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For which side the bell tolls: The laterality of approach-avoidance associative networks

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Abstract

The two hemispheres of the brain appear to play different roles in emotion and/or motivation. A great deal of previous research has examined the valence hypothesis (left hemisphere = positive; right = negative), but an increasing body of work has supported the motivational hypothesis (left hemisphere = approach; right = avoidance) as an alternative. The present investigation (N = 117) sought to provide novel support for the latter perspective. Left versus right hemispheres were briefly activated by neutral lateralized auditory primes. Subsequently, participants categorized approach versus avoidance words as quickly and accurately as possible. Performance in the task revealed that approach-related thoughts were more accessible following left-hemispheric activation, whereas avoidance-related thoughts were more accessible following right-hemispheric activation. The present results are the first to examine such lateralized differences in accessible motivational thoughts, which may underlie more “downstream” manifestations of approach and avoidance motivation such as judgments, decision making, and behavior.

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Acknowledgments

This publication was made possible by COBRE Grant P20 RR020151 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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  1. Department of Psychology, 2765, North Dakota State University, PO Box 6050, Fargo, ND, 58108-6050, USA

    Adam K. Fetterman, Scott Ode & Michael D. Robinson

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  1. Adam K. Fetterman
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  2. Scott Ode
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Correspondence to Adam K. Fetterman.

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Fetterman, A.K., Ode, S. & Robinson, M.D. For which side the bell tolls: The laterality of approach-avoidance associative networks. Motiv Emot 37, 33–38 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9306-5

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