Need for Cognition About Behavior in Relationships

Outcome dependence refers to situations in which the outcomes of two persons are mutually dependent (Bershield et al., 1976). Student-athletes in collegiate settings provide a unique perspective from which to analyze responses to thwarted goals in outcome dependent situations (Conner et al., 2012). Participants in the current study were student-athletes in a medium-sized public NCAA division 2 university in the midwest. Participants were asked to think of a person who is currently blocking a goal of the participant and then briefly describe the behavior/situation and to generate as many thoughts, questions, and explanations as they could about the other’s behavior. Initial results of this ongoing data collection show that 19 of the 34 athletes reported thwarted goals. Of those, 16 wrote about the experience, yielding 113 separate identifiable data points (e.g., thoughts/feelings). Participants expressed ambivalence toward the person thwarting their goals, with 10% of statements indicating liking and 15% expressing appreciation, but they also expressed negativity. Specifically, participants also said that the other hurt the participant’s motivation (15%) and made them feel hopeless (10%). Participants viewed the other’s actions as negative (11%), uncommitted (5%), and self-centered (4%). Results demonstrate the complexity of outcome dependence in a college team context. Conclusions are discussed within the framework of outcome dependence with special emphasis placed on how person-factors (e.g, gender or personality) might influence the intensity and type of negative responses to thwarted goals.