Expanding the Circle: The Power of Social Connections
Nicole M. Cain
Nicole M. Cain
It was wonderful to see many of you in Montreal last month! In keeping with the communal feelings that were inspired by our recent conference, I am ‘expanding the circle’ by highlighting a recent paper examining the impact of mere belonging on achievement motivation. In their March 2012 paper, Gregory Walton, Geoffrey Cohen, David Cwir, and Steven Spencer conducted four experiments to manipulate people’s sense of social connection to another person or to a group of people.
In their seminal paper, Baumeister and Leary (1995) argued that one of the most powerful human motives is the desire to form and maintain social bonds. Previous research has consistently demonstrated that motivations, values, and goals are strongly influenced by social connections and social context, especially in the presence of long-standing and highly valued others such as family and friends (e.g. Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2003) and romantic partners (e.g. Anderson, Keltner, & John, 2003). Walton et al. (2012) extended this research by investigating whether a sense of belonging with unfamiliar individuals would also cause people to adopt the interests and goals of these others as their own. In particular, they assessed whether mere belonging, a minimal cue of social connection to another person or group, would promote achievement motivation.
In experiment 1, the authors tested whether perceived opportunities for positive social interactions with others in an achievement domain would lead people to internalize motivation from these others for that domain. Participants (n = 27) were assigned to one of two conditions: one condition included a skills-based narrative about the math department, which emphasized how the math department would promote personal abilities and mastery, while the second condition included a relational-context narrative describing how the math department promoted opportunities for collaboration and friendly social interactions. After reading the narrative, participants completed a self-report measure of motivation in math as well as an unsolvable math puzzle. Walton et al. (2012) found that participants in the relational-context condition reported more self-motivation for math and persisted longer on the math puzzle than participants in the skills-based condition. There were no gender differences between conditions.
Experiment 2 assessed the impact of a minimal social link (e.g. a shared birthday) on achievement motivation in math. Participants (n = 27) read a report ostensibly written by a recent graduate of the math department and were either led to believe that they shared a birthday with the graduate or not. Again, students freely persisted longer on the math puzzle and expressed greater motivation for math when they were led to believe that they shared a birthday with the recent graduate suggesting that even a minimal social cue is sufficient to create a social connection to a particular field of study.
To explore this effect in a group context, Walton et al. manipulated social connectedness to a group in experiment 3 by telling participants (n = 116) that they were either part of a “puzzles group” (e.g. made it explicit that other people were also working on puzzles) or they were a “puzzle person” (e.g. did not make it explicit that other people were also working on puzzles). Participants reported increased motivation for math and persisted longer on an unsolvable math puzzle when made to feel part of a “puzzles group.”
Finally, experiment 4 directly tested the hypothesis that these increases in achievement motivation occur because people automatically assimilate the goals of socially relevant others into the self. Participants (n = 112) were led to believe that they either shared preferences (e.g. liking the same music group) with a confederate or not. The confederate then pursued a series of goals in the presence of the participants (e.g. solving a puzzle, retrieving a coin from a bucket filled with other objects). Walton et al. assessed the extent to which participants internalized the confederate’s goals by examining whether the participants enacted the confederate’s goals by helping with the tasks, activated the goals cognitively as the confederate pursued them, and then inhibited the goals cognitively after the confederate had completed them. Compared to the control condition, participants in the social link condition (e.g. shared preferences) were more likely to adopt the confederate’s goals as their own.
Overall, the results of these four experiments demonstrated that the mere sense of social connectedness, even with unfamiliar others, enhances achievement motivation. These findings underscore the importance of social relationships and the interpersonal situation as a source of people’s interests, motivations, and broader self-identity.
As always, please email me with ideas or suggestions for future ‘expansions’ of the circle ([email protected]).
References:
Anderson, C., Keltner, D., & John, O.P. (2003). Emotional convergence between people over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1054-1068.
Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.
Fitzsimons, G.M. & Bargh, J.A. (2003). Thinking of you: Nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 148-164.
Walton, G.M., Cohen, G.L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S.J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 513-532.
It was wonderful to see many of you in Montreal last month! In keeping with the communal feelings that were inspired by our recent conference, I am ‘expanding the circle’ by highlighting a recent paper examining the impact of mere belonging on achievement motivation. In their March 2012 paper, Gregory Walton, Geoffrey Cohen, David Cwir, and Steven Spencer conducted four experiments to manipulate people’s sense of social connection to another person or to a group of people.
In their seminal paper, Baumeister and Leary (1995) argued that one of the most powerful human motives is the desire to form and maintain social bonds. Previous research has consistently demonstrated that motivations, values, and goals are strongly influenced by social connections and social context, especially in the presence of long-standing and highly valued others such as family and friends (e.g. Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2003) and romantic partners (e.g. Anderson, Keltner, & John, 2003). Walton et al. (2012) extended this research by investigating whether a sense of belonging with unfamiliar individuals would also cause people to adopt the interests and goals of these others as their own. In particular, they assessed whether mere belonging, a minimal cue of social connection to another person or group, would promote achievement motivation.
In experiment 1, the authors tested whether perceived opportunities for positive social interactions with others in an achievement domain would lead people to internalize motivation from these others for that domain. Participants (n = 27) were assigned to one of two conditions: one condition included a skills-based narrative about the math department, which emphasized how the math department would promote personal abilities and mastery, while the second condition included a relational-context narrative describing how the math department promoted opportunities for collaboration and friendly social interactions. After reading the narrative, participants completed a self-report measure of motivation in math as well as an unsolvable math puzzle. Walton et al. (2012) found that participants in the relational-context condition reported more self-motivation for math and persisted longer on the math puzzle than participants in the skills-based condition. There were no gender differences between conditions.
Experiment 2 assessed the impact of a minimal social link (e.g. a shared birthday) on achievement motivation in math. Participants (n = 27) read a report ostensibly written by a recent graduate of the math department and were either led to believe that they shared a birthday with the graduate or not. Again, students freely persisted longer on the math puzzle and expressed greater motivation for math when they were led to believe that they shared a birthday with the recent graduate suggesting that even a minimal social cue is sufficient to create a social connection to a particular field of study.
To explore this effect in a group context, Walton et al. manipulated social connectedness to a group in experiment 3 by telling participants (n = 116) that they were either part of a “puzzles group” (e.g. made it explicit that other people were also working on puzzles) or they were a “puzzle person” (e.g. did not make it explicit that other people were also working on puzzles). Participants reported increased motivation for math and persisted longer on an unsolvable math puzzle when made to feel part of a “puzzles group.”
Finally, experiment 4 directly tested the hypothesis that these increases in achievement motivation occur because people automatically assimilate the goals of socially relevant others into the self. Participants (n = 112) were led to believe that they either shared preferences (e.g. liking the same music group) with a confederate or not. The confederate then pursued a series of goals in the presence of the participants (e.g. solving a puzzle, retrieving a coin from a bucket filled with other objects). Walton et al. assessed the extent to which participants internalized the confederate’s goals by examining whether the participants enacted the confederate’s goals by helping with the tasks, activated the goals cognitively as the confederate pursued them, and then inhibited the goals cognitively after the confederate had completed them. Compared to the control condition, participants in the social link condition (e.g. shared preferences) were more likely to adopt the confederate’s goals as their own.
Overall, the results of these four experiments demonstrated that the mere sense of social connectedness, even with unfamiliar others, enhances achievement motivation. These findings underscore the importance of social relationships and the interpersonal situation as a source of people’s interests, motivations, and broader self-identity.
As always, please email me with ideas or suggestions for future ‘expansions’ of the circle ([email protected]).
References:
Anderson, C., Keltner, D., & John, O.P. (2003). Emotional convergence between people over time. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1054-1068.
Baumeister, R.F. & Leary, M. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.
Fitzsimons, G.M. & Bargh, J.A. (2003). Thinking of you: Nonconscious pursuit of interpersonal goals associated with relationship partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 148-164.
Walton, G.M., Cohen, G.L., Cwir, D., & Spencer, S.J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power of social connections. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 513-532.