Motives and health: self-directedness as a moderator of the relationship between incongruence of implicit and self-attributed achievement motives and depression

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Title: Motives and health: self-directedness as a moderator of the relationship between incongruence of implicit and self-attributed achievement motives and depression
Author(s): Langan-Fox, Janice; Canty, James; Sankey, Michael
Abstract: What is the relationship between individuals’ implicit motives (McClelland, Koestner, and Weinberger, 1989) and their health? The present study investigated the relationship between the Big Three implicit motives – need for achievement (nAch), need for power (nPow), and need for affiliation (nAff) – and health. Previous research has demonstrated that such implicit measures can be stronger predictors of long-term behavioural outcomes than self-report measures (McClelland, 1985). Indeed, it has been demonstrated that high nPow is associated with a wide range of adverse health outcomes (Winter, 1992). Moving beyond these well documented relationships, the present authors propose that all three motives offer valuable and insightful information regarding health outcomes. This proposition was tested via analysis of the Eugene-Springfield Community Sample (ESCS) which is based at the Oregon Research Institute. This sample (N = 757) completed a series of measures including such measures as: the Comprehensive Health Survey, Health-Related Coping Styles, Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, and Cognitive Failures. Preliminary results have revealed strong relationships between motives and health, in particular, between nAch and coping, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and cognitive failures. Furthermore, associations between nAff and adverse medical conditions such as cancer and stroke have been discovered. Further results will be presented, and implications for research will be discussed.
Publication type: Conference paper
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Business and Enterprise
Source: Proceedings of the 43rd Australian Psychological Society (APS) Annual Conference, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, 23-27 September 2008, pp. 184-188
Publication year: 2008
FOR Code(s): 170109 Personality, Abilities and Assessment; 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology
Keyword(s): Health; Implicit motives; Motives
Publisher: Australian Psychological Society
ISBN: 9780909881368
Publisher URL: http://www.apsconference.com.au/
Peer reviewed