The synergistic effects of character strengths and feedback on intrinsic motivation during goal attainment

The present study investigated presumed synergistic effects of character strengths and feedback on intrinsic motivation during personal goal attainment. Thirty-seven students from an introductory psychology course at a mid-sized regional university were ranked from highest to lowest and randomly assigned to one of three groups based on their intrinsic motivation score on the General Causality Orientations Scale (GCOS). The treatment conditions consisted of: Group A - the use of a goal articulation process incorporating personal character strengths and self correcting feedback to obtain their self-selected goal; Group B - the use of a goal articulation process incorporating personal character strengths to obtain their self-selected goal; and Group C - the use of a goal articulation process to obtain their self-selected goal. It was found that students in Group A and C had a higher post measure of intrinsic motivation on their GCOS score in comparison to their pre-measure, than group B which remained relatively unchanged.