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Individual Differences in the Context‐Dependent Recruitment of Cognitive Control: Evidence From Action Versus State Orientation
Author(s) -
Fischer Rico,
Plessow Franziska,
Dreisbach Gesine,
Goschke Thomas
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/jopy.12140
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , cognition , personality , trait , action (physics) , developmental psychology , adaptation (eye) , orientation (vector space) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , paleontology , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , computer science , biology , programming language
The ability to flexibly adapt to deviations from optimal performance is an important aspect of self‐control. In the present study, the authors present first evidence that the personality trait action versus state orientation ( K uhl, 2000) modulates the ability of adaptive control adjustments in response to experienced conflicts. Sixty‐two German individuals with extreme scores on the action‐state dimension performed a response interference task, that is, 31 extreme action‐oriented individuals (30 females; M age = 20.35 years) and 31 extreme state‐oriented individuals (20 females; M age = 23.23 years), respectively. Action‐oriented individuals displayed a stronger conflict adaptation effect as evidenced by a stronger reduction of interference on trials following conflict. These results were further corroborated by a correlational analysis including a sample of 105 participants: the higher the score on the action‐state dimension, the lower the interference effect following conflict (i.e., stronger conflict adaptation). The results provide evidence that even low‐level, bottom‐up‐driven processes of self‐control such as conflict adaptation are systematically moderated by individual differences in control modes and provide insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying action versus state orientation.