Effects of Self-Distancing and Mindfulness Instructions on Anxiety and Approach Motivation

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dc.contributor.advisorMcGregor, Ian
dc.creatorEftekhari, Eldar
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-16T19:15:05Z
dc.date.available2015-12-16T19:15:05Z
dc.date.copyright2015-05-29
dc.date.issued2015-12-16
dc.date.updated2015-12-16T19:15:05Z
dc.degree.disciplinePsychology (Functional Area: Social and Personality)
dc.degree.levelMaster's
dc.degree.nameMA - Master of Arts
dc.description.abstractTwo experiments tested the effects of self-distancing and mindfulness instructions on approach motivation and state anxiety. Following Kross and Ayduk (2011), we expected that the self-distancing and mindfulness instructions would be particularly useful in providing relief for anxious people who tend to get mired in ruminative distress. Both experiments accordingly tested the hypotheses that self-distancing and mindfulness manipulations should restore a more buoyant approach motivated state and reduce anxious distress, especially among the more trait anxious participants. Results with both fly-on-the-wall (Study 1, N = 148) and mindfulness (Study 2, N = 143) manipulations revealed that both manipulations increased self-reported approach motivation only for trait anxious participants. Neither self-distancing nor mindfulness had an effect on self-reported anxious distress and negative affect. The discussion examines whether the self-distancing and mindfulness manipulations increased approach motivation among trait anxious participants due a defensive reactive approach motivation (McGregor, Nash, Mann, & Phills, 2010), or if they restored a resilient kind of approach motivation which then allowed trait anxious participants to more mindfully acknowledge their worries. The discussion also examines possible reasons why the self-distancing and mindfulness manipulations did not reduce state anxiety despite their demonstrated effectiveness in past studies (Kross & Ayduk, 2011; Baer, 2003; Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010).
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/30641
dc.language.isoen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectPsychology
dc.subject.keywordsself-distancing
dc.subject.keywordsmindfulness
dc.subject.keywordsanxiety
dc.subject.keywordsapproach motivation
dc.subject.keywordsgoal pursuit
dc.titleEffects of Self-Distancing and Mindfulness Instructions on Anxiety and Approach Motivation
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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