: 1. Goal selection, 2. Goal cognition, 3. Directional maintenance, 4.
Directional change or reprioritization, and 5. Goal termination. Phase 2 is a
planning and strategy development phase and it divides the self-reflection phase
into goal revision and goal attainment (4 and 5).
- Goffwnitzee (1990)
The most used approach is to use four phases: 1. Goal establishment, 2.
Planning, 3. Goal striving, and 4. Goal revision. The tasks of each phase lead to
particular mind-sets that prepare a person to act in a way that maximally
benefts performance.
1. Goal establishment. Deliberative mind-set whereby individuals have a
general openness to information and attempt to accurately evaluate the
feasibility and desirability of competing goals. It ends when a goal has
been selected.
2. Planning. Implemental mind-set, characterized by cognitive tuning toward
action-related information and an incomplete and optimistic analysis of the
desirability and feasibility of the chosen goal. Ends when action begins.
3. Goal striving. Actional mind-set whereby individuals become immersed in
performing the task and experience a close-mindedness to information
unrelated action. Ends when action is complete.
4. Goal revision. Evaluative mind-set where individuals once again examine
the feasibility and desirability of the goal.
Phase models don’t describe how regulatory constructs interact over time
(structural theories) or what individuals are pursuing (content theories).
Coiteit theoeniese: describe the types of activities that individuals pursue and
the ways in which the nature of one’s goals afect self-regulation. They don’t
emphasize the mechanisms involved in self-regulation, or the separate activities
that individuals must tackle along the way, but rather how the types of activities
pursued by individuals impact self-regulatory processes and outcomes.
- Ryti tid Decni’se Seff-Deteemniittnioi Theoey (2000)
Focus is on the role of basic human needs when it’s about behaviour. There’s a
distinct between internal and external motivation, amotivation, and between
diferent kinds of external motivation.
o External motivation: reflects no internalization of an activity; rather, the
behaviour is performed only because of external rewards and
punishments.
o Introjected motivation: refers to behaviours that are not internalized, but
are performed because individuals have learned to self-administer the
external contingencies.
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