Abstract
Given that avoidance motivation is often related to negative outcomes, it is surprising that little research has investigated the economic factors that correlate with avoidance motivation. The current meta-analysis synthesized 40 studies (Ntotal = 771,690) on the relation between economic status and avoidance motivation. Economic status was operationalized with objective and subjective measures of economic status; avoidance motivation was operationalized with measures of energization (e.g., motives, behavioral systems) and direction (e.g., personal goals, social goals). The results revealed a small negative association between economic status and avoidance motivation (r = − .046, p < .001). This association was particularly strong in community samples (r = − .070, p < .001), for those high in prevention focus orientation (r = − .087, p < .05), and fear of failure (r = − .067, p < .001). In identifying this negative association in extant demographic data, this meta-analysis demonstrates the promise of examining economic status as a potential antecedent of avoidance motivation in future empirical work.
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Data availability
Full coding data, variable descriptions, and R analysis script can be accessed on the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/gzqby/?view_only=4762394493224e99a7a8af20fa1e5dc1
Notes
After we stopped data collection and conducted our analyses, we did continue to include any new relevant articles identified via ongoing Google Scholar alerts until we submitted our manuscript for publication. These additions were minimal and did not change the results in any substantive way.
We included all new and relevant articles identified via ongoing Google Scholar alerts while completing this work, until May 2021.
Using search operators has been recommended by Siddaway et al. (2019) and adheres to PRISMA standards.
Thirteen unpublished studies came from data requests, and one was found on Google Scholar.
Results do not change in any substantive way if a fixed-effects model is used; see Supplementary Analyses.
Results do not change in any substantive way if Z-transformed; see Supplementary Analyses.
The meta-analysis was not pre-registered.
Mean and standard deviation information on economic status was only reported for four studies, and we were therefore unable to examine the range of economic status in the current study.
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All authors contributed to the study conceptualization and methodology. Data collection was performed by KMG and AJE. Formal analyses were performed by KMG and BML. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KMG and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Gilbert, K.M., Elliot, A.J. & Le, B.M. Economic status and avoidance motivation: a meta-analysis. Motiv Emot 46, 293–306 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09930-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-022-09930-9