For this examine, researchers checked out two motivations for escapism in working: self-expansion and self-suppression.

They requested the examine’s members to weigh in on numerous views by choosing the place they fall on a five-point scale from “completely disagree” to “completely agree.” Examples included “When I’m working… I attempt to be taught new issues about myself” and “I open up for experiences that enrich my life.” Additionally they included “When I’m working… I attempt to overlook the troublesome issues in my life” and “I attempt to suppress my issues.”

Runners motivated by self-expansion, who run as a result of they need to promote optimistic feelings, would seemingly agree with the primary two examples, whereas runners motivated by self-suppression, who run as a result of they need to “forestall, or suppress, troublesome ideas or feelings,” would seemingly agree with the final two examples.

The examine discovered that these motivated by self-expansion have been extra prone to really feel optimistic feelings throughout their runs and obtain extra long-term advantages after they completed working. They have been additionally extra prone to settle right into a “circulation state” throughout their runs, which the examine defines as transcending “the calls for of the exercise, which results in intense cognitive focus, alertness, and a sense of mastery and pleasure.”

In the meantime, runners motivated by self-suppression, who ran to distract themselves from uncomfortable ideas, future challenges, or previous upsetting experiences, have been discovered to have fewer optimistic results from the exercise.

“People change into triggered to suppress and/or alleviate [negative emotions], and a typical response is to dim these troublesome ideas by pursuing experiences that will outshine them, not less than momentarily,” researchers mentioned within the examine.

However the examine discovered that suppressing unfavourable feelings really “dampens” optimistic ones, too. The researchers seen that this form of self-suppression can relate to decrease self-control, procrastination, and worse well-being total.