Evidence of Subliminally Primed Motivational Orientations: The Effects of Unconscious Motivational Processes on the Performance of a New Motor Task

Rémi Radel (1) , Philippe Sarrazin (1) , Luc Pelletier (2)

1 SENS - Sport et Environnement Social
2 Laboratoire de Recherche sur la Motivation Humaine

The aim of this study was to examine whether motivational orientations for a new motor task could be triggered by unconscious determinants. Participants were primed with subliminal words depicting an autonomous, a neutral, or a controlled motivation during an initial unrelated task, followed by working on an unknown motor task. Behavioral, physiological and self-reported indicators of motivation for this task were assessed. Overall, results indicated a significant impact of the priming condition on all these indicators; while the priming of autonomous motivation led to positive outcomes, the priming of controlled motivation led to negatives outcomes when compared to the neutral condition. Implications regarding the priming of unconscious determinants of motivation for sport and exercise are discussed.

Mots clés: motivational orientation; self-determination theory; subliminal priming; unconscious processes

Domaines: Psychologie

Rémi Radel, Philippe Sarrazin, Luc Pelletier. Evidence of Subliminally Primed Motivational Orientations: The Effects of Unconscious Motivational Processes on the Performance of a New Motor Task. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 2009, 31, pp.657-674. ⟨10.1123/jsep.31.5.657⟩. ⟨hal-00401726v2⟩