HOW TO MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE RESEARCH CANDIDATES

by Simon Moss

Introduction

Occasionally, even the most dedicated research candidates experience periods in which they do not feel motivated or inspired. And many of the techniques that candidates and supervisors utilize to increase motivation are either ineffective or effective initially but detrimental over time.

You might feel that you already know how to motivate candidates effectively. Nevertheless, to assess your knowledge, skim this table. Which of the following statements are true?

Which of these statements are true?When people set a target range—like “I will lose 5 to 8 kg this year”—instead of a specific target—like “I will lose 6.5 kg this year”—they are more likely to achieve these goals (Scott & Nowlis, 2013) After people consider their progress on some goal—such as the weight they have shed—they become even more committed to fulfil this goal (Minjung & Fishbach, 2008). After individuals hear another person describe their strengths and talents, they are more likely to become resilient and persistent. This practice is more effective than merely asking people to describe their own strengths and talents. After people are asked to reminisce, they experience greater optimism (Cheung et al. 2013).If individuals perceive their future as vivid and certain, their emotions, wellbeing, optimism, and motivations tends to improve (McElwee & Haugh, 2010; Moss et al. in press).

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People are more likely to pursue a vision or goal diligently if they first imagine how they would feel if this aspiration was achieved and then consider two obstacles that could impede this attempt (Kappes & Oettingen, 2014). After people are asked to deliberate on how their duties could help them achieve their key aspirations, they are more likely to achieve these obligations (Unsworth & McNeill, 2016). If people complete three challenging or unnatural tasks each morning, such as brush their teeth with the wrong hand, their capacity to maintain effort across the day improves (Converse & DeShon, 2009)After people imagine the precise feelings and circumstances in which they would like to implement some behaviour, they are more likely to implement this behaviour later effortlessly (Achtziger et al. 2008)—especially if they do not feel obliged to please anyone else (Powers et al. 2005). Individuals who engage in voluntary work during the evening are more likely to experience positive emotions the next day (Mojza & Sonnentag, 2010).After individuals recall a time in their lives in which they were assigned a position of authority or power, they pursue their goals with greater initiative, persistence, and flexibility (Guinote, 2007)Individuals are more likely to persist on tasks when they feel they are competing with an identifiable or specific rival—even if they do not know or see this person (Haran & Ritov, 2014). When individuals set goals around the skills they want to learn or practices they want to apply—instead of the outcomes they want to achieve—they are more likely to sustain their motivation in response to challenges and obstacles (Winters & Latham, 1996)After people deliberately read more rapidly than usual, their mood improves (Pronin, Jacobs, & Wegner, 2008). When people are exposed to reminders of the horizon, they cannot withstand obstacles as well to achieve their goals (Natanzon & Ferguson, 2012).

All these statements have been substantiated empirically, besides the last statement: Reminders of the horizon increase persistence in response to obstacles. The remainder of this document

offers insights on how supervisors could utilize these discoveries as well as other findings to enhance the motivation of their candidates

ends with a series of insights that supervises could distribute to their candidates weekly

Career planning

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To motivate research candidates, supervisors should occasionally discuss the career prospects of candidates. If candidates cannot envisage their career, their resilience and persistence tends to decline. Therefore, during meetings, supervisors could say “We should discuss your career aspirations occasionally—partly to decide which skills you might want to learn now to benefit your future”. During these conversations, supervisors could then consider these principles:

Principles to consider ExamplesEncourage candidates to remember previous roles or settings in which they felt excited or empowered. When candidates feel empowered, they are motivated by both goals they can achieve soon and goals they cannot achieve for several months or years (Schmid, 2020).

“To help you clarify your career aspirations, you should think about times in which you felt most proud, important, and enthusiastic. Did you ever experience these feelings in a previous job or even in some other situation?”

Prompt candidates to record these moments somewhere, perhaps in a Word file. Allude to some of the key strengths of these candidates

“I think you’d really thrive in a role that could utilize your excellent writing skills, your empathy, and your calm manner”.

But, also gossip about other candidates and staff—but mainly the favourable actions and attributes of these people

Favourable gossip about other people has been shown to enhance relationships between supervisors and their staff or candidates (Kuo, Wu, & Lin, 2018).

Encourage candidates to contemplate how their work and research could assist individuals or communities. They should also contemplate which individuals or communities they would like to help

After individuals are motivated to assist other people, animals, or communities, they feel especially motivated, especially when driven to improve their capabilities too (Levontin & Bardi, 2018)

Discuss positions or roles that might integrate their favourite activities with their strengths and skills

“We should list your favourite activities, strengths, skills, and resources. That information could help you clarify your career aspirations—that is, the most suitable position or role in several years. This information could also guide your thesis”

Together with the candidates, search relevant websites, such as

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www.seek.com.au or the government job sites, to uncover possible roles and positions in the future.If possible, introduce candidates to potential employers. Suggest some voluntary work or activities that could help candidates extend their experiences but also assist a community

Setting goals at the end of meetings

At the end of each meeting, supervisors might casually prompt their candidates to set goals they could achieve before the next meeting. They might express words like “So, what are your aims for this week?” or “Do you want to discuss how you should proceed this week”. As research shows, when people share their goals to someone who is high in status, such as a supervisor, they are more likely to achieve these goals (Klein et al., 2019). During this brief conversation, supervisors could then consider these principles:

Principles to consider ExamplesInspire candidates to develop a routine around their studies. Interestingly, these routines tend to instil a sense of meaning and purpose (Heintzelman & King, 2019)

Each day, in the first few months, candidates could

skim 5 abstracts rapidly read one article about methods read one article about theory write 500 words roughly optimise 50 words

Encourage candidates to consider what activities they will undertake rather than what outcomes they will achieve

“OK, so you want to read articles around GIS and then summarize the key recommendations”

To assist candidates, you can offer several choices they can pursue. But, whenever possible, offer genuine choices rather than impose your preference. A sense of genuine choice encourages curiosity in candidates (Schutte & Malouff, 2019)

“Here are three possible approaches you could apply to learn about this topic. Choose whichever you prefer”

After candidates identify all the In which order would you like you

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activities they will undertake, they should, if possible, specify the precise circumstances in which they are most likely to initiate these activities. These plans tend to foster persistence in response to frustrations (Schmitt, Gielnik, & Seibel, 2019)

complete these tasks? In which circumstances are you

most likely to complete these tasks? For example, you might read about GIS when bored on the weekend”

Prompt candidates to specify a range of targets they will attempt to achieve.

“How many articles do you think you could read” and then “OK, so perhaps set the goal to read 8 to 12 articles on this topic this week”

Initially, set targets that are simpler to achieve. Later, set more challenging targets. If people experience failures too early, they tend to withdraw motivation prematurely (Sjåstad et al., 2020) Relate this goal or target to aspirations the candidates have expressed before

“This skill could help you in policy positions at the Department of Business and Industry”

Invite candidates to imagine how they will feel if they achieve this goal—but then to identify two obstacles that could impede their progress

“I think you’ll feel more confident after you read these articles. Do you think anything could prevent you from reading these articles?”

If candidates are not sure which goals to pursue, encourage these individuals to initiate three distinct but challenging tasks each morning.

“I heard that people can sustain their motivation better if they complete three different but hard tasks each morning”

“You could read few pages as quickly as possible, memorizing some list, or even walking faster than usual”.

Encourage candidates to conceptualize some of their tasks as multi-tasking. When people feel they are completing two tasks concurrently, their motivation and performance improves (Srna, Schrift, & Zauberman, 2019)

“When you read an article, also write down phrases you like—so you are completing two tasks at once: learning about the material and improving your writing”

Responses to doubts

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During meetings, candidates will often express doubts about themselves, their research, or their future. They might seem disillusioned or deflated. In these instances, supervisors might consider these principles:

Principles to consider ExamplesIndicate these concerns are normal and can be distressing—but that you are feeling hopeful about their research and future

“I do think these feelings, although hard, are quite natural. But, I’m genuinely confident that just a few minor changes and achievements can transform the whole situation”

Highlight the progress the candidate has already forged

“My sense is that you might have progressed so much more than you realize. Rejecting these ideas is actually progress—even if it doesn’t look like that”.

“The insights you have gained will help you work so much more efficiently in the future”

Highlight the strengths of candidates Comments like “I notice you’re very perceptive” have been shown to enhance the positive emotions and engagement of candidates (Quinlan, Vella-Brodrick, Gray, & Swain, 2019)

Prompt candidates to contemplate an event or activity that could happen in the future that would evoke a sense of pride. When individuals experience a sense of pride, they are more likely to sacrifice their pleasure now to benefit their life in the future (Shimoni, Berger, & Eyal, 2019).

“What could you do that would make you feel proud. For example…”

Prompt the candidates to construct a list of confined tasks they could attempt whenever they feel unmotivated or disillusioned

They could read a chapter that teaches them some skill. They might transcribe why this course is important to them—a task that has been shown to enhance persistence (Schwartz, Eyal, & Tamir, 2018).

Ask candidates to form implementation intentions—in which they imagine the precise behaviours they will undertake whenever they feel unmotivated.

“I learned a technique that has been shown to be effective. Apparently, you should imagine yourself, as vividly as possible, feeling unmotivated. Then imagine yourself completing a motivating task, such as

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learning a skill. Now repeat five times “Whenever I feel unmotivated, I will complete one of the motivating tasks on this list”.

General demeanour

Whenever you interact with your candidates, you should apply this sequence of principles—principles that are collectively called autonomy support. These principles increase the likelihood the candidates feel they can trust their intuition rather than appease you. If candidates feel they need to appease you, their intuitions, innovation, and persistence decline.

Principles to follow during all conversationsDo not communicate hints, such as “You can choose any methodology, although grounded theory could be better”. Explicitly specify the benefits and drawbacks of each approach, from your perspective. Acknowledge that your perspective may be incorrect—and that you are always receptive to their intuitions or preferencesEmphasize the choices, such as “I think you should conduct grounded theory—but you can choose whether you would prefer a constructivist or traditional approach” Refrain from denigrating other people when interacting with candidates; denigrating comments foster an atmosphere in which research candidates feel they might be judged harshly—inciting perfectionism and thus increasing the likelihood of mental health problems

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If you would like to inspire your candidates, you could email these individuals some helpful advice each week—perhaps Monday morning. The following table presents some validated advice that you could send, designed to enhance motivation, innovation, and wellbeing. To illustrate, you could first send the following message

Each week or so, I will send you some advice or recommendation, derived from empirical studies, about how to enhance self-discipline, motivation, creativity, productivity, and wellbeing during your degree.

Even this statement is useful. To justify this premise

after people are informed they can improve their self-discipline over time, they almost immediately become more persistent and determined over the day (Mrazek et al., 2018)

after people are informed they can improve their wellbeing, they are more likely to experience positive emotions and satisfaction with life (Howell et al., 2016).

Message to send JustificationWriting and communicationWhenever you read an empirical paper, attempt to complete a few tasks at the same time

record a couple of words or phrases in this paper you would like to use more often in the future

identify theories or concepts that might like to utilize in the future

record statistics or findings you might like to utilize in the future

skim some parts of this paper as rapidly as possible—because skimming has been shown to improve mood (e.g., Pronin, Jacobs, & Wegner, 2008)

When people merely believe they are multi-tasking—that is, when they feel they are completing several tasks concurrently—their performance tends to improve (Srna, Schrift, & Zauberman, 2019)

Briefly write about how your research could be helpful in 50 years. This exercise has

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been shown to enhance creativity and could improve your discussion as well (Koh & Leung, 2019)To prevent burnout and to maintain a feeling of vitality, attempt to restrict most of your studies to the hours of 9 to 5 or similar. But, if you do want to study in the evening, complete more creative tasks—such as designing Powerpoint slides, organizing your paragraphs, or developing novel techniques to record your ideas. After people complete more creative activities in the evening, they actually tend to feel more refreshed the next day (Eschleman et al., 2014)Personal developmentRecord, perhaps in a Word file, various changes you would like to introduce into your life—such as to eat healthier food or to develop a particular skill. On the first day of each week or month, attempt to initiate one of these changes. People are more likely to persist on changes they initiate on the first day or a week or month (Hennecke & Converse, 2017)Whenever you attempt to inspire or soothe yourself, use your name—such as “You can relax now Fred” or “You can make it Sally”. Whenever you use your name, the intensity of negative emotions, such as anxiety, tends to subside (Streamer et al., 2017). Attempt to arrange your workspace is neatly as possible, especially when attempting to think about a topic carefully. For example, arrange your stationary or books in a predictable and organized pattern rather than chaotically. People tend to think more diligently when the workspace is arranged coherently (Rahinel et al., 2016). If you want to resist a temptation—such as the temptation to eat unhealthy food or to indulge in social media—tell yourself that you will defer these temptations until the weekend or later. When people tell themselves they can yield to a temptation later, they can easily resist this temptation

In contrast, if people want to abandon a temptation forever, the temptation actually feels stronger and harder to resist

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(Mead & Patrick, 2016).Social interactions and leisureThis week, attempt to compliment one or more peers or colleagues—especially peers or colleagues you perceive as helpful. As research has shown, these compliments not only buoy the other person but will tend to improve your wellbeing as well (Boothby & Bohns, 2021).

People, after contemplating which of their peers is most helpful, tend to become more helpful themselves (Shank et al., 2019)

Some of our peers or friends seem really disciplined. They might exercise vigorously or work diligently. As research indicates, after you ask these people how they motivate themselves, you tend to feel more disciplined as well (Mehr et al., 2020)During the working day, attempt to check your emails only three times a day—perhaps early in the morning, just before lunch, and later in the afternoon. When people check their email only three times a day, they tend to experience more positive feelings during this day (Kushlev & Dunn, 2015). During leisure time, watching an inspiring and poignant movie, such as The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, The Pursuit of Happiness, Into the Wild, The Green Mile, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, A Beautiful Mind, The Pianist, Slumdog Millionaire, Gran Torino, Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Dead Poet’s Society, Braveheart, Hotel Rwanda, Million Dollar Baby, or even Up. After people watch inspiring and poignant movies, they withstand challenges well and inspire to become a better person (Ott et al., 2021)CareersFor a few minutes, consider why you want to complete this degree. For example

do you want to solve a problem in society?

do you want to be perceived as an expert?

do you want to develop advanced skills?

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After you think about why you want to pursue a goal, rather than merely how you want to pursue this goal, you can more effectively withstand some of the challenges you might experience (Schwartz, Eyal, & Tamir, 2018).

Other information to send JustificationIn addition to these weekly insights, you could also sometimes send links to a video in www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/top/.

These videos tend to elicit feelings of awe. This feeling has been shown to generate several benefits, such as wellbeing and persistence (e.g., Anderson et al., 2018; Piff et al., 2015; Rudd et al., 2018)

You could also encourage candidates to identify the limitations they would like to overcome—and then acknowledge the limitations you would like to overcome. For example, you could write something like

Record some personal limitations—and some activities you could initiate to address these issues.

For example, one of my limitations is my anxiety and my limited knowledge about critical theories. To address these issues, I plan to …

When supervisors demonstrate their humility--and thus acknowledge their limitations—candidates tend to perform more effectively and creatively (e.g., Owens & Hekman, 2016)

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