Strategic control over the unhelpful effects of primed social categories and goals
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In: Zeitschrift für Psychologie, Vol. 220, No. 3, 2012, p. 187-193.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Strategic control over the unhelpful effects of primed social categories and goals
AU - Webb, Thomas L.
AU - Sheeran, Paschal
AU - Gollwitzer, Peter M.
AU - Trötschel, Roman
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Social situations can, at times, have a detrimental influence on behavior (e.g., exposure to supermodels can make people dumb, certain social situations can prompt excessive alcohol consumption). Gaining control over such effects can be difficult because the situational influence often occurs outside conscious awareness. The present research investigates whether forming if-then plans or “implementation intentions” (Gollwitzer, 1999) can help people to strategically prevent unwanted social influences. Two experiments found that priming social categories (e.g., supermodels, Experiment 1) or social goals (e.g., socializing, Experiment 2) can have a detrimental impact on participants’ general knowledge (Experiment 1) and mental readiness to drink (Experiment 2), respectively. However, both experiments also showed that forming implementation intentions designed to ensure the effective mobilization of resources (Experiment 1) or to ignore temptation (Experiment 2) prevented social primes from influencing behavior. These findings suggest that if-then planning affords strategic control over unwanted social influences on action.
AB - Social situations can, at times, have a detrimental influence on behavior (e.g., exposure to supermodels can make people dumb, certain social situations can prompt excessive alcohol consumption). Gaining control over such effects can be difficult because the situational influence often occurs outside conscious awareness. The present research investigates whether forming if-then plans or “implementation intentions” (Gollwitzer, 1999) can help people to strategically prevent unwanted social influences. Two experiments found that priming social categories (e.g., supermodels, Experiment 1) or social goals (e.g., socializing, Experiment 2) can have a detrimental impact on participants’ general knowledge (Experiment 1) and mental readiness to drink (Experiment 2), respectively. However, both experiments also showed that forming implementation intentions designed to ensure the effective mobilization of resources (Experiment 1) or to ignore temptation (Experiment 2) prevented social primes from influencing behavior. These findings suggest that if-then planning affords strategic control over unwanted social influences on action.
KW - Psychology
U2 - 10.1027/2151-2604/a000112
DO - 10.1027/2151-2604/a000112
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 220
SP - 187
EP - 193
JO - Zeitschrift für Psychologie
JF - Zeitschrift für Psychologie
SN - 2190-8370
IS - 3
ER -