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Effects of pretesting implicit self-determined motivation on behavioral engagement: evidence for the mere measurement effect at the implicit level

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Authors
Keatley, David
Clarke, D.
Ferguson, E.
Hagger, Martin
Date
2014
Type
Journal Article

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Keatley, D. and Clarke, D. and Ferguson, E. and Hagger, M. 2014. Effects of pretesting implicit self-determined motivation on behavioral engagement: evidence for the mere measurement effect at the implicit level. Frontiers in Psychology. 5: Article ID 125.
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Frontiers in Psychology
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Copyright © 2014 Keatley, Clarke, Ferguson and Hagger. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Abstract

Research into individuals’ intended behavior and performance has traditionally adopted explicitly measured, self-report constructs, and outcomes. More recently, research has shown that completing explicit self-report measures of constructs may affect subsequent behavior, termed the “mere measurement” effect. The aim of the present experiment was to investigate whether implicit measures of motivation showed a similar mere measurement effect on subsequent behavior. It may be the case that measuring the implicit systems affects subsequent implicit interventions (e.g., priming), observable on subsequent behavior. Priming manipulations were also given to participants in order to investigate the interaction between measurement and priming of motivation. Initially, a2 [implicit association test (IAT: present vs. absent) ×2 (Prime: autonomous vs. absent) and a 2 (IAT: present vs. absent) × 2 (Prime: controlled vs. absent)] between participants designs were conducted, these were them combined into a 2 (IAT: present vs. absent) ×3 (Prime: autonomous vs. controlled vs. absent) between participants design, with attempts at a novel task taken as the outcome measure. Implicit measure completion significantly decreased behavioral engagement. Priming autonomous motivation significantly facilitated, and controlled motivation significantly inhibited performance. Finally, there was a significant implicit measurement × priming interaction, such that priming autonomous motivation only improved performance in the absence of the implicit measure. Overall, this research provides an insight into the effects of implicit measurement and priming of motivation and the combined effect of completing both tasks on behavior.