Table 1.
Mean (M), standard deviations (SD), 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and Cronbach’s alpha (α) of sample characteristics separated by conditions for Experiments 1a-c.
Fig 1.
(A) Overview of the procedure of Experiment 1a. After participants completed the initial survey, they were assigned to the different conditions and given access information for the experimental session. The experimental session started with a baseline survey, in which the current levels of state rumination, mood, and perceived strain were collected. Subsequently, the goal-cueing task, with its three steps–step1: Goal identification, step 2: Goal evaluation and, step 3: Goal focus period) was carried out. The manipulation check, which included the same items as the baseline survey followed. To get familiar with the task, participants played 18 practice trials before they started with the first bock of the SART (for Experiments 1c and 2, the practice trials were conducted at the beginning of the experimental session before the baseline survey). Participants played two blocks with self-determined breaks, in which the current level of state rumination, mood, and perceived strain were collected. We also performed the same query after 60% of no-go trials in every block and after the SART ended. In addition, five post questions concerning the current evaluation of the identified goal followed. Finally, the debriefing took place in which the participants are fully informed about the objectives of the experiment. (B) shows a sequence of the SART, consisting of a go-trial (lowercase word) and a no-go trial (uppercase word), which are displayed 300ms each. In between appeared a mask for 900ms.
Table 2.
Mean (M), standard deviations (SD), test statistics, and effect sizes of participants goal characteristics and goal evaluations after the experiment for Experiments 1a-c, each separated by condition.
Table 3.
Mean values and standard deviations of relevant experimental variables separated by condition and time for Experiments 1a-c.
Table 4.
Test statistics for pre-post comparisons of the goal-cueing task and corresponding effect sizes (ηp2) of the respective mixed ANOVAs separated by effects for Experiments 1a-c.
Table 5.
Mean values (M) and standard deviations (SD) of errors of commission (in percent) and mean RTs for correct go-trials during the Sustained Attention to Response task (SART) for Experiments 1a-c.
Table 6.
Mean (M), standard deviations (SD), 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and Cronbach’s alpha (α) of sample characteristics separated by conditions for Experiment 2.
Table 7.
Mean (M), standard deviations (SD), test statistics, and effect sizes of participants’ goal characteristics and goal evaluations after the experiment.
Table 8.
Mean values and standard deviations of relevant experimental variables separated by condition and time for Experiment 2.
Table 9.
Mean values (M) and standard deviations (SD) of errors of commission (in percent) and mean RTs for correct go-trials during the Sustained Attention to Response task (SART).