Abstract
This study examined the links between implicit motives, pleasant experiences, and associated affect. Subjects high in the need for power (n Pow) or intimacy (n Int) recalled a pleasant or neutral personal experience. Consistent with past findings, content analyses revealed that recalled pleasant experiences reflected subjects, respective concerns for power and intimacy. Because the content of the pleasant memories ofn Pow andn Int subjects differed, their vivid recollections were also expected to produce different affective states. Analyses of self-report affect measures administered after the recall task showed thatn Int subjects who recalled a pleasant event expressed more happiness, elation, and friendliness. By contrast,n Pow subjects in the pleasant recall condition reported more excitation and anger. Findings suggest that positive affect inductions involving the vivid recall of idiographic material may lead to different specific affective states based on the content of those experiences and individuals’ capacity to experience and sustain particular affective states.
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I am grateful for helpful comments from Alice M. Isen, Dan McAdams, Mike DeBoer, and anonymous reviewers on earlier drafts of this article. The help of Chris Adams, Steve Dean, Brian Downey, Michelle Kallus, Amy Kief, Tom Osier, Camille Tower, and Felicia Wilson in coding the experimental data is also greatly appreciated.
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Woike, B.A. Vivid recollection as a technique to arouse implicit motive-related affect. Motiv Emot 18, 335–349 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02856473
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02856473