Writer's block, an owner's guide: Reversal theory
Now for something different; motivation theories. Established theory tells us that humans are always seeking a balance between boredom and anxiety.
Michael Apter doesn’t agree. How (he says) does that account for my excitement-seeking behaviors like sex and sky-diving, or for my enjoying doing nothing on a Malibu beach Sunday morning? Why are my actions inconsistent and why do I give different reasons for the same action at different times?
And he answers that it’s because I’m not a balance-seeking animal. I have within me opposite drives towards opposite extremes. At different times I seek high arousal and low arousal.
His Reversal Theory says that our mental states are not static, but change and fluctuate (see, what a relief, everyone’s covering up the same flakiness, and everyone’s spouse is multi-faceted. I’m serious). The most important of these reversals is between the “telic” and “paratelic” states. In the telic, you’re goal-oriented and relatively forward-thinking; in the paratelic, the activity is its own reward. The Greek names are appropriate, but it’s easier to think of these states as “task-oriented” and “playful.” The difference between them is the difference between a slow painful walk to work on Monday and the same person’s enthusiasm to run twenty-six miles at the weekend.
So to sum this up, Apter says we’re not driven to try to balance boredom and anxiety all of the time, and that we actually switch back and forth between two opposite orientations.
He describes three other pairs of states. They’re of less importance for our present purpose, but of some importance, so guess what, yes, I’ll be coming back to this too one day.
This theory has interested me for a while because I think it might provide one explanation of writer’s block. It’s been used in various areas of psychology - notably in sports psychology- but Michael Apter tells me it has not been applied to block.
How would that work? Well, just briefly, because once again I’m writing late and facing a 12-hour work day, it would explain how we switch between the excitement of beginning a project and the drudgery of continuing it. It might explain how, more than once, I’ve negotiated to get graduate school credit for things I was going to do anyway and then found I was no longer motivated to do them.
More on all this later but I think, before we do that, let’s take a look round self-determination theory.
Published on August 4, 2004 at 1:00 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/reversal-theory-2.html
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