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Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence
We all want to experience pleasure and avoid pain. But there are really two kinds of pleasure and pain that motivate everything we do. If you are promotion-focused, you want to advance and avoid missed opportunities. If you are prevention-focused, you want to minimize losses and keep things working. And as Tory Higgins has found in his groundbreaking research, if you understand how people focus, you have the power to motivate yourself and everyone around you.
Showing how promotion/prevention focus applies across a wide range of situations from selling products to managing employees to raising children to getting a second date, Halvorson and Higgins show us how to identify focus, how to change focus, and how to use focus exactly the right way to get results. Short, punchy, and prescriptive, Focus will help you see not just what’s going on around you - but what’s underneath.
Showing how promotion/prevention focus applies across a wide range of situations from selling products to managing employees to raising children to getting a second date, Halvorson and Higgins show us how to identify focus, how to change focus, and how to use focus exactly the right way to get results. Short, punchy, and prescriptive, Focus will help you see not just what’s going on around you - but what’s underneath.
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First published April 18, 2013
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About the author
Heidi Grant Halvorson
15 books180 followersDr. Heidi Grant Halvorson is a social psychologist who researches, writes, and speaks about the science of motivation. She is the Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia Business School, and author of the best-selling books:
Succeed: How We Can All Reach Our Goals, Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing The World for Success and Influence (co-written with E. Tory Higgins), and The 8 Motivational Challenges.
HGH is also a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, 99u, Fast Company, WSJ.com, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today.
In addition to her work as author and co-editor of the highly-regarded academic book The Psychology of Goals (Guilford, 2009), she has authored papers in her field’s most prestigious journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, European Journal of Social Psychology, and Judgment and Decision Making. She has received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation for her research on goals and achievement.
HGH is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and was recently elected to the highly selective Society for Experimental Social Psychology. She gives frequent invited addresses and speaks regularly at national conferences, and is available for speaking and consulting engagements, primarily in education, marketing, and management. She received her PhD in social psychology from Columbia University
Succeed: How We Can All Reach Our Goals, Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing The World for Success and Influence (co-written with E. Tory Higgins), and The 8 Motivational Challenges.
HGH is also a contributor to the Harvard Business Review, 99u, Fast Company, WSJ.com, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today.
In addition to her work as author and co-editor of the highly-regarded academic book The Psychology of Goals (Guilford, 2009), she has authored papers in her field’s most prestigious journals, including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, European Journal of Social Psychology, and Judgment and Decision Making. She has received numerous grants from the National Science Foundation for her research on goals and achievement.
HGH is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and was recently elected to the highly selective Society for Experimental Social Psychology. She gives frequent invited addresses and speaks regularly at national conferences, and is available for speaking and consulting engagements, primarily in education, marketing, and management. She received her PhD in social psychology from Columbia University
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March 25, 2014
Left brained, right brained. Extroverts, introverts. We have been taught all our lives to divide people by this criterions. If you have ever felt like there's something odd with such categorizations, and wondered what's the drive behind our actions, this will be like finding holy grail. In the beginning, you will read in disbelief that something as simple as prevention/promotion focus can be the driving force behind so many things, but as you continue, you will notice real life examples in the world around you. You will even notice how reactions form in your body, start remembering events from the past when you were "suddenly" highly motivated to "X", then it will start making so much sense that your jaw will drop in realization of the power this knowledge will give you.
If you are into self-help, this is the first book you should read.
If you are into self-help, this is the first book you should read.
July 10, 2015
What we have here is a good, research-backed distinction between two kinds of mindsets--promotion and prevention--spun into a book of excess length. It could have been a 25 page article with little loss in content.
If, like me, you're not a person from the middle ages, you'll probably notice that this distinction smacks of well-worn ideas and dichotomies in economics and psychology: loss aversion, risk aversion, the optimism-pessimism spectrum, etc. The fact that these glaring similarities are left unexplored and barely remarked upon is strange indeed.
If, like me, you're not a person from the middle ages, you'll probably notice that this distinction smacks of well-worn ideas and dichotomies in economics and psychology: loss aversion, risk aversion, the optimism-pessimism spectrum, etc. The fact that these glaring similarities are left unexplored and barely remarked upon is strange indeed.
December 2, 2013
Overall a fast and easy read. Describes two ways people can see the world: "prevention-focused" and "promotion-focused". Prevention-focused people try to avoid losses and are motivated by the status-quo and keeping things working unless there is a real, proven reason to change things up. Promotion-focused people are focused on gains, rewards, and benefits, and they're motivated by the possibility of better opportunities around the corner. Both approaches have their strengths and weaknesses, and you can be prevention-focused in some areas and promotion-focused in other areas.
The first half of the book describes the two types of focuses, and how they affect all areas of your life - from family, to work, to making purchasing decisions, to interactions with society as a whole. The second half describes ways to determine other peoples' primary way of focusing, and how you can use that knowledge to motivate and influence them (e.g. to buy a product, to make a certain decision, to take a certain action, etc). For example, according to studies that the authors and their colleagues have done, people are more easily persuaded when the message they receive is a good fit for their dominant focus. There are plenty of practical examples throughout, which is great.
The only issue I had with this book is that in my opinion, it felt like many of the main points could have been compressed into one or two chapters. A 20-page essay, tops. There just wasn't enough material to fill a 227-page book. The chapters were repetitive, and I kept thinking to myself, "ok, this is great, but it was already discussed in the first chapter. I get it."
Despite that, it's still a good read, and provides great insights on understanding yourself and others. I can see myself referring back to it in the future as a reference. Hat tip to my brother for buying me a copy (it was a birthday present).
The first half of the book describes the two types of focuses, and how they affect all areas of your life - from family, to work, to making purchasing decisions, to interactions with society as a whole. The second half describes ways to determine other peoples' primary way of focusing, and how you can use that knowledge to motivate and influence them (e.g. to buy a product, to make a certain decision, to take a certain action, etc). For example, according to studies that the authors and their colleagues have done, people are more easily persuaded when the message they receive is a good fit for their dominant focus. There are plenty of practical examples throughout, which is great.
The only issue I had with this book is that in my opinion, it felt like many of the main points could have been compressed into one or two chapters. A 20-page essay, tops. There just wasn't enough material to fill a 227-page book. The chapters were repetitive, and I kept thinking to myself, "ok, this is great, but it was already discussed in the first chapter. I get it."
Despite that, it's still a good read, and provides great insights on understanding yourself and others. I can see myself referring back to it in the future as a reference. Hat tip to my brother for buying me a copy (it was a birthday present).
February 6, 2020
Un 3 cu indulgenţă, mi-e greu să cred că după 20 de ani de cercetare DOI oameni au scris această carte care spune, greoi, repetitiv, adesea pueril, ceea ce Carol S. Dweck a realizat şi EXPLICAT extraordinar în cartea "Mindset". Pe scurt, cartea focus împarte oamenii în două categorii (extreme!): cu focus preventiv (un soi de pesimişti, dar nu prea - spun autorii, nu eu) şi cu focus promotor (un fel de optimişti extremi care riscă să greşească la orice pas fiindcă în mintea lor nu există riscuri). În afară de faptul că până şi părtinirea autorilor e clară, singurul lucru util din carte îl reprezintă cele câteva metode de a scrie o reclamă/un anunţ/un text publicitar folosind pe rând cele două tipuri de focus. Sunt sigură însă că poate părea extrem de interesantă, dar nu e cazul, nu după ce citeşti cărţi cu mult mai bine argumentate ştiinţific şi cu studii îndelungate, nu cu idei împrumutate şi răsdovedite. Aşadar, citiţi "Mindset".
April 25, 2016
This book is based on a very simple principle: your dominant focus is either promotion or prevention. Generally, East Asians are prevention focused, as are your other stereotypes: Senior Citizens, accountants, attorneys, engineers, and bureaucrats. Their job is to make sure things don't go wrong and to avoid mistakes.
Promotion focused people are generally: Americans, sales/marketing people, entrepreneurs, and Young People. According to her research, most voters are also promotion focused since it requires a "fit" of go out and vote for (ie. promote) a person. A lot of her research is based on studies of messaging fit. For example: "Avoid cancer, don't smoke" vs. "Enjoy life, you are too focused on health to smoke". If you say: "Enjoy life, don't smoke," you are mixing messages and trying to appeal to both types. To say the last phrase another way, you could say: "Don't miss out on life, avoid smoking" to appeal to prevention focused people.
The point is to identify the filter people use to sort opportunities and threats and see if their primary motivation is vigilance against a threat or opportunity recognition. An interesting study had researchers test students' dominant focus, then gave them math assignments. They did a control test and both groups did equally well. Then they turned on a TV and told students to try and focus and block out the distraction. Those with a prevention focus did better than the promotion focused subjects. And surprisingly, the prevention focused subjects actually outperformed their own results from the control group! Being vigilant took their game up a notch and helped them find flow.
Some people do better with criticism, and some with praise, but much of that is based on having something to lose (eg. experts prefer criticism because they don't want to lose mastery and they are already motivated to correct things).
Promotion focused people are generally: Americans, sales/marketing people, entrepreneurs, and Young People. According to her research, most voters are also promotion focused since it requires a "fit" of go out and vote for (ie. promote) a person. A lot of her research is based on studies of messaging fit. For example: "Avoid cancer, don't smoke" vs. "Enjoy life, you are too focused on health to smoke". If you say: "Enjoy life, don't smoke," you are mixing messages and trying to appeal to both types. To say the last phrase another way, you could say: "Don't miss out on life, avoid smoking" to appeal to prevention focused people.
The point is to identify the filter people use to sort opportunities and threats and see if their primary motivation is vigilance against a threat or opportunity recognition. An interesting study had researchers test students' dominant focus, then gave them math assignments. They did a control test and both groups did equally well. Then they turned on a TV and told students to try and focus and block out the distraction. Those with a prevention focus did better than the promotion focused subjects. And surprisingly, the prevention focused subjects actually outperformed their own results from the control group! Being vigilant took their game up a notch and helped them find flow.
Some people do better with criticism, and some with praise, but much of that is based on having something to lose (eg. experts prefer criticism because they don't want to lose mastery and they are already motivated to correct things).
September 30, 2014
Taught me the difference between Prevention Focused Vs Promotion Focused people and their different methods in approaching things; optimism Vs defensive pessimism.
Loved it because I got to know that not all people get affected by motivational speeches because this speech does not suit their personalities or their "focus" ! :)
Loved it because I got to know that not all people get affected by motivational speeches because this speech does not suit their personalities or their "focus" ! :)
February 11, 2014
“...there are two different and distinct sets of lenses we use to see the world…” p.227
Focus is a great complement to Halvorson’s 2010 book, Succeed.
The opening chapters of Focus touch upon many of the topics of motivation (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused) that were outlined in Succeed; most likely to build a foundation for those who haven’t had the opportunity to read Succeed. If the first couple of chapters of Focus are a re-hash, then the remaining chapters most certainly are an extension of those ideas. Halvorson and Higgins present cases of motivational fit (and non-fit) from perspectives of: self-assessment, motivating kids & employees, advertising & purchasing, and message delivery, just to name a few. Once you’ve properly identified your audience’s motivational focus, you’ll learn the strategies one needs in order to influence them.
Focus is a great complement to Halvorson’s 2010 book, Succeed.
The opening chapters of Focus touch upon many of the topics of motivation (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused) that were outlined in Succeed; most likely to build a foundation for those who haven’t had the opportunity to read Succeed. If the first couple of chapters of Focus are a re-hash, then the remaining chapters most certainly are an extension of those ideas. Halvorson and Higgins present cases of motivational fit (and non-fit) from perspectives of: self-assessment, motivating kids & employees, advertising & purchasing, and message delivery, just to name a few. Once you’ve properly identified your audience’s motivational focus, you’ll learn the strategies one needs in order to influence them.
April 9, 2014
I had a hate-like relationship with the authors perspective on grouping people into two types of motivation orientations, either promotion focused or prevention focused. And he went on emphasizing his point with examples throughout the book, to a point where I was too bored to continue reading.The author put (in my opinion) detailed examples that were a bit repetitive in nature. However, the idea itself, was interesting as unintentionally have I started to notice the motivational focus in those surrounding me.
February 22, 2019
I enjoyed reading this book. It fits greatly to the other books of Heidi Grant Halvorson and deepens the understanding of focus which is mentioned in her other books as well. I found the book to be quite repetitive, but I think that this does not make the book worse. It’s better to bring the message across too much than too little. It could have been a bit better explained (e.g. prevention focus does not mean that we have to frame things negatively - they still have to be framed positively; the negative outcome is only mentioned as a possibility that can be avoided). Anyway, I love this book as much as I love all other books by the author!
July 22, 2017
Generally a good book but one of those that I think might better belong in a shorter format (ie it was longer than it needed to be). Granted it was new ground, so setting the scene and some context was necessary. Still it felt like it was one aspect of influence among many, and because the research focused on "framing" it made it seem as if the authors felt it was the most important part of influence among all others (and maybe they did, but I certainly didn't, and still don't).
Worth a read if you can get it on loan.
Update: A month or so after reading it, I actually came back and increased my rating from 3 to 4, because I realised how much it has influenced my thinking. I was using the concepts even in my conversations with people. My qualms with the book did not go away (it might have been shorter), but it's worth plodding through.
Worth a read if you can get it on loan.
Update: A month or so after reading it, I actually came back and increased my rating from 3 to 4, because I realised how much it has influenced my thinking. I was using the concepts even in my conversations with people. My qualms with the book did not go away (it might have been shorter), but it's worth plodding through.
July 3, 2018
Couldn't find value in this book. Found it overly repetitive and ultimately, boring. Should've been a shorter book or perhaps just a longer article. Got to about a half of it and got annoyed to oblivion.
June 22, 2013
Loved her other book "Success" but this one, I hate to say, was a total bore after the first 3 chapters so I gave up on it. It's so wierd, since her first book was a 5 Star Review.
September 17, 2021
Did like: New way to view why people do (or don’t do things). There are 2 motivations and typically we each have a dominate one.
Those are 1) Promotion motivation and 2) Prevention motivation.
Didn’t like: A bit repetitive, you understand the difference between two motivation drivers pretty quickly. They give Lots of examples in different areas of life. You can start to guess which does what.
Some characteristics:
Promotion: okay with change, driven by what could go right, typically optimistic, willing to take more risk, think they get love/acceptance by accomplishments
Prevention: safe, don’t like change, rules, organized, avoid what could go wrong, strategically pessimistic, get love/acceptance by avoiding undesirable situations.
Not one is better than the other. We need both types and both can be successful. It’s all about balance, where could you use more prevention/promo motivations. We can have different motivations in different areas of life. For example, in parenting you might be prevention motivated but in your career maybe you’re more promotion motivated. We typically lean towards one more than the other
Those are 1) Promotion motivation and 2) Prevention motivation.
Didn’t like: A bit repetitive, you understand the difference between two motivation drivers pretty quickly. They give Lots of examples in different areas of life. You can start to guess which does what.
Some characteristics:
Promotion: okay with change, driven by what could go right, typically optimistic, willing to take more risk, think they get love/acceptance by accomplishments
Prevention: safe, don’t like change, rules, organized, avoid what could go wrong, strategically pessimistic, get love/acceptance by avoiding undesirable situations.
Not one is better than the other. We need both types and both can be successful. It’s all about balance, where could you use more prevention/promo motivations. We can have different motivations in different areas of life. For example, in parenting you might be prevention motivated but in your career maybe you’re more promotion motivated. We typically lean towards one more than the other
January 3, 2021
The main message of the book will change your life, but the finer points can be skipped
This book will help you make two distinctions. One- There are two types of good and two types of bad, depending upon which motivational focus you have. Two- which motivational focus you have. These two distinctions can radically improve your ability to self-motivate towards your goals. However you may want to avoid reading each and every page as it gets a little too technical for the average reader.
This book will help you make two distinctions. One- There are two types of good and two types of bad, depending upon which motivational focus you have. Two- which motivational focus you have. These two distinctions can radically improve your ability to self-motivate towards your goals. However you may want to avoid reading each and every page as it gets a little too technical for the average reader.
April 5, 2018
I really thought this book would be an informative read, but I was wrong, it sub par. I learned about two different aspects of being focused, one was a history of whats it like to be focused from infancy to adulthood and then a comparison based on ethnic cultures and backgrounds. The second half of the book compared two fictional adults and their polar opposites. Then the end led to more of how to manipulate the market place based on how you word your position whether negative or positive.
February 20, 2024
There book covers to main types of people (prevention/promotion) focused people and discuss them in numerous ways from attention levels, motivations, language, communication, etc. It can be a great eye-opener for someone working/living with a person of the other type, especially managers or people who interact with many different people.
January 4, 2018
This book touches on a lot of real life strategies that are so subtle, that you would not realize we use them subconsciously. Once learn, you can start using it consciously to attain your goal
Would read again.
Would read again.
July 8, 2021
I'm withholding a real judgement to determine whether I actually use the promotion vs. prevention binary. If I end up bringing it out at work, then I'm adding a star. If not, it's because ultimately it didn't add anything to my management or interpersonal style.
August 18, 2018
Now that I know that I’m predominantly Prevention Focused, I will no longer feel the need to force and/or fake optimism again. Whew
February 18, 2019
I enjoyed learning about promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused. Still, the book felt very repetitive and the characters discussed highly stereotypical. I quit at 45%.
December 11, 2021
I would say 2.5 stars
February 8, 2025
An interesting book with many practical examples and abundant advice. Promotion vs. prevention mindsets explains a lot of things that I have never seen anywhere else.
June 29, 2017
The premise of this book is very interesting and applicable to people to improve their relationships, negotiation, business deals, etc. I found the length and delivery of this book to be challenging though. As a native English speaker, I had trouble following this book unless I was 100% focused on the words. I feel like the lingo and delivery make the book hard to read smoothly.
Interesting ideas, but the same message would have been received in a book 1/4 the length. The repeated anecdotes start to get old quickly and it starts to feel overly-engineered to prolong and lengthen the author's thesis.
The core ideas in this book are interesting. The delivery started to make me weary. I enjoy the books and the thinking they provoke, but this high frequency pattern of point, anecdote, and explanation becomes very wearisome.
Interesting ideas, but the same message would have been received in a book 1/4 the length. The repeated anecdotes start to get old quickly and it starts to feel overly-engineered to prolong and lengthen the author's thesis.
The core ideas in this book are interesting. The delivery started to make me weary. I enjoy the books and the thinking they provoke, but this high frequency pattern of point, anecdote, and explanation becomes very wearisome.
April 15, 2014
I may not finish this book. It's well-written and has an interesting idea, it's just that after several chapters repeating the same point, I may be done. Halvorson's thesis is that there are two main motivational foci: prevention and promotion. Prevention-focused people are motivated by avoiding negative consequences; promotion-focused folks are motivated by potential opportunities. Most people are a mix of both, and their motivational focus is affected by context (when you go to the doctor, you tend to be prevention-focused), but people tend to have one predominant outlook. This affects a lot of behaviors. For example, when reading product reviews before buying something, promotion-focused people go to the positive reviews first, but prevention-focused people read the negative reviews first.
Halvorson asserts that your motivational focus depends on parenting style. If kids' successes are greeted with affection and admiration, and failures cause the withdrawal of that positive attention, the kid tends to grow into a promotion-focused adult. If all is peaceful in the household until a failure causes punishment or yelling, the kid tends to grow up prevention-focused. As you might expect from this, East Asian families tend to product prevention-focused people (see: "Asian F", aka A-). I have to admit, this has made me rethink my parenting style; but I wonder what it means that the most prevention-focused adult in our household is the one with a more promotional parenting style.
One point that I appreciated is that you shouldn't assume prevention-focused people are pessimists and need to "cheer up". They know what motivates them: it's not that they believe they will fail, but they are motivated by the possibility that they *might* fail. If you get them to stop focusing on that, they will be less effective. I sometimes motivated myself through this weird dual mindset as an undergrad (I'm doing well/I might fail).
There are a lot of interesting experiment results about advertising copy being most effective when the language matches the motivational focus of the product and the audience (subtle changes like "enjoy your life" -- promotional -- vs. "don't miss out on enjoying your life" -- preventional). I think a lot here is applicable in terms of understanding your friends, family, and coworkers; how you frame your arguments when trying to persuade someone; and how you choose or assign tasks for yourself and others. There's even a section on how to apologize (in the chapter on love) depending on the focus of the other person.
Halvorson asserts that your motivational focus depends on parenting style. If kids' successes are greeted with affection and admiration, and failures cause the withdrawal of that positive attention, the kid tends to grow into a promotion-focused adult. If all is peaceful in the household until a failure causes punishment or yelling, the kid tends to grow up prevention-focused. As you might expect from this, East Asian families tend to product prevention-focused people (see: "Asian F", aka A-). I have to admit, this has made me rethink my parenting style; but I wonder what it means that the most prevention-focused adult in our household is the one with a more promotional parenting style.
One point that I appreciated is that you shouldn't assume prevention-focused people are pessimists and need to "cheer up". They know what motivates them: it's not that they believe they will fail, but they are motivated by the possibility that they *might* fail. If you get them to stop focusing on that, they will be less effective. I sometimes motivated myself through this weird dual mindset as an undergrad (I'm doing well/I might fail).
There are a lot of interesting experiment results about advertising copy being most effective when the language matches the motivational focus of the product and the audience (subtle changes like "enjoy your life" -- promotional -- vs. "don't miss out on enjoying your life" -- preventional). I think a lot here is applicable in terms of understanding your friends, family, and coworkers; how you frame your arguments when trying to persuade someone; and how you choose or assign tasks for yourself and others. There's even a section on how to apologize (in the chapter on love) depending on the focus of the other person.
June 9, 2016
Notes taken:
Prevention focus:
-Try to fix the bads.
-Try to minimise the losses.
-Pain of not being nurtured or safe.
-Avoiding mistakes and preventing problems.
-Motivated by potential losses
In some situations you are promotion focused in others you are prevention focused.
Imagine how you fail will get you focused!
“Being a worryward is important for John, it’s not pessimism it’s “it might fail if I don’t work hard enough” - defensive pessimism”
Framing models matter!
You enjoy a task if it has motivational fit.
Use both methods when dealing with groups of people.
6 tools for marketing:
1. Reciprocation
2. Commitment consistency
3. Social proof
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity
-Framing is everything!
-Create and exaggerate a problem.
-Make a link between them and causes of problem.
-“Plus don’t miss out”
Make them think they cheated the system or that they have an advantage when buying over the others.
For prevention craft the mesage like: “buy now to prevent later losses!”
Gain or loss framing?
Prevention are focused on how and promotion on why.
Action verbs are concrete! For promotion focused.
Adjectives are abstract! For prevention focused.
Promotion:
-Past successes;
-Emphasise change ;
-Take a chance;
-Adventurous language;
-Emphasise feelings;
-Use animated gestures;
-Emphasise the whole.
Prevention:
-Failed because we were not prepared enough; feedback that you could fail if you don’t focus enough, cautionally tails;
-Emphasise stability;
-Be cautious;
-Cautious language;
-Emphasise reason;
-Use reserved movements careful precise and deliberate;
-Emphasise the parts.
Prevention focus:
-Try to fix the bads.
-Try to minimise the losses.
-Pain of not being nurtured or safe.
-Avoiding mistakes and preventing problems.
-Motivated by potential losses
In some situations you are promotion focused in others you are prevention focused.
Imagine how you fail will get you focused!
“Being a worryward is important for John, it’s not pessimism it’s “it might fail if I don’t work hard enough” - defensive pessimism”
Framing models matter!
You enjoy a task if it has motivational fit.
Use both methods when dealing with groups of people.
6 tools for marketing:
1. Reciprocation
2. Commitment consistency
3. Social proof
4. Liking
5. Authority
6. Scarcity
-Framing is everything!
-Create and exaggerate a problem.
-Make a link between them and causes of problem.
-“Plus don’t miss out”
Make them think they cheated the system or that they have an advantage when buying over the others.
For prevention craft the mesage like: “buy now to prevent later losses!”
Gain or loss framing?
Prevention are focused on how and promotion on why.
Action verbs are concrete! For promotion focused.
Adjectives are abstract! For prevention focused.
Promotion:
-Past successes;
-Emphasise change ;
-Take a chance;
-Adventurous language;
-Emphasise feelings;
-Use animated gestures;
-Emphasise the whole.
Prevention:
-Failed because we were not prepared enough; feedback that you could fail if you don’t focus enough, cautionally tails;
-Emphasise stability;
-Be cautious;
-Cautious language;
-Emphasise reason;
-Use reserved movements careful precise and deliberate;
-Emphasise the parts.
July 5, 2015
If you are familiar with DISC styles of personality classification, you will be a big fan of this book. The authors studied personality styles and focused on two criteria: 1. prevention focus and 2. promotion focus. Prevention-focused people want to avoid bad things, and promotion-focused people want to attain good things. It sounds simplistic, but is a subtle but powerful difference when it comes to motivation and choices in all areas of our lives. They show you how and why it influences our perception, choices and behavior, and also how to change it and influence others. Many examples are given in advertising and the results of testing and scientific studies - this can be a powerful read and asset for salesmen and those interested in getting ahead in marketing. Highly recommended. It took a while for me to read because I wanted to get as much as possible out of the book, I took my time with this one.
April 9, 2015
Человек в определенной ситуации мотивирован либо стремлением к успеху, либо желанием избежать неудачу. Покупая лотерейный билет, мы надеемся на удачу, а ожидая результаты анализов – мы ожидаем отсутствие каких-либо болезней. То есть зависимости от ряда условий, человеком может двигать одна из двух мотиваций. Часто бывает, что одна из мотиваций превалирует над другой, что сказывается на поведении. Чтобы убедить кого-то в правильном решении, повлиять как-то, надо либо привести положительные стороны решения "за" в случае, если человеком движет стремление к успеху, либо негативные стороны решения "против" в случае, если человеком движет желание избежать неудачу.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2016
This is an excellent text which introduces a new way of looking at the world - those who are prevention focused (tend toward worrying what will go wrong, are very detail-oriented) and those who are more promotion focused - those who like to try new things, see things advance and tend to take a more holistic view of situations. No great surprise that the world needs both types to function well. Where I'd benefit from knowing more is what you do when your (or another's) dominant approach, doesn't match a situation well. When do you shift and how...
April 27, 2015
There are 2 types of motivation in people: Promotion oriented and prevention oriented. Promotion oriented people think in terms "what can I get, what is the reward?" while people with prevention oriented ask "how can I avoid making mistakes?". Promotion oriented people go for end goal, while prevention oriented people eliminate all threats that could stop them on the way to reward. This book is so simple and eye opening, especially if you weren't aware of your dominant focus. It can also be excellent persuasion tool.
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