Participation in a priming task predicts persistence

Author

Brandi L. Dilgard, Ashland University
Cassandra G. Mosely, Ashland University
Melissa D. Welch, Ashland University
Jessica L. Bates, Ashland University

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

18

Number

1

Page Numbers

pages 44-48

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2012

Abstract

Though previously considered to be a relatively stable factor, emerging research suggests that optimism may be manipulated. Since research suggests a link between optimism and task persistence, the manipulation of optimism may result in greater task persistence. This paper describes two experiments. In both experiments, researchers examined whether participants primed for optimism persisted longer on a difficult anagram-solving task than did participants who were not primed for optimism. Experiment 1 used a future thinking task to prime optimism, whereas Experiment 2 used a scrambled sentences task to prime optimism. Results suggested a trend for participants primed for optimism to persist longer on the anagram-solving task Though these experiments were limited by small sample sizes, trends in the data suggest a relationship between the priming of optimism and task persistence.

Subject

Psychology

Keyword

Optimism; Priming; Tasks; Persistence; Undergraduate; Life Orientation Test

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

5 leaves

Language

English

Call Number

BF1 .M63 v. 18 no. 1 2012

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Recommended Citation

Dilgard, Brandi L.; Mosely, Cassandra G.; Welch, Melissa D.; and Bates, Jessica L. (2012) "Participation in a priming task predicts persistence," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 18: No. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol18/iss1/7