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Members of Chair of Sport Psychology Julia Schüler and Wanja Wolff together with the master student and research assistant Jonas Hofstetter investigated whether the fit between participants´ achievement motives and the type of instruction (achievement vs. affiliation vs. calibration instruction) during a hand grip task enhances participants´ motor performance and their activation in a brain area that is associated with self-control (dLPFC).

The full abstract of the paper can be found below:

“Objective: This study utilized different theoretical perspectives to better understand motor performance. We refered to concepts of achievement motive-goal incongruence and assessed cortical correlates of self-control. We assumed that more self-control is required when people act in conformance with an incongruent goal which, in turn, results in impaired performance. We considered the activation of a brain area associated with self-control (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, dLPFC) as a consequence of motive-goal incongruence. Furthermore, we analyzed whether trait self-control buffers the negative effects of achievement motive—goal incongruence.

Method: Twenty-eight participants (17 women, mean age: 24 years), whose implicit achievement motives were assessed at the beginning of the study, performed a handgrip task in an achievement goal condition and in three incongruent conditions, while their dLPFC oxygenation was monitored continuously (using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, fNIRS).

Results: None of the two-way interactions (motive   goal condition) reached significance. A significant three-way interaction (motive   trait self-control   goal condition) showed that trait self-control buffered the detrimental effects of incongruence on motor performance. The nature of the three-way interaction predicting dLPFC oxygenation was unexpected.

Conclusions: Although our results have to be treated with caution due to a small sample size, we see them as an encouraging starting point for further research on the interplay between motive-goal incongruence and trait and cortical correlates of state self-control that we assume to be important to understand performance in strenuous tasks.”

The study presented in this paper reflects our research perspective that the social environment (including goals and instructions that an experimenter, coach, or teacher provide) has to fit the characteristics of a person, such as his or her achievement motive. This person-environment fit predicts efficient self-regulation, optimal forms of motivation and therewith attainment of performance and health-related goals. To learn more about this line of research, click here and here. 

The bibliographic information of the paper:

Schüler, J., Hofstetter, J., & Wolff, W. (2019). The interplay of achievement motive-goal incongruence and state and trait self-control: A pilot study considering cortical correlates of self-control. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 13:235. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00235