Using motivational intensity theory as a framework, the present experiment examined how individual differences in self-focused attention interact with task difficulty to predict effort, assessed via cardiovascular reactivity. Participants (n = 50) worked on a cognitive task fixed at an easy, medium, or hard level of difficulty, and individual differences in private self-consciousness and self-reflection were measured. Regression models indicated that trait self-focus interacted with task difficulty to predict cardiovascular reactivity, particularly systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity. Participants low and high in trait self-focus showed similar SBP reactivity in the easy and medium conditions, but they diverged in the hard condition: High trait focus was associated with higher SBP reactivity, indicating greater effort, whereas low trait self-focus was associated with low SBP reactivity, indicating disengagement. The findings thus support the motivational intensity approach to effort and its interpretation of self-focus's role in effort mobilization. Keywords effort; cardiovascular reactivity; self-focused attention; private self-consciousness; motivational intensity Self-focused attention is a major construct in the psychology of self-regulation and motivation (Carver, 2003). A large literature shows that directing attention to the self causes people to compare themselves to relevant standards. When people feel able to meet a standard, high self-focus increases their motivation to do so, as seen in a variety of affective, cognitive, and behavioral outcomes (for reviews, see Carver & Scheier, 1998;. In the present research, we build upon recent applications of motivational intensity theory (Brehm, Wright, Solomon, Silka, & Greenberg, 1983;Wright, 1996) to selffocused attention. This theory makes new predictions about how self-focus affects the intensity of effort, measured with physiological outcomes. In particular, we examine how individual differences in trait self-focused attention and task difficulty jointly determine effort-related cardiovascular reactivity in an active coping situation.

Recent research on motivational intensity has shown that explicit manipulations of self-focused attention (e.g., mirrors and video cameras) increase effort-related cardiovascular responses during active coping. An experiment examined whether masked first name priming, an implicit manipulation of self-focused attention, had similar effects. Participants (n = 52 young adults) performed a self-paced cognitive task, in which they were told to get as many trials correct as possible within 5 minutes. During the task, the participant’s first name was primed for 0%, 33%, 67%, or 100% of the trials. First name priming, regardless of its frequency, significantly increased cardiovascular reactivity, particularly systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity. Furthermore, the priming manipulation interacted with individual differences in trait self-focus: trait self-focus predicted higher SBP reactivity in the 0% condition, but first name priming eliminated the effects of individual differences. Implications for self-awareness research and for the emerging interest in priming effects on effort are considered.

A broad range of primes presented outside of awareness—ranging from emotional faces to people’s first names—can influence the physiological mobilization of effort during active coping tasks. Who responds more strongly to implicit cues? Based on models of self-awareness, the present research examined how individual differences in self-focused attention influence sensitivity to nonconscious primes. Adults completed a challenging cognitive task in which two kinds of primes were presented (people’s first names and words related to the task’s difficulty). Trait self-focus significantly interacted with both primes to predict effort, measured as systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity. People high in trait self-focus had significantly higher SBP reactivity when primed with words that made the task seem more important (their first names) and harder (high difficulty words). These findings thus expand the evidence for motivational intensity theory’s analysis of implicit processes.