Preconscious effects of temporary goals on attention (original) (raw)
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Automatic and Flexible: The Case of Nonconscious Goal Pursuit
Social Cognition, 2009
Arguing from the nature of goal pursuit and from the economy of mental resources this paper suggests that automatic goal pursuit, much like its controlled counterpart, may be flexible. Two studies that employ goal priming procedures examine this hypothesis using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Study 1) and a variation of the Iowa Gambling Task (Study 2). Implications of the results for our understanding of the dichotomy between automatic and controlled processes in general, and for our conception of automatic goal pursuit in particular, are discussed.
Affect in the aftermath: How goal pursuit influences implicit evaluations
Cognition & Emotion, 2011
Previous research has shown that the activation of a goal leads to more implicit positivity toward goal-relevant stimuli. We examined how the actual pursuit of a goal influences subsequent implicit positivity toward such stimuli. Participants were consciously or non-consciously primed with a goal, or not, and then completed a goal-relevant task on which they succeeded or failed. We then measured their goal-relevant implicit attitudes. Those who were primed with the goal (consciously or non-consciously) and experienced success exhibited more implicit positivity toward the goal, compared with the no-goal condition. Experiencing failure in the goal priming conditions reduced implicit positivity toward the goal, indicating disengagement from the goal. We discuss the theoretical implications for understanding the role of implicit attitudes in self-regulation.
Nonconscious Activation of Achievement Goals
Swiss Journal of Psychology, 2009
In a series of experiments, Bargh, Gollwitzer, Lee-Chai, Barndollar, and Trötschel (2001) documented that achievement goals can be activated outside of awareness and can then operate nonconsciously in order to guide self-regulated behavior effectively. In three experiments (N = 69, N = 71, N = 56), two potential moderators of the achievement goal priming effect were explored. All three experiments showed small but consistent effects of the nonconscious activation of the achievement goal, though word class did not moderate the priming effect. There was no support for the hypothesis that the explicit achievement motive moderates the priming effect. Implications are addressed in the light of other recent studies in this domain and further research questions are outlined.
INVOLUNTARY ORIENTING OF ATTENTION TO IRRELEVANT TASK GOALS
2010
Attention overcomes processing limitations by enhancing information relevant to task goals and suppressing distraction. Although researchers agree that task goals are stored in memory, it is unclear how attention and memory are linked at the moment that a goal-related stimulus is detected, thereby capturing attention.
Four studies examined how diverse aspects of goal pursuit are influenced by the accessibility of alternative goals. It was consistently found that such an accessibility often affects the resources allocated to a focal goal, influencing commitment, progress, and the development of effective means, as well as one's emotional reponses to positive and negative feedback about one's striving efforts. Moreover, the direction of these influences was found to depend on how the alternative goals relate to the focal pursuit. Alternatives unrelated to the focal goal pull resources away from it, whereas alternatives facilitatively related to a focal goal draw resources toward it. Ó
Nonconscious goal pursuit: Acting in an explanatory vacuum
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2006
Nonconsciously activated goals and consciously set goals produce the same outcomes by engaging similar psychological processes ( . However, nonconscious and conscious goal pursuit may have diVerent eVects on subsequent aVect if goal pursuit aVords an explanation, as nonconscious goal pursuit occurs in an explanatory vacuum (i.e. cannot be readily attributed to the respective goal intention). We compared self-reported aVect after nonconscious versus conscious goal pursuit that either violated or conformed to a prevailing social norm. When goal-directed behavior did not require an explanation (was norm-conforming), aVective experiences did not diVer after nonconscious and conscious goal pursuit. However, when goal-directed behavior required an explanation (was norm-violating), nonconscious goal pursuit induced more negative aVect than conscious goal pursuit.
Social Psychology, 2011
We investigated whether words relevant to a person’s current goal and words related to this goal influence the orienting of attention even when an intention to attend to the goal-relevant and goal-related stimuli is not present. Participants performed a modified spatial cueing paradigm combined with a second task that induced a goal. The results showed that the induced goal led to the orienting of attention to goal-relevant words in the spatial cueing task. This effect was not found for goal-related words. The results provide evidence for accounts of automatic goal pursuit, which state that goals automatically guide attention to goal-relevant events.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2017
We test two potential boundary conditions for the effects of subconscious goals-the nature of the goal that is activated (achievement vs. underachievement) and conscious goal striving. Subconscious achievement goals increase the amount of time devoted to skill acquisition, and this increase in resource allocation leads to higher performance when conscious goals are neutral. However, specific conscious goals undermine the performance benefits of subconscious achievement goals. Subconscious underachievement goals cause individuals to abandon goal pursuit and this effect is mediated by task performance. Difficult conscious goals neutralize the detrimental effects of subconscious underachievement goals but only if implemented before performance is undermined. Overall, these results suggest that subconscious achievement goals facilitate task performance, subconscious underachievement goals trigger goal abandonment, and difficult conscious goals moderate these effects depending on the level of resource allocation and timing of goal implementation.
When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012
We explore how attending to the goals an activity achieves (i.e., its instrumentality) impacts the motivation to pursue the activity. We propose that the focus on the activity's instrumentality renders the activity more valuable yet its experience less positive. Because experience is mainly salient while pursuing (vs. planning) an activity, attending to the activity's instrumentality increases the intention to pursue the activity but decreases how persistently individuals pursue it. We document this impact of attending to goals on increased intentions but decreased persistence on various activities, from a exercising on a treadmill (Study 1) and creating origami (Study 2) to dental flossing (Study 3) and practicing yoga (Study 4).
Nonconscious Goal Pursuit: Isolated Incidents or Adaptive Self-Regulatory Tool?
Social Cognition, 2010
Models of nonconscious goal pursuit propose that goals can be activated and pursued without conscious awareness and intent. Until recently, these models have been relatively silent about whether or not nonconscious goal pursuit has consequences and what these consequences might be. We propose that nonconscious goal pursuit is part of a rich self-regulatory system in which goal progress (or a lack thereof) can influence self-enhancement and produce different consequences than conscious goal pursuit. We attribute the effect of nonconscious goal pursuit on self-enhancement to "mystery moods" . Three experiments support these propositions. Self-enhancement was exacerbated following nonconscious goal failure compared to both conscious goal failure (Experiments 1-2) and no goal failure (Experiments 1-3). Evidence that negative "mystery moods" were the mechanism through which nonconscious goal failure affected self-enhancement was obtained by reducing mood mysteriousness, which attenuated self-enhancement (Experiments 2-3). Implications for research on nonconscious goal pursuit and self-enhancement are discussed.