People differ in the capacity to regulate emotions, thoughts and behaviors which are directed towards fulfilling one’s intentions. We differentiate between two personality types, termed action-orientation and state-orientation. Action oriented individuals are very efficient in pursuing their intentions. They focus on the relevant information and have no difficulties in taking the necessary steps towards their goal. Yet, state oriented individuals exhibit difficulties in these so called action control strategies. They tend to perseverate on irrelevant information, hindering them to pursue their intentions. This is why these two types are colloquially referred to as “doers” and “brooders”. While it is known that these behavioral differences exist, it is not clear as to whether they also reflect a neuronal deficit in state oriented individuals. Our results revealed that action oriented individuals inhibit more easily irrelevant information than state oriented individuals and also exhibit a different neuronal activity. Compared to state oriented individuals, action oriented individuals displayed a shorter latency of the frontocentral N2, an ERP component that reflects inhibition and cognitive control. These results show for the first time that neuronal processes are accountable for the incapacity of state oriented individuals in pursuing their goals more efficiently. Furthermore, they indicate that therapeutic interventions in different fields (e.g. overweight, addiction) would profit from a more individual perspective. While some strategies might be very successful for action oriented individuals, they might not be so for state oriented individuals.

Pinnow, M., Laskowski, V., Wascher, E. & Schulz, S., Shifting attention: ERP correlates of action orientation in processing behaviorally irrelevant information, 2015, Motivation Science, 1(2), 73-86.