Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Guiding others for their own good: Action orientation is associated with prosocial enactment of the implicit power motive

  • Published:
Motivation and Emotion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Prior research has repeatedly documented how people who are implicitly motivated by power motives may hurt other people’s interests. However, people may also enact the implicit power motive (nPower) in a prosocial manner. Using an Operant Motive Test, the authors differentiated five enactment strategies within nPower and investigated personality antecedents and personal benefits of a prosocial enactment strategy. Two studies found that demand-related action orientation (i.e., ability to self-regulate positive affect) was associated with prosocial enactment of nPower. Furthermore, prosocial enactment of nPower was associated with a higher explicit power motive among future teachers (Study 1) and future psychologists (Study 2). Finally, there was an indirect effect of action orientation through the prosocial enactment of nPower on the explicit power motive (Studies 1 and 2) and, in turn, on well-being (Study 2). Our integration of motivation and self-regulation research (the “what” and “how” of goal striving) helps to better understand the dual nature of power motives.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Threat-related action orientation (AOT) is the ability to self-regulate negative affect once it is aroused and to disengage from uncontrollable rumination—especially in the face of threats. This ability is presumed to be more relevant for creative coping with power-related threats than for the prosocial enactment of power motives and was not considered in the present studies.

  2. In a revised version of the OMT (Kuhl and Scheffer 2012), an autonomy motive (nAutonomy) is coded in addition to power, affiliation, and achievement motives. It is concerned with power over oneself rather than over others and feeling free from the influence of others (Alsleben 2008; see also Schüler et al. 2014). When coding autonomy, the contents of some power enactment strategies slightly change. “Status”, for example, is coded as nAutonomy2 rather than nPower2. “Prosocial guidance” (nPower1), in contrast, is unaffected by the additional coding of an autonomy motive.

  3. The MET consists of a fourth explicit power motive item (“In my daydreams I often play the hero”) that was not included in the present study because it has little content overlap with self-determined, integrative power and did not show significant item-inter-correlations in previous studies.

References

  • Alsleben, P. (2008). Das Bedürfnis nach Freiheit (The need for freedom). Saarbrücken: Verlag Dr. Müller.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aydinli, A., Bender, M., Chasiotis, A., Cemalcilar, Z., & van de Vijver, F. (2014). When does self-reported prosocial motivation predict helping? The moderating role of implicit prosocial motivation. Motivation and Emotion, 38, 645–658. doi:10.1007/s11031-014-9411-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., Kaschel, R., & Kuhl, J. (2005). Striving for unwanted goals: Stress-dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well-being and increase psychosomatic symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 781–799. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.5.781.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., Kazén, M., & Kuhl, J. (2010). A look from personality systems interaction theory. In O. C. Schultheiss & J. C. Brunstein (Eds.), Implicit motives (pp. 375–403). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., & Kuhl, J. (2003). Self-infiltration: Confusing assigned tasks as self-selected in memory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 487–497. doi:10.1177/0146167202250916.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., & Kuhl, J. (2005). How to resist temptation: The effects of external control versus autonomy support. Journal of Personality, 73, 443–470. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2005.00315.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., Lürig, C., & Engeser, S. (2015). Flow and enjoyment beyond skill-demand balance: The role of game pacing curves and personality. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Baumann, N., & Scheffer, D. (2010). Seeing and mastering difficulty: The role of affective change in achievement flow. Cognition and Emotion, 24, 1304–1328. doi:10.1080/02699930903319911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, N., & Scheffer, D. (2011). Seeking flow in the achievement domain: The flow motive behind flow experience. Motivation and Emotion, 35, 267–284. doi:10.1007/s11031-010-9195-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brunstein, C. J., Schultheiss, O. C., & Grässmann, R. (1998). Personal goals and emotional well-being: The moderating role of motive dispositions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 494–508. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.75.2.494.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chasiotis, A., Hofer, J., & Campos, D. (2006). When does liking children lead to parenthood? Younger siblings, implicit prosocial power motivation, and explicit love for children predict parenthood across cultures. Journal of Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology, 4, 95–123. doi:10.1556/JCEP.4.2006.2.2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalberg-Acton, J. E. E. (1949). Essays on freedom and power. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diefendorff, J. M., Hall, R. J., Lord, R. G., & Strean, M. L. (2000). Action-state orientation: Construct validity of a revised measure and its relationship to work-related variables. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 250–263. doi:10.1037//0021-9010.85.2.250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd rev. ed). New York: Norton.

  • Fodor, E. M. (2010). Power motivation. In O. C. Schultheiss & J. C. Brunstein (Eds.), Implicit motives (pp. 375–403). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fodor, E. M., & Riordin, J. M. (1995). Leader power motive and group conflict as influences on leader behavior and group member self-affect. Journal of Research in Personality, 29, 418–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fodor, E. M., & Smith, T. (1982). The power motive as an influence on group decision making. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 178–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gröpel, P. (2008). Affect regulation and motive-incongruent goal orientations: Relation to well-being. Studia Psychologica, 50(2), 137–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2012). PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf.

  • Hayes, A. F. (2014). An introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, J., & Busch, H. (2011). Interpersonal identity achievement accounts for the link between action control and self-informed realization of the implicit affiliation-intimacy motive. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 11, 231–246. doi:10.1080/15283488.2011.560813.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, J., Busch, H., Bond, M. H., Li, M., & Law, R. (2010). Effects of motive-goal congruence on well-being in the power domain: Considering goals and values in a German and two Chinese samples. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 610–620. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2010.08.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, J., Busch, H., Chasiotis, A., Kärtner, J., & Campos, D. (2008). Concern for generativity and its relation to implicit pro-social power motivation, generative goals, and satisfaction with life: A cross-cultural investigation. Journal of Personality, 76, 1–30. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00478.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, J., Chasiotis, A., & Campos, D. (2006). Congruence between social values and implicit motives: Effects on life satisfaction across three cultures. European Journal of Personality, 20, 305–324. doi:10.1002/per.590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossiep, R., & Paschen, M. (2003). Bochumer Inventar zur berufsbezogenen Persönlichkeitsbeschreibung (2nd ed.). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hossiep, R., & Paschen, M. (2008). BIP—Business-focused inventory of personality. Oxford: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaschel, R., & Kuhl, J. (2004). Motivational counseling in an extended functional context: Personality systems interaction theory and assessment. In W. M. Cox & E. Klinger (Eds.), Motivational counseling. Concepts, approaches, and assessment (pp. 99–120). Sussex: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazén, M., & Kuhl, J. (2011). Directional discrepancy between implicit and explicit power motives is related to well-being among managers. Motivation and Emotion, 35, 317–327. doi:10.1007/s11031-011-9219-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J., & Bless, H. (2008). Flow and regulatory compatibility: An experimental approach to the flow model of intrinsic motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 196–209. doi:10.1177/0146167207310026.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J., & Blomann, F. (2008). Locus of control and the flow experience: An experimental analysis. European Journal of Personality, 22, 589–607. doi:10.1002/per.692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keltner, D., Gruenfeld, D. H., & Anderson, C. (2003). Power, approach, and inhibition. Psychological Review, 110(2), 265–284. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.110.265.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Köllner, M., & Schultheiss, O. C. (2014). Meta-analytic evidence of low convergence between implicit and explicit measures of the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. Frontiers in Psychology. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00826.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koole, S. L., & Jostmann, N. B. (2004). Getting a grip on your feelings: Effects of action orientation and external demands on intuitive affect regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 974–990. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.6.974.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koole, S. L., Jostmann, N. B., & Baumann, N. (2012). Do demanding conditions help or hurt self-regulation? Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 6(4), 328–346. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00425.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (1994). Action versus state orientation: Psychometric properties of the Action Control Scale (ACS-90). In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation (pp. 47–59). Seattle, Toronto, Göttingen, Bern: Hogrefe & Huber Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (2000). A functional-design approach to motivation and self-regulation: The dynamics of personality systems interactions. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 111–169). San Diego: Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (2001). Motivation und Persönlichkeit: Interaktionen psychischer Systeme (Motivation and personality: Architectures of mood and mind). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Beckmann, J. (1994). Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Henseler, W. (2004). Entwicklungsorientiertes Scanning (EOS) [Development-oriented scanning (EOS)]. In L. von Rosenstiel & J. Erpenbeck (Eds.), Handbuch der Kompetenzmessung (pp. 428–453). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Keller, H. (2008). Affect-regulation, self-development and parenting: A functional-design approach to cross-cultural differences. In R. Sorrentino & S. Yamaguchi (Eds.), The handbook of motivation and cognition across cultures (pp. 19–47). New York, NY: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Koole, S. L. (2008). The functional architecture of approach and avoidance motivation. In A. J. Elliot (Ed.), Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation (pp. 535–553). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Scheffer, D. (1999). Scoring manual for the Operant Multi-Motive Test (OMT). Osnabrück: University of Osnabrück.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Scheffer, D. (2012). Auswertungsmanual für den Operanten Multi-Motiv Test (OMT). Revidierte Fassung: 2012 (Scoring manual for the Operant Multi-Motive Test (OMT). Revised version: 2012). Osnabrück: University of Osnabrück.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., Scheffer, D., & Eichstaedt, J. (2003). Der Operante Motiv-Test (OMT): Ein neuer Ansatz zur Messung impliziter Motive (The Operant Motive Test (OMT): A new approach to measure implicit motives). In J. Stiensmeier-Pelster & F. Rheinberg (Eds.), Diagnostik von Motivation und Selbstkonzept (pp. 129–149). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Völker, S. (1998). Entwicklung und Persönlichkeit (Development and personality). In H. Keller (Ed.), Lehrbuch der Entwicklungspsychologie (pp. 207–240). Bern: Huber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lammers, J., & Stapel, D. A. (2011). Power increases dehumanization. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14, 113–126. doi:10.1177/1368430210370042.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lammers, J., Stoker, J. I., Jordan, J., Pollmann, M. M. H., & Stapel, D. A. (2011). Power increases infidelity among men and women. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1191–1197. doi:10.1177/0956797611416252.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langens, T., & McClelland, D. C. (1997, August). Implicit motives, explicit motives, and emotional well-being. Poster presented at the 105th Convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago.

  • Magee, J., & Langner, C. A. (2008). How personalized and socialized power motivation facilitate antisocial and prosocial decision-making. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1547–1559. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2008.07.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, A., & Blankenship, V. (1987). Power and affiliation motivation, stress, and abuse in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 203–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. P. (1985). Power, intimacy, and the life story: Personological inquiries into identity. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C. (1970). The two faces of power. Journal of International Affairs, 24, 29–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C. (1975). Power: The inner experience. New York: Irvington Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C., & Boyatzis, R. E. (1982). Leadership motive pattern and long-term success in management. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67, 737–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C., Koestner, R., & Weinberger, J. (1989). How do self-attributed and implicit motives differ? Psychological Review, 96, 690–702. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.96.4.690.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, D. C., & Pilon, D. A. (1983). Sources of adult motives in patterns of parent behavior in early childhood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 564–574.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheffer, D. (2005). Implizite motive (Implicit motives). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheffer, D., Kuhl, J., & Eichstaedt, J. (2003). Der Operante Motiv-Test (OMT): Inhaltsklassen, Auswertung, psychometrische Kennwerte und Validierung (The operant motive-test (OMT): Contents, scoring, psychometric values, and validation). In J. Stiensmeier-Pelster & F. Rheinberg (Eds.), Diagnostik von Motivation und Selbstkonzept (pp. 151–167). Göttingen: Hogrefe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schüler, J., Job, V., Fröhlich, S., & Brandstätter, V. (2009). Dealing with a “hidden stressor”: Emotional disclosure as a coping strategy to overcome the negative effects of motive incongruence on health. Stress and Health, 25, 221–233. doi:10.1002/smi.1241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schüler, J., Sheldon, K. M., Prentice, M., & Halusic, M. (2014). Do some people need autonomy more than others? Implicit dispositions toward autonomy moderate the effects of felt autonomy on well-being. Journal of Personality. Article first published online: Nov 10, 2014. doi:10.1111/jopy.12133.

  • Thrash, T. M., Cassidy, S. E., Maruskin, L. A., & Elliot, A. J. (2010). Factors that influence the relation between implicit and explicit motives: A general implicit-explicit congruence framework. In O. C. Schultheiss & J. C. Brunstein (Eds.), Implicit motives (pp. 308–346). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, L., Baumann, N., & Hank, P. (2015). Enjoying influence on others: Congruently high implicit and explicit power motives are related to teachers’ well-being. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Winter, D. G. (1973). The power motive. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winter, D. G. (1994). Manual for scoring motive imagery in running text (version 4.2). Ann Arbor: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wojdylo, K., Baumann, N., Fischbach, L., & Engeser, S. (2014). Live to work or love to work: Work craving and work engagement. PLoS One. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0106379.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization (WHO): Regional office for Europe. (1998, August). Well-being measures in primary health care: The DepCare Project. Consensus Meeting, Stockholm, Sweden.

  • Zurbriggen, E. L. (2000). Social motives and cognitive power-sex associations: Predictors of aggressive sexual behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 559–581.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research was supported by two grants from the Nikolaus Koch Stiftung, Trier, Germany, to the first and third authors (NKS 10/31, NKS 12/116) and conducted during the second author’s affiliation at the University of Trier. We thank Sander Koole and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful suggestions to an earlier version of the article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology, and Diagnostics, Department I, University of Trier, 54286, Trier, Germany

    Nicola Baumann & Petra Hank

  2. Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), Dortmund, Germany

    Monischa B. Chatterjee

Authors
  1. Nicola Baumann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Monischa B. Chatterjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Petra Hank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nicola Baumann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Baumann, N., Chatterjee, M.B. & Hank, P. Guiding others for their own good: Action orientation is associated with prosocial enactment of the implicit power motive. Motiv Emot 40, 56–68 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9511-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-015-9511-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation