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Memory for pro-social intentions: when competing motives collide.
Maria A Brandimonte1, Donatella Ferrante, Carmela Bianco
1Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, Italy. maria.brandimonte@unisob.na.it
Remembering future actions (prospective memory) is enhanced by pro-social goals. However, introducing material rewards can hinder this memory, even when people aren't aware of the conflict.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Prospective memory (PM) involves remembering future intentions.
- PM frequently includes remembering to perform actions for others (pro-social intentions).
- Motivational factors influencing pro-social PM are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate motivational mechanisms in pro-social prospective memory.
- To examine the impact of social relevance and material rewards on PM for pro-social intentions.
Main Methods:
- An activity-based prospective memory task was employed.
- Social relevance of goals and presence of material rewards were manipulated.
- Participants' intention memory, ongoing task performance, and motive awareness were assessed.
Main Results:
- Pro-social intentions led to better prospective memory compared to standard conditions.
- Material rewards under pro-social conditions detrimentally affected prospective remembering.
- Ongoing task performance was faster in pro-social conditions and unrelated to PM performance.
- Participants were unaware of potential conflicts between pro-social and self-gain motives.
Conclusions:
- Latent motivational mechanisms play a significant role in prospective memory for pro-social intentions.
- The findings extend current prospective memory theories by highlighting the influence of social motivation.
- Self-gain motives (material rewards) can interfere with pro-social prospective memory, even unconsciously.
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