Abstract
We examined the relationship between the implicit power motive (nPow) and the frequency of verbal persuasion behavior (VPB) in dyads of children, while they negotiated a task assignment over a period of 6 min. Sixty-six German children (32 female) aged between 6 and 8 years (M = 7.12, SD = 0.42) participated. First, we assessed children’s implicit power motive by a 6-image Picture Story Exercise (PSE) and had the parents rate their children's shyness via the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ). In a dyadic situation approximately 4 months later, children high in nPow used VPB more frequently, regardless of whether the second child was also high in nPow or not. Additionally, shy children showed less VPB. The implications of these results for implicit motive theory and behavioral research in children are discussed.
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Notes
The sampling procedure can be found in detail in Spengler et al. 2020a.
In a later survey, all children stated that they had not known the other child before.
For the remaining 25 children, it was not possible to arrange an appointment. Either there was no adequate match regarding the criteria (i.e., sex, age, or unfamiliarity) or arranged appointments were cancelled unilaterally by one of the participants at short notice.
The pictures and their stimulus pulls are provided in the Supplementary Material of Spengler et al. (2020a).
Weiss and Sachs (1991) used the following five types: Positive Sanction, Negative Sanction, Request, Norm Invocation, and Assertion. More examples of the four categories used in the present study can be found in the Supplementary Material.
The exact p-value was .053.
In contrast to distinguishable dyads (e.g., mixed-sex dyads), indistinguishable dyads (e.g., same-sex dyads) have no characteristic that differentiates the members within the dyad. This distinction has consequences for the choice of the appropriate analysis strategy within an APIM.
To test for motive specificity, we additionally calculated the APIM with children's implicit affiliation motive (nAff) instead of nPow (all else being equal). Neither the overall model (R2 = .12, p = .14) nor the single fixed effects became significant (ps > .13). Moreover, the correlation between nAff and VPB (controlled for shyness) was also not significant, r = .01, p = .93. A corresponding analysis for the implicit achievement motive (nAch) could not be carried out, since the six images used in the PSE do not arouse this motive sufficiently (cf. Supplementary Material of Spengler et al. 2020a).
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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to all parents and children who participated in the study. We would also like to thank all student assistants who were involved in the data collection and coding of the videos.
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This research was supported by a grant of the German Research Foundation (DFG, HO 2435/10-1).
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Benedikt Spengler declares that he has no conflict of interest. Jan Hofer declares that he has no conflict of interest. Holger Busch declares that he has no conflict of interest.
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Spengler, B., Hofer, J. & Busch, H. Somebody hit the button! The implicit power motive and the frequency of verbal persuasion behavior in children. Motiv Emot 44, 695–703 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-020-09848-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-020-09848-0