The Other End of the Line: Motivational Direction is Not Associated with Line-Bisection Bias

Giulia Pugnaghi, Robert Schnuerch, Henning Gibbons, Daniel Memmert, Carina Kreitz

Publication: Contribution to journalJournal articlesResearch

Abstract

The two hemispheres of the human brain are asymmetrically involved in representing a person’s motivational orientation: Approach motivation is reflected in greater activation of the left hemisphere, whereas avoidance motivation more strongly activates the right hemisphere. Visuospatial bias, as assessed in the line-bisection task, is often used as a simple behavioral measure of relative hemispheric activation. In three experiments, we investigated whether affect-induced approach and avoidance motivation are associated with spatial biases in line-bisection performance. Happy or terrifying pictures (Experiment 1, N = 70), happy or sad music (Experiment 2, N = 50), and joyful or frightening videos (Experiment 3, N = 90) were used to induce negative and positive affect. Mood-induction procedures successfully changed emotional states in the intended direction. However, our analyses revealed no effect of mood on visuospatial biases in the line-bisection task. Additional Bayesian analyses also provided more evidence against the hypothesized effect than in favor of it. Thus, visuospatial bias in line bisection does not seem to be a sensitive measure of approach and avoidance motivation induced by positive and negative affect.
Original languageEnglish
JournalSwiss Journal of Psychology
Volume79
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)5-14
Number of pages10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.2020

Research areas and keywords

  • approach-avoidance motivation
  • emotion
  • hemispheric asymmetry
  • line bisection
  • visuospatial bias

Citation