Haiyang Yang Research Your Self

Main navigation Johns Hopkins Legacy Online programs Faculty Directory Experiential learning Career sources Alumni mentoring program Util Nav CTA CTA Breadcrumb Haiyang Yang Research: Your Self-Image May Influence How You Set Your Goals You’re a careful eater, avoiding excessive-calorie snacks and meals as a rule. But one day at the lunch counter, instead of ordering the same old salad, you’re tempted by a cheeseburger. Will you give in? The answer, in accordance with a latest studyfrom Johns Hopkins University, could also be influenced by whether you view yourself as more or less of an independent type, and whether or not you generally try to be formidable or keep the status quo. It’s info that not only may assist people set objectives they may reasonably hope to realize but also might information entrepreneurs in matching a product to a selected audience. In their paper, lead authorHaiyang Yangof theJohns Hopkins Carey Business Schooland his two co-authors examine two kinds of “self-construal” â€" that is, how individuals view themselves. Someone with an “unbiased” self-image sees himself as distinct from others, whereas a person with an “interdependent” view of himself aims to suit into the soci al structure and maintain harmonious relations with others. Additionally, the paper identifies two kinds of goals â€" these of “attainment” and of “maintenance.” Someone with attainment objectives seeks to reach a desired state, by shedding weight, for example, or including to a financial savings account. A particular person with upkeep targets would search to maintain his weight and financial savings account at least at their present levels. Yang and his colleagues say that while earlier research have appeared individually at self-construal and objectives, their paper is among the first to have a look at how the 2 concepts jointly influence shopper habits. Through six experiments involving greater than 2,000 participants within the United States and China, the researchers found that compared to folks with a predominately interdependent self-construal, those with a predominately unbiased self-construal are typically motivated extra by goals of attainment and the accompanying potential for advancement and distinction. However, the more interdependent people are usually motivated more by maintenance objectives that emphasize stability and continuity. “In one of our studies,” Yang said in an interview, “we noticed folks’s actual-life bodyweight objective pursuit behaviors (that is, shedding vs. maintaining body weight) over a interval of thirteen months. We discovered that individuals who had fewer social ties, and therefore have been extra independent, were extra more likely to set the objective of reducing as opposed to sustaining bodyweight. Further, after folks set their weight-management goals, the more impartial individuals had been more motivated, as measured by the amount of the money they were keen to wager on their success, to pursue weight-loss objectives versus weight-upkeep goals.” The researchers also discovered that appeals to an individual’s sense of independence or interdependence can influence how targets are set. When resear ch participants had been requested a couple of series of potential actions â€" including to a savings account, reducing weight, and rising their faculty grade-point averages â€" their motivation for attaining a better state was larger when the actions had been posed as benefitting them as individuals, as opposed to benefitting their shut social groups (family members and associates). The reverse sample emerged for the upkeep-aim model of the actions. Companies should contemplate these findings when advertising products and services internationally, with an eye fixed as to whether the nationwide culture leans toward independence or interdependence, Yang and his co-authors assert. They state in the paper: “Marketing practitioners ought to consider engineering buy environments or consumption contexts to activate respective self-construal, nudging shoppers towards goals congruent with companies’ marketing goals and therefore growing the chance of shoppers’ adoption of those consum ption objectives.” The researchers further assert that customers can follow the identical kind of leverage on themselves by matching their goals to their self-construal (as independent or interdependent individuals) and thus increasing the motivation to bring their actions to successful and satisfying conclusions. “Pursuing Attainment versus Maintenance Goals: The Interplay of Self-Construal and Goal Type on Consumer Motivation” was written by Haiyang Yang of Johns Hopkins, Antonios Stamatogiannakis of IE Business School, and Amitava Chattopadhyay of INSEAD. The paper was printed in June in theJournal of Consumer Research. Posted 100 International Drive