Asking "why" helps action control by goals but not plans

Wieber, Frank; Sezer, Lisa A.; Gollwitzer, Peter M.

Asking "why" helps action control by goals but not plans

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Date

2013

Authors

Wieber, Frank

Sezer, Lisa A.

Gollwitzer, Peter M.

Publication type

Journal article

Published in

Motivation and Emotion ; 38 (2013), 1. - pp. 65-78. - ISSN 0146-7239. - eISSN 1573-6644

Abstract

The present research investigated whether asking “why” concerning the pursuit of one goal can affect the subsequent pursuit of a previously chosen goal. Asking “why” should activate cognitive procedures involving deliberation over the pros and cons of a goal (why-mindset). This mode of thinking should spill over to subsequently pursued goals, with different consequences for goal striving guided by goal intentions and for goal striving guided by implementation intentions (if-then plans). As goal intentions guide behavior by effortful top-down action control processes motivated by the expected value of the desired outcomes, being in a why-mindset should induce defensive postdecisional deliberation and thereby promote goal pursuit. In contrast, implementation intentions guide behavior by automatic bottom-up action control processes triggered by the specified situational cues; in this case, being in a why-mindset should eliminate the effects implementation intentions have on goal pursuit. Performance on a handgrip self-control task (Study 1) as well as on a dual-task (simultaneous go/no-go task and tracking tasks; Study 2) supported these predictions: why-mindsets reinforced goal intention effects and impaired implementation intention effects on handgrip and dual-task performance. Implications for effective goal striving are discussed.

Subject (DDC)

150 Psychology

Cite This

ISO 690

WIEBER, Frank, Lisa A. SEZER, Peter M. GOLLWITZER, 2013. Asking "why" helps action control by goals but not plans. In: Motivation and Emotion. 38(1), pp. 65-78. ISSN 0146-7239. eISSN 1573-6644. Available under: doi: 10.1007/s11031-013-9364-3

BibTex

@article{Wieber2013Askin-26276,
  year={2013},
  doi={10.1007/s11031-013-9364-3},
  title={Asking "why" helps action control by goals but not plans},
  number={1},
  volume={38},
  issn={0146-7239},
  journal={Motivation and Emotion},
  pages={65--78},
  author={Wieber, Frank and Sezer, Lisa A. and Gollwitzer, Peter M.}
}

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Bibliography of Konstanz

Yes