Japanese Psychological Research最新文献

This study investigated the motivations related to autonomous and continuous disaster preparedness from the viewpoint of self-determination theory (SDT). Study 1 was a bottom-up investigation to capture the structure of motivation. Four hundred people who had already engaged in preparedness answered an open-ended question concerning the reason for their preparedness. After categorizing the descriptions, four distinct categories (personal significance, avoidance of negative affect, introjection of social norms, and other-oriented motivation) were extracted. Study 2 developed survey items, based on the four categories extracted in Study 1 and a conceptual definition of the theory, and examined their relationships with disaster preparedness. Five hundred and sixty people answered the questions on disaster preparedness motivation (32 items), autonomous disaster preparedness (four items), household preparedness (10 items), and continuous preparedness (10 items). Factor analysis of motivation extracted four factors (personal significance and avoidance of negative affect, introjection of social norms, intimate other-orientation, and general other-orientation). Correlation analysis showed that all motivations were positively correlated with autonomous, household, and continuous preparedness. The results contribute to extending the scope of application of SDT and to clarifying the motivations corresponding to disaster preparedness. For future studies, strategies to promote disaster preparedness are discussed.

Procrastination is defined as postponing a task, anticipating adverse consequences in the future. In contrast, D. A. Rosenbaum and colleagues introduced the concept of “precrastination” in 2014, defining it as people doing a task early even when involving physical cost because they desire to minimize their cognitive load. This study aimed to organize and expand the new concept and advance understanding of precrastination in everyday situations and of the associations between precrastination and self-control. Using the scenario assumption method, we examined whether people would precrastinate or procrastinate a task to remove cognitive load and clear their mind even if there was physical cost/burden (Study 1), and whether they would precrastinate or procrastinate a painful event to remove emotional load stemming from a fear of pain (Study 2). The results showed that (a) people start tasks early in order to remove cognitive and emotional load; (b) people do not start tasks early when they involve physical cost, burden, or fear; (c) people with high self-control start tasks early to remove cognitive load even when involving physical cost; and (d) people with high self-control and low fear start tasks earlier to remove emotional load.

Based on self-determination theory, this study investigates a unique variance in the effect of aspirations (future motivation) on the observed active behaviors on positive class participation, while controlling for academic motivation (current motivation). In Study 1, 364 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students participated in a survey to confirm the validity of the Aspirations Index for Children. Confirmatory factor analysis on the theoretically hypothesized model showed an acceptable fit for the data. In Study 2, 297 fifth- and sixth-grade elementary school students participated in this survey, assessing their aspirations and academic motivation. Furthermore, their homeroom teachers evaluated the students’ academic behaviors on positive class participation. The results of multilevel structural equation modeling, which controls for the effect of current motivation, indicated the unique variance in aspirations (future motivation): intrinsic aspirations were positively associated with active behaviors on positive class participation, whereas extrinsic aspirations showed a negative relation. This study concludes that future motivation, specifically intrinsic aspirations, facilitates active learning behaviors beyond the effect of current motivation.

We examined the effects of episodic future thinking related to achieving important learning goals on university students' learning intentions. Japanese university students (N = 70) participated in this experiment. Participants in the episodic future thinking condition were asked to imagine and describe events they would experience if they achieved their goals. In the semantic future thinking condition, we asked participants to describe their future selves after university graduation and rate the relevance of their future selves to their learning goals. Participants were then asked to respond to the learning intentions measures. Participants in the control condition responded to the measures of learning intentions after completing a questionnaire unrelated to future thinking. When the importance of goal attainment was high, participants in the episodic future thinking condition planned to study for significantly longer than those in the other conditions. Episodic future thinking related to achieving important learning goals strengthens learning intentions more than simple awareness of the future self and learning goals.