The Influence of Goal Value on Persistence in Exuberant Chinese Children

Abstract

With regard to the study of temperament and motivation in young children, exuberance, an important temperamental characteristic of the approach motivational system, has been relatively understudied in comparison with behavioral inhibition. However, due to the relationship between exuberance and behavioral regulation (e.g., problem behavior, task persistence), it is an important topic of study. Accordingly, this study examined whether the incentive value of goals moderated the relationship between exuberance and persistence in 109 Chinese preschoolers. Children's temperamental exuberance was assessed by behavioral observation and parental report. Their persistence was measured in two goal-blocked contexts (tower-building [TB] and locked box [LB]). In each task, children were randomly assigned to either a high-or low-incentive condition designed to vary the incentive value of a given goal. Results suggested that exuberance was positively associated with persistence in the high-incentive condition of TB and in both conditions of LB. The results highlight the incentive value of goals as an important factor for behavioral regulation development in exuberant Chinese children.

Exuberance, attention bias, and externalizing behaviors in Chinese preschoolers: A longitudinal study

“…Children's exuberance was measured in two ways: a behavioral approach to novelty and positive affect, in accordance with paradigms used in previous studies (Degnan et al, ; Fox et al, ; He et al, ; Kagan & Snidman, ; Putnam & Stifter, ), and maternal reports of temperamental surgency using the Chinese version of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) (Rothbart, Ahadi, Hershey, & Fisher, ; Zhou, Eisenberg, & Wang, ). In the behavioral tasks, children were introduced consecutively to several stimuli—a lion mask, a toy snake, and a black box—by an experimenter (E1).…”

“…There is growing evidence to suggest that early exuberance plays an important role in social development in early childhood. For example, exuberance has been found to be associated with positive outcomes such as higher sociability and social competence (Degnan et al, ; Fox, Henderson, Rubin, Calkins, & Schmidt, ) and greater persistence during challenges with highly desirable goals (Dennis, Hong, & Solomon, ; He et al, ). However, it is also related with negative outcomes such as more externalizing (i.e., aggressive, disruptive, or conduct) problem behaviors (Degnan et al, ; Putnam & Stifter, ; Stifter, Putnam, & Jahromi, ).…”