Abstract
Regulatory focus theory distinguishes between two independent structures of strategic inclination, promotion versus prevention. However, the theory implies two potentially independent definitions of these inclinations, the self-guide versus the reference-point definitions. Two scales (the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire [Higgins, E. T., Friedman, R. S., Harlow, R. E., Idson, L. C., Ayduk, O. N., & Taylor, A. (2001). Achievement orientations from subjective histories of success: Promotion pride versus prevention pride. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 3-23] and the General Regulatory Focus Measure [Lockwood, P., Jordan, C. H., & Kunda, Z. (2002). Motivation by positive and negative role models: Regulatory focus determines who will best inspire us. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 854-864]) have been widely used to measure dispositional regulatory focus. We suggest that these two scales align respectively with the two definitions, and find that the two scales are largely uncorrelated. Both conceptual and methodological implications are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 247-254 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Research in Personality |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2008 |
Funding
This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01-MH055578, awarded to Neal Roese. We thank Justas Birgiolas, Justin Cheng, Stefanie Cramer, Michael Gajos, Christina Pieracci, Kristen Seemayer, Anita Shankar, Lauren Simpson, John Siy, and Michael Trotman for their assistance in conducting this research, and Paige Deckert for clerical assistance. We also appreciate the comments provided by C. Y. Chiu, Chris Fraley, Ying-yi Hong, Dan Molden, and Brent Roberts.
Keywords
- Affect
- Approach
- Avoidance
- Motivation
- Regulatory focus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Psychology
- Social Psychology