Ego-involvement and the difficulty law of motivation: effects on performance-related cardiovascular response.

Full Abstract

Two experiments found that effort-related cardiovascular reactivity under ego-involvement follows the principles of motivational intensity theory. Experiment 1 manipulated ego-involvement and the difficulty of a memory task. Under high ego-involvement, cardiovascular reactivity during task performance increased with fixed task difficulty; an unfixed performance standard elicited the same high reactivity as a fixed high standard. Experiment 2 manipulated ego-involvement and administered a memory task with unfixed versus extremely high performance standards. High ego-involvement increased cardiovascular reactivity only when the performance standard was unfixed but not when success was obviously impossible. Both studies found associations between cardiovascular reactivity and achievement and controlled for emotional states. The findings clarify previous research and theorizing about ego-involvement and motivation.

Author information

Author/s: Gendolla, Guido H E (GH); Richter, Michael (M);

Affiliation: University of Geneva, Switzerland. guido.gendolla(-atsign-)pse.unige.ch

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Personality and social psychology bulletin (Pers Soc Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Sep; vol 32 (issue 9) : pp 1188-203

Dates: Created 2006/08/11; Completed 2007/01/09; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 16902239, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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