The Automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • John A. Bargh
  • Peter M. Gollwitzer
  • Annette Lee-Chai
  • Kimberly Barndollar
  • Roman Trötschel
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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume81
Issue number6
Pages (from-to)1014-1027
Number of pages14
ISSN0022-3514
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12.2001
Externally publishedYes

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