Reward or Threat Orientated

[InvisibleJim]

Threat vigilance is a trait most often identified with the neuroticism scale in Big 5 and high-reactive brain types. If you have a low-reactive brain and therefore find the world less concerning the 'theory' (Kuhnen, Knutson et al) is that you are reward orientated. Which are you?

If you are reward orientated:
1. When you get something you want, you feel excited and energized
2. When you want something, you usually go all out to get it.
3. When you see an opportunity for something you like, you get excited right away.
4. When good things happen to you, it affects you strongly.
5. You have very few fears compared to your friends.

If you are threat orientated:
1. Criticism or scolding hurts you a lot
2. You feel worried or upset when you think or know someone is angry with you.
3. If you think something unpleasant is going to happen you usually get pretty 'worked up'
4. You feel worried when you think you have done poorly at something important
5. You worry about making mistakes

[Park]

Seems like a very bogus dichotomy to me.

[InvisibleJim]

Seems like a very bogus dichotomy to me.

Thinking and Feeling a 'believable' dichotomy? Introverted thinking and extroverted thinking a 'believable' dichotomy? Dichotomies, how do you eat yours?

[717495]

I'm Reward Oriented, but I wouldn't go abouts defining my mindset like that personally, I'd call it having a positive outlook or positive expectations. It's very different from some EIEs' positive outlooks that you might mistake me for a serious or negative person, in that mine is a very personal fleeting feeling of action and search for what I want. To me, having a positive outlook means not needing to justify it, but just immersing in the spirit of my emotionality, while theirs is all in the expression and quantification, the attitude, the justification. Having to express positivism or any emotion, to me, contradicts emotion, because emotion can't be quantified. It is too real.

[Pookie]

I am very against earning negative consequences, but i score low on neuroticism in big 5, i seem to remember positive experiences way easier than negative ones, and i think i have fewer fears than my peers( though more deepseeded ones).

I have to agree with Park. I think this dichotomy is broken in that theres no innate balance or tradeoff represented for both sides.

[Beautiful sky]

Somewhat Threat

[Zenoa]

Threat vigilance is a trait most often identified with the neuroticism scale in Big 5 and high-reactive brain types. If you have a low-reactive brain and therefore find the world less concerning the 'theory' (Kuhnen, Knutson et al) is that you are reward orientated. Which are you?

Threat orientation remains at the background and comes to the fore when triggered. The bigger the reward, the more appealing and exciting. I am motivated by rewards and threats keep me cautious.

Both are good in moderate amounts.

[Park]

Thinking and Feeling a 'believable' dichotomy? Introverted thinking and extroverted thinking a 'believable' dichotomy? Dichotomies, how do you eat yours?

With a side of french fries and coleslaw. Lots of salt on both.

[FDG]

Somewhat reward. Depends on the environment too (i.e. what does making a mistake entail?)

[Cuddly McFluffles]

Very threat-oriented. I do score high on Neuroticism.

[krieger]

Originally Posted by Reward Orientated
If you are reward orientated:
1. When you get something you want, you feel excited and energized No
2. When you want something, you usually go all out to get it. No
3. When you see an opportunity for something you like, you get excited right away. No
4. When good things happen to you, it affects you strongly. No
5. You have very few fears compared to your friends. No

Originally Posted by Threat Orientated
If you are threat orientated:
1. Criticism or scolding hurts you a lot No
2. You feel worried or upset when you think or know someone is angry with you. No
3. If you think something unpleasant is going to happen you usually get pretty 'worked up' No
4. You feel worried when you think you have done poorly at something important No
5. You worry about making mistakes No

[esq]

These are not mutually exclusive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridim..._Questionnaire has them as separate dimensions.

For example: "High novelty seeking (NS), high harm avoidance (HA), and low reward dependence (RD) predicted a higher proportion of adolescents with Internet addiction. High NS, low HA, and low RD predicted a higher proportion of adolescents with substance use experience. Of the 4 groups, the Internet addiction group had the highest HA scores and the comorbid group had the lowest HA scores."

[Chae]

I think that both could very well coincide.

[Hope]

Actually it makes sense.

I'm reward oriented and I'm usually score low or normal on neuroticism.
People more neurotic tends to experience and put more attention into this traits IME. Most of this description could be read as being a worrier and being worried increase neuroticism. Plus most of these are related to social anxiety.:

If you are threat orientated:
1. Criticism or scolding hurts you a lot
2. You feel worried or upset when you think or know someone is angry with you.
3. If you think something unpleasant is going to happen you usually get pretty 'worked up'
4. You feel worried when you think you have done poorly at something important
5. You worry about making mistakes

[Olimpia]

It looks like this is indeed largely dependent on how "neurotic" or mentally healthy someone is.

When I was younger, I was surely more reward oriented. I've found people who are more reward oriented tend to be happier, more relaxed, and more successful.
As of now, I am definitely more threat oriented due to lower self esteem and so forth, and that does negatively impact me.
I am going in and out of the two mindsets, trying to make myself adopt the reward mindset because otherwise I don't do anything and stagnate.

I think everyone has the capacity to have either mindset, and the reward one is definitely superior.

[Pookie]

Its weird. Only two of the five questions for threat related got a yes, and three of the reward ones got a yes, but outside of the test im very clearly negative reinforcement oriented. Energy and effort to negate future risks, and little energy and effort spikes if promised a reward.

I think maybe the test is asking something different than I presumed it was asking. The questions make threat oriented sound like a crybaby.

[The Reality Denialist]

If you are reward orientated:
1. When you get something you want, you feel excited and energized. Maybe
2. When you want something, you usually go all out to get it. Nope
3. When you see an opportunity for something you like, you get excited right away. Maybe
4. When good things happen to you, it affects you strongly. Yep
5. You have very few fears compared to your friends. Yep






If you are threat orientated:
1. Criticism or scolding hurts you a lot. Depends
2. You feel worried or upset when you think or know someone is angry with you. Maybe but seldom
3. If you think something unpleasant is going to happen you usually get pretty 'worked up'. Not that much usually
4. You feel worried when you think you have done poorly at something important. How important?
5. You worry about making mistakes. Nope

[Olimpia]

I picked "somewhat threat oriented", but I just had a look at the lists again and have to say that I am actually "very threat oriented" at the moment.

Nothing of the first list applies to me.

When you get something you want, you feel excited and energized

Nope... I just got a good grade in an assignment, and I have trouble with feeling truly happy about it.
It somehow doesn't faze me much at all. :/

[Attis]

Definitely threat orientated.

[Olimpia]

@InvisibleJim How do you become more reward-oriented?

[Pallas]

It seems like it could be a real dichotomy if you interpret it as long-term and short-term oriented. I mean, you have the exact words: "threat-oriented". A threat is a threat to someone or something, same with a reward. So a "threat-oriented" person just sees lots of little threats in comparison to the reward they want, and the other way for "reward-oriented" one. Basically, ambitiousness vs. impulsiveness. How new and ground-shattering of an idea.

The "very reward oriented" one also doesn't sound like a human being. People should at least get 3, 4, and 5 on threat-oriented fairly often, which would weigh it towards "somewhat reward oriented" at max if you're still alive by now. I don't know anyone who is just bouncing off the walls with glee and can't even conceive of a care in the world, even if they're the star of a recent musical about the life of Oprah Winfrey. On the other hand, people who hate everything are a dime a dozen.

[flames]

Looks like I'm the only one who voted for very reward oriented. Live a little everyone!