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Effective Challenge Regulation Coincides with Promotion Focus-Related Success and Emotional Well-Being

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Abstract

Beyond a hedonic model of the good life—approach pleasure and avoid pain—evidence is accumulating across species that well-being depends on potentially painful goal pursuit processes, like effort, engagement, and discovery. We hypothesized that daily challenges may provide a unique opportunity to fulfill such processes and that challenges would be more relevant within the promotion (gain-focused) than prevention (nonloss-focused) motivational system. Accordingly, we predicted that: (1) individuals who tend to be successful versus unsuccessful in achieving promotion-type goals would be better at managing daily challenges; and (2) challenge dysregulation would undermine promotion-related well-being (depressive symptoms) more than prevention-related well-being (anxiety symptoms). Across three studies, we find evidence in support of these hypotheses. Notably, as we find consistent evidence that too many and too few challenges may be damaging to mental health, we conclude that effective challenge regulation—not minimization—is likely to be a necessary component of optimal well-being.

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Notes

  1. We accomplished this transformation by taking the absolute value of the original variable and then multiplying it by −1 so that a value of −3 on the transformed variable corresponded to challenge dysregulation (too few or too many) and 0 corresponded to effective challenge regulation (just right).

  2. These results hold when controlling for listing instructions (24 h vs. 2 weeks): t(97) = 2.12, p < .04.

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Acknowledgments

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article: Grant 39429 from the United States National Institute of Mental Health to E. Tory Higgins.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Welfare Program, University of British Columbia, 2357 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Becca Franks

  2. Columbia Business School, 3022 Broadway, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Charlene Chen

  3. Rutgers Business School, 1 Washington Park, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA

    Katie Manley

  4. Department of Psychology, Columbia University, 406 Schermerhorn Hall, 1190 Amsterdam Ave. MC 5501, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    E. Tory Higgins

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  1. Becca Franks
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  4. E. Tory Higgins
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Correspondence to Becca Franks.

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Franks, B., Chen, C., Manley, K. et al. Effective Challenge Regulation Coincides with Promotion Focus-Related Success and Emotional Well-Being. J Happiness Stud 17, 981–994 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-015-9627-7

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