TY - JOUR

T1 - Alcohol myopia and goal commitment

AU - Sevincer, A. Timur

AU - Oettingen, Gabriele

PY - 2014/3/4

Y1 - 2014/3/4

N2 - According to alcohol myopia theory, acute alcohol consumption leads people to disproportionally focus on the salient rather than the peripheral aspects of a situation. We summarize various studies exploring how myopic processes resulting from acute alcohol intake affect goal commitment. After consuming alcohol student participants felt strongly committed to an important personal goal even though they had low expectations of successfully attaining the goal. However, once intoxicated participants were sober again (i.e., not myopic anymore) they failed to act on their goal commitment. In line with alcohol myopia theory, strong goal commitment as a result of alcohol intake was mediated by intoxicated (vs. sober) participants disproportionally focusing on the desirability rather than the feasibility of their goal. Further supporting alcohol myopia theory, when the low feasibility of attaining a particular goal was experimentally made salient (either explicitly or implicitly by subliminal priming), intoxicated participants felt less committed than those who consumed a placebo. We discuss these effects of acute alcohol intake in the context of research on the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on goal commitment.

AB - According to alcohol myopia theory, acute alcohol consumption leads people to disproportionally focus on the salient rather than the peripheral aspects of a situation. We summarize various studies exploring how myopic processes resulting from acute alcohol intake affect goal commitment. After consuming alcohol student participants felt strongly committed to an important personal goal even though they had low expectations of successfully attaining the goal. However, once intoxicated participants were sober again (i.e., not myopic anymore) they failed to act on their goal commitment. In line with alcohol myopia theory, strong goal commitment as a result of alcohol intake was mediated by intoxicated (vs. sober) participants disproportionally focusing on the desirability rather than the feasibility of their goal. Further supporting alcohol myopia theory, when the low feasibility of attaining a particular goal was experimentally made salient (either explicitly or implicitly by subliminal priming), intoxicated participants felt less committed than those who consumed a placebo. We discuss these effects of acute alcohol intake in the context of research on the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on goal commitment.

KW - Alcohol intake

KW - Alcohol myopia

KW - Desirability

KW - Expectations

KW - Feasibility

KW - Goal commitment

KW - Incentive value

KW - Motivation

KW - Psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84897936180&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/39300924-25ac-3f9f-9534-58ef2536bb31/

U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00169

DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00169

M3 - Comments / Debate / Reports

AN - SCOPUS:84897936180

VL - 5

JO - Frontiers in Psychology

JF - Frontiers in Psychology

SN - 1664-1078

IS - MAR

M1 - 169

ER -