Ithaca College

Leigh Ann Vaughn and her research team students, Jill Malik, Sandra Schwartz, Zhivka Petkova, Lindsay Trudeau, and Lauren Graber, presented a poster about their research at the annual convention of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, in Palm Springs, CA.

The research, which they conducted in fall of 2004, showed that feeling right about what one is doing can be more motivating than feeling wrong, but mainly when one is out to enjoy what one is doing. Examples of such situations could include when one is running for fun, or coming up with ideas for a new business venture. By contrast, feeling wrong actually can be more motivating if it suggests that one has not done enough. Examples of such situations could include needing to run well enough to stay on a track team, or needing to ensure that one is selling enough goods and services to make a profit.

A paper about this research also has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.