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. 2019 Oct 4:13:235.
doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00235. eCollection 2019.

The Interplay of Achievement Motive-Goal Incongruence and State and Trait Self-Control: A Pilot Study Considering Cortical Correlates of Self-Control

Julia Schüler  1 , Jonas Hofstetter  1 , Wanja Wolff  1   2
Affiliations

The Interplay of Achievement Motive-Goal Incongruence and State and Trait Self-Control: A Pilot Study Considering Cortical Correlates of Self-Control

Julia Schüler et al. Front Behav Neurosci. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: achievement motive; fNIRS; motive-goal incongruence; motor performance; self-control.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of data collection in lab session (upper part) and zoom into the time flow of one trial in the main experiment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dLPFC) montage (NIRxMedical Technologies LLC, 2016). For the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurement, emitters (E) and detectors (D) were positioned according to the international 5/10 system: E1 at F1, E2 at AF3, E3 at FC3, E4 at F5, D1 at F3, D2 at AF7, D3 at FC5, D4 at F7, E5 at F6, E6 at AF4, E7 at FC4, E8 at F2, D5 at F8, D6 at AF8, D7 at FC6, and D8 at F4.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Illustration of the marginal ACHmotive × Goal (achievement vs. calibration goal) × Trait Self-control interaction effect on DLPFC oxygenation (μmol/L).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Illustration of the significant ACHmotive × Goal (achievement vs. calibration goal) × Trait Self-control interaction effect on handgrip performance (in Newton, baseline corrected).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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