Basic Study on Generation of Dopamine-Secretion-Promoting Intrinsic Motivational Messages Using ChatGPT

Abstract

People sometimes put off an action because they do not perceive it as worth doing immediately, despite recognizing they should do it. Procrastination, especially in medical and healthcare fields, can lead to serious consequences, and it is an important social issue to promote cognitive and behavioral change for those reluctant to practice health behaviors. One important factor that can positively influence the psychology of procrastination is intrinsic motivation. Dopamine is known as the primary neurotransmitter associated with motivation and has been shown to relate to positive emotions and cognition. In this study, we defined personal experiences related to emotions and cognitions occurring during dopamine secretion as the person's original favorite activities (FAs). We then attempted to generate intrinsic motivational messages expected to produce dopamine secretion by partially replacing or modifying the activities the subject should do but were disinclined to do (reluctant activities (RAs)) with FAs. Preliminary experiments using questionnaire evaluations showed that dopamine-secretion-promoting intrinsic motivational messages may induce more excited feelings than general motivational messages.