Abstract
Satisfaction of the implicit affiliation motive is known to be positively related to emotional well-being, whereas the frustration of the implicit affiliation motive leads to impairment of well-being. In the present research we specified two conditions that are responsible for the satisfaction and frustration of the implicit motive. Referring to research on the congruence of implicit and explicit motives, we assumed that a corresponding explicit affiliation motive leads to satisfaction of the implicit motive. Corresponding affiliation behavior constitutes the second condition. Three studies confirmed the hypothesis that both conditions must be fulfilled in order to positively connect the implicit affiliation motive to emotional well-being. Participants with high implicit and explicit affiliation motives and who additionally showed a large amount of affiliation behavior reported the lowest negative affectivity and the highest life satisfaction compared to participants who lacked one of the conditions.
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Notes
We additionally tested whether these interaction effects (based on the analyses of variance that include only high affiliation motivated individuals) were supported by an analysis procedure that included the whole sample. Therefore, we conducted a hierarchical regression analysis in which we entered the z-transformed scores for the implicit affiliation motive, the explicit affiliation motive and affiliative behavior into the regression equation (Step 1), followed by all 2-way interactions (Step 2) and the 3-way interaction implicit motive × explicit motive × affiliation behavior (Step 3). The 3-way interaction effect on negative affect (b = −.35, se b = .14, ΔR 2 = .08, ΔF(1,44) = 6.03, p < .05) reached significance. Post-hoc analyses showed that the interaction between the explicit motive and affiliative behavior is only significant for individuals high in the implicit affiliation motive (b = −.92, se b = .18, ΔR 2 = .32, ΔF(1,21) = 24.57, p < .001), indicating that high implicit affiliation motivated individuals reported the lowest amount of negative affect when they had a high explicit motive and additionally reported a high amount of affiliation behavior. When the amount of affiliation behavior or the explicit affiliation motive was low, their negative affect was high. In contrast, the interaction pattern for individuals low in the affiliation motive was not significant and on a descriptive level was very different from that of the high implicit motivated individuals.
Note that the group sizes in these T-tests were low with the smallest size of N = 6.
The additional data (i.e., flow-experience, action control, self-regulation) were not relevant for the research question of the present research. From a theoretical as well as a methodological point of view it is very unlikely that the administration of any of the additional measures influenced the procedure or the results of the present study.
When including the whole sample in a regression analysis (see also footnote 1), the 3-way interaction between implicit motive × explicit affiliation motive × affiliation behavior failed to reach significance. On a descriptive level, the interaction pattern for high implicit motivated individuals is rather similar to the interaction patterns of high implicit motivated participants of Study 1 and different from the interaction pattern for low implicit affiliation motivated individuals.
Hierarchical regression analyses with the whole sample (see footnote 1) revealed a significant 3-way interaction effects on the affect index (b = .37, se b = .19, ΔR 2 = .03, ΔF(1,94) = 3.87, p = .05) and life-satisfaction (b = .25, se b = .12, ΔR 2 = .04, ΔF(1,94) = 4.53, p < .05). Post-hoc analyses showed that the interactions between the explicit motive and affiliative behavior are only significant for individuals high in the implicit affiliation motive (affect index: b = .76, se b = .27, ΔR 2 = .12, ΔF(1,58) = 7.75, p < .01; life-satisfaction: b = .43, se b = .17, ΔR 2 = .09, ΔF(1,58) = 6.06, p < .05), indicating again that they reported the highest affect and life-satisfaction when they had a high explicit motive and additionally reported a high amount of affiliation behavior.
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Study 3 was supported by a research grant from the DFG (KU 377/26-1) awarded to Julius Kuhl, University of Osnabrück, Germany.
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Schüler, J., Job, V., Fröhlich, S.M. et al. A high implicit affiliation motive does not always make you happy: A corresponding explicit motive and corresponding behavior are further needed. Motiv Emot 32, 231–242 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9096-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-008-9096-y