The effect of barriers upon strength of motivation.

Abstract

There is nothing so good as forbidden fruit. A fence between makes love more keen. The ass does not know the value of his tail until he has lost it.Nitimum in vetitum, semper cupimusque negata. 379 * Other criteria were employed in experiments for which there is no space here (see 16).t A simplified way of symbolizing forces is used in this report (see 11).

Subjective probability and decision under uncertainty.

“…3 It should be noted that the definition refers to the attractiveness of attaining a goal object rather than to the attractiveness of a goal object. This is in contrast to the variable studied in many of the object preference studies (Filer, 1952;Irwin, Armitt, & Simon, 1943;Wright, 1937), but is clearly similar to the positive valence of success in the Lewin et al analysis. 2. It is assumed that, in general, 5" places greater value on the attainment of a goal object when it is difficult to get than when it is easy to get.…”

Effects of magnitude of temporal barriers, type of goal, and perception of self.

“…To the extent that this result can be generalized to other situations, this means that an increase in motivation of the organism is probably a significant parameter of the barrier situation. It might be noted that Wright (15) found similar results in quite different types of barrier situations-thus lending additional support to such a generalization.…”

Internal union dynamics during a strike: A quasi-experimental study.

“…Lewin's hypothesis (that an attractive valence, when placed behind a barrier, is perceived as more attractive; Wright, 1937) seems to be applicable to the data on evaluation of the outcome of the strike, but it says nothing about the changes in evaluation of the union or of the leadership. The problem is complex, and speculation about underlying processes seems unlikely to be productive at this time.…”

“…Studies inspired by Lewin (cf. Wright, 1937) indicated that a valence behind a barrier was overvalued when compared with the same valence freely available. This is paralleled by the belief among observers of industrial relations that unionists value benefits obtained through hardship (e.g., strike) more highly than the same benefits achieved without hardship (cf.…”