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Seen it. Pinned it. Done it:

The effects of vicarious goal satiation and “pinning” on Pinterest users’ goal motivation

42613035

Assessable word count: 9,935

Total word count: 13,826

i

Abstract

This study explored mechanisms which may decrease goal motivation in Pinterest users,

specifically: vicarious goal satiation and the act of pinning images. Pinterest users may

encounter vicarious goal satiation when observing completed goals, which then satiates the

drive to achieve the same goal. Further, the act of pinning may reduce motivation through

various mechanisms; either perceived goal progress or increased attendance to desired goal

outcomes. Participants (N = 163) were randomly assigned to conditions where they saw

complete or incomplete creative projects, pinned images they liked or did not pin any images,

and were asked to look for a project they would like to try or were provided no additional

instructions. Motivation to complete creative goals was measured by performance on a

creative word association task. The study predicted that participants who saw complete

creative projects would have less motivation for creative goals than those who saw incomplete

creative projects (vicarious goal satiation). Secondly, it explored whether having a conscious

goal facilitated or protected against vicarious goal satiation. Finally, it was expected

participants who pinned images would have less motivation on the creative word association

task than those who did not pin images. Results found no significant effects of project

completion or pinning. Having a conscious goal did not facilitate or protect against vicarious

goal satiation. Post hoc analysis of the second half of the word task was conducted to

introduce an artificial delay revealing a marginal pin by seek interaction. Participants who

had a conscious goal and did not pin images had greater motivation than those who did pin

images. Further research addressing the limitations of this study is needed to explore goal

satiation effects on Pinterest users.

ii

Table of Contents

Abstract i

List of tables iv

List of figures v

Introduction 1

Catching motivation 3

Catching de-motivation 5

Effects of pinning 7

Current research 9

H1: Vicarious goal satiation 9

H2: Holding a conscious goal 10

H3: Effect of pinning 10

Method 11

Participants 11

Measures 12

Pinterest images 12

Remote Associates Test 12

Design & procedure 13

Ethics 15

Contributions 15

Results 16

Dependent measures 16

Transformation of data 17

Manipulation checks 17

Complete versus incomplete projects 17

Pin versus not pinning projects 18

Seeking versus not seeking a project 18

Main hypotheses 18

iii Post hoc analyses 20

Discussion 22

Pinterest images 23

Identification and familiarity with Pinterest 25

Measuring creative motivation 26

Second half of the RAT 27

Delay versus distractor task 28

Multiple measures 28

Future research 29

Conclusion 31

References 33

Appendix A. Pinterest Feeds 39

Appendix B. Pinterest Instructions 40

Appendix C. RAT Items 43

Appendix D. Information Sheet 44

Appendix E. Debrief Sheet 45

Appendix F. Dependent Measures Correlations 46

Appendix G. Main Hypothesis ANOVAs 47

Appendix H. Post Hoc ANOVAs 52

iv

List of Tables

Table 1. Number of participants in each condition 15

Table 2. Correlation coefficients of Participants’ Performance Measures on the Remote

Associates Test 16

Table 3. Means, Standard Deviations, and p Values for Main Hypotheses Independent

Groups ANOVAs on RAT Performance Scores 19

v

List of Figures

Figure 1. Number of RAT items attempted as a function of holding a conscious goal and

pinning images 22

1

Seen it. Pinned it. Done it: The effects of vicarious goal satiation and “pinning”

on Pinterest users’ goal motivation

Social interaction infiltrates many aspects of our lives and, as online social networks

continue to gain popularity, we are becoming increasingly exposed to other people. This

constant flow of social information is not restricted to back-and-forth interaction, which

immediately springs to mind when we think of socialising, but includes an endless stream of

passive thoughts, emotions, and desires, coming from close and extended networks

(Anderson, Fagan, Woodnutt, & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2012; Robinson & Lee, 2014; Wilson,

Gosling, & Graham, 2012). The range of online social networks has dramatically increased

the amount of social information that we have access to. Facebook allows personal

connections between people and a way to share life events and news stories. Twitter’s micro-

blogging format focuses on sharing immediacy information (i.e., what users are doing now).

Instagram and Vine allow people to capture and share their daily lives through the visual

media of photography and video, respectively. And Pinterest, a relatively recent entrant into

the social media landscape, invites users to curate collections of images, sourced from the

internet, and display them in categorised boards.

The social curation website entered the online sphere in 2011 and was the first social

networking site to reach 10 million users in less than a year. The user base is predominately

female (approximately 80%) aged 25 to 45 (Duggan & Smith, 2013). While other social

network sites have focused on sharing life experiences, Pinterest users collect content from

online sources. This content is arranged on personal pages (called ‘boards’) to create curated

collections of images based on a theme (e.g., recipes, weddings, creative projects etc.). As

such, the site is like a physical scrapbook. Instead of pasting clippings from a magazine,

users ‘pin’ images that link external websites into user-generated boards. Users also ‘re-pin’

images that are already within Pinterest allowing them to spread virally within the site.

2

It is this ability to amass and present desirable images that has allowed a majority of

Pinterest users to utilise the website to organise and share goals, and this has been supported

by consumer research into the site (Bernadini et al, 2014; Engauge, 2012; Gilbert et al., 2013;

Hall & Zarrow, 2012; Mull & Lee, 2014; Linder et al., 2014). Instead of broadcasting to

followers information about personal thoughts and daily events, Pinterest’s architecture and

marketing encourage users to bring together ideal versions of their lives. Pinterest’s slogan is

‘a place to discover ideas for all your projects and interests’, showing the company’s insight

into the aspirational way people utilise the site. Over half of users utilise Pinterest to get

inspiration for careers or hobbies, and similar numbers use it to store images of things they

dream of having (Engague, 2014). Pinterest has reported users shaping their searches based

on how much they ‘need’ a desired outcome and how ‘soon’ they want to achieve it (Brown,

2014). When comparing the words people used in Pinterest comments to the words they used

on Twitter, a distinct difference emerged. While the words selected for Twitter posts focus on

social interaction and immediacy (e.g., ‘thanks’, ‘friend’, and ‘today’), comments on Pinterest

are full of aspirational language (e.g., ‘want’ and ‘need’) (Gilbert, Bakhshi, Chang, &

Terveen, 2013). Given that users are visiting the site to organise and share their goals, and

Pinterest has leapt on this as a marketing strategy, it is important to understand what impact

the website has on goal motivation. While it appears intuitive that spending time browsing

goal-related images and saving these for future browsing will enhance motivation to reach

those goals, the literature surrounding goal motivation suggests otherwise. But first, let’s take

some time to explain what a goal actually consists of.

As we move through life we follow a path signposted by aspirations and goals. These

can be large long term goals like re-decorating a room, or more immediate, everyday goals

like cooking a meal for dinner. In cognitive terms, goals are represented as movement

towards a desired outcome, and require multiple smaller goals to be reached in order to attain

that outcome (Fishbach & Dhar, 2005; Touré-Tillery & Fishbach, 2011). For example, if a

3 person wants to re-decorate they must first decide on a style, select a colour scheme, locate

furniture and so on until they are enjoying their new decor. Active goals facilitate motivation

to reach these desired outcomes (Brown, 1948). As cognitive concepts, goals are represented

as memories and related thoughts that vary in accessibility. Because of this, motivation to

pursue goals can vary depending on situational factors which affect how accessible they are

(Bargh, 1990; Fishbach & Ferguson, 2007; Higgins, Bargh, & Lombardi, 1996; Kruglanski,

1996). When activated goals also affect how we interact with the world. This facilitates goal

pursuit by making tasks and concepts that are related to the goal more accessible so the

individual pursuing that goal is more likely to attend to them. These goal-related concepts are

anything that helps an individual reach the goal outcome (Fishbach & Ferguson, 2007;

Norman, 1981). Using the example of re-decorating, having this goal active will make

concepts relating to the task more accessible: the decorator will be more attuned to colour

scheme ideas and when the local furniture store has a sale. It is tempting to think that as

individuals we are independent in what goals we pursue and that we drive how motivated we

are to reach them. Yet, social interaction influences our goals and goal motivation more than

we think (Aarts, Gollwitzer, & Hassin 2004; Loersch, Aarts, Payne, & Jefferis, 2008;

Palomares, 2013). Understanding how we can ‘catch’ goals from our social network is vital

in the realm of social media and the resulting onslaught of social information.

Catching Motivation

It seems unlikely that by simply observing another person they can influence our own

goals. But that is exactly what goal contagion describes. Goal contagion is the process by

which individuals catch a goal by observing another person pursue that goal (Aarts et al.,

2004). It occurs when goal-related concepts become cognitively activated, or primed, by

another person’s behaviour. To explain how this works, imagine an individual who

consciously chooses to pursue a goal for themselves; related concepts become cognitively

activated which directs their behaviour in order to complete the goal. In goal contagion

4 activation of goal-relevant concepts still occurs, but this time the concepts are subconsciously

primed by seeing another person pursue their own goal. This results in the observer being

motivated as if they had decided to pursue the goal themselves – they literally catch the goal.

It is necessary to differentiate goal contagion from semantic priming, as while both can

result in changes to goal-relevant behaviour, only the effects of goal contagion are sustained

long-term. Semantic priming is exposure to a word or concept resulting in similar concepts

becoming more accessible for a short period of time (Atkinson & Birch, 1970; Bargh,

Gollwitzer, Lee-Chai, & Barndollar., 2001; Chartrand & Bargh, 1996; Higgins, Bargh, &

Lombardi, 1996; Wyer & Srull, 1986). To clarify the difference, recall the home decorator

from earlier. Previously they had no desire to re-decorate. Then they had lunch with a friend

who is currently re-styling their lounge-room, and now they find themselves thinking about

painting over the burnt orange feature wall in their own lounge-room. What led to this

thought process? If the goal of re-decorating was activated by their friend’s decorating

anecdotes, this goal will persist until it is once the goal is reached. If, however, the

conversation semantically primed re-decorating, similar concepts become immediately more

accessible and quickly fade once the conversation has moved on. In order to differentiate

between semantic priming and goal contagion, researchers used a delay of five minutes

between participants observing a target pursue a goal and the measure of participants’

motivation on a similar goal (Aarts et al., 2004). It was expected that if the effect was due to

goal contagion, increased motivation would still occur after the delay, as goal activation is

sustained. If the effects were the result of semantic priming, however, there would be no

increased motivation after the delay, as the priming effect would have faded before the

measure of motivation took place. This is exactly what the researchers found. Participants

were more motivated after the delay, leading to the conclusion that they did indeed catch the

goal they observed, and semantic priming was not the cause of increased motivation.

5

The goal contagion effect has been shown to be robust across various situations (Aarts

et al., 2005; Dik & Aarts, 2007; Jia, Tong, & Lee, 2004; Leander & Shah, 2013; Loersch et

al., 2008; Palomares, 2013). This body of research suggests that by witnessing another person

pursue a goal, this goal can be adopted by the observer without their awareness. Based on

this, we would expect goal contagion to occur readily on Pinterest – if users are spending time

looking at images that show beautifully prepared meals, well decorated houses, and successful

creative projects, the goals of cooking, decorating, and creating should be adopted. Users’

motivation for pursuing these activities should increase, and users’ expectations that the site

will facilitate their reaching their goals will be met. However, researchers have added to the

goal contagion story. Recent findings suggests that if goal motivation can be caught by

watching someone pursue a goal, de-motivation may also be caught when the observed target

reaches their desired goal outcome (McCulloch, Fitzimons, Chua, & Albarracin, 2011).

Catching De-motivation

Once the desired outcome of a goal has been reached, motivation to pursue goal-related

activities decreases, freeing up resources required to meet other goals the individual may

currently hold. Once a goal is reached, the accessibility of goal-related concepts is no longer

required and could impede progress on other goals that now have greater importance, so these

concepts are deactivated and become less accessible. This effect is described as goal satiation

(Forster, Liberman, & Higgins, 2005). Just as witnessing another individual pursuing a goal

activates goal-related concepts and increases motivation for similar goals (goal contagion),

witnessing another individual reach their goal deactivates goal-related concepts and decreases

motivation. This is vicarious goal satiation (McCulloch et al., 2011). This effect was shown

when participants performing an anagram task showed less motivation if they had previously

viewed the same anagram task being completed by another person. A follow up study

replicated the findings using a vignette about a man looking for his boss.

6

Pinterest is full of opportunities for vicarious goal satiation to occur. The aspirational

nature of the site has resulted in literally millions of images depicting people who have

reached their goals. Whether this includes building the dream home, hosting the perfect

wedding, cooking an amazing meal, or creating a unique piece of art, the website is a constant

stream of other people’s completed projects. For those who utilise the site to seek inspiration

and organise ideas required to reach their goals, the effects of vicarious goal satiation could be

detrimental. Is spending time on a website designed to be ‘a place to discover ideas for all

your projects and interests’ preventing people from ever completing those projects? The effect

of vicarious goal satiation has only been tested with participants following a target throughout

the goal pursuit process, either visually or by reading a vignette (McCulloch et al., 2011).

This methodology focuses on an individual paying attention to one person pursuing one goal.

Social media, and in particular Pinterest, presents individuals with a seemingly infinite

amount of people pursuing multiple goals. Given this increased exposure to potential de-

motivating factors, it is critical to explore the role vicarious goal satiation could play on social

media.

Another aspect of both goal contagion and vicarious goal satiation is that they occur

automatically and beneath conscious awareness (Aarts et al., 2004; McCulloch et al., 2011).

Individuals are not aware that they are adopting the goals of those they are observing.

Similarly, after witnessing a person reach a goal, people are not aware that this has decreased

their motivation to pursue similar activities. As Pinterest markets itself as a website to get

inspiration, and the literature supports this is how users are engaging with it (Bernadini et al,

2014; Engauge, 2012; Gilbert et al., 2013; Hall & Zarro, 2013; Mull & Lee, 2014; Linder et

al., 2014) it is important to investigate if having a conscious goal will have an impact on

vicarious goal satiation. As yet, there is no research into what role vicarious goal satiation, if

any, can have on existing goals people may already have. However, previous research into

7 subconscious goal priming and goal contagion may give some ideas as to how holding

conscious goals could affect vicarious goal satiation.

Research into how subconscious goal priming affects goal pursuit behaviour found that,

while people may experience goal pursuit differently when it is conscious compared to

subconscious, there are no differences in behaviour (Bargh et al., 2001). Further research into

whether conscious goals conflict with subconscious priming found that when goals conflict,

the non-conscious goal takes precedence due to a hierarchical application of mental resources.

That is, non-conscious priming uses cognitive resources to attend to relevant input before the

conscious goal, and as such it is more likely to drive behaviour (Légal, J.-B., Meyer, T., &

Delouvée, S., 2007). By contrast, holding a similar goal facilitates goal contagion as the goal

is already activated. In the case of vicarious goal satiation, holding a conscious goal could

either protect against or facilitate goal satiation. A conscious goal may prevent vicarious goal

satiation through stronger activation of goal concepts that are not easily suppressed

vicariously. Alternatively, a conscious goal may facilitate goal satiation by allowing an

already activated goal to be targeted. It is one of the aims of this study to explore what effect

holding a conscious goal may have on vicarious goal satiation.

Effects of Pinning

Another way users engage with Pinterest is by creating personal ‘boards’ that allow

users to pin images based on a theme. Pinning to a board is like pasting magazine clippings

into a scrapbook or bookmarking links in a web-browser for future reference. When a new

board is created, Pinterest supplies the examples ‘Places to go’ and ‘Recipes to make’,

reinforcing the goal-oriented nature of the site and encouraging goal-setting behaviour. A

potential outcome of pinning images is the perception that users are making progress towards

reaching their goal. By pinning images, Pinterest users are taking time to organise their ideas

regarding their goal. They may be planning colour choices, menu options, or travel

itineraries−all of which involve thinking about how they would like to proceed towards these

8 goals. This suggests they are taking steps towards the larger goal of attaining the desired

outcome. If this is the case, this perceived progress may be negatively impacting Pinterest

users’ motivation to reach these goals. The impact of goal progress on subsequent motivation

to engage in goal-relevant behaviour showed that motivation shifts depending upon the

perception of how much progress towards the goal outcome has been made (Fishbach & Dhar,

2005; Koo & Fishbach, 2012). The more progress perceived towards the outcome, the less

motivated people are to pursue that goal.

Another reason pinning images may negatively impact motivation is increased

attendance to goal outcomes. By taking time to pin images, Pinterest users are likely thinking

about the desired goal outcome. They may imagine their dream home, what that meal will

taste like, and how great the ideal holiday would be. Attending to the goal outcome decreases

motivation as it focuses on the reward of achieving the goal rather than the experience of

pursuing that goal itself (Fishbach & Choi, 2012; Zhang, Fishbach, & Dhar, 2007). This

research suggests that attending to the desired outcome of a goal, rather than the process

needed to reach it, acts as a reward in itself; and when the individual is no longer thinking

about the goal outcome, the reward is removed. Once this reward is gone, the justification to

pursue that goal also disappears. Increased attendance to goal outcomes has been found to

impact motivation in several ways. After spending time attending to goal outcomes,

compared to how to reach that goal, individual’s persistence at goal-related behaviour

declines, ultimately resulting in less behaviour. It also reduces individuals’ intentions and

self-reported motivation to pursue the goal (Fishbach & Choi, 2012). This suggests that

thinking about the desired outcome of a goal reduces motivation to pursue that goal, so people

are less likely to ever reach it. When Pinterest users pin images, it is likely their focus is on

the desired outcome of their goal rather than what they need to do to reach it. In this way,

pinning may decrease Pinterest users’ motivation to reach their goals.

9 Current Research

While Pinterest appears to be the perfect medium to gather inspiration for goals and

organise ideas on how to pursue them, there may be a downside to the continuous feed of

finished projects users are exposed to. What’s more, the act of pinning images may be having

a negative impact on users’ motivation. Could Pinterest be preventing people from reaching

their goals? The previous literature into goal motivation appears to suggest this is the case. It

is the aim of this study to explore how Pinterest may be decreasing goal motivation through

the mechanism of vicarious goal satiation and the act of pinning images.

Participants in this study browsed a Pinterest feed of creative projects before having

their motivation to complete a creative word task (the Remote Associates Test) measured.

They saw a feed that included images of either complete or incomplete creative projects; they

were asked to look for a creative project they would like to do themselves or given no

conscious goal-seeking instructions; and they were asked to pin images they liked onto a

provided Pinterest board or to not pin any images at all. Creative projects were chosen, as this

is one of the most popular categories on Pinterest (Engauge, 2014; Gilbert et al., 2013; Hall &

Zarro, 2013; Han, Choi, Kwon, & Kim, 2014). Additionally, measuring motivation for

creative goals within a lab environment is easier than measuring other forms of goal

motivation that may be present on Pinterest (e.g., motivation to travel, cook a meal, exercise

etc.).

Hypothesis one: Vicarious goal satiation. My first hypothesis is that vicarious goal

satiation will occur in participants who view complete creative projects, and this will reduce

their motivation to pursue similar goal-related activities. Observing the completed goal is

crucial to developing a decrease in motivation for similar goal-relevant behaviour (McCulloch

et al., 2011). If the goal appears incomplete, no vicarious goal satiation should occur. While

vicarious goal satiation has been found when participants witnessed a target pursuing a goal,

similar vicarious satiation effects have been found when observing static images. Larson,

10 Redden, and Elder (2013) were able to reduce desire for salty peanuts by exposing

participants to repeated images of salty foods. This suggests that static images (which are the

primary medium of Pinterest), rather than a full scenario, is sufficient to elicit satiation

effects. H1 – Individuals who viewed the Pinterest feed of complete creative projects will

perform worse on a creative task (show less motivation) than those who viewed the feed of

incomplete projects.

Hypothesis two: Holding a conscious goal. My second hypothesis addressed whether

holding a similar conscious goal affects vicarious goal satiation. Having a conscious goal

when being subconsciously primed with the same goal has been shown to have no impact on

goal pursuit (Bargh & Gollwitzer, 2001). Research into goal contagion, however, showed

that holding similar conscious goals facilitates goal contagion (Leander & Shah, 2013). It is

not known what effect having a conscious goal has on vicarious goal satiation. This is

important to explore in this study as it is likely many Pinterest users hold conscious goals

when browsing the site. Given the conflicting findings that conscious goals can both facilitate

or have no impact on subconscious goal motivation this is an exploratory hypothesis. H2 – If

holding a conscious goal facilitates vicarious goal satiation, those who are seeking a creative

project (holding a similar conscious goal) will be less motivated on a creative word task after

exposure to vicarious goal satiation (viewing complete projects) compared to those who do

not have a similar conscious goal of seeking a project. However, if holding a similar

conscious goal protects against vicarious goal satiation, those seeking a project will not

experience de-motivation on a creative word task after viewing complete projects compared

to those who do not have a similar conscious goal.

Hypothesis three: Effect of pinning. Finally, this study looked at the impact of

pinning on goal motivation. As there is currently no available research into the cognitive

processes of Pinterest users, it is unclear what cognitions drive pinning behaviour. The act of

pinning may represent different ways of interacting with a goal. It may be that the pinning is

11 perceived as progress towards that goal (if pinning is thought of as a planning stage), or it

could possibly allow for increased attendance to the desired goal outcome (by thinking about

the desired outcome instead of how to reach it). Given the restrictions of this specific study, I

focused only on the pinning behaviour rather than the cognitive mechanisms behind it.

However, I made the prediction that pinning would decrease motivation based on the

conclusion that Pinterest users may be engaging in either perceptions of goal progress or

increased goal attendance, both of which have been shown to decrease motivation by previous

researchers as discussed earlier (Fishbach & Choi, 2012; Fishbach & Dhar, 2005; Koo &

Fishbach, 2012; Zhang et al, 2007). H3 – Participants who pin images will show less

motivation, and as such perform worse, on a creative word task than those who do not pin

images.

Method

Participants

Participants were 183 first-year psychology students from the University of Queensland

who participated for course credit (147 were female, 35 were male, one did not report

gender). The mean age was 19.50 (SD = 7.08). Nationalities were 121 Caucasian, 48 Asian,

13 other, and one participant did not report nationality. Twenty participants were excluded

from the final analyses: 11 because they did not correctly identify the RAT was measuring

creativity; one because they had limited English language skills, which affected performance

on the RAT; three participants viewed other websites during the experiment; one participant

did not read the instructions and asked the experimenter to assist; two were observed using

their mobile phones while performing the RAT indicating they were distracted during the

task; and two participants had technical failures and were unable to complete the experiment.

All future analyses exclude these participants. The final sample contained 163 participants

(132 female, 31 male). The mean age was 18.86 (SD = 2.98). Nationalities were 110

Caucasian, 42 Asian, and 11 other.

12 Measures

Pinterest images. Participants were presented with 130 images of creative projects that

were sourced from the ‘DIY and Crafts’ category of the image sharing website Pinterest.

They included a range of simple and complex creative projects that involved re-purposing

existing objects, sewing, painting, and knitting. The images were arranged on a Pinterest

board labelled ‘DIY’ (do-it-yourself) and displayed as they would appear if searching the

website, including number of re-pins each image had and descriptions given by the original

uploader of that image (see Appendix A for screenshots of each Pinterest feed). All images

were collected from Pinterest and were re-pinned onto the research board in order to replicate

the experience of searching Pinterest. Two DIY Pinterest boards were used: one that

contained 130 images of complete creative projects and one that contained 130 images of

incomplete creative projects.

A pilot study was conducted to ensure the images selected were clearly recognisable as

complete or incomplete. An initial sample of 510 creative projects were sourced from

Pinterest (250 complete and 260 incomplete). Using a Qualtrics survey, participants (N = 38,

7 males, 28 females, Mage = 33.14 SDage = 16.05) were presented a random selection of 250

images from this sample and were asked to categorise them as complete, incomplete, or

unsure. Images that had more than 5% incorrect responses (‘incomplete’ for complete images

and ‘complete’ for incomplete images) and less than 75% correct responses were removed

from the study stimulus set. This procedure left 130 images in the incomplete stimulus set

and 134 in the complete set. In order to keep the conditions balanced at 130 images each,

four images were removed from the complete set at random.

Remote Associates Test. Participants completed 30 items from the Remote Associates

Test (RAT) (Mednick, 1962; Shames, 1994) (see Appendix C). The RAT is an associative

task that presents three apparently unrelated words (e.g., rat, blue, cottage) and requires the

participant to come up with a fourth word that ties them together (for the previous example,

13 the fourth word is ‘cheese’). The RAT has been found to predict scores in creativity, as

associating unrelated concepts to form new concepts is seen as a key element of this ability

(Houston & Mednick, 1963; Mednick, 1962; Mednick, 1963). As the RAT was used as a

measure motivation to complete creative goals, the task was specifically framed within the

experiment as a test of creativity. Items of varying difficulty were selected from Shames’

(1994) revised RAT. Items were selected that were relevant to an Australian sample. The

difficulty of items varied randomly throughout the set in order to allow analysis of later items

in the RAT without the additional confound of item difficulty. Each participant received the

same difficulty-order of RAT items. As the dependent variable in this study was not

creativity but motivation to complete creative goals, the performance on the RAT was

measured several ways: time taken to complete the RAT (in minutes), number of items

attempted overall, and number of correct items. Each of these has been successfully used to

measure goal motivation. (Aarts et al., 2005; Aarts & Gollwitzer, 2004; Forster, Liberman, &

Higgins, 2005; Johnson & Stapel, 2007; Leander & Shah, 2013; Loersch et al., 2008;

McCulloch et al., 2011).

Design and Procedure

A 2 (project completion: complete, incomplete) x 2 (pinning behaviour: pin, no pin) x 2

(goal-seeking: seek, no seek) independent groups study was conducted. Participants

completed the study on a computer using MediaLab with each stimulus and questionnaire

presented automatically. Participants could move through each section at their own pace by

clicking the ‘continue’ button. Before beginning the experiment they were given a brief

orientation to Pinterest to ensure all participants had a basic understanding of how to use the

site. These instructions were identical for participants with the exception of participants in the

no pinning conditions who did not receive instructions on how to pin images, to avoid them

being confused by conflicting instructions. All example images in the instructions were of

animals in order to be unrelated to the creative goals used in the experiment. (See Appendix

14 B for full Pinterest instructions). Participants received instructions based on their randomly

assigned condition (see Table 1 for number of participants in each condition) before being

redirected to a Pinterest feed.

Those in the Pin conditions were told to ‘Pin images you like to the board provided’

while those in the no Pin conditions were told ‘DO NOT Pin any images during this time’.

For those in the goal-seeking conditions they received the instruction: ‘Look for a creative

project you would like to try out’. Participants in the no goal-seeking conditions did not

receive any directions to look for a project. Half of the participants were then directed to a

Pinterest board containing only complete creative projects, while the other half were directed

to a Pinterest board containing only incomplete creative projects. All participants were given

two minutes to browse the board, enlarge any image they liked, and Pin images to the

provided DIY board if they had been instructed to do so. After this time, the computer

advised participants they would be completing a word task (the RAT). They received the

following statement: ‘We would now like to assess your creativity with a word task. This

task is frequently used to measure creativity within psychological research. Try to answer the

questions as accurately and quickly as possible.’ Thirty items from the RAT were then

presented to them. Participants could skip any items they did not know the answer to by

placing a hyphen (-) in the answer field, and they were not time restricted. Participants also

received an example item and instructions as to how they should complete the task: ‘You will

be shown 30 three-word sets. Your task is to find a fourth word that is related to all three.

For example: Room, Mirror, Foot. Answer: Ball (Ballroom, Mirrorball, Football).’

Finally participants answered demographic (gender, age, and nationality) items and

items exploring previous Pinterest use including if they had used Pinterest before and how

often they used it. Participants also answered several questions to check their understanding

of the manipulations and what they believed the study to be about. The manipulation checks

included items about whether the images they saw included projects that were complete,

15 incomplete, or a mixture of both; whether they pinned any images and, if so, how many;

whether they were looking for a creative project or not; and what they believed the RAT

measured. They were then debriefed and thanked for their time.

Table 1

Number of participants in each condition

Instructions Pin No Pin Pinterest Feed Seek No Seek Seek No Seek Complete 17 19 23 21 Incomplete 19 23 21 20

Ethics

This study received ethical approval by the University of Queensland School of

Psychology Ethics Review officers (ethical clearance number: 14-PSYCH-4-40-TS). Before

beginning, all participants were given an information sheet to read (See Appendix D). This

included details of the study background and procedure as well as details of the ethical

clearance. Participants were notified that all their responses would be anonymous and that

they could withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. All participants were

thoroughly debriefed verbally after they had completed the experiment and provided a debrief

sheet which explained the predictions of the study (See Appendix E).

Contributions

The project was designed by me with guidance from my supervisor. I designed the pilot

study in order to create the stimulus materials. I set up and ran the pilot study in Qualtrics,

then analysed and interpreted the results. I selected the stimulus materials based on the pilot

study. I selected items of varying difficulty from the Remote Associates Test for the

dependent measure. I created the experiment materials in MediaLab and tested all

participants. My supervisor and I merged and cleaned up the data sets (removing errors and

outliers) before I ran the statistical analyses.

16

Results

Dependent Measures

Motivation on the RAT was measured three ways: amount of time taken to complete the

RAT (in minutes), number of items attempted, and total correct items. Correct answers were

matched to Shames’ (1994) revised RAT. In one item a synonym (road) to the correct answer

(street) was also marked as correct. It was expected that all three measures would be

positively correlated as the longer a participant takes to complete the task, it is logically

expected they attempted more items. Similarly, the more items they attempt, the chance of

getting answers correct increases. A bivariate correlation was conducted on the RAT

performance measures and found a significant positive correlation between the length of time

taken to complete the RAT and the number of items participants got correct. No other

correlations were found. That the three measures were not correlated does not limit

interpretation, however, as each measure has been used successfully by previous researchers

as discussed in the method. Correlation coefficients for the performance measures are

displayed in Table 2.

Table 2

Correlation coefficients of Participants’ Performance Measures on the Remote

Associates Test

Measure 1 2 3

1. Time - -.013 .207*

2. Attempts - .088

3. Correct -

Note: Time = time taken to complete the RAT is measured in minutes; Attempts = number of items of the RAT attempted; Correct = number of items of the RAT scored correct. * p < .05

17 Transformation of data

Time taken to complete the RAT was positively skewed due to two participants who

took an exceptionally long time to complete the task. These outliers were normalised by

reducing their score to the extreme end of the normal distribution (three standard deviations

from the mean) (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). Analyses were run on both transformed and

untransformed data. As this did not have any impact on whether results were non-significant

or significant, analyses using the untransformed data are reported below. Number of RAT

items attempted and number of RAT items correct were both normally distributed so no

transformation was required.

Manipulation Checks

In order to check that the experimental manipulations were successful, a series of

Pearson’s chi-square tests were conducted on each manipulation check item: complete versus

incomplete items, pinning versus not pinning, and seeking a creative project versus not

seeking a creative project. The results are detailed below:

Complete versus incomplete projects. A chi-square test revealed there was a

significant association between participants who viewed a Pinterest feed of complete creative

projects and their perception of project completion, χ2 (2) = 56.65, p < .001. Of the

participants who viewed complete projects 60% reported they were complete, 3% reported

they were incomplete, and 37% reported they were a mixture of both. However, of the

participants who viewed incomplete projects only 27% reported they were incomplete. The

majority of participants (66 %) in the incomplete condition reported seeing a mixture of

complete and incomplete projects, while 7% reported seeing complete projects. This suggests

that the manipulation of complete versus incomplete projects may not have been strong

enough. This has implications for the vicarious goal satiation hypothesis, which are

addressed further in the discussion.

18

Pinning versus not pinning projects. A chi-square test revealed there was a

significant association between participants who were instructed to pin images and their

reporting they had pinned images, χ2 (1) = 136.61, p < .001. Of the participants who were

instructed to pin images they liked, 92% reported pinning behaviour. There was a similarly

strong effect in the no pinning conditions, with 99% of participants who were instructed to not

pin images reporting they did not pin any images. These results suggest the pinning

manipulation was successful.

Seeking versus not seeking a project. A chi-square test revealed there was a

significant association between participants who were instructed to look for a creative project

they would like to try and their reporting of seeking a project, χ2 (1) = 10.80, p = .001. Of the

participants who were given instructions to look for a creative project 83% reported seeking a

project. However, for those participants who were not given explicit goal-seeking

instructions, the majority (59%) reported they had been looking for a project to try while

viewing the Pinterest feed. These results have implications for the conscious goal-seeking

hypothesis as the majority of participants had an active goal while viewing the images and

implications of this will be addressed in more detail in the discussion.

Main Hypotheses

To test the main hypotheses of this study, a series of 2 (project completion: complete,

incomplete) x 2 (pinning behaviour: pin, no pin) x 2 (goal-seeking: seek, no seek)

independent groups ANOVAs were conducted on each of the RAT performance dependent

measures: total RAT time (in minutes), total RAT items attempted, and total RAT items

correct. Recall that the study predicted three main hypotheses. Firstly, that there would be a

vicarious goal satiation effect such that participants who saw the feed of complete projects

would have less motivation on the RAT than those who saw the feed of incomplete projects

(H1). Secondly, I explored if holding a conscious goal would facilitate vicarious goal

satiation or protect against it (H2). Finally, I expected those who pinned items to show less

19 motivation than those who did not pin images (H3). After I analysed the results, I found that

none of these hypotheses were supported. The results of these ANOVA’s, including means

and standard deviations are displayed in Table 3.

Table 3

Means, Standard Deviations, and p Values for Main Hypotheses Independent Groups

ANOVAs on RAT Performance Scores (Time taken, Attempts, & Correct items)

RAT Performance Measures

Time Attempts Correct

Condition Levels

p M (SD) p M (SD) p M (SD)

Completion Complete Incomplete

.590

9.20 (7.29) 9.63 (7.13)

.876

18.66 (8.96) 18.81 (8.76)

.615

7.24 (5.58) 6.93 (5.45)

Pinning Pin No pin

.444

9.11 (7.38) 9.76 (7.04)

.814

18.85 (9.07) 18.62 (8.65)

.936

7.11 (5.64) 7.06 (5.39)

Seeking Seek No seek

.583

9.20 (7.29) 9.64 (7.13)

.399

19.15 (8.96) 18.32 (8.76)

.672

6.95 (5.45) 7.21 (5.58)

Completion x Pinning .606 .695 .717

Completion x Seeking .620 .380 .555

Pinning x Seeking .160 .144 .902

Completion x Pinning x Seeking

.753 .666 .356

Total 9.42 (0.02) 18.76 (6.19) 7.09 (3.82)

Note: Time = time taken to complete the RAT is measured in minutes; Attempts = number of items of the RAT attempted; Correct = number of items of the RAT scored correct.

No significant main effects emerged for each of the independent variables. H1 was not

supported as there were no differences between the participants who saw the complete versus

incomplete projects (no vicarious goal satiation effect). H3 was not supported as there were

20 no differences between those that pinned or did not pin images (no effect of pinning). There

were also no significant two-way interactions or a significant three-way interaction. As such,

H2 was also not supported as there was no 2-way interaction between seeking and

completion. Therefore, holding a conscious goal did not facilitate nor protect against

vicarious goal satiation. This result is not surprising, as no differences between participants

who saw complete versus incomplete projects arose (no vicarious goal satiation effect).

Further investigation into why these hypotheses were not supported is included in the

discussion.

Post Hoc Analyses

As the initial hypotheses were not supported, further post hoc investigation was

conducted to see if the effects were detectable after a delay. Previous research into

subconscious goal priming (Bargh et al., 2001) and goal contagion (Aarts & Gollwitzer, 2004)

has suggested that the effects of primed goal activation are sustained after a filler task, while

semantic priming effects are not. This is due to goal pursuit being persistent over time

compared to semantic priming, which fades quickly (Atkinson & Birch, 1970; Bargh et al.,

2001; Higgins et al., 1996; Tolman, 1949; Wyer & Srull, 1986). It is possible that all

participants were primed semantically with creativity after looking at creative projects

(whether complete or incomplete); as such it is helpful to explore motivational differences

after a delay when semantic priming is likely to have dissipated. This delay was created by

analysing the performance measures (time taken to complete the RAT, items attempted, and

items correct) on only the last 15 RAT items.

A series of 2 (project completion: complete, incomplete) x 2 (pinning behaviour: pin, no

pin) x 2 (goal-seeking: seek, no seek) independent groups ANOVAs were run on the three

performance measures using only the last 15 items of the RAT. As with the analyses of the

entire 30 items of the RAT, there were no significant main effects of condition. Again, I

found no support for H1 as there was no difference between the complete or incomplete

21 conditions (no vicarious goal satiation effect). There was no support for H3 as there was no

difference between those who pinned or did not pin images (no effect of pinning). There was

also no support for H2 as no interaction between goal-seeking and image completion was

found. As with the initial a priori analyses, this is not surprising given no vicarious goal

satiation effect was found.

However, a marginally significant pinning by seeking interaction on number of RAT

items attempted emerged, F (1,155) = 3.16, p = .078, η2 = 0.02, (see Figure 1). This

interaction was followed up with a simple effects analysis. A marginal simple effect of

seeking was found among participants who were in the no pinning condition, F (1,155) =

2.74, p = .100, η2 = 0.02, such that those who did not pin items and received instructions to

seek a creative project attempted more of the later RAT items (M = 9.86, SD = 6.63) than

those who received no instructions (M = 8.62, SD = 6.86). This effect was not found among

participants in the pinning condition, F (1,155) = 0.77, p = .382, η2 < 0.00, (Mseek = 8.98,

SDseek = 7.33; Mnoseek = 9.66, SDnoseek = 6.81). This finding was not expected and further

interpretation can be found in the discussion.

For full details of the results, ANOVA tables for the a priori tests of hypotheses and the

post hoc analyses of the last 15 RAT items are included in Appendix F.

22

Figure 1. Number of RAT items attempted as a function of holding a

conscious goal (instructed to seek a creative project versus not given

any explicit instructions) and pinning images (instructed to pin images

versus instructed to not pin any images).

Discussion

Social media website Pinterest has grown in popularity since its launch in 2011.

Among the millions of images that are shared on the site, a common use has emerged in terms

of goal-setting. Pinterest itself markets the website as ‘a place to discover ideas for all your

projects and interests’ adding weight to the view of the site as aspirational. The purpose of

this study was to explore if the people who are using Pinterest to gain motivation are actually

de-motivating themselves. The study’s specific predictions were that, by looking at

completed creative projects on a Pinterest feed, participants would encounter vicarious goal

satiation and become less motivated to perform a creative task. Secondly, this study explored

whether having a conscious goal impacted vicarious goal satiation. Finally, this study

predicted that the act of pinning images on Pinterest would have a de-motivational effect,

such that those who pinned creative projects would show less effort on a creative task.

Results revealed these predictions were not supported. I found no differences in participants

who had seen the complete versus incomplete projects (no vicarious goal satiation effect) or

7.6 7.8

8 8.2 8.4 8.6 8.8

9 9.2 9.4 9.6 9.8 10

Pin No Pin

Seek No Seek

0

Atte

mpt

s

Pinning Instructions

23 were instructed to pin images or to not pin images (no effect of pinning). Because no

vicarious goal satiation occured, the hypothesis that holding a conscious goal would either

facilitate or protect against goal satiation could not be tested. There are several possible

reasons why the study’s main hypotheses were not supported which are discussed below.

Post hoc analysis of the second half of the RAT also did not find support for these hypotheses.

These analyses did reveal an unexpected interaction, and interpretation of this is included

below.

Pinterest Images

The first limitation arose during the manipulation check for complete versus incomplete

projects, which showed that this manipulation may not have been strong enough. The

majority of participants who saw incomplete projects were incorrect at identifying these

projects as incomplete. Similarly, even though the majority of those who saw complete

projects correctly identified these as complete, there were still 40% of participants who did

not perceive these projects as complete. Given vicarious goal satiation occurs when

individuals witness other people completing a goal, the manipulation check revealing that

participants had difficulty interpreting project completion makes it near impossible to detect

any vicarious goal satiation occurring. While a pilot study was conducted to select the

stimulus materials, future research should aim to have distinctly complete versus incomplete

images.

Another possible reason for the lack of vicarious goal satiation was the nature of the

stimulus used. Previous research into both vicarious goal satiation and goal contagion has

used vignettes or video footage where participants follow a target pursuing a goal through to

completion. In this study, participants saw static images that depicted only one point in time

during the goal pursuit process: either the outcome of the completed goal (in the complete

condition), or during goal pursuit (in the incomplete condition). For vicarious goal satiation

to have occurred, participants would require several additional mechanisms in order to infer

24 goal progress taking place. Firstly, those in the complete condition needed to interpret the

images as an outcome to a goal. This requires an understanding of the goal pursuer’s

behaviours and motivations that led up to the image of the completed projects they saw.

Participants must also have understood there is a person responsible for the completed project

and take on their perspective as goal pursuer. It is not known if people automatically fill in

this prior information when looking at an image of a completed project. The prediction that a

static image would elicit vicarious goal satiation was expanded from research that showed

static images could induce physical satiation for certain types of food (e.g., salty). However,

this involved specific neural mechanisms in the sensory areas of the brain (Larson, Redden, &

Elder, 2013). Goal motivation is a more complex cognitive mechanism so may require

greater processing in order to elicit activation.

While this study did not find that viewing static images of completed goals reduced

motivation, there is still evidence to suggest it may be possible. Previous research shows that

individuals are capable of automatic goal inferences in social interactions (Hassin, Aarts &

Ferguson, 2005; Magliano, Skowronski, Brill, Guss & Forsythe, 2007; Overwalle, Van

Duynslaeger, Coomans, & Timmermans, 2012; Uleman & Moskowitz, 1994). It has been

suggested that people create cognitive narratives when observing other people, which allows

them to determine what goal they are likely pursuing (Magliano et al., 2007). These

narratives are created by taking the cues surrounding the goal pursuer into consideration,

specifically the context in which the behaviour is taking place (e.g., waving a hand to greet a

friend versus hailing a taxi). This suggests that individuals do not rely solely on behaviour to

gain insight into what goals others are pursuing, but also look to external cues. Pinterest

creates this context and gives additional cues for people, which could facilitate automatic goal

inferences when viewing static images.

When Pinterest users are looking at the ‘DIY and Craft’ category, they can interpret the

context that the images being looked at were made by people as creative projects rather than

25 products to be purchased. The question then arises: can Pinterest users infer that the person

who made the object had a goal of creativity? This logic has yet to be tested, as the research

into automatic goal inferences has been carried out using person-present scenarios where

individuals have the opportunity to observe the targets’ behaviour throughout their goal

pursuit. This exploration would be relevant to the body of literature surrounding automatic

goal inferences, goal contagion, and vicarious goal satiation. As without automatic goal

inferences neither goal contagion nor vicarious goal satiation can occur. It is not known at

this stage how much of the goal pursuit process needs to be observed in order for observers to

infer goal pursuit, and as such have goal-related concepts activated (or deactivated, in the case

of vicarious goal satiation). Future research should focus on identifying the amount of

observation required for it to take place.

Identification and Familiarity with Pinterest

Another possible reason my hypotheses were not supported could be that participants

did not have sufficient identification and familiarity with the website. A majority of the

sample were non-Pinterest users, and of the 35% who had used the site before, only 21% were

regular users (using once or twice a month or more). Previous research into goal contagion

has shown that the effect is more likely when the person being observed is the same in-group

as the observer (Loersch et al., 2008). This is not restricted to close peer groups or family

circles. Loersch et al. (2008) found goal contagion was stronger when participants thought

the people they were observing were from the same university as them. A similarly strong

effect emerged when participants viewed a target of the same gender, suggesting the effect of

group membership can be very broad. Given the mechanisms of goal contagion are similar to

that of vicarious goal satiation, it is likely that the similar in-group identification would play a

role here as well. People who identify as Pinterest-users may be more susceptible to vicarious

goal satiation on Pinterest compared to people who had never even seen the website. As the

26 majority of the sample had never used Pinterest before, it is reasonable to conclude they did

not identify strongly enough to elicit vicarious goal satiation.

In addition to lack of identification, non-Pinterest users do not have the same familiarity

with the website, making them potentially less susceptible to the effects of pinning. I suspect

the act of pinning would be understood more complexly by Pinterest-users compared to non-

Pinterest users. This is because Pinterest-users, who have had experience pinning images to

their personal boards, are more likely to perceive pinning in terms of goal progress or

increased attendance to desired goal outcomes. Users have already spent time creating

boards, some of which are likely goal-related. They will have memories that can be activated

that link pinning to making progress on a goal or thinking about the goal outcome. Compare

this to non-Pinterest users, who may view the act of pinning as simply moving an image from

one place (the website’s feed) to another (a ‘DIY’ board). They do not have the past

experiences of using Pinterest to organise ideas or goals. This is especially relevant to this

study as they were pinning to a research board created for the experiment that they will never

see again. This would make non-users less susceptible to any de-motivational effects that

might be taking place. The number of active Pinterest users in my sample did not allow

adequate power to analyse them separately or as an additional moderator so I was not able to

test these assumptions. Further investigation into this study’s hypotheses using a larger

sample of Pinterest users should be explored.

Measuring Creative Motivation

Another limitation of this study is the incongruity between the measure of creativity (the

RAT) and the creative projects seen in the Pinterest feed, so any changes in goal motivation

that occurred as a function of the manipulations used may not have been measured accurately.

Previous research into goal satiation has used identical tasks or tasks that are very similar to

measure motivation after observing a target pursue a goal (Atkinson & Birch, 1970; Bargh et

al., 2001; Higgins et al., 1996; Tolman, 1949; Wyer & Srull, 1986). While the RAT has been

27 used as a creative measure throughout the literature, and it was framed as a creative task

within this study, it may have been too dissimilar for the purposes of this study. The goal

pursuit participants observed was artistic forms of creativity, expressed through visual means,

whereas the RAT measured creativity via a word-based association task. This incompatibility

should be rectified in future research on possible de-motivational effects of Pinterest. A

solution to this would be to have participants work on a visually creative task, similar to the

images they viewed.

Second Half of the RAT

While the initial predictions of this study were not supported, post hoc analysis of the

second half of the RAT did reveal an unexpected finding. Participants who had a conscious

goal and did not pin any images had greater motivation for creative goals (attempting more

RAT questions) compared to those who did not have a conscious goal. While this marginally

significant effect must be interpreted cautiously, it is important to explain what mechanisms

may be driving it. Note that it is participants who were given the conscious creative goal of

seeking a project who showed more motivation in working on the RAT. These participants

could have had goal-relevant concepts activated before observing the Pinterest images, and

this likely carried over to the RAT. Those who did not have a conscious creative goal might

not have had goal-relevant concepts activated. So why was this only present in participants

who did not pin images? This gives some support for the act of pinning decreasing

motivation. By pinning images, participants satiated their conscious creative goal as indicated

by the fact that they attempted less items than the participants who did not pin any images.

The participants who did not pin still had the conscious creative goal active while completing

the RAT and were more motivated. The effect of pinning on goal motivation when

individuals hold a conscious goal should be investigated further, especially given that the

seeking manipulation in this study was not shown to be entirely effective. The majority of

participants who were not given explicit instructions to look for a creative project still

28 reported seeking a project while viewing the images. This failed manipulation may be

responsible for only getting a marginally significant effect. The conscious goal-seeking

manipulation in this study was created by giving explicit instructions while those in the no

seeking condition were given no instructions. This introduces the chance that participants

will automatically form a goal of their own, even when they had no instructions to do so.

Future research may introduce a competing task while browsing Pinterest, for example

instructing participants to focus on the colour and form of the creative projects. This will aid

in distracting participants to stop them from forming their own conscious goal.

Delay versus Distractor Task

It was relevant to investigate the performance on the second half of the RAT because

previous research into subconscious goal priming and goal contagion has showed that goal

motivation effects are sustained after a delay, while any initial semantic priming fade quickly.

A delay enables exploration into whether all participants were semantically primed with

creativity after looking at creative projects (either complete or incomplete) (Aarts &

Gollwitzer, 2004; Bargh et al, 2001; Toure-Tillery & Fishbach, 2011; Wyer & Srull, 1986).

In this study I analysed the second half of the RAT in order to artificially create a delay that

may allow any true goal satiation effects to be detected, however this method is not ideal. In

previous research delays are created by giving participants a distractor task that is not related

to the goal prime or the motivation task (in this case, creativity). By not including a distractor

delay task and instead analysing the second half of the RAT, there is the possibility that

creativity was still semantically primed, as participants were working on a creative task for

the first 15 items of the RAT. Future research should incorporate an unrelated distractor task

to create a delay that would facilitate detecting any potential goal satiation effects.

Multiple Measures

As previously discussed, the RAT may not have been a compatible dependent variable

in order to measure creative goal motivation after looking at creative projects. However, the

29 performance measures used to detect motivation (time taken to complete the task, number of

items attempted and correct responses) were key strengths to this study. One of the

challenges in motivation research is that often increased effort can lead to impaired

performance. Participants may look like they aren’t displaying effort when in fact, they are

(Jamieson & Harkins, 2012; Jarosz, Colflesh & Wiley, 2012; Mendl, 1999; Teigen, 1994).

Specifically with the RAT, one study has shown greater performance by participants who are

intoxicated (Jarosz et al., 2012). This finding was based on the assumption that creative

problem solving often involves taking peripheral cues (or distractions) into consideration. It

is these distractions that result in more creative thinking. The researchers argued that

increased attention to the creative task would actually decrease performance on the task and

as such, participants who have mild attentional impairment through alcohol intoxication

would perform better on creative tasks. This argument is relevant to motivation research that

uses creative tasks to measure effort, as the increased effort driven by motivational forces may

impair performance. For this reason it is useful to measure effort on a task multiple ways and

not simply through performance.

In this study, time taken to complete the RAT and performance (measured by correct

responses) was positively related. While my participants did not fall prey to the common

problem of increased effort leading to decreased performance, I could not have known that

before running the experiment. The use of multiple measures to detect motivation in this

study protected against this potential problem. If increased effort had decreased performance,

the study still had two other measures of effort: time taken on the RAT and number of items

attempted. I recommend future motivation researchers utilise multiple measures of effort to

ensure detection of any effects.

Future Research

Future research should first address the limitations of this study identified above, but

beyond this there is a need to develop the literature in two areas. As previously mentioned, it

30 is important to determine the extent to which goals can be inferred from limited exposure to

goal pursuit (e.g., viewing a static image) and how this impacts vicarious goal activation (goal

contagion) and satiation. With the increase of social media and online interaction, there are

growing opportunities for individuals to receive limited situational cues about goals, and it is

not known if goal pursuit can be inferred from such limited information. For example, does

reading a friend’s social media status update, that only reveals limited information about their

goals, impact people’s own goals and motivations? As yet, there has been no research into

whether observing only part of the goal pursuit process leads to goal inferences made by an

observer. If these inferences can be made from only observing a small amount of goal

pursuit, it is important to know if they can lead to goal contagion and vicarious goal satiation.

Another important direction for future research should be the cognitive mechanisms

involved in Pinterest use. This study focused on behaviours of Pinterest users (pinning and

browsing images) created artificially within a lab context based on the logical assumptions of

possible mechanisms at play. While this study proposed two possible mechanisms behind the

act of pinning (perceived goal progress and increase attendance to desired goal outcomes) this

has not been empirically tested, and other mechanisms may play a role (e.g., increased

commitment to a goal). Future researchers are encouraged to explore how Pinterest users

perceive their actions on the website and the content they are engaging with in order to

determine the specific cognitions and drives behind online behaviour. Users are also able to

‘like’ and comment on images, and these interactions may result in different cognitions and

behaviours. Given the sample of this study was primarily non-Pinterest users, it would be

useful to engage in research on Pinterest users specifically to fully understand their

interactions within the website and the cognitions behind these.

There is some suggestion in the limited Pinterest literature that the website functions

differently to other social media in that there is less direct social interaction that the users

31 engage with. While sites like Facebook and Twitter encourage users to interact directly with

each other, studies into activity on Pinterest find that the primary focus of attention is on the

pins themselves and not the individuals behind them (Bernadini et al, 2014; Engauge, 2012;

Gilbert et al., 2013; Hall & Zarro, 2013; Han et al., 2014; Gelley & John, 2014; Mull & Lee,

2014; Linder et al., 2014). This may be due to the fact that users can follow individual boards

while not following the user who created it. Pinterest also does not have the ability for users

to privately send messages to each other. Nor can users restrict their content to followers

only. This open functionality appears to put more focus on the content rather than the creator

and may play an important role in goal motivation. This is especially likely as previously

supported moderators, such as group identification, have been shown to enhance goal

contagion (Loersch et al., 2008). As such, further exploration into Pinterest users is

necessary.

Conclusion

While this study did not find support for its predictions, the issues that arose are

relevant for future research into vicarious goal satiation and Pinterest use. The outcomes of

this study reveal the limitations of the current body of literature into goal priming effects and

the need to explore further the effects of observing only limited parts of the goal pursuit

process. In terms of Pinterest, it is evident that much work has yet to be done in order to build

a body of literature on the way this website is used. The lack of knowledge into cognitions

and behavioural drives of Pinterest users should be addressed before further empirical

research is carried out. By understanding how users think about the way they engage with the

site, both Pinterest and the businesses that use Pinterest to market their products would be

able to make better marketing decisions in order to target their audiences. Beyond Pinterest,

developing the research into goal satiation effects and what impacts these have on the

observer’s own goals and motivation can be applied to other social media sites where goals

are shared (e.g., via status updates on Facebook etc.). It is clear there is much research still to

32 be done on goal satiation effects and how it plays out on social media, and this study is the

first step in advancing that research.

33

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Appendix A. Pinterest Feeds

Complete creative projects

To view all images: http://www.pinterest.com/cproresearch/diy/

Incomplete creative projects

To view all images: http://www.pinterest.com/iproresearch/diy/

40

Appendix B. Pinterest Instructions

When you open Pinterest you will see lots of images

If you want to see more scroll down the page

If you want to look at an image closer Click on the image

You will see other images in this view DO NOT CLICK ON ANY OF THESE IMAGES

If can pin the image from this view

Do not click any of the other navigation buttons at the top of the page

41 If you want to Pin this image

1. click on the red Pin It button

2. then click the Pin it button in the dialogue box that appears

To escape this view right anywhere but the picture and select ‘Back’

42 When scrolling through the images you can hover over images and see navigation buttons

These include: Pin it Send ♥(like)

You can pin from this view. Do not click Send or the Heart

To Pin an image here click on the red Pin It button

1. click on the red Pin It button

2. then click the Pin it button in the dialogue box that appears

43

Appendix C. RAT Items

Word Sets Answer

Falling Actor Dust STAR

Widow Bite Monkey SPIDER

Time Hair Stretch LONG

Coin Quick Spoon SILVER

Room Blood Salts BATH

Square Cardboard Open BOX

Manners Round Tennis TABLE

Playing Credit Report CARD

Pure Blue Fall WATER

Square Telephone Club BOOK

High Book Sour NOTE

Ache Hunter Cabbage HEAD

Blade Witted Weary DULL

Walker Main Sweeper STREET

Notch Flight Spin TOP

Mouse Sharp Blue CHEESE

Silk Cream Even SMOOTH

Hall Car Swimming POOL

Measure Desk Scotch TAPE

Big Leaf Shade TREE

Thread Pine Pain NEEDLE

Lapse Vivid Elephant MEMORY

Athletes Web Rabbit FOOT

Rock Times Steel HARD

Note Dive Chair HIGH

Foot Collection Out STAMP

Jump Kill Bliss JOY

Cloth Sad Out SACK

Bump Throat Sum LUMP

Stick Light Birthday CANDLE

44

Appendix D. Information Sheet

Perceptions of Pinterest

The purpose of the study The purpose of this study is to examine people’s perceptions of Pinterest. This study is being conducted by student name as part of the requirements for the Bachelor of Psychological Science degree at the University of Queensland under the supervision of supervisor. Participation and withdrawal Participation in this study is completely voluntary and you are free to withdraw from this study at any time without prejudice or penalty. If you wish to withdraw, simply stop completing the exercises. If you do withdraw from the study, the materials that you have completed to that point will be deleted and will not be included in the study. What is involved? Participants are asked to look through Pinterest for a specified period of time, then complete a word task. After this participants will fill out a questionnaire about the prior two tasks they performed. Participation in this study will take approximately half hour. Risks Participation in this study should involve no physical or mental discomfort, and no risks beyond those of everyday living. If, however, you should find any question or procedure to be invasive or offensive, you are free to omit answering or participating in that aspect of the study. Confidentiality and security of data All data collected in this study will be anonymous. Responses will not be able to be linked to any individual. The data you provide will only be used for the specific research purposes of this study.

Ethics Clearance and Contacts This study has been cleared in accordance with the ethical review processes of the University of Queensland and within the guidelines of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. You are, of course, free to discuss your participation with project staff (contactable on: [email protected] or [email protected]). If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact one of the School of Psychology Ethics Review Officers: Jolanda Jetten ([email protected], tel 3365 4909), Jeanie Sheffield ([email protected], tel 3365 6690), Thomas Suddendorf ([email protected], tel 3365 8341) or Alex Haslam ([email protected], tel 3346 7345). Alternatively, you may leave a message with Danico Jones at tel 3365 6448 for an ethics officer to contact you, or contact the University of Queensland Ethics Officer, Michael Tse, on 3365 3924, e-mail: [email protected]

If you would like to learn the outcome of the study in which you are participating, you can contact me at the email above after 31st October, and I will send you an Abstract of the study and findings. Thank you for your participation in this study.

45

Appendix E. Debrief Sheet

The effects of Pinterest use on creativity

Thank you for taking part in this study. We appreciate your contribution.

In this study we were investigating the effects Pinterest has on goal motivation. One of the major uses of Pinterest is to store images of things and lifestyles that people aspire to. But could “pinning” your goals and viewing other people’s goals actually be demotivating you?

Previous studies suggest several mechanisms that could drive a decrease in goal motivation. This study explores two of these mechanisms in relation to Pinterest: 1) Perceived Goal Progress and 2) Vicarious Goal Satiation. Perceived Goal Progress impacts goals when we assess that we have made adequate progress towards a goal and feel comfortable switching to other goal incongruent behaviours (e.g. watching TV when we feel we have progressed on an academic goal). Vicarious Goal Satiation refers to the effect of seeing someone else complete a goal which then satiates our drive to achieve the same goal.

In this study spent time looking at a Pinterest feed which contained either completed creative projects or incomplete creative projects. You were also given the instructions to Pin or not to Pin images and to seek a creative project you would like to try or given no instructions about seeking a creative project. You may have also been in the control condition which involved free use of Pinterest. After this you completed the Remote Associates Test (RAT), which is known to be a measure of creativity, and answered several questions about your previous Pinterest use.

According to past research on Vicarious Goal Satiation we predict that those who saw the completed creative projects would perform worse on the RAT than those who saw the incomplete creative projects and control condition. We also predicted that this effect would be stronger for those who also Pinned images as they would have the combined effect of Vicarious Goal Satiation and Perceived Goal Progress. We do not predict any differences between the groups who were told to seek a creative project versus those given no instruction as previous research has shown that similar vicarious effects occur when a goal is conscious or unconscious.

This study has been cleared in accordance with the ethical review processes of the University of Queensland and within the guidelines of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. If you would like to speak to an officer of the University not involved in the study, you may contact one of the School of Psychology Ethics Review Officers: Jolanda Jetten ([email protected], tel 3365 4909), Jeanie Sheffield ([email protected], tel 3365 6690), Thomas Suddendorf ([email protected], tel 3365 8341) or Alex Haslam ([email protected], tel 3346 7345). Alternatively, you may leave a message with Danico Jones at tel 3365 6448 for an ethics officer to contact you, or contact the University of Queensland Ethics Officer, Michael Tse, on 3365 3924, e-mail: [email protected]

If you would like to learn the outcome of the study in which you are participating, you can contact me at [email protected] after 31st October, and I will send you an Abstract of the study and findings. Thank you again for your participation in this study. Bargh, J. A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001). The Automated Will: Nonconscious Activation and Pursuit of Behavioral

Goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1014-1027. doi: 1O.1037//O022-3514.81.6.1O14

Fishbach, A., & Dhar, R. (2005). Goals as Excuses or Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress on Choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(3), 370-377. doi: 10.1086/497548

McCulloch, K. C., Fitzsimons, G. M., Chua, S. N., & Albarracín, D. (2011). Vicarious goal satiation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(3), 685–688. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.12.019

46

Appendix F. Dependent Measure Correlations

Descriptive Statistics

Mean Std. Deviation

N

timemins 9.4245 5.02265 163 ratatt_Total

18.7607 6.18524 163

ratcor_Total

7.0920 3.82295 163

Correlations timemins ratatt_Tota

l ratcor_Tot

al

timemins

Pearson Correlation

1 -.013 .207**

Sig. (1-tailed) .436 .004 N 163 163 163

ratatt_Total

Pearson Correlation

-.013 1 .088

Sig. (1-tailed) .436 .133 N 163 163 163

ratcor_Total

Pearson Correlation

.207** .088 1

Sig. (1-tailed) .004 .133

N 163 163 163 **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (1-tailed).

47

Appendix G. Main Hypothesis ANOVAs

Time taken to complete RAT (in minutes)

48

Total RAT items attempted

49

50 Total RAT items correct

51

52

Appendix H. Post Hoc ANOVAs

Total time taken to complete RAT (in minutes)

53

Number of RAT items attempted

54

55

Follow up of Pin x Seek interaction on number of RAT items attempted

56

Number of RAT items correct

57

58