Everyday life experience tells us that individual differences apparently matter. Although confronted with the same situation, individuals seem to act and react in different ways. On a behavioral and self-report level, individual differences are well documented. Over the past decades, they have been systematically assessed and embedded in complex theories of personality. On the other hand, the influence of personality differences on cognitive processes and their cerebral substrate is far from being entirely understood. Especially the complex interplay of two or more aspects, like individual differences (e.g., in motivational processes), cognitive functions (e.g., intuition), cerebral activation and lateralization, and humoral processes (e.g., cortisol), are seldom aim of psychological research. The Personality Systems Interaction (PSI) theory (Kuhl, 2000, 2001) provides a theoretical framework, which tries to incorporate the above-mentioned aspects. On the background of PSI theory, the aim of the present work was to investigate differences in motivational processing and how they are related to hemispherical asymmetries, cognitive processing, and humoral reactivity. Each of the three research articles presented throughout the present work tackles different aspects of this general research question. For this, a variety of different methodological techniques were used (e.g., questionnaires, implicit measures, electroencephalography, etc.) to approach the aforementioned goal. The first research paper presented in the current work examines the relationship between the implicit affiliation motive and intuition, as a form cognitive processing. Previous research already demonstrated that affiliation-laden primes facilitate intuitive thought (Kuhl & Kazén, 2008). Therefore, it could be expected that trait affiliation motive would also be correlated with intuition. Intuition in turn is thought to be a function of right hemispheric processes. An association between trait affiliation and intuition could therefore indirectly indicate a lateralization to the right side for affiliation. With the first study of the present work, the author tested this association. Thirty-nine students filled in the Operant Motive Test for the assessment of implicit affiliation, a variant of the Thematic Apperception Test. Then, 9 months later, participants engaged in a Remote Associates Test in which they intuitively had to indicate whether three words are semantically related. As expected, the implicit affiliation motive significantly predicted the accuracy of identifying related word triads. No other implicit or explicit measure, nor state or trait positive affect was associated with intuition. With the second research article, the aforementioned indirect association between affiliation and lateralized processing was investigated more directly. Previous research on relationships between personality and EEG resting state frontal asymmetries mainly focused on individual differences with respect to motivational direction (i.e., approach vs. withdrawal). By contrast, the second article investigated frontal asymmetries as a function of individual differences in implicit affiliation motive. The goal was not only to contribute to the validation of PSI theory and to the investigation of the laterality of the affiliation motive, but also to disentangle the contribution of different social motives to frontal EEG asymmetries. The consideration of social motives, such as the affiliation motive, seemed to be necessary, because a recent meta-analysis showed that the association between approach motivation and frontal asymmetries is negligible or that unidentified moderators drive this association. From previous research and the results from the first paper presented in the current work, an association between affiliation motive and right frontal activity was predicted. Additionally, to control for possible associations with motivational direction, trait behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and anger were assessed and correlated with frontal asymmetries. Seventy-two right-handed students were tested. As expected and in accordance with the findings from the first paper, the author found that relative right frontal activity (indicated by low alpha frequency power) was associated with the affiliation motive. To explore brain regions responsible for this association at scalp sites, a source localization algorithm was applied. Intracranial distribution of primary current densities for the alpha band spectrum in source space was estimated and correlated with implicit affiliation scores. A significantly correlating area could be identified in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Brodmann Area 10). No other associations at scalp sites or in source space could be found for motivational direction. The third research article presented in the current work highlights motivational differences slightly different from those presented above. It deals with dynamic motivational processes, such as action orientation, and how they moderate the association between cerebral asymmetries and the physiological stress reaction. Hypothalamus pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) system activity and frontal brain asymmetries have both been linked to stress and emotion but their relationship remains unclear, especially when additionally considering individual differences. Therefore, participants were exposed to public speaking stress while salivary cortisol levels (as a marker of HPA activity) and resting frontal EEG alpha asymmetries were assessed before and after stress induction. The results indicate that higher post stressor cortisol levels were associated with higher relative left frontal activity. State oriented participants showed a stronger association between cortisol response and left frontal activity than action oriented participants. The above-mentioned findings are discussed referring to PSI theory and their possible implications. Additionally, shortcomings of the present research and possible remedies will be presented.

Die folgende Arbeit beschreibt ein entwicklungs- und persönlichkeitspsychologisches fundiertes Verfahren zur Messung von impliziten (unbewussten) Motiven. Es wird theoretisch postuliert und empirisch nachgewiesen, dass die impliziten Motive Bindung, Leistung und Macht in frühen, deprivierenden bzw. herausfordernden familiären Strukturen begründet liegen. Diese frühkindlichen Herausforderungen werden durch interindividuell variierende Regulationsstile gemeistert und so zu einem Motiv ausgestaltet. Der aus den theoretischen Vorannahmen entwickelte Motiv-Inhaltsschlüssel kann als Persönlichkeitstests verwendet werden (der Operante Motiv-Test OMT ), welcher eine hohe Validität bspw. in der Personalauswahl und entwicklung für sich in Anspruch nehmen kann.

Die mentorielle Begabungsförderung am Gymnasium Salvatorkolleg in Bad Wurzach (Baden-Württemberg) orientiert sich an beziehungsorientierter und tutorieller Lernbegleitung und bietet als wöchentliches Kursprogramm höher begabten und leistungsinteressierten Schülern Gelegenheit, zu selbst gewählten Themen unter Anleitung von Lehrern (Mentoren) selbstständig in Kleingruppen ein Thema zu bearbeiten. Das schulpädagogische Hauptziel des Enrichments besteht in einem der Persönlichkeit dienlichen Kompetenzausbau motivationaler und volitionaler Fähigkeiten und dem damit verbundenen konstruktiven Umgang mit Herausforderungen und Leistungsansprüchen. Die inhaltliche Konzeptionalisierung der Begabungsförderung basiert auf der PSI-Theorie (Persönlichkeit-System-Interaktion) und der Potenzialanalyse EOS (Entwicklungsorientierte Systemdiagnostik) von Prof. Dr. Julius Kuhl. Das Förderprogramm wird mit einem Versuchs-Kontrollgruppen-Design (N = 119) für Schüler der Mittel- und Oberstufe evaluiert. Grundlegende Fördereffekte der mentoriell begleiteten Schüler zeigen sich im Anstieg der volitionalen Konzentrationsstärke und Misserfolgsbewältigung. Gleichzeitig stabilisieren sie ihre Kompetenzen, sich angstfrei für ihr Vorhaben zu motivieren, ihre Absichten handlungswirksam umzusetzen und sich gegen selbstfremde Handlungsaufträge zu schützen. Der soziale Leistungsvergleich nimmt im Zeitraum der Förderung ab und die Selbstbehauptung wird prosozial ausgebildet. Förderschüler heben außerdem fächerübergreifend ihre allgemeine schulische Leistung an. Schüler, die zum Mentoring ferner testgestützte Feedbackgespräche erhalten, steigern ihre volitionalen Fähigkeiten der Selbstmotivierung und Initiative.

Using action orientation after failure as a measure of individual differences in emotion regulation abilities (ERA), this thesis’ studies investigated the impact of ERA on cognition, behavior, and own versus imposed goals differentiation. The first study used cortisol as a physiological stress marker to replicate the link between ERA and the ability to make intuitive judgments under stress. High ERA were associated with increased performance in an intuition task under stress. In contrast, when feeling no stress, low ERA were associated with increased performance in an intuition task. The second study showed that ERA can compensate for depression-associated biased processing of negative stimuli. This effect was present even at mild to moderate depression levels. Replicating earlier findings, the third study showed that ERA are associated with an increased ability to distinguish self-chosen from imposed goals. Most importantly, the study identified activation in the right medial prefrontal cortex as a neural correlate of identifying self-chosen goals, and activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, as a correlate of falsely identifying imposed goals as self-chosen ones. Altogether, these studies show the necessity to consider individual differences in ERA in stress, clinical, and motivational research. The findings are discussed with respect to three theories that relate to motivation and personality from behavioral and neurobiological perspectives, namely, Personality Systems Interaction Theory, Predictive and Reactive Control Systems Theory, and Self-Determination Theory.

Vor dem Hintergrund der PSI-Theorie werden Fragen der Vorhersage von Leistung entwickelt. Neben einer kurzen Darstellung der Theorie werden zunächst zur Methodenexploration in 4 Experimenten im Stroop-Paradigma Fragen der Grundlagenforschung zum Stroop-Interferenz-Reduktions-Effekt (SIRE) durch nonverbale emotionale Primes beantwortet. In 3 weiteren Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass Leistung mit der Interaktion aus Selbststeuerung insbesondere der Komponente Zielumsetzung und dem nichtreaktiven Maß der Stroop-Interferenz nach Leistungsprimes vorhergesagt werden kann. Es scheint Hinweise auf eine gewisse Gesetzmäßigkeit dieser Interaktion zu geben. Bei der Leistungsvorhersage wird eine invers sinusförmig verlaufende Charakteristik der Interaktion vermutet, die in 3 Studentenstichproben zum Problemlösen, zur Klausurleistung sowie zum Fortschritt bei Leistungszielen während eines Semesters untersucht werden konnte. Die wesentlichen Erkenntnisse der Vorhersage aus reaktiven Maßen (Selbststeuerung, insbesondere Willensbahnung) und nichtreaktiven Maßen (Intentionsgedächtnisnutzung) werden dargestellt. Implikationen für die Anwendung gehen in Richtung größerer Studien zur Erforschung dieser prädiktiven Interaktion. Dieses Muster ist relevant für die Anwendungswissenschaften Klinische Psychologie als auch die Arbeitspsychologie i.S. von persönlichkeitsfördernder Gestaltung der Arbeit.

Die Studie untersucht die Wirksamkeit eines neuen Zieltypen (Motto-Ziel), welcher im Rahmen der theoretischen Überlegungen und praktischen Erfahrungen mit dem Selbstmanagement-Training nach dem Zürcher Ressourcen Modell ZRM (Storch & Krause, 2007) entwickelt wurde (Storch, 2009). Durch die Verankerung im Unbewussten ermöglichen es Motto-Ziele Menschen Handlungen in der Selbstregulation auszuführen, für welche normalerweise Selbstkontrolle benötigt wird (unangenehme Pflichten). In der Studie werden die Motto-Ziele zwei anderen Zieltypen gegenübergestellt, welche im Selbstmanagementbereich zur Erzeugung von Motivation eingesetzt werden: hohe spezifische Ziele nach Locke & Latham (1990, 2007) und Schwelgen in positiver Zielerreichungsphantasien (ein Teil des mentalen Kontrastieren nach Öttingen, 1999). Um die Zieltypen hinsichtlich ihres Stellenwertes für das innerpsychische Zielsystem einordnen zu können, dient als theoretische Grundlage die Theorie der Persönlichkeits-System-Interaktion (PSI-Theorie) von Kuhl (2001). In einem kontrollierten randomisierten Untersuchungsdesign mit 67 Probanden werden die Zieltypen hinsichtlich verschiedener Konstrukte untersucht und verglichen: Willensbahnung, intrinsische Motivation, Selbstregulations- und Affektregulationskompetenz, Handlungskontrolle, implizite und explizite Affektlage, Entschlossenheit/Bindung/Realisierbarkeit des Ziels, Selbst- und Fremdinfiltration, Einfluss auf Blutglukosewert, Verankerung im Unbewussten. Dazu wurden nebst mehreren Fragebögen der Emoscan (Kazén & Kuhl, 2005) und der Panter (Baumann, Kuhl & Kazén, 2005) eingesetzt und der intraindividuelle Glukosewert (Galliot & Baumeister, 2007) erhoben. Die ersten Ergebnisse zeigen auf, dass Motto-Ziele im Vergleich mit den beiden anderen Gruppen signifikant den Optimismus erhöhen und die Affektregulationskompetenz nach Misserfolg verbessern. Des weiteren kann die Hypothese bestätigt werden, dass Motto-Ziele durch ihre Verankerung im Unbewussten nicht überexplizite Kontrolle (wie die hohen spezifischen Ziele) sondern intuitiv umgesetzt werden.

Though a major illness in modern society, depression is still not completely understood. A number of empirical observations point to the importance of basic cognitive processes as well as personality variables as antecedents of a depressive disorder. In this work it is argued that “state orientation”, a personality style characterized by the inability to actively influence one’s focus of thought, plays an important role in the development of at least some forms of major depressive disorder. In the present work, it is suggested that (1) state-oriented cognitions are equivalent to sustained information processing, that (2) depressed individuals are characterized in particular by state-oriented cognitions related to prior failure experiences, that (3) sustained processing of affective information will interfere with normal executive cognitive functioning in depressed individuals resulting in impairments of normal behavior, and that (4) both sustained information processing and “affective interference” will be associated with specific dysfunctional patterns of brain activity in depressed individuals. In the first chapter of this thesis, theorizing pertaining to “action control” and the relationship between action control and state orientation are reviewed. After having established the potential functional significance of state-oriented cognitions, their possible link to depression is developed by introducing the “degenerated-intention hypothesis”. Afterwards, the role of state orientation in the advent of the depressive state is discussed against the background of the “functional helplessness” model of depression. Next, recent empirical findings related to executive dysfunction associated with state-oriented cognitions in major depressive disorder and related dysfunctional patterns of brain activity are reviewed. By considering evidence from studies on executive functioning, brain imaging, and neurophysiological studies, support is found for a possible frontocingulate dysfunction associated with a state-oriented cognitive style underlying a major depressive disorder. Consistent with the proposed link between depression and state orientation, in the second chapter of the thesis, Studies 1a – 1c demonstrate that subclinically and clinically depressed individuals are specifically characterized by failure-related state orientation. Moreover, the results of Study 2, described in Chapter 3, reveal that sustained processing of affectively valenced information may indeed interfere with subsequent executive cognitive functioning, especially in individuals demonstrating relatively high levels of depression. Finally, in line with the idea that sustained information processing and affective interference will be related to an individual’s level of state orientation and will be reflected in specific patterns of neural activity, Study 3, presented in Chapter 4, provides considerable evidence for disturbed brain function in clinically depressed individuals during processing of affective information as well as subsequent executive cognitive functioning and its relation to state-oriented thought. The current research supports the idea that state orientation, in particular its failure-focused form, is a crucial process involved in the development and maintenance of a depressive disorder. Specifically, the present findings suggest that certain forms of major depressive disorder are associated with sustained processing of affective information and with the resulting affective interference with executive cognitive functioning. Findings further suggest that sustained information processing is experienced by affected individuals as ruminative, state-oriented thought on past aversive experiences, and that both sustained information processing and affective interference are associated with distinct patterns of brain activity, which are related to early stimulus evaluation, conflict monitoring, and conflict resolution. The processes possibly underlying some forms of depression, as proposed in this thesis, comprise what may be called “the spinning mind”, whose important functional significance is to hinder an individual from adaptive behavior by impairing the ability to direct thought. Although state orientation may therefore appear to be maladaptive per se, it may be argued instead that this mode of action control is also an adaptive process as long as critical limits of certain parameters are met and the spinning mind is prevented. These and similar considerations are addressed in the concluding discussion in Chapter 5.