Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Cromer, Jason
URN	etd-08052008-210516
Title	The Effects of Meta-motivational Dominance Sensation Seeking on Performance Under Pressure
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Gershon Tenenbaum Committee Chair David Eccles Committee Member Robert Eklund Committee Member
Keywords	Reversal Theory Metamotivational SSPT
Date of Defense	2008-07-30
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract The present study examined aspects of Reversal Theory; more specifically meta-motivational dominance in combination with sensation seeking on motor tasks in pressure-filled and non-pressure conditions. Meta-motivational dominance refers to an individual’s tendency to maintain in either a telic or paratelic state the majority of the time. Telic dominant individuals tend to be more serious-minded and goal-oriented, and adhere to less challenging activities while paratelic dominant individuals are more playful, spontaneous, and less serious-minded in nature. Sensation seeking individuals tend to engage in more challenging, high-risk activities for the sake of immediate enjoyment, while low non-sensation seekers prefer to avoid such activities and challenge. This study was undertaken given the fact that no previous research had combined paratelic/telic dominance and sensation seeking characteristics in an attempt to determine performance on motor tasks under non-pressure and pressure-filled situations. The main purpose of this research was to experimentally examine whether performances under pressure and task-characteristics would vary as a function of high paratelic dominant sensation seeking (high SSPT) versus telic dominant low sensation seeking (low SSPT) in individuals. It was hypothesized that high SSPT individuals would perform more accurately on both novel apparatus guidance and vowel circling tasks under the pressure-filled condition than low SSPT individuals, and that low SSPT individuals would perform better under the low-pressure condition on the vowel circling task. It was also hypothesized that high SSPT individuals would perceive the pressure-filled scenario as more facilitating, regardless of task. Seventy-three participants completed the Sensation Seeking Scale-V (Zuckerman, 1979) and the Paratelic Dominance Scale (Cook & Gerkovich, 1993) and a final sample of 24 individuals was asked to participate in the task-oriented study. Participants completed a boring task (vowel circling) and a challenging task (a novel apparatus) under both a control setting and a pressure-filled setting. Each task was comprised of three 10-minute trials under each setting, during which time participants were asked to fill out manipulation check questions regarding perceived pressure, facilitation, determination, and challenge. Performance was computed by tabulating the amount of completions and errors made on each task for each trial. A RM-ANOVA was performed in order to determine differences in the dependent variables across for tasks and settings. Contrary to hypotheses and predictions based on Reversal Theory, high SSPT participants scored more completions and fewer errors on both the vowel circling and novel apparatus tasks, regardless of the pressure level. Although high SSPT participants performed better under the pressure condition than low SSPT participants as expected, the pressure variable had little to no effect on performance. SSPT was also not found to influence perceived facilitation. Overall, the current study’s findings provide evidence that SSPT influences task performance, but regardless of setting or the task being performed. Further consideration regarding SSPT and motor task performance must be made to better understand this connection.
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