Putting Self-Regulation Theory into Practice: A User's Manual
Contents
1. Sciences 1001 253 261 Diefendorff J M 2004 Examination of the roles of action state orientation and goal orientation in the goal setting and performance process Human Perform ance 17 375 395 Diefendorff J M Hall R J Lord R G amp Strean M L 2000 Action state ori entation Construct validity of a revised measure and its relationship to work related variables Journal of Applied Psychology 85 250 263 Dweck C S 1999 Self theories Their role in motivation personality and develop ment Ann Arbor MI Edwards Brothers Fuhrmann A amp Kuhl J 1998 Maintaining a healthy diet Effects of personality and self reward versus self punishment on commitment to and enactment of self chosen and assigned goals Psychology and Health 13 651 686 Jaramillo F amp Spector P E 2004 The effect of action orientation on the academic performance of undergraduate marketing majors Journal of Marketing Education 26 250 260 Jeger P Znoj H amp Grawe K 2003 Increase in coherence in action control as a feature of successful psychotherapies A sequential analytical examination of the therapist patient interaction Psychotherapy Research 13 415 428 Kaschel R amp Kuhl J 2004 Motivational counseling in an extended functional context Personality systems interaction theory and assessment In W M Cox amp E Klinger Eds Motivational counseling Motivating people for change pp 99 12. by Kaschel and Kuhl 2004 This client did not manifest any changes in behavior or well being after 6 months of treatment Still some positive changes were observable in some of the EOS scales after 6 months improvements in primary affective and cognitive responses Behavioral changes and improvements in well being only emerged after 12 months It thus appears that the practical benefits of training specific self regulatory strategies may take some time to materialise One example of the application of the three steps of EOS in management was reported by Kuhl and Henseler 2004 under the title lean coaching A 40 year old manager looked for advice because of his impatience authoritarian behavior strong emotionality and rigid leadership style The EOS results indicated low scores in the critical and apprehensive styles and a high score in the charm ing style He also had a high score in implicit power motivation in relation ship to seeking status The explicit controlled power scale was also 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology 416 KUHL ET AL elevated Concerning self regulation the manager showed a strong tendency towards action orientation especially in difficult and complex situations After examination of the above pattern diagnosis the leitmotiv found in this manager was his deficient sensitivity to discrepancies fears and unsatisfied needs both rela
3. n 2006 Although much of this work remains preliminary these initial efforts suggest to us that PSI theory can be put to good use in many applied domains One of the most distinctive features of PSI theory is its explanatory focus on functional relationships among cognitive and affective systems that is on the dynamic processes that underlie human action and experience cf Kuhl 2000 Most other theories focus on cognitive or emotional contents for example on beliefs about the controllability of desired events or the type of implicit theories we have about our own performance cf Bandura 1986 Dweck 1999 This is not to say that cognitive or emotional contents are not important In fact our experience is that the traditional approach of focusing on contents and PSI theory s approach of focusing on functional relationships among systems complement each other in explaining the com plexities of human experience PSI theory distinguishes a complex set of self regulation processes that can be measured separately In various applied fields there is often a ten dency to resort to simple formulas that promise quick and easy results However we believe that gaining adequate knowledge about a complex system like human self regulation requires a sophisticated set of measure ment tools Still the amount of information that is generated by the assess ment of dozens of single functions can be overwhelming To make sense of all of that informat
4. 19 Sussex Wiley Kaz n M 2006 Problemessen vs SpaBessen Interaktive Wirkungen von Diatintention und Selbstaktivierung auf das Essverhalten Problem eating vs fun eating Interactive effects of diet intention and self activation on dieting Zeitschrift f r Gesundheitspsychologie 14 34 45 Kaz n M amp Kuhl J 2005 Intention memory and achievement motivation Volitional facilitation and inhibition as a function of affective contents of need related stimuli Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89 426 448 Koole S amp Jostmann N 2004 Getting a grip on your feelings Effects of action orientation and external demands on intuitive affect regulation Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87 974 990 Koole S L amp Kuhl J in press Dealing with unwanted feelings The role of affect regulation in volitional action control In J Shah amp W Gardner Eds Hand book of motivation science New York Guilford Press Koole S L Kuhl J Jostmann N B amp Finkenauer C in press Self regulation in interpersonal relationships The case of action versus state orientation In K D Vohs amp E Finkel Eds Intrapersonal processes and interpersonal relationships How they relate New York Guilford Press 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology 418 KUHL ET AL Kuhl J 2000 The volitional basis of personality systems
5. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 2006 55 3 408 418 Putting Self Regulation Theory into Practice A User s Manual Julius Kuhl and Miguel Kaz n University of Osnabriick Germany Sander L Koole Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Netherlands Cervone Shadel Smith and Fiori 2006 propose that theories of personality architecture may provide an integrative theoretical framework for self regulation research Building further on this argument the present paper considers one comprehensive modern approach to personality architecture personality sys tems interactions PSI theory The authors provide a brief overview of PSI theory and discuss a simple three step user s manual that has guided appli cations of the theory to real life behavior Work on PSI theory highlights some of the integrative potential of personality science in the field of self regulation The authors conclude that theories of personality architecture may improve the quality and precision of the counselling coaching and training that psychologists in many diverse areas provide INTRODUCTION Self regulation is an immensely adaptive capacity Indeed effective self regulation fosters health promoting behaviors Fuhrman amp Kuhl 1998 positive psychological well being Baumann Kaschel amp Kuhl 2005 and high job performance Diefendorff Hall Lord amp Strean 2000 It thus stands to reason that scientific insights into self regulati
6. aumgartner H amp Yi Y 1992 State versus action orientation and the theory of reasoned action An application to coupon usage Journal of Consumer Research 18 505 518 Bandura A 1986 Social foundations of thought and action Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice Hall Baumann N Kaschel R amp Kuhl J 2005 Striving for unwanted goals Stress dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well being and increase psychosomatic symptoms Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 89 781 799 Beckmann J amp Kellmann M 2004 Self regulation and recovery Approaching an understanding of the process of recovery from stress Psychological Reports 95 1135 1153 Cervone D 2004 The architecture of personality Psychological Review 111 183 204 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 417 Cervone D 2005 Personality architecture Within person structures and processes Annual Review of Psychology 56 423 452 Cervone D Shadel W G Smith R E amp Fiori M 2006 Self regulation Reminders and suggestions from personality science Applied Psychology An International Review 55 3 333 385 Cloninger C R 2004 The science of well being New York Oxford University Press Damasio A 2003 Feelings of emotion and the self Annals of the New York Academy of
7. ect is high e g when the person experiences threat fear or pain object recog nition becomes activated and extension memory becomes inhibited When negative affect is high e g when the person feels calm and relaxed object recognition becomes inhibited and extension memory becomes activated In sum affective changes are vital to goal enactment and self development An important implication of PSI theory is therefore that efficient affect regula tion skills will greatly facilitate self regulation in general APPLYING PSI THEORY IN THE REAL WORLD PSI theory offers an abstract theoretical analysis of the basic building blocks of human self regulation and personality functioning Nevertheless we have found the theory to be very useful in developing concrete applications in the 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology 412 KUHL ET AL real world In recent years applications of PSI theory have found their way to such diverse domains as health Fuhrmann amp Kuhl 1998 Kaz n 2006 sports Beckmann amp Kellmann 2004 education Jaramillo amp Spector 2004 Kuhl 2000 Menec Perry amp Struthers 1995 therapy Baumann et al 2005 Kaschel amp Kuhl 2004 Jeger Znoj amp Grawe 2003 close relationships Koole Kuhl Jostmann amp Finkenauer in press consumer behavior Bagozzi Baumgartner amp Yi 1992 and management Diefendorff 2004 Kuhl amp Kaz
8. een positive and negative affect systems which regulate approach and avoidance behavior This level is also responsible for coping integrating discrepant information into a high level system see below through activation of the hippocampus Motives are also represented here Finally at the highest level behavior is regulated by complex cognitive systems PSI theory distinguishes two high level systems specialised in sequential analytic processing and self control on the one hand or in parallel holistic processing and self regulation on the other Intention memory which maintains the activation of difficult goals on a conscious and analytical level 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 411 and at the same time inhibits premature enactment of these goals and Extension memory which integrates information originating in different sensory modalities needs bodily states etc allowing the formation of extended cognitive emotional maps These maps are considered by PSI theory to be an essential part of the self cf also Damasio 2003 At times people s behavior may be regulated simply by the elementary systems object recognition and intuitive behavior control Behavior that is guided by these systems however will be rather rigid and inflexible Greater flexibility can be achieved by allowing the high level systems to participate in beha
9. evement IM Affiliation IBC 4 Emotional coping OR lt Hippocampus EM 3 Affect Positive IBC Inhibition Pos IM Negative OR Inhibition Neg EM Elementary sensation 2 Temperament Motor activation IBC and behavior Sensory arousal OR 1 Simple cognitive Motor programs IBC operations Sensory categorisation OR Notes EM Extension Memory IM Intention Memory OR Object Recognition IBC Intuitive Behavioral Control lt Interaction between two systems PSI theory assumes interactions among all systems especially at higher levels Only the main systems involved at each level are listed in the table systems Although the theory distinguishes between seven levels of regula tion Kaschel amp Kuhl 2004 these can be summarised into three broad levels see Table 1 At the lowest level behavior is guided by elementary sensations and intuitive behavior programs PSI theory refers to the system that supports elementary sensation as object recognition Object recognition is specialised in the detection of anomalies unexpected or discrepant things including external stimuli and internal objects of experience PSI theory refers to the system that supports intuitive motor programs as intuitive behavior control Intuitive behavior control is specialised in the enactment of automatic behavioral programs At the mid level behavior is guided by emotion and coping systems Here PSI theory distinguishes betw
10. interaction theory Appli cations in learning and treatment contexts International Journal of Educational Research 33 665 703 Kuhl J 2001 Motivation und Pers nlichkeit Interaktionen psychischer Systeme Motivation and personality Interactions of mental systems G ttingen Hogrefe Kuhl J amp Beckmann J 1994 Volition and personality Action versus state orien tation Seattle WA Hogrefe amp Huber Publishers Kuhl J amp Henseler W 2004 Systemdiagnostik Assessment und F rderung pers nlicher Kompetenzen System diagnosis Assessment and promotion of personal competencies In J Wegge amp K H Schmidt Eds F rderung von Arbeitsmotivation und Gesundheit in Organisationen Promoting work motivation and health in organisations pp 125 142 G ttingen Hogrefe Kuhl J amp Kaz n M 1999 Volitional facilitation of difficult intentions Joint activation of intention memory and positive affect removes Stroop interference Journal of Experimental Psychology General 128 382 399 Kuhl M amp Kaz n M 2006 Sales performance and well being have independent predictors Paper submitted for publication University of Osnabriick Germany Kuhl J amp Koole S L 2004 Workings of the will A functional approach In J Greenberg S L Koole amp T Pyszczynski Eds Handbook of experimental exis tential psychology pp 411 430 New York Guilford Press Magnusson D 2003 The perso
11. ion we recommend using a top down analysis based on principles derived from a coherent personality theory such as PSI theory Different domains of application should always be taken on their own terms Nevertheless in developing applications of PSI theory we have followed a general logic across domains In the following paragraphs we describe three basic steps that we have found to be useful in working with PSI theory Step 1 Diagnosis The first step in any applied domain consists of a comprehensive assessment of a given person s self regulatory and motivational characteristics PSI theory has guided the development of an encompassing assessment system Evolvement Oriented Scanning EOS which measures variables from different levels of personality see Kaschel amp Kuhl 2004 Kuhl amp Henseler 2004 The short version of EOS including up to 80 subscales can 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 413 TABLE 2 Main Areas of Assessment of EOS with a Partial List of the Micro Functions Measured modified after Kaschel amp Kuhl 2004 Macro functions Micro functions Self government Volitional Components Inventory VCI Self regulation Self motivation Activation control Self determination Goal enactment Initiative Activity Concentration under demands Self control Cognitive self control Affective self control Self access
12. itive achievement primes Kuhl amp Kaz n 1999 Kaz n amp Kuhl 2005 Step 2 Intervention The second step deals with intervention and consists of the careful exami nation of the EOS profile of the person looking at possible stronger or weaker sub functions in the areas of cognitive styles affectivity motivation or self regulation It is important to consider the subjective level of stress demands and threats and whether there are psychological or physical problems PSI theory assumes that the primary responses given e g cogni tive styles emotionality can be counteracted by self regulatory capacities e g self regulation self motivation action orientation activation control etc reducing that way the level of stress and the symptoms The first goal at this stage is to discover a leitmotiv that helps interpret the complete pattern of results Once the leitmotiv is established the next step is to interpret 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 415 it in light of the functional characteristics of the systems postulated by PSI theory extension memory intention memory object recognition and intuitive behavior control as well as the levels of positive or negative affect The coaching or intervention will then focus on strengthening or weakening one or more of those systems or their interaction through procedures specificall
13. licit affiliation Integrative affiliation making and maintaining Intuitive affiliation Controlled affiliation social relationships Anxious affiliation Extraverted affiliation be completed in about 30 to 40 min A schematic overview of EOS is provided in Table 2 The assessment tools included in EOS were developed using a top down approach derived from PSI theory and permit an in depth individualised i e idiographic assessment of a person s psychological capacities and pro cesses For each level of personality integrated by PSI theory there are specific assessment tools EOS is not restricted to the assessment of cognitive styles and affective dispositions such as those measured by the Big Five but it also includes the assessment of motivational and self regulatory competences In 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology 414 KUHL ET AL each important personality area EOS allows the measurement of subfunc tions instead of following the aggregation logic of measurement of global functions The general functional areas of self government self regulation and self control emotionality cognitive styles and motivation are each decomposed into a number of concrete single functions see Table 2 Self government for example in its long version is decomposed into 38 different subfunctions e g self determination self motivation self relaxation intru sions concent
14. n approach Concepts measurement models and research strategy New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 101 3 23 Menec V H Perrry R P amp Struthers W 1995 The effect of adverse learning conditions on action oriented and state oriented college students Journal of Experimental Education 63 281 299 Mischel W amp Shoda Y 1998 Reconciling processing dynamics and personality dispositions Annual Review of Psychology 49 229 258 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology
15. on processes are directly relevant to all disciplines that seek to promote people s physical health psychological well being and job performance Unfortunately putting self regulation theory into practice is not that easy As Cervone Shadel Smith and Fiori 2006 point out the modern self regulation literature is a bewildering jungle of theoretical constructs This lack of theoretical coher ence makes it difficult for other fields to take advantage of the real progress that has been made in understanding self regulation processes Address for correspondence Julius Kuhl University of Osnabr ck Faculty of Human Sciences Division of Psychology Seminarstr 20 49074 Osnabriick Germany Email jkuhl uos de 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology Published by Blackwell Publishing 9600 Garsington Road Oxford OX4 2DQ UK and 350 Main Street Malden MA 02148 USA PUTTING THEORY INTO PRACTICE 409 In a bold attempt to bring theoretical order to the study of self regulation Cervone et al 2006 have turned to personality science This move will undoubtedly be surprising to some readers After all mainstream personality research has long focused on personality structure Theories of personality structure focus on between person taxonomic models and virtually ignore psychological processes within the person Because self regulation is by definition an intra personal process the
16. ories of personality structure have little relevance for understanding self regulation However personality can be approached from a different angle As Cervone et al point out there exists a new breed of theories of personality architecture which analyse the mental systems that shape the individual s enduring distinctive patterns of experience and action Cervone 2004 2005 Cloninger 2004 Kuhl amp Koole 2004 Magnusson 2003 Mischel amp Shoda 1998 Unlike theories of person ality structure theories of personality architecture pay close attention to cognitive and affective dynamics within the person Consequently theories of personality architecture are of central relevance to the study of self regulation Indeed as Cervone et al suggest theories of personality architecture may very well provide the integrative theoretical framework that is so sorely needed in self regulation research The analysis offered by Cervone et al 2006 is a landmark development of the integrative potential of theories of personality architecture in self regulation research Developing an integrative theory of self regulation is not only desirable on abstract theoretical grounds It is also of immensely practical value because it can guide the development of effective diagnostic instruments and interventions Our own efforts in this field have led us to formulate personality systems interactions PSI theory a functional analysis of the personality a
17. ration goal fixation initiative etc Compared with the measurement of global traits or functions the assess ment of single functions permits the practitioner a more efficient consulting coaching and training To support such applications EOS has scales that measure physical and psychological well being making also a finer differen tiation of subjective stress into demands e g uncompleted intentions obli gations and threats e g failures painful experiences Finally the EOS measures self regulatory competences at a more global level i e individual differences in state vs action orientation Kuhl amp Beckmann 1994 The demand related subscale of the action orientation scale relates to self regulation of positive affect the threat related subscale relates to self regulation of negative affect Koole amp Kuhl in press Because some personality levels are not consciously experienced it is important to complement the self report instruments listed in Table 2 with implicit or indirect tests There are two additional tests in EOS that measure unconscious or implicit processes a the Operant Multimotive Test OMT that measures implicit motives in the areas of affiliation achievement and power and b the EMOSCAN Emotional Scan which is a computer assisted test that records fast response latencies designed to measure activation of intention memory through removal of Stroop interference after exposure to pos
18. rchitecture that underlies human motivation and self regulation Kuhl 2000 2001 Kuhl amp Koole 2004 Although PSI theory was formulated largely as a basic theoretical framework the theory has stimulated numerous forays into more applied areas In the remaining sec tions of this paper we provide a brief overview of PSI theory and discuss a simple three step user s manual that has guided our applications of the theory to real life behavior We offer this discussion as an illustration of the integrative potential of personality science in the field of self regulation and hope that it will stimulate further applications along these lines PSI THEORY PSI theory is a theoretical approach that integrates insights from cognitive science motivation science personality psychology and neurobiology into a single coherent framework for more extensive discussions see Kuhl 2000 2001 Kuhl amp Koole 2004 A basic assumption of PSI theory is that human motivation and personality are mediated by a hierarchy of regulatory 2006 The Authors Journal compilation 2006 International Association for Applied Psychology 410 KUHL ET AL TABLE 1 Levels and Systems of PSI Theory Broad category Level Main systems Complex cognition 7 Self government Self regulation EM Self control IM 6 High level cognition Parallel holistic processing EM Sequential analytic processing IM Emotions and coping 5 Motives Power EM Achi
19. ted to himself and to other persons This indicated an impaired function of the object recognition system The coaching intervention consisted in his learning to focus and accept initial negative feelings and discrepancies produced in interpersonal exchanges with subordinates and to maintain a relaxed attitude in situations in which there were differences in attitudes or interest conflicts This coaching was successful and after 5 months the manager s profile in EOS showed changes in the expected scales together with higher levels of satisfaction and less personal complaints from the manager evaluation CONCLUDING REMARKS Cervone et al 2006 propose an integration of personality science and self regulation theory We believe that this integration is extremely important and useful for the application of self regulation theory to different settings Our discussion of PSI theory and the three steps involved in the EOS Diagnosis Intervention and Evaluation actually complement and extend the proposals made by Cervone et al 2006 This approach involves a detailed assessment of the capacities of the individual including not only personality but also motivational and self regulatory processes guided by modern approaches to personality architecture We hope that this work will help to improve the quality and precision of the counseling coaching and training that psychologists in many diverse areas provide REFERENCES Bagozzi R P B
20. under threat Non conformity Coping with failure under threat Life stress Demands e g difficult or unfinished intentions Threat e g adaptation to change fears pressure Action control AOD Action Orientation post Decisional AOF Action Orientation after Failure or Threat Mood Checklist MCL Affective dispositions Positive mood Negative mood Activation energy Tension arousal Listlessness Relaxation Anger Well being BES K Affective and physical states Severity of symptoms Dissatisfaction Activation energy Relationships satisfaction Somatic complaints Personality Styles and Disorders Inventory PSDI Affective cognitive Styles SEKS Cognitive emotional styles Self assertive antisocial Cautious paranoid Reserved primary responses schizoid Apprehensive avoidant Conscientious compulsive Intuitive schizotypical Ambitious narcissistic Critical negativistic Loyal dependent Spontaneous borderline Charming histrionic Motivational abilities Conscious motives Motive Enactment Test MET Enactment of power Explicit power Integrative power Intuitive power autonomous assertive impact Controlled power Anxious power Altruistic power on others Enactment of achievement Explicit achievement Integrative achievement learning and acquisition Intuitive achievement Controlled achievement of competences Anxious achievement Competitive achievement Enactment of affiliation Exp
21. vior regulation According to PSI theory the most sophisticated forms of behavior regulation depend on a coordinated interplay between elementary and high level systems More specifically PSI theory distinguishes two main forms of complex self government goal enactment and self development Goal enactment involves an interaction between intention memory which forms and maintains abstract goal representations and intuitive behavior control to translate abstract goals into concrete actions Self development involves an interaction between object recognition which takes in new i e unexpected or undesirable experience and extension memory to integrate new experiences into extended networks of the person s prior experiences How can different systems become coordinated such that they can achieve goal enactment and self development According to PSI theory this coordination process depends on affect Positive affect coordinates the interplay of intention memory and intuitive behavior control When positive affect is low e g when the person experiences heavy demands frustration or discouragement intention memory becomes activated and intuitive behavior control is inhibited When positive affect is high e g when the person receives a reward or achieves a success intention memory is inhibited and intuitive behavior control is activated Negative affect coordinates the interplay of object recognition and extension memory When negative aff
22. y tailored to reestablish the balance among them It is our experience that detailed knowledge of personality functioning aided by a theoretically guided analysis will at the end reduce complexity in counseling or coaching That is the thorough assessment of those many personality functions permits the trained practitioner to quickly zoom in on those critical aspects or functions of the individual person that need change and will permit more precise advice Step 3 Evaluation An advantage of EOS is that practitioners are able to evaluate the efficiency of a particular treatment not only through global changes in psychological dimensions but also through changes in detailed affective cognitive moti vational or self regulatory functions of the person that need improvement see Table 2 The evaluation of the treatment is carried out in a straight forward manner Practitioners can examine changes in the person s functions that did not work well before the treatment in addition to behavioral changes and improvements in psychological and physical well being It is important to note that the effects of treatment may not be manifested in actual behavior at the initial stages of the treatment Nonetheless through the use of EOS subtle changes in some of the above functions may be apparent some time before an actual behavioral change is observable One example is the case of a client with problems in goal enactment and self relaxation reported
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