The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals.

Abstract

It is proposed that goals can be activated outside of awareness and then operate nonconsciously to guide self-regulation effectively (J. A. Bargh, 1990). Five experiments are reported in which the goal either to perform well or to cooperate was activated, without the awareness of participants, through a priming manipulation. In Experiment 1 priming of the goal to perform well caused participants to perform comparatively better on an intellectual task. In Experiment 2 priming of the goal to cooperate caused participants to replenish a commonly held resource more readily. Experiment 3 used a dissociation paradigm to rule out perceptual-construal alternative explanations. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that action guided by nonconsciously activated goals manifests two classic content-free features of the pursuit of consciously held goals. Nonconsciously activated goals effectively guide action, enabling adaptation to ongoing situational demands.We must give up the insane illusion that a conscious self, however virtuous and however intelligent, can do its work singlehanded and without assistance. -Aldous Huxley, The Education of an AmphibianToday, most theories of goal pursuit emphasize conscious choice and guidance of behavior on a moment-to-moment basis (e.g

Vicarious goal satiation

“…After completing the perceptual task, participants performed an anagram task to measure goal striving. Successful performance on anagram tasks is a common measure of goal pursuit in social psychological studies of achievement (e.g., Bargh et al, 2001; Elliott et al, 2007; Shah, 2003); performance tends to correlate highly with persistence but has the advantage of also tapping into how much effort participants expend, and how well they concentrate, two other markers of goal-driven behavior.…”

“…The hypothesis that the observation of others attaining their goals might derail observers’ own goal pursuit is based on past research on goal completion. It is well established that goals are inhibited and cease to influence behaviors when individuals succeed at attaining those goals (Bargh, Gollwitzer, Lee-Chai, Barndollar & Troetschel, 2001; Förster et al, 2005; Marsh, Hicks, & Bink, 1998). For example, participants with a search goal (vs. no goal) showed heightened accessibility of search-related words before a search task, but showed reduced accessibility of those same words after they successfully completed the search task (Förster et al, 2005).…”

Goal Activation, Expectations, and the Placebo Effect.

“…At the moment, there are few data on these issues, but prior research has found that goal primes can alter responses outside of the laboratory (Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2003). Also, Bargh et al (2001) found that the effects of goal primes become stronger over time if the goal remains unsatiated. Taken together, these data suggest that goal primes may influence placebo expectations in producing the placebo effect in a nonlaboratory context and over a longer span of time.…”

The consciousness continuum: from “qualia” to “free will”

“…Related to these more complex phenomena are the extensive demonstrations by Bargh and others how unconscious (automated, uncontrolled) processes guide and control overt and conscious action, e.g., Bargh (2001) and Uleman & Bargh(1989).…”