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Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

ABSTRACT: People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are preformed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications. Five studies examined implicit theories of interest-the idea that personal interests are relatively fixed (fixed theory) or developed (growth theory). Whether assessed or experimentally induced, a fixed theory was more likely to dampen interest in areas outside people's existing interests (Studies 1-3). Individuals endorsing a fixed theory were also more likely to anticipate boundless motivation when passions were found, not anticipating possible difficulties (Study 4). Moreover, when it became difficult to engage in a new interest, interest flagged significantly more for people induced to hold a fixed rather than a growth theory of interest (Study 5). Urging people to find their passion may lead them to put all their eggs in one basket but then to drop that basket when it becomes difficult to carry.

SUBMITTER: O'Keefe PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6180666 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

O'Keefe Paul A PA Dweck Carol S CS Walton Gregory M GM

Psychological science 20180906 10

People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are preformed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, has hidden motivational implications. Five studies examined implicit theories of interest-the idea that personal interests are relatively fixed (fixed theory) or developed (growth theory). Whether assessed or experimentally induced, a fixed theory was more likely to dampen interest in areas outside people's existing interests (Studies 1-3). Individuals en ...[more]

PMID: 30188804

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Project description:RationaleImplicit theories reflect core assumptions about whether human attributes are malleable or fixed: Incremental theorists believe a characteristic is malleable whereas entity theorists believe it is fixed. People with entity theories about health may be less likely to engage in risk-mitigating behavior. Spontaneous self-affirmation (e.g., reflecting on one's values when threatened) may lessen defensiveness and unhealthy behaviors associated with fixed beliefs, and reduce the likelihood of responding to health risk information with fixed beliefs.MethodAcross two studies conducted in the US from 2012 to 2015, we investigated how self-affirmation and implicit theories about health and body weight were linked to engagement with genetic risk information. In Study 1, participants in a genome sequencing trial (n = 511) completed cross-sectional assessments of implicit theories, self-affirmation, and intentions to learn, share, and use genetic information. In Study 2, overweight women (n = 197) were randomized to receive genetic or behavioral explanations for weight; participants completed surveys assessing implicit theories, self-affirmation, self-efficacy, motivation, and intentions.ResultsFixed beliefs about weight were infrequently endorsed across studies (10.8-15.2%). In Study 1, participants with stronger fixed theories were less interested in learning and using genetic risk information about medically actionable disease; these associations were weaker among participants higher in self-affirmation. In Study 2, among participants given behavioral explanations for weight, stronger fixed theories about weight were associated with lower motivation and intentions to eat a healthy diet. Among participants given genetic explanations, being higher in self-affirmation was associated with less fixed beliefs.ConclusionStronger health-related fixed theories may decrease the likelihood of benefiting from genetic information, but less so for people who self-affirm.

Project description:Muscular strength has a strong positive impact on cardiometabolic health and fitness. However, building up strength endurance requires effortful exercises. From a health perspective, it is important to understand which psychological strategies help people deal with straining exercise. Self-regulation strategies like if-then planning (also known as implementation intentions) appear particularly promising because they might directly alter how people deal with exercise-induced sensations. However, research on the effects of if-then planning on exercise performance has yielded mixed results so far. One possible reason for these inconsistent results is the lack of tailored interventions and the neglect of potential moderators. To address this, we investigated the efficacy of if-then plans that were tailored to perceived limits of endurance performance (i.e., perceptions of exertion versus pain). In addition, we investigated the effects of these tailored if-then plans while taking into account the potentially moderating effects of individual differences in implicit theories. Specifically, we were interested in the role of implicit theories about athletic performance (i.e., entity versus incremental beliefs) and about the limitation of athletic performance by mental versus physical factors (i.e., mind-over-body beliefs). N = 66 male students (age: M = 25.8 years, SD = 3.2) performed a static muscular endurance task twice (measurement: baseline task vs. main task) and were randomly assigned to a goal or an implementation intention condition. They were instructed to hold two intertwined rings for as long as possible while avoiding contacts between them (measure of performance: time-to-failure and errors). After the baseline task, participants were either given an implementation intention or were simply asked to rehearse the task instructions. The content of the instruction depended on whether they ascribed ultimate baseline task termination to perceptions of exertion or pain. After the main task, implicit theories on athletic ability were assessed. No differences in performance emerged between conditions. In the implementation intention condition, however, stronger entity beliefs were associated with increasing time-to-failure when participants planned to ignore exertion but with decreasing time-to-failure when they planned to ignore pain. This pattern of results was reversed with regard to mind-over-body beliefs. These findings indicate that the efficacy of psychological strategies hinges on recreational athletes' beliefs regarding athletic performance.

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Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

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Implicit Theories of Interest: Finding Your Passion or Developing It?

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