Promotion and prevention strategies for self-regulation: A motivated cognition perspective

Research on motivated cognition has typically examined how motives to arrive at certain conclusions affect people's judgmental processes (cf. Dunning, Leuenberger, & Sherman, 1995; Ford & Kruglanski, 1995; Sanitioso, Kunda, & Fong, 1990; Thompson, Roman, Moskowitz, Chaiken, & Bargh, 1994). In this chapter, we extend the study of motivated cognition in two directions. First, we examine how, in addition to motives to arrive at certain outcomes, motives to adopt certain strategies affect people's judgmental processes (for a more general review of cognitive effects of strategic preferences, see Higgins and Molden, 2003; Molden & Higgins, in press-b). Specifically, we examine how having a promotion or a prevention focus — as well as having "regulatory fit" (Higgins, 2000) between one's promotion or prevention focus and the manner in which one pursues a goal — can affect people's judgmental processes. Second, we examine how motives to adopt certain strategies affect people's behavior, which can be not only the behavioral product of their judgmental processes but can also be independent of judgment. Specifically, we examine how having a promotion or a prevention focus, and having strategic "fit" with these foci, can affect behavior.