The effects of motivative augmentals emphasizing positive versus negative reinforcement on performance

Research on how leadership communication motivates employee performance is limited. Statements made by leadership may function as a type of verbal motivating operation, known as a motivative augmental, that alters the value of reinforcement for a behavior and changes the likelihood of that behavior as a result. How these statements affect responding when referencing different types of reinforcement, however, remains unknown. The current study utilized a single-subject, counterbalanced reversal design to evaluate statements targeting positive versus negative social reinforcers. Twenty participants were randomly assigned to a positive-statement-first or a negative-statement-first condition sequence. Results indicated no clear difference between the two types of statements; however, participants engaged in more responding when presented with the statement highlighting positive reinforcement first relative to those exposed to the negative statement first. More research is needed to confirm these findings, but they suggest the order in which these statements are presented may impact their effectiveness.