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Original Article

The Relationship Between Predominant Promotion Focus and Spontaneous Mental Contrasting

Published Online:January 20, 2023https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000507

Abstract

Abstract. Previous research found mental contrasting to be an effective self-regulatory strategy. This study explored whether motivational features such as regulatory focus, as promotion focus and prevention focus, could affect people’s spontaneous use of a mental contrasting strategy. The present study hypothesized that promotion focus positively predicts spontaneous mental contrasting. Across the correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) designs, predominantly promotion-focused university students spontaneously employed more mental contrasting strategies. The implications and suggestions for future research have been discussed.

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