LEAVE THE SENTENCE “I’LL DO IT TOMORROW” OUT!

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LEAVE THE SENTENCE “I’LL DO IT

TOMORROW” OUT!

Can positive mood override the effects of ego depletion

and negative mood to overcome procrastination?

by

MARTA NADAL AMENGUAL

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc Marketing

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LEAVE THE SENTENCE “I’LL DO IT

TOMORROW” OUT!

Can positive mood override the effects of ego depletion

and negative mood to overcome procrastination?

by

MARTA NADAL AMENGUAL

University of Groningen

Faculty of Economics and Business

MSc Marketing

Master Thesis

June 17, 2019

Coehoornsingel 21A 9711 BM Groningen 0034 664472288 m.nadal.amengual@student.rug.nl student number: S3618021

1st_{Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Bob Fennis}

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LEAVE THE SENTENCE “I’LL DO IT

TOMORROW” OUT!

Can positive mood override the effects of ego depletion and

negative mood to overcome procrastination?

1. INTRODUCTION ... 5

2. LITERATURE REVIEW ... 7

3. METHODOLOGY ... 11

3.1. Participants and Design ... 11

3.2. Procedure ... 11 3.3. Independent variables ... 12 3.4. Dependent variable ... 13 3.5. Manipulation checks ... 14 4. RESULTS ... 14 4.1. Manipulation checks ... 15 4.2. Target analyses ... 15 5. GENERAL DISCUSSION ... 16 5.1. Scientific contribution ... 18 5.2. Managerial contribution ... 18

5.3. Limitations and directions to future research ... 19

5.4. Conclusion ... 20

REFERENCES ... 21

APPENDICES ... 24

Appendix A: Online experiment ... 24

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ABSTRACT

Ego depletion and negative mood are seen as the main drivers of procrastination, a type of behaviour that has persecuted human beings since the beginning of time. This paper aims to research if positive mood can overcome procrastination and, consequently, the negative effects that it carries. Data from 108 participants was collected by means of a 2 (ego depletion: controlled writing vs. free writing) x 2 (mood: positive mood vs. negative mood) between-subjects factorial design experiment. ANOVA and logistic regression was conducted for the analysis. Results revealed a non-significant trend in the predicted direction. Depleted participants procrastinated more than non-depleted participants, and happy participants procrastinated less than sad participants. Although no evidence was found to support the hypotheses, neither did it rejectthem. This leaves the door open to the idea that positive mood can override the effect of ego depletion. Key words: ego depletion, procrastination, negative mood, positive mood, self-control, behaviour, delay

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1. INTRODUCTION

Benjamin Franklin once said “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today”. However, everyone is guilty of some procrastination. “I will do it tomorrow” is a sentence that you must have heard or even said many times. After a long day, you get home, take off your shoes and do not think any more about that task that you had promised yourself to do after work. In the end, washing the dishes the next day cannot hurt anyone, can it? But tomorrow is a day placed in the future, so postponing your duties for the next day could cause an indefinite delay, because yesterday you said you would do it today, but today you say “I will do it tomorrow” (Allcott & Mullainathan, 2010).

This study aims to further investigate which are the causes of procrastination. Previous research identifies ego depletion as the main driver of this, but does mood have a role in this self-control failure? This paper examines the relationship amongst these three variables. Procrastination is the decision of voluntarily delaying an intended action despite knowing you will be worse-off due to this delay (Steel, 2007, as cited in

Rozental & Carlbring, 2014). It is important to know the reasons behind the decision to procrastinate, because even though we know that delaying our duties will cause negative consequences, we keep doing this. What is it that makes us weak enough to not engage in our responsibilities? Ego depletion has been identified as one of the main reasons for procrastination. Ego depletion is the state in which the individual has run out of resources to exert self-control, so he or she does not have the capacity to resist unwanted thoughts, emotions, impulses and automatic or habitual behaviours (Mead,

Alquist & Baumeister, 2010). Previous research has investigated and shown the connection between these two constructs. When we are depleted, we see ourselves with no energy to commit, and choose to procrastinate (Tuckman, 1998; Vohs & Heatherton, 2000, as cited in Kim, Hong, Lee & Hyun, 2017).

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the current situation worse. Consequently, the individual opts to delay the task, seeing procrastination as the way to turn the negative mood into a more positive one.

Hence, from previous research, two drivers of procrastination are extracted. First, ego depletion, because when people are depleted, they procrastinate as they do not have resources to exert self-control; second, mood, when experiencing negative affectivity, people procrastinate as they have the need to restore their mood. Ergo, the first assumption of this research is that people in the state of ego depletion will be susceptible to procrastination, and that this vulnerability will be exacerbated with negative mood.

What has not yet been studied extensively is the role of positive mood. If mood gives information about the environment and drives people to take decisions according to it (as discussed previously, people in a negative mood understand that they need to procrastinate to restore their mood), it seems coherent that people in a positive mood will not delay their commitments. They will not do so because they know that it would be to their own detriment by making them feel worse in the future. Therefore, if people in a negative mood tend to procrastinate more, by definition, people in a positive mood will tend to procrastinate less. This can be seen as the ability of a positive mood to undo the effect of ego depletion and negative mood on procrastination.

Based on previous research, the basis of this study is that ego depletion leads to procrastination, but only if the individual finds him or herself in a negative mood. With this study I want to further the investigation to the role of mood as a moderator of ego depletion. I aim to demonstrate that when the individual is in a happy mood, he or she will not procrastinate despite being depleted. Therefore, the hypothesis of this research is that the effect of ego depletion on procrastination is stronger for negative than for positive mood.

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acknowledge that not only being depleted has a role in procrastination, but that mood can even be a stronger factor which determines if the individual will or not procrastinate.

On the other hand, if this study demonstrates that positive mood can override the effect of ego depletion on procrastination, we will be one step further in succeeding in avoiding this dilatory behaviour. Preventing procrastination is important because procrastination provokes negative consequences for the individual itself. Therefore, it is believed that stimulating a positive mood will keep the motivation high enough to beat the ego depletion state. Consequently, this will make the individual engage in commitments, allowing a more effective decision-making process and leaving the sentence “I will do it tomorrow” out.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

When we wake up in the morning, we feel full of strength to not break diets or to start working for the upcoming deadline. However, by the end of the day it is likely that we will yield to temptations and impulses because we have been resisting and exerting self-control to many unwanted stimuli, which leaves our resources depleted (Mead et al., 2010). Is this the reason that leads us to procrastination? The aim of this research is to study the connection between self-control resources depletion and procrastination, as well ashow mood influences this relationship.

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Over the years, many researchers have examined what self-control is. It is interesting to travel back in time to the 20th_{century where, according to Sigmund Freud,}

there are inner forces outside our consciousness that direct our behaviour: the id seeks the immediate gratification, the pleasurable acts with no regard to the consequences; the superego looks for norms and values imposed by society, and serves as the person’s conscience to stop the selfish id; and ego is part of the psyche that mediates between inner and outer pressures, between the id and their superego (Szmigin & Piacentini, 2018). Ego holds the ability of self-control.

Mead et al. (2010) define self-control as “the self’s ability to override unwanted thoughts, emotions, impulses, and automatic or habitual behaviours […] self-control is the capacity that allows the self to stop those unwanted impulses from developing into full-blown behaviours”. However, people do not always behave as they plan. Freud (1923/1961a, 1933/1961b, as cited in Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven & Tice, 1998) already considered the idea that in order for the ego to direct the behaviour of the individual, some kind of energy is needed. However, this energy is not infinite, which means that individuals are able to exert self-control only as long as they have resources to do so. When individuals run out of resources, they are in the state of ego depletion, fail in self-controlling(Mead et al., 2010) and are vulnerable to procrastinate.

In this research I investigate the effect of ego depletion on procrastination, but what makes this relevant? According to Steel (2007, as cited in Rozental & Carlbring, 2014), procrastinate is “to voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse-off for the delay”. It is the individual itself who decides out of his or her free will to postpone a commitment despite the fact that it will result in negative consequences for him or herself. It is important to know why people take decisions knowing, in advance, that these will make them worse-off.

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instead. Besides, since procrastination has been pointed out to cause depression, stress and anxiety among other repercussions (Kägan, 2009; Sirois, 2014; Steel, 2007; Stöber & Joormann, 2001, as cited in Balkis & Duru, 2016), it is relevant to discuss now some theories that explain why people procrastinate.

The learning theory lists three relevant elements that play a role in whether the individual commits to his or her duty or not. These elements are the matching law (what are the consequences driven by the behaviour?), the schedules of reinforcement (when will I receive the rewards?) and the sensitivity of delaying (am I able to postpone immediate gratification?). This theory helps us to understand that depletion fosters immediate reward seeking and, as a consequence, results in postponing commitments (Rozental & Carlbring, 2014). Moreover, the Self-Efficacy Theory states that self-efficacy is “the efficacy expectations related to performing a certain behaviour, as well as the outcome expectations concerning the ability to achieve an anticipated outcome” (Bandura, 1977, as cited in Rozental & Carlbring, 2014). According to this theory, if one of these expectations is not high enough, the individual will have low motivation to engage in a commitment and, instead, will procrastinate (Rozental & Carlbring, 2014).

Last but not least, the Temporal Motivational Theory expounds that an individual will engage in a commitment depending on the level of motivation, which is based on four variables: the expectation of achieving a specific outcome (do I expect to accomplish the action?), the value of that outcome (do I value the action enough?), the timing of that outcome (when will I receive the rewards?) and the urge to delay (am I able to delay gratification?) (Rozental & Carlbring, 2014). This theory is more interesting for this study, because it relates to mood. If people are in a positive mood, they are likely to be motivated, hence, more willing to resist procrastination. However, if people are in a negative mood, they will not be motivated and will procrastinate as a way to restore their mood; it is a mechanism of the self-regulation system that prioritizes short-term mood regulation over long-term goal achievement (Pychyl & Sirois, 2016; Sirois & Pychyl, 2013; Tice & Bratslavsky, 2000, as cited in Sirois & Giguère, 2018).

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interpretations make it clear that there is no consensus on the definition. Despite this, they describe mood as a conscious experience that “takes on a specific form, in that we may label the feeling and thereby partially understand or explain it” (Morris, 1989, as cited in Luomala & Laaksonen, 2000). Since people are aware of their mood, they are able to identify whether it is positive or negative and what its origin is. It is important to mention that mood gives information to the individual regarding the physical and social environment and what he or she can obtain from the interaction with it. This means that mood will influence the decision-making process, since the individual will listen to his or her mood, will look at the environment and decide to commit to the task (if he or she is in a positive mood) or to procrastinate (if he or she is in a negative mood).

It seems clear that when people are in the state of ego depletion, they tend to procrastinate (positive relation between ego depletion and procrastination); it seems also clear that when people are in a negative mood, they tend to procrastinate as a way of restoring their mood (positive relationship between negative mood and procrastination). However, in this research, I aim to demonstrate that when someone runs out of resources, he or she will not always procrastinate, but that this will be moderated by the mood.

Self-perception and real behaviour towards procrastination are analysed. I look into these two variables and check for differences in relation to depletion level and mood. If it is true that when being depleted, negative mood leads to procrastination, I aim to demonstrate that positive mood can override this effect on both measures, self-perception and real behaviour. The reasoning behind this is that when resources are depleted but mood is positive, the individual still finds sufficient energy to engage in the commitment, therefore, not to procrastinate. The above discussion on the literature review leads to the following hypotheses:

H1: people under the ego depletion condition, that is to say depleted, will

procrastinate more than people under the non-ego depletion condition, that is to say not depleted.

H2: people under the sad condition, hence in a negative mood, will procrastinate

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H3: the effect of ego depletion on procrastination will be exacerbated with

negative mood; the effect of ego depletion on procrastination will be attenuated with positive mood.

+

+/-

3. METHODOLOGY

3.1. Participants and Design

A total of 123 individuals (72 females, 51 males; mean age=26.39, SD=7.78) were recruited online via direct social networks to participate in the experiment. Since the first task of the experiment last for six minutes, I considered that a minimum of eleven minutes were needed to finish the whole experiment. 10 participants were excluded because they took less than eleven minutes. Besides, 5 other participants were excluded because some of their answers in the scales contradicted each other. Participants participated voluntarily in a 2 (ego depletion: controlled writing vs. free writing) x 2 (mood: positive mood vs. negative mood) between-subjects factorial design.

3.2. Procedure

The survey link was sent through different social media platforms, including Facebook groups, Instagram and WhatsApp, in order to reach a diverse sample of individuals.

In the introduction page participants were told that the study would remain confidential and that personal details would be kept anonymous and solely be used for statistical purposes. After participants filled in their demographic information, they

Ego depletion (IV) Tendency to

procrastination (DV)

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encountered the first task. They had to write a story and received the instruction of not using two common letters, namely a and n, for the controlled writing condition, or no instructions for the free writing condition (Schmeichel, 2007). Following, they rated their mental effort invested in writing the story (Paas, 1992, as cited in Paas, Ayres & Pachman, 2008). Then, participants encountered the second task, in which they had to read either a happy story or a sad story (Verheyen & Göritz, 2009), and write down about their feelings. Following, they evaluated their mood with a self-report questionnaire (Thompson, 2007, as cited in Karim, Weisz & Rehman, 2011) (see below for further details). In this way, participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of the experiment.

In the last part, participants filled in one questionnaire to measure how they perceived themselves towards procrastination (Ming Hao, 2015), and after that, participants were asked whether they wanted to perform one more task before finalizing the experiment or preferred to postpone it for later (see below for further details). Regardless the answer, they were told that there was not a real task, they were thanked for their participation and the e-mail address of the experimenter was provided in order to be contacted if participants wished to be informed about the purpose and results of the study (see Appendix A for the online experiment).

3.3. Independent variables

Ego depletion. A response inhibition task was used to manipulating ego depletion state because it is widely considered to require executive control that induces ego depletion (Barkley, 1997; Miyake et al., 2000; von Hippel & Gonsalkorale, 2005, as cited in Schmeichel, 2007).

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were given, so they were free to use any letters. The task would finish automatically after 6 minutes.

Mood. A text-based online mood induction procedure was used as previously Verheyen and Göritz (2009) shown to be effective. The stories selected were taken from the study of De Leo and Earleywine (2015).

53 participants were randomly assigned to the positive mood condition, in which they read a happy story about a professor giving a life lesson to his students, a story that has been proved to successfully provoke a feeling of happiness. 55 participants were assigned to the negative mood condition, in which they read a harsh story including different cases of death penalty via electrocution (see Appendix B for the stories). Participants were told that they had to imagine themselves being part of the story in order to experience stronger emotions. After the reading, participants in both conditions were asked to deeply think how they felt and write about these emotions.

3.4. Dependent variable

Procrastination and analysis plan. Procrastination was assessed with two measures, perception and real behaviour. In this last part, participants answered the Tuckman Procrastination Scale (TPS), widely proved to be successful as used in the study of Ming Hao (2015). This scale consists of 16 statements about procrastination, such as “I postpone starting in on things I don’t like to do” or “I delay making tough decisions” (Cronbach’s α = .865), that participants rate in a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree). Following, they were told that they could carry out one more task now, but that they could also decide to postpone it for later by returning to the survey at any moment. They were told that the task would consist of several mathematical operations, some of them being of advanced level, and that they could not use any calculator, so that it would be a tedious task.

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positive mood condition would procrastinate less, as the moderator would override the effect of ego depletion on procrastination.

Two-way ANOVA was conducted to analyse the perception of individuals towards procrastination by measuring differences between the conditions. A logistic regression was conducted to analyse the behaviour of individuals towards procrastination by measuring the percentage of people who were willing to carry out the task now, meaning that they would not procrastinate. Interaction between variables was also checked.

3.5. Manipulation checks

It was expected that only the group in the controlled writing condition, who received the restriction of the letters, would show evidence of being in the state of ego depletion as a result of exercising executive control and draining the limited resources of self-control. To check the effectiveness of the manipulation of ego depletion, the Subjective Rating Scale for mental effort of Paas (1992, as cited in Paas et al., 2008)

was used. Participants had to rate their perceived cognitive load after completing the writing task in a 9-point Likert scale ranged from 1 (very, very low mental effort) to 9 (very, very high mental effort) that was used to calculate a mean score of the level of ego depletion (M = 5.39; SD = 1.89).

To check the effectiveness of the manipulation of mood, the I-PANAS-SF scale (Thompson, 2007, as cited in Karim et al., 2011) was used. Participants rated five positive adjectives such as “active” and “inspire” (Cronbach’s α = 0.67) and five negative adjectives such as “afraid” and “upset” (Cronbach’s α = 0.85), according to the extent each described their mood at that moment, on a 5-points Likert scale ranging from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). The mean score of positive items and reverse coded negative items reflects the manipulation (M = 3.44; SD = 0.53).

4. RESULTS

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hypothesized that depleted individuals would score higher in procrastination self-perception and that they would procrastinate more than non-depleted individuals due to their lower self-control resources. In the experiment, the Tuckman Procrastination Scale was used to measure procrastination self-perception and the willingness to perform one last, tedious and difficult task served as our target question to measure procrastination. Furthermore, it was hypothesized that this tendency would be exacerbated with negative mood and attenuated with positive mood. Participants were given either a sad or a happy story in order to induce the respective mood.

4.1. Manipulation checks

Ego depletion. A mean score of the level of ego depletion retrieved from the Subjective Rating Scale for mental effort of Pass was performed. To check the effectiveness of the manipulation, ANOVA on the means was conducted. Results showed a main effect of depletion (F (1, 106) = 32.40, p = .000) such that the mean score of participants in the controlled condition, hence depleted, was significantly higher (M = 6.35; SD = 1.89) than those in the free condition, hence not depleted (M = 4.53; SD = 1.44).

Mood. Performing an ANOVA on the means of the I-PANAS-SF scale as the manipulation check, where the negative loaded questions were reverse coded, showed a main effect of mood (F (1, 106) = 50.12; p = .000) such that the mean score of participants in the happy condition was significantly higher (M = 3.75; SD = 0.41) than those in the sad condition (M = 3.15; SD = 0.47).

4.2. Target analyses

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mood (M = 3.22; SD = .093), which goes against Hypothesis 2. The interaction effect of depletion and mood did not reach significance (F (1, 104) = .55; p = .46) and no meaningful differences in the means were observed. When participants were depleted and sad, they rated themselves as being procrastinators (M = 3.17; SD = .13) basically the same as when participants were depleted and happy (M = 3.19; SD = .15). When participants were not depleted, slight differences were found (M = 3.09; SD = .12; vs. M = 3.27; SD = .14, for happy and sad conditions respectively). Evidence to support Hypothesis 3 was not found.

A logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyse the real behaviour towards procrastination by measuring the percentage of people willing to do the last tedious task and people not willing to do it. The logistic regression was not statistically significant (X2 _{= .04; p = .98), the model explained 0.001% (Nagelkerke R}2_{) the variance}

in procrastination and correctly classified 79.6% of cases. Even though the results were not significant, they showed to be in line with the Hypotheses. Depleted participants were 1.089 times more likely to procrastinate, measured by answering “no” to the last task, than non-depleted participants (hypothesis 1); happy participants were 0.964 times less likely to procrastinate than sad participants (hypothesis 2). More details were provided in terms of probabilities. From those participants who were in the controlled condition, 82% from the happy condition did not procrastinate compared to 79% from the sad condition who did not. From those participants who were in the free condition, 77% from the happy condition did not procrastinate compared to 81% from the sad condition who did not (hypothesis 3).

5. GENERAL DISCUSSION

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way to restore the mood. People avoid unpleasant tasks because by doing so they expect to feel better at that moment (Sirois & Giguère, 2018).

This study was aimed to further investigate the connection between procrastination, ego depletion and mood. If individuals tend to procrastinate when being depleted and when being in a negative mood, a possible counter-effect of positive mood was analysed. Participants took part of an online experiment in which ego depletion and mood were manipulated, and in which they had to test themselves towards procrastination. It was predicted that depleted individuals would perceive themselves as being more procrastinators than non-depleted individuals, and that the induction of negative mood would strengthen this relationship: depleted and sad individuals would perceive themselves as the most procrastinators amongst the sample. It was also predicted that this would align with behaviour, therefore depleted and sad individuals would, indeed, procrastinate the most.

Significance was found in both ego depletion and mood manipulations. Participants who were randomly assigned to the controlled writing condition invested more effort than those assigned to the free writing condition, hence, feeling more depleted and having less self-control resources; participants who read the happy story rated themselves as feeling in a more positive mood than those who read the sad story.

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Although no significance was found, it is interesting that results about perception and behaviour towards procrastination are aligned. A larger percentage of people perceived themselves as not being procrastinators, according to the Tuckman Procrastination Scale, and a larger percentage of people did not procrastinate by indicating that they were willing to do the last tedious task. A possible explanation comes from the consistency principle (Fennis & Stroebe, 2016). People want to be consistent, hence, if participants said that they were not procrastinators in the TPS, they felt the need of acting according to it when asked for the last tedious task. It is interesting because if we can influence how people think about themselves and make them believe that they are not procrastinators by nature, it might help to avoid this behaviour of procrastination.

5.1. Scientific contribution

Previous research has shown that ego depletion leads to procrastination. Because the individual is depleted, he or she does not have enough energy to commit themselves to aversive tasks (Kim et al., 2017). Previous research has also shown that negative mood leads to procrastination. Because the individual has negative feelings, he or she decides to postpone aversive tasks in order to restore the mood (Sirois & Giguère, 2018). But the most striking finding of the current research is that happy individuals did procrastinate less, even when they were depleted. This is interesting because it gives room to the idea that the positive mood can, indeed, override the effect of ego depletion. Positive feelings can influence people to not postpone commitments even when they run out of energy.

The focus is not anymore about how negative feelings lead to questionable behaviours such as procrastination, which has already been widely studied. The focus is, instead, about understanding that this dilatory behaviour is avoidable and, as a result, its negative consequences. This research opens the door to the idea of positive mood as a tool to avoid procrastination.

5.2. Managerial contribution

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from finishing or even starting planned actions. There are some strategies to overcome the guilty pleasure of procrastinating, such as splitting your time between working hours and breaks to keep productivity high or setting a fake deadline for yourself. However, at the end of the day it depends on the individual’s willpower.

If people are aware that procrastinating causes us to be worse off in the future, it is plausible that they will not incur postponement in order to protect their positive mood. The current research proposes positive mood as a tool to not procrastinate, hence, a strategy based on keeping or inducing positive mood in order to avoid procrastination.

If people have planned to go to the gym but feel depleted after work, it is likely that they will succumb to the thought of “I will go tomorrow”. However, if the gym marketer is capable of transmitting and inducing positive feelings in people, even though they are depleted, they can find enough motivation to go to the gym. This situation exemplifies the contribution of this study for consumers and marketers, but it applies to other fields as well, such as academic or labour field. If managers promote a happy workplace, employees will feel this positive environment, be willing to commit and be more productive (Oswald, Proto & Sgroi, 2015). This is the idea behind positive mood as a tool to override the effect of ego depletion on procrastination.

5.3. Limitations and directions to future research

The question “Are you willing to do one last task?” was used to measure procrastination, however, when people know that they are taking part in an experiment, they do not always behave as they would in a natural setting. Procrastination is known as being a negative action and people do not want to admit they incur in bad conducts. Performing the research in a field experiment to assess actual behaviour would increase external validity as procrastination could be observed.

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Besides, procrastination highly depends on the task characteristics. It has to be an unpleasant, tedious and difficult task that provokes aversion in the individual, so he or she is tempted to postpone it. In this experiment, a mathematical task was used as the target question to measure procrastination, however, mathematics is not “unpleasant, tedious and difficult” for everyone. Thus, if an individual likes maths, he or she will not have any reason to procrastinate since it is an enjoyable task. In this case, the target question does not fulfill its purpose of measuring procrastination. This is left for future research, where other categories must be used.

5.4. Conclusion

From this research we can conclude that, indeed, ego depletion and negative mood can have an influence on why people procrastinate. Being aware of the drivers of such behaviour is useful to understand human behaviour.

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Sirois, F., & Giguère, B. (2018). Giving in when feeling less good: Procrastination, action control, and social temptations. The British Journal of Social

Psychology, 57(2), 404-427. doi:10.1111/bjso.12243

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Szmigin, I., & Piacentini, M. (2018). Consumer behaviour (Second ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Verheyen, C., & Göritz, A. S. (2009). Plain texts as an online mood-induction procedure. Social Psychology, 40(1), 6–15. https://doi-org.proxy-ub.rug.nl/10.1027/1864-9335.40.1.6

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APPENDICES

Appendix A: Online experiment Design of the online experiment

1st_{GROUP (Controlled condition and positive mood condition)}

Introduction Dear participant,

The following survey is being administered as a part of my Master Thesis in the Department of Marketing at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (University of Groningen). It takes about 15 minutes and consists of three unrelated parts.

Your participation in this study will remain confidential and there will be no attempt to link your responses to your identity to keep the participants fully anonymous. The data you provide will be used solely for educational purposes.

Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary, and you may withdraw at any time by simply closing the survey platform on your web browser.

Please read all of the instructions carefully before answering the questions.

o

I have read the above information, and do give my consent to participate in the study. Demographics

Please, before starting with the survey, answer these two questions about your demographics. What is your gender?

o

Male

o

Female What is your age?

__________________________________________________________

Mood

Positive mood Negative mood Ego depletion Controlled writing task 1

st_group ₃rd_group

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25 Part 1.1 (Ego depletion: controlled writing task) Think and write about the last trip you have taken.

IMPORTANT is that you CANNOT use the letters "a" and "n", so any time you would like to use a word that contains either "a" and/or "n", you must find another word to express yourself.

This task will end automatically after 6 minutes.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Part 1.2 (Ego depletion manipulation check)

Please, read thoughtfully the following story imagining yourself being part of it:

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. When the class began, without speaking he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked, “Is this jar full?” They agreed that it was.

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Eagerly, the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand made its way into the remaining empty space of the jar. He then asked once more, “Now tell me is this jar full?” This time the students were absolutely sure and they responded excitedly with a unanimous, “YES!”

At that moment, the professor produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar – effectively filling the space between the sand, pebbles, and rocks. The students laughed and watched with intrigue and curiosity.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to imagine that this jar represents your life. The rocks symbolize the important things in life – like your family, your significant other, your health and well-being, and your children. Things that are most

important to you and enduring; that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter to you, like your job, your house, or your car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first”, he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have enough room for the things that are most important to you.

Today’s lesson is about paying attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Make time for loved ones. Play with your children. Visit an old friend. Invest time in yourself. Focus on your health and well-being. Take your partner out dancing. Laugh for no reason at all. Have fun! There will always be time for work, chores, and fixing the garbage disposal. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter and are most important to you. Set your priorities… the rest is just sand.”

Just as the professor finished speaking, one of his students raised her hand and said, “What does the beer represent?” The professor smiled and chuckled aloud, “I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that, no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers! Class dismissed”.

Thank you for reading. Now please describe how you felt while reading and how you feel right now, be free to express your feelings.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

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Please, indicate the extent to which you feel this way right now:

Part 3:

You are now in the last part!

Please, indicate the extent to which the following statements define you:

1. Strongly

agree 2. Somewhat agree

3. Neither agree nor disagree

4. Somewhat

disagree 5. Strongly disagree I needlessly delay finishing jobs,

even when they're important

o

I postpone starting in on things I

don’t like to do

o

When I have a deadline, I wait until

the last minute

o

I delay making tough decisions

o

I keep putting off improving my

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28

You now have the option to do one last task that can be quite tedious. The task consists of several mathematical operations, some of them being of advanced level, but you are not allowed to use any device, like a calculator, to help you solving the operations, so it will be a demanding mental effort task.

You can click "yes" to proceed to this tedious task right now, but you can also click "no" to postpone the task for later.

Are you willing to do the task now?

o

YES

o

NO

(Participants who answered “YES” saw this message):

Thank you for your willingness to do the task right now, but in fact there is not a real task. The previous question was only for the purpose of the study.

(Participants who answered “NO” saw this message):

There will not be a real task that you need to perform, so you do not have to come back later to finish anything else. The previous question was only for the purpose of the study.

I manage to find an excuse for not

doing something

o

I put the necessary time into even

boring tasks, like studying

I always finish important jobs with

time to spare

o

I get stuck in neutral even though I

know how important it's to get

started

o

Putting something off until

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29 Closure

You have reached the end of the survey. Thank you for your participation!

If you have any questions about the research or if you want to be debriefed about the results of the study, please don’t hesitate to contact me via m.nadal.amengual@student.rug.nl

2nd_{GROUP (Free condition and positive mood condition)}

o

Male

o

__________________________________________________________

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30 Think and write about the last trip you have taken.

o

Part 2.1 (Mood: happy task)

Please, read thoughtfully the following story imagining yourself being part of it:

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items in front of him. When the class began, without speaking he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked, “Is this jar full?” They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly, causing the pebbles to roll into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again, “What about now. Is the jar full?” His students chuckled and agreed that it was.

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31 unanimous, “YES!”

At that moment, the professor produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar – effectively filling the space between the sand, pebbles, and rocks. The students laughed and watched with intrigue and curiosity.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to imagine that this jar represents your life. The rocks symbolize the important things in life – like your family, your significant other, your health and well-being, and your children. Things that are most

important to you and enduring; that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter to you, like your job, your house, or your car. The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first”, he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have enough room for the things that are most important to you.

Today’s lesson is about paying attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Make time for loved ones. Play with your children. Visit an old friend. Invest time in yourself. Focus on your health and well-being. Take your partner out dancing. Laugh for no reason at all. Have fun! There will always be time for work, chores, and fixing the garbage disposal. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter and are most important to you. Set your priorities… the rest is just sand.”

Just as the professor finished speaking, one of his students raised her hand and said, “What does the beer represent?” The professor smiled and chuckled aloud, “I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that, no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers! Class dismissed”.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

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o

YES

o

NO

doing something

o

_o

IMPORTANT is that you CANNOT use the letters "a" and "n", so any time you would like to use a word that contains either "a" and/or "n", you must find another word to express yourself.

o

Part 2.1 (Mood: sad story)

Please, read thoughtfully the following story imagining yourself being part of it.

On August 6th, 1890, the New York Times reported what approved witnesses – experts in their fields, primarily electricians and physicians – had observed the previous morning: the first execution of a man strapped to an electric chair. New York became the first American state to implement the death penalty via “electrocution” in 1888. Witnesses were able to watch and describe the death of the first beneficiary of the long-discussed and sought after means of execution. The electric chair was thought to mean the same for the end of the 19th Century as the discovery of the doctor’s guillotine did for the end of the 18th Century: humanitarian progress.

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36

after being convicted of striking and murdering his lover with an axe while in a state of

intoxication. Approximately 700 volts of electrical current was passed through Kemmler for 17 seconds, enough shown to successfully execute a horse the previous day, before the electricity failed. “Kemmler the First”, as the New York Times had dubbed him that spring as they eagerly watched fully enamored with the new death apparatus, was not dead! Witnesses noticed Kemmler was still breathing. “Have the current turned on again, quick — no delay.” This time Kemmler’s flesh sizzled and bled, his blood vessels burst, and his hair roasted — the smell was unbearable. “Kemmler was literally toasted to death”, one witnesses stated in disgust and too upset to say more.

“I am innocent!” – the last words of Pedro Medina before he was executed on March 25th, 1997 in Florida for the murder of a 52-year old woman in Orlando. Witnesses to Medina’s death saw a spectacle fit only for only the movies. “It was absolute horror!” one witness proclaimed. Something went wrong when the electricity was turned on –Medina began to burn. Witnesses saw bursts of blue and orange flames shoot out from behind the mask that was cloaked over his face. One witness said, “They shot upward a foot high for a full ten seconds!” Thick, white smoke filled the death chamber. It reeked like burning human flesh. “It was terrible! His head became a single fireball.” The Cuban immigrant was burned alive by the state of Florida after living in the USA for 17 years. Images of Medina after the execution showed a man whose face was completely bald and fixed with a stare that appeared both tense and peaceful. Almost as if calm washed over him as he finally succumb to intense and horrifying pain. A few minutes before, powerful electrical shocks were dealt to his formless, fatty body, which had been covered by a sheet and strapped to an angular wooden electric chair. As the electricity was applied, the black head covering, drawn tightly to the face, slipped upwards. His eyes, nose, and upper cheeks became contorted and tightly pressed together into a single spasm. His face turned uncontrollably and his body cramped.

Few initiatives have sought to abolish the death penalty, with too few judges in the highest courts willing to raise “capital punishment” as a fundamental question of constitutional law. Nowhere can it be found in the opinions of the courts that state-ordered killings could be, in themselves, inhumane, a violation of human rights, useless or unworthy of a constitutional state.

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o

YES

o

NO

doing something

o

_o

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40

________________________________________________________________ Part 1.2 (Ego depletion manipulation check)

o

Part 2.1 (Mood: sad story)

Please, read thoughtfully the following story imagining yourself being part of it.

On August 6th, 1890, the New York Times reported what approved witnesses – experts in their fields, primarily electricians and physicians – had observed the previous morning: the first execution of a man strapped to an electric chair. New York became the first American state to implement the death penalty via “electrocution” in 1888. Witnesses were able to watch and describe the death of the first beneficiary of the long-discussed and sought after means of execution. The electric chair was thought to mean the same for the end of the 19th Century as the discovery of the doctor’s guillotine did for the end of the 18th Century: humanitarian progress.

Instead, those who were present at the execution saw what the masses of people who were positioned outside of the prison gates in Auburn, New York could not – a humanitarian catastrophe! On August 5th, 1890 at 6:42, William Kemmler faced execution by electrocution after being convicted of striking and murdering his lover with an axe while in a state of

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41

“I am innocent!” – the last words of Pedro Medina before he was executed on March 25th, 1997 in Florida for the murder of a 52-year old woman in Orlando. Witnesses to Medina’s death saw a spectacle fit only for only the movies. “It was absolute horror!” one witness proclaimed. Something went wrong when the electricity was turned on –Medina began to burn. Witnesses saw bursts of blue and orange flames shoot out from behind the mask that was cloaked over his face. One witness said, “They shot upward a foot high for a full ten seconds!” Thick, white smoke filled the death chamber. It reeked like burning human flesh. “It was terrible! His head became a single fireball.” The Cuban immigrant was burned alive by the state of Florida after living in the USA for 17 years. Images of Medina after the execution showed a man whose face was completely bald and fixed with a stare that appeared both tense and peaceful. Almost as if calm washed over him as he finally succumb to intense and horrifying pain. A few minutes before, powerful electrical shocks were dealt to his formless, fatty body, which had been covered by a sheet and strapped to an angular wooden electric chair. As the electricity was applied, the black head covering, drawn tightly to the face, slipped upwards. His eyes, nose, and upper cheeks became contorted and tightly pressed together into a single spasm. His face turned uncontrollably and his body cramped.

Few initiatives have sought to abolish the death penalty, with too few judges in the highest courts willing to raise “capital punishment” as a fundamental question of constitutional law. Nowhere can it be found in the opinions of the courts that state-ordered killings could be, in themselves, inhumane, a violation of human rights, useless or unworthy of a constitutional state.

________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________