Promotion and prevention
A person in a promotion focus attends to hopes and aspirations, and thinks in terms of gains and missed gains. A person in a prevention focus attends to duties and security, and thinks in terms of losses and avoided losses. Either can be a stable tendency or can be brought on by the situation.
Regulatory fit
The theory also predicts that people value an activity more when the way they pursue it suits their focus. Promotion-focused people tend to favour eager strategies, while prevention-focused people favour careful ones. This match is called regulatory fit, and it has been used to explain why some messages feel more persuasive.
Evidence in context
A meta-analysis of workplace research linked promotion focus with performance and innovation, and prevention focus with safety behaviour. Most of this work is correlational, though, and measures of regulatory focus do not always converge, which complicates comparisons between studies.
Further reading
- Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280-1300.
- Higgins, E. T. (2000). Making a good decision: Value from fit. American Psychologist, 55, 1217-1230.
- Lanaj, K., Chang, C.-H., & Johnson, R. E. (2012). Regulatory focus and work-related outcomes: A review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138, 998-1034.