Memory for pro-social intentions: when competing motives collide
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
Published on: August 25, 2023
Maria A Brandimonte1, Donatella Ferrante, Carmela Bianco
1Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, Italy. maria.brandimonte@unisob.na.it
Abstract:
Memory for future actions, or prospective memory (PM), often involves remembering to do things for others. The present article explores the motivational mechanisms underlying memory for pro-social intentions through the manipulation of the social relevance of goals and presence of material rewards during an activity-based PM task. Results revealed that memory for the intention was better under pro-social than under standard conditions. However, when a material reward was introduced under pro-social conditions, it had the detrimental effect of reducing prospective remembering. Ongoing task performance was faster under pro-social than under No PM and standard PM conditions and it was unrelated to PM performance. In addition, the outcome of the ratings of two independent groups of participants confirmed that people are not aware of the potential conflict between pro-social and self-gain motives. Taken together, these new findings extend current PM theories by suggesting a prominent role of latent motivational mechanisms in guiding memory for pro-social intentions.
More Related Videos
06:42Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation of the Posterior Medial Frontal Cortex to Experimentally Reduce Ideological Threat Responses
Published on: September 28, 2018
06:45Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal
Published on: April 18, 2017
Related Concept Videos
Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Social Foundations of Self II: The Generalized Other
Motivational Bias
Robbers Cave
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping