Decomposing Trait and State Aspects of Regulatory Focus in Daily Life

Regulatory focus theory describes two independent motivational systems, promotion and prevention focus, that regulate behavioural strategies toward desired goals (Higgins, 1997). Promotion focus prioritizes nurturance needs and achieving goals related to oneâ s hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Promotion focus also sensitizes a person to the presence and absence of rewards where success and failure are experienced as happiness and sadness, respectively. This is contrasted with prevention focus, which prioritizes safety needs and fulfilling oneâ s duties, responsibilities, and obligations. Prevention focus sensitizes a person to the presence and absence of losses where success and failure are experienced as calm and anxiety, respectively. The present study assessed emotion in daily life related to trait regulatory focus and success and their daily fluctuations in an experience sampling experiment. Participants completed a daily experiences survey every day for a month that measured their emotions and regulatory focus and success. The Big Five Personality dimensions were also measured to examine associations with individual differences in emotion. Regulatory focus predictions were only partially supported. In fact, regulatory focus was a consistently stronger predictor of daily emotion than success. Importantly, promotion focus was consistently related to more positive emotions and less negative emotions. In contrast, prevention focus was consistently related to more negative emotions and less positive emotions. Promotion focus also buffered against the negative emotions associated with goal failure as well as boosted the positive emotions associated with success. Conversely, prevention focus exacerbated the negative emotions of goal failure and attenuated the positive emotions associated with success. Personality also moderated different aspects of regulatory variables to predict different emotions. Decomposing regulatory focus and success into traits and daily fluctuations from trait levels predicted different emotions. Thus, to fully understand how regulatory focus influences emotion, success and focus must be differentiated at both the trait and day level.Ph.D