Comfort zone orientation: Individual differences in the motivation to move beyond one's comfort zone

Three studies examined the degree to which people value doing things that push them out of their comfort zone. Study 1 showed that the boundaries of people's comfort zones are related to their motives for engaging in a behavior and how they expect to feel if they perform it. Study 2 involved the development of a measure of comfort zone orientation (CZO), the degree to which people value doing things outside of their comfort zone. Predictors of CZO reflected psychological influences on the value people place on stepping outside their comfort zone, including a desire for new and stimulating experiences, low anxiety, and self-efficacy. Study 3 was a laboratory experiment that examined the relationship between CZO and responses to an anxiety-producing task. Participants who valued pushing themselves out of their comfort zone were more confident that they could make themselves perform tasks that fell outside their comfort zone.

Duke Scholars

Author Mark R. Leary Psychology & Neuroscience