PSYC13H3 Chapter 9.1: PSYC13H3 Chapter 9.: Week 9 reading 1
Document Summary
You should be able to describe the theoretical difference between hedonic and instrumental motives for regulating positive/negative emotions. Hedonic goals the motivation to feel pleasure; individuals are motivated by short- term hedonic goals = increase pleasant and decrease unpleasant emotions. Instrumental goals the motivation to perform certain behaviours; individuals are also motivated by instrumental goals = motive for regulating emotions to increase useful and decrease harmful emotions. Whether instrumental motives for regulating emotions can trump short-term hedonic motives. Whether individuals would choose to experience unpleasant emotions (anger) when it was likely to be useful for the upcoming task. You should be able to describe the basic study design, and how it tested the questions/hypotheses generated by an instrumental theory of emotion regulation. To demonstrate the role instrumental goals may play in emotion regulation, we pitted short-term hedonic motives and instrumental motives against each other, by testing whether individuals were motivated to experience a potentially useful, albeit unpleasant, emotion.
