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Preferred term

regulatory focus theory  

Definition

  • The hedonic principle that people approach pleasure and avoid pain has been the dominant motivational principle for centuries. But is this principle enough? What if there are different ways to approach pleasure and avoid pain, and, if there are, might this tell us something about motivation that is as important as the hedonic principle itself? Regulatory focus theory proposes that there are, indeed, distinct systems for regulating pleasure and pain and these distinct systems create fundamentally different ways of experiencing and dealing with the world. [Source: Encyclopedia of Identity; Regulatory Focus Theory]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/regulatory_focus_theory

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