Approach and Avoidance Goals in Narrative Storytelling as a Predictor of Life Satisfaction

Abstract

The present study sought to explore potential relationships between life satisfaction scores and positive/negative affect of goal-oriented speech. Goals were evaluated by coding personal striving language in narrative interviews and life satisfaction was evaluated using the PROMIS General Life Satisfaction scale. Participants (n = 62) were recruited from Eugene and Portland, Oregon and were asked to complete a pre-survey, a narrative interview, a two-hour fMRI scan, and a post survey. I hypothesized that life satisfaction and approach/avoidance goals in narrative storytelling are correlated. Using a general linear model analysis, we found that there was a significant positive correlation between approach goals (M = 0.72, SD = 0.17) and avoidance goals (M = 0.72, SD = 0.17), 𝜂𝜂2p=0.09, F (60,1) = 6.13, p = 0.016, b1=0.44 95%CI [0.08,0.80]. We found no significant relationship between life satisfaction (M = 40.48, SD = 9.07) and approach goals (M = 0.72, SD = 0.17), 𝜂𝜂2p=0.01, F (60,1) = 0.32, p = 0.576, b1=3.87, 95%CI [-9.92, 17.66]. We found no significant relationship between life satisfaction (M =0.72, SD = 0.17) and avoidance goals (M =0.28, SD = 0.17), 𝜂𝜂2p=0.01, F (60,1) = 0.32, p = 0.576, b1=-3.87, 95%CI [-17.66, 9.92]. Limitations of the study include the small sample size, limited sample demographics, and the fact that the data for this study was not collected specifically for this purpose as it is an offshoot of a different, larger dissertation. Future studies might benefit from larger, more diverse samples and methods that are designed to answer this specific question.