The metamotivation approach: Insights into the regulation of motivation and beyond

Abstract

Researchers across theoretical traditions have long recognized the need for people to monitor and modulate certain aspects of their subjective experiences (such as their thoughts and feelings) in response to situational challenges that interfere with the attainment of important goals. Comparatively less attention has been devoted to understanding the beliefs and mechanisms necessary to regulate motivational states—i.e., metamotivation, even though motivational states are often integral to people's subjective experiences of events. As particular types of motivational states are more adaptive in some contexts than in others, flexibly instantiating the right motivational state at the right time may be key to achieving one's goals. The current paper reviews the principles of the metamotivational approach to studying motivation regulation and briefly reviews supporting research. In addition, we highlight metamotivation research conducted in the context of self‐affirmation theory to demonstrate the generative potential of this approach for researching phenomena that have traditionally been treated as separate from self‐regulation. We conclude by discussing some of the novel questions that the metamotivational approach has prompted, both in and outside of the self‐regulatory domain.

The role of metamotivational knowledge in the regulation of motivation.

“…We define “metamotivation” as “the processes and knowledge involved in regulating one’s own motivational states” in the service of achieving valued goals (Miele et al, 2020, p. 3; see also Fujita et al, 2019, 2024; Miele & Scholer, 2018; Scholer & Miele, 2016; Scholer et al, 2018). Building on cognitive psychology research that has examined learners’ metacognitive regulation of their memory and comprehension (see Nelson & Narens, 1990), we conceive of metamotivation as consisting of two reciprocal processes that comprise a feedback loop (see Figure 1): (a) metamotivational monitoring, whereby individuals identify the types of goal-directed motivation they are experiencing (e.g., intrinsic vs. extrinsic, promotion vs. prevention) and assess how much of these motivations they possess, and (b) metamotivational control, which involves using the output of their monitoring to select and implement strategies aimed at bolstering, maintaining, or downregulating particular aspects of one’s motivation…”

Integrative Neuro-social cognitive Strategy Programme for Instilling REcovery (INSPIRE): a Community-Based Cognitive Remediation Trial-Study Procotol

“…Motivational states are dependent on the person's preferences for particular outcomes and his/her readiness to act in ways to attain those outcomes. In order to monitor and modify one's motivational states, one must have the task knowledge (ie: how much and what type of motivation the task requires), self-knowledge (ie: what it feels like to experience different levels of motivation) and strategy knowledge (ie: how to change or sustain one's motivational states to meet the task requirements) [23]. These inform the ability to identify, monitor and self-regulate motivation, which is called metamotivation [23].…”

“…In order to monitor and modify one's motivational states, one must have the task knowledge (ie: how much and what type of motivation the task requires), self-knowledge (ie: what it feels like to experience different levels of motivation) and strategy knowledge (ie: how to change or sustain one's motivational states to meet the task requirements) [23]. These inform the ability to identify, monitor and self-regulate motivation, which is called metamotivation [23]. Hence, the metamotivation framework consists of 1) metamotivational monitoring: the capacity to evaluate the quantity and quality of motivation directed towards a speci c objective; 2) metamotivational control: the capacity to choose motivational strategies to boost or maintain a certain motivational state and 3) metamotivational knowledge: comprehending the type of motivation at play and if it can be altered [24].…”