Franks Becca, Higgins E Tory, Champagne Frances A
Department of Psychology. Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
J Comp Psychol. 2012 Nov;126(4):347-54. doi: 10.1037/a0027244. Epub 2012 Mar 5.
Regulatory focus (Higgins, 1997) builds on the classic approach-avoidance distinction by identifying two important approach orientations: the promotion focus (approaching gains and attainment) and the prevention focus (approaching nonlosses and safety). Though individual differences in regulatory focus have been widely studied in human psychology, it is unknown if such differences exist in other species. To explore this possibility, we designed a series of tests for laboratory rats, paralleling human regulatory focus research on risk taking. In home-cage tests, rats (N = 23) were given an opportunity to prevent a loss by burying a noxious novel object. In solitary tests in a novel enclosure, the same rats had the opportunity to pursue gains (food rewards) and/or safety (darkness). Rats demonstrated stable individual differences on both tests (p's < .001). Complementing the human research, duration of time spent with the noxious novel object was predicted by an individual's tendency to pursue safety (p < .01) and not by the tendency to pursue gains (p > .8). Some aspects of these results were compatible with alternative approaches, such as the bold-shy axis and "if-then" personality profiles (Mischel & Shoda, 1995). Regulatory focus theory, however, was uniquely able to predict the overall pattern, which may be an indication that it could contribute to future research in animal personality, motivation, and welfare.
调节焦点理论（希金斯，1997）建立在经典的趋避区分之上，它识别出两种重要的趋近取向：促进焦点（趋近收益和成就）和预防焦点（趋近无损失和安全）。尽管调节焦点的个体差异在人类心理学中已得到广泛研究，但在其他物种中是否存在这种差异尚不清楚。为了探究这种可能性，我们为实验大鼠设计了一系列测试，类似于人类关于冒险行为的调节焦点研究。在笼内测试中，大鼠（N = 23）有机会通过掩埋一个有害的新物体来避免损失。在新环境中的单独测试中，同样的大鼠有机会追求收益（食物奖励）和/或安全（黑暗）。大鼠在这两项测试中都表现出稳定的个体差异（p值 <.001）。与人类研究相辅相成的是，与有害新物体相处的时间长短是由个体追求安全的倾向预测的（p <.01），而不是由追求收益的倾向预测的（p >.8）。这些结果的某些方面与其他方法相符，比如大胆-胆小轴和“如果-那么”人格概况（米歇尔和肖达，1995）。然而，调节焦点理论能够独特地预测整体模式，这可能表明它有助于未来在动物个性、动机和福利方面的研究。
