Egalitarian goals trigger stereotype inhibition: A proactive form of stereotype control

Stereotype activation is often described as beyond control, unable to be prevented by willing it or engaging the self-regulatory system. Four experiments illustrate that this initial stage of the stereotyping process is controllable. Stereotypes are shown to be implicitly inhibited as part of a goal shielding process. In each experiment, egalitarian goals are triggered through a task in which participants contemplate a past failure at being egalitarian to African American men. This is followed in each experiment by a task that measures stereotype activation/inhibition using reaction times to words (either control words or stereotype-relevant words) that follow the presentation of either faces of Black or White men. The first two experiments examine participants with egalitarian goals versus those with a control goal, whereas the last two experiments examine people with egalitarian goals versus those whose egalitarian strivings have been satisfied (by contemplating success at being egalitarian). Only participants with egalitarian goals exhibit stereotype inhibition, and this occurs despite the fact that they lack awareness of the inhibition and lack the conscious intent to inhibit stereotypes at the time the response is made.     

Audiovisual semantic interference and attention: Evidence from the attentional blink paradigm

In the present study we investigate the role of attention in audiovisual semantic interference, by using an attentional blink paradigm. Participants were asked to make an unspeeded response to the identity of a visual target letter. This target letter was preceded at various SOAs by a synchronized audiovisual letter-pair, which was either congruent (e.g. hearing an “F” and viewing an “F”) or incongruent (e.g. hearing an “F” and viewing a “Z”). In Experiment 1, participants were asked to match the members of the audiovisual letter-pair. In Experiment 2, participants were asked to ignore the synchronized audiovisual letter-pairs altogether and only report the visual target. In Experiment 3, participants were asked to identify only one of the audiovisual letters (identify the auditory letter, and ignore the synchronized visual letter, or vice versa). An attentional blink was found in all three experiments indicating that the audiovisual letter-pairs were processed. However, a congruency effect on subsequent target detection was observed in Experiments 1 and 3, but not in Experiment 2. The results indicate that attention to the semantic contents of at least one modality is necessary to establish audiovisual semantic interference.     

Preconscious effects of temporary goals on attention

Two experiments examined whether accessible goals preconsciously direct selective attention. Goal activation was manipulated by one's goal pursuit being either undermined or affirmed (resulting in an experienced state of either incompleteness or completeness). Attention responses were assessed through a Stroop-like task (Experiment 1) and a response-time task in which participants indicated a stimulus' direction of motion (Experiment 2). Results showed that when goals were accessible, attention was drawn toward goal-relevant items—even when these items were to be ignored and when responses occurred too fast for conscious control. Accessible goals directed implicit cognition (i.e., attention toward stimuli associated with the goal), despite the fact that these goals were not chronically held, but manipulated in the lab.     

Vicarious goal satiation

A signature feature of self-regulation is that once a goal is satiated, it becomes deactivated, thereby allowing people to engage in new pursuits. The present experiments provide evidence for vicarious goal satiation, a novel phenomenon in which individuals experience “post-completion goal satiation” as a result of unwittingly taking on another person's goal pursuit and witnessing its completion. In Experiments 1 and 2, the observation of a goal being completed (vs. not completed) led to less striving by the observer on the same task. Given that an actor's strength of commitment affects goal contagion, we hypothesized that such commitment would be an important boundary condition for vicarious goal satiation. The results of Experiment 2 showed that observing stronger (vs. weaker) goal commitment lowered accessibility of goal-related words, but only when the goal being observed was completed. Implications of vicarious goal satiation for goal pursuit in everyday environments are discussed.     

In search of the nonconscious sources of goal pursuit: Accessibility and positive affective valence of the goal state

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that the mere priming of the representation of a goal state motivates people to pursue this state to the extent that it is associated with positive affect. In Experiment 1, all participants completed an affective priming task in which the goal concept of “socializing” was primed and tested for positive valence. Subsequently, they were given an instrumental task which provided the opportunity to pursue that state. It was established that participants put more effort in the task to attain the primed goal state when the implicitly assessed affective valence of the state was more positive. Experiment 2 replicated and extended these effects by showing that a stronger association of the goal state with positive affect—as assessed by the EAST—led to more effort to attain the state, but only when “socializing” was primed.     

执行意向对目标达成的促进及其作用过程

执行意向,也被称为“如果—那么”计划,是指将一个预期的情境与一个确定的目标定向行为联系起来,明确说明了个体在什么时间、地点以及如何追求一个特定目标的计划.大量的实验室和现场实验研究发现,执行意向能有效促进目标的达成.执行意向中“如果”成分使得预期情境线索的心理表征高度激活;而“那么”成分使得计划中的反应得以自动实施.这两个假设的认知过程已被证实,并且在执行意向影响目标达成过程中起到中介作用.在未来的研究中除了将其与动机理论进行整合以及更深入地去探讨其心理机制之外,还要积极进行本土化的实证研究.     

Support for harmful treatment and reduction of empathy toward blacks: “Remnants” of stereotype activation involving Hurricane Katrina and “Lil’ Kim”

Two experiments involving White participants tested the influence of media-based Black stereotypes on subsequent responses to Black and White persons-in-need. Experiment 1 showed that priming the “Black criminal” stereotype through exposure to photographs of Blacks looting after Hurricane Katrina produced greater application of the criminal stereotype and support for harmful treatment toward Black evacuees-in-need (i.e., police firing gun shots directly over evacuees’ heads) relative to control conditions. Experiment 2 showed that priming the “promiscuous Black female” stereotype through exposure to sexual rap music elicited greater application of the promiscuity stereotype and reduced empathy for a Black pregnant woman-in-need relative to control conditions. The influence of priming Black stereotypes through media exposure on support for harmful treatment and empathic responses was mediated by stereotypical attributions.     

Implicit volition and stereotype control

Goals are mental representations that vary in accessibility and operate within goal systems. The implicit nature of goal activation and pursuit is shown here to make goals effective not merely at overturning the influence of an activated stereotype on how people respond to members of stereotyped groups, but effective at implicitly controlling the activation of stereotypes in the first place. In a set of experiments examining chronic egalitarian goals, faces and names of members of stereotyped groups presented as target stimuli led to the inhibition of stereotypes, as well as to the heightened accessibility of egalitarian goals. A separate set of experiments illustrate a similar ability of individuals to control stereotype activation when egalitarian goals are temporarily triggered within a context, rather than being chronically held. Goals that require one to inhibit stereotypic associations to a target can lead to the intended, yet implicit, control of stereotype activation, even when one is not aware the goal is active or being pursued or being regulated.     

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

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.     

Goal setting in teams: The impact of learning and performance goals on process and performance

This study examined the impact of three alternative types of goals (specific learning, general “do your best” learning, and specific performance) on team performance. Eighty-four-person teams engaged in an interdependent command and control simulation in which the team goal and task complexity were manipulated. Contrary to research at the individual level, teams with specific learning goals performed worse than did teams with general “do your best” learning goals or specific performance goals. The negative effects of specific learning goals relative to general “do your best” learning goals and specific performance goals were amplified under conditions of increased task complexity and were explained by the amount of coordination in the teams.     

A preference for genuine smiles following social exclusion

Research indicates that rejected individuals are better than others at discriminating between genuine (Duchenne) and deceptive (non-Duchenne) smiles (i.e., true versus false signals of affiliative opportunity). We hypothesized that rejected individuals would show a greater preference to work with individuals displaying Duchenne versus non-Duchenne smiles. To test this, participants wrote essays about experiences of inclusion, exclusion, or mundane events. They then saw a series of 20 videos of smiling individuals (10 with Duchenne and 10 with non-Duchenne smiles). Participants then indicated how much they would like to work with each target. Analyses revealed that compared to included and control participants, excluded individuals showed a greater preference to work with individuals displaying “real” as opposed to “fake” smiles. This effect was partially mediated by threats to “relational needs” (Williams, 2007) and fully mediated by threats to self-esteem. These results suggest that exclusion yields adaptive responses that could facilitate reconnection with others.     

Behavioral cues to others’ motivation and goal pursuits: The perception of effort facilitates goal inference and contagion

Recent research demonstrates that people spontaneously, i.e., without conscious intent, infer and pursue the goals perceived in others’ behavior, a phenomenon termed goal contagion [Aarts, H., Gollwitzer, P., & Hassin, R. R. (2004). Goal contagion: perceiving is for pursuing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 23-27]. Three experiments extend this work by studying the basic role of perceived behavioral effort in goal inference and pursuit. In an adaptation of the Animated Film Technique, participants were exposed to a movie featuring movements of a ball that implied the goal of helping. The amount of effort in pursuing the implied goal was experimentally varied. Results showed that an increase in perceived effort led to stronger inferences of the implied goal, as was established by enhanced accessibility of the goal representation in a word completion and lexical decision task. Furthermore, as a result of these inferences, participants more strongly pursued the inferred goal of helping. Implications for research on goal inferences and pursuit are briefly discussed.     

To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

The present experiment investigated cognitive and behavioral effects of planning (i.e. forming implementation intentions) on goal pursuit during the performance of mundane behaviors. Participants received the goal to collect a coupon halfway the hall from the lab to the cafeteria. Later, they were also given the task to go from the lab to the cafeteria. Thus participants had to attain a new goal by interrupting a mundane behavior. Some participants enriched their goal with implementation intentions, others did not. Results showed that participants who formed implementation intentions were more effective in goal pursuit than the control group. Importantly, the data suggest that the effects of planning on goal completion are mediated by a heightened mental accessibility of environmental cues related to the goal completion task. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonconscious relationship reactance: When significant others prime opposing goals

Individuals nonconsciously and unintentionally pursue goals they associate with relationship partners ( [Fitzsimons and Bargh, 2003] and [Shah, 2003]). Here, we demonstrate conditions under which individuals nonconsciously and unintentionally reject goals they associate with relationship partners and instead pursue opposing goals. In Experiment 1, participants were subliminally primed with the name of a controlling significant other who had a particular goal for them. Without awareness or intent, participants pursued a goal that directly opposed their significant other’s wishes. In Experiment 2, chronic reactance was shown to moderate this effect: Low-reactant individuals adopted a subliminally primed significant other’s goal, whereas high-reactant individuals pursued an opposing goal. This research suggests that in response to controlling significant others and among chronically reactant individuals, the nonconscious activation of relational representations can automatically elicit oppositional goal pursuits, even when pursuit of an oppositional goal results in a personally suboptimal outcome.     

Enactment of approach and avoidance behavior influences the scope of perceptual and conceptual attention

In this study, we tested the hypothesis, derived from the theorizing of Derryberry and Tucker (1994), that the mere enactment of approach or avoidance behavior, without concomitant pursuit of personal approach or avoidance goals, can independently moderate the scope (i.e., breadth or narrowness) of attention on both the perceptual and conceptual levels. Specifically, we predicted that enactment of approach behavior would broaden attentional scope, engendering a focus upon global perceptual structure and facilitating conceptual access to mental representations with lower a priori accessibility, whereas enactment of avoidance behavior would constrict attentional scope, engendering a focus upon local perceptual details and “choking off” conceptual access to mental representations with lower a priori accessibility. These hypotheses were borne out in three experiments, using two different manipulations of approach vs. avoidance actions.     

自我肯定方式降低高威胁后的消极情绪

通过两个研究考察肯定内部核心品质和肯定外部成就两种不同自我肯定方式对威胁后个体的影响。研究1发现,无论高威胁还是低威胁情境下,选择内部自我肯定的被试均显著多于选择外部自我肯定的被试。研究2发现,内部自我肯定能够在边缘显著水平上降低高威胁感知被试的自我消极情绪,并能够显著降低高威胁感知被试的一般消极情绪,而外部自我肯定不能达到相似效果。上述结果表明,无论在高威胁还是低威胁情境下,个体都更倾向于选择内部自我肯定;与外部自我肯定相比,内部自我肯定对降低个体高威胁情境下的消极情绪有积极作用。     

When opportunity knocks: bottom-up priming of goals by means and its effects on self-regulation

Four studies using general attribute goals or specific task goals revealed that attainment means cognitively activate the goals they are perceived to serve. A range of means replicated this effect including goal-directed activities, specific behavioral strategies, or opportunities, assumed to afford effective goal pursuit. The increased accessibility of a currently pursued goal due to "bottom-up" priming by its attainment means improved task persistence and performance, whereas a similarly increased accessibility of a competing goal impeded task persistence and performance.     

Intention formation induces episodic inhibition of distracting stimuli

In two experiments we show that (a) distracting stimuli are inhibited after intention formation, (b) this inhibition is episodic rather than semantic in nature, and (c) inhibition of distracting stimuli is terminated once intentions are completed. In both experiments participants were asked to form an intention to press the space bar in response to six cues (i.e. intention cues). After intention formation we measured accessibility of intention cues, of words that are semantically related to the intention cues (i.e. related cues) and of semantically unrelated words (i.e. control cues). In Experiment 1, we obtained slower responses towards related cues compared with both intention cues and control cues in a recognition task, but not in a lexical decision task. In Experiment 2, we showed that inhibition of related cues is terminated after intention completion. Together these results are consistent with theorizing that inhibition of distracting (i.e. related) stimuli is functional for completing previously formed intentions, and give insight in the nature of inhibitory processes during goal pursuit.     

Sinning Saints and Saintly Sinners: The Paradox of Moral Self-Regulation

ABSTRACT— The question of why people are motivated to act altruistically has been an important one for centuries, and across various disciplines. Drawing on previous research on moral regulation, we propose a framework suggesting that moral (or immoral) behavior can result from an internal balancing of moral self-worth and the cost inherent in altruistic behavior. In Experiment 1 , participants were asked to write a self-relevant story containing words referring to either positive or negative traits. Participants who wrote a story referring to the positive traits donated one fifth as much as those who wrote a story referring to the negative traits. In Experiment 2 , we showed that this effect was due specifically to a change in the self-concept. In Experiment 3 , we replicated these findings and extended them to cooperative behavior in environmental decision making. We suggest that affirming a moral identity leads people to feel licensed to act immorally. However, when moral identity is threatened, moral behavior is a means to regain some lost self-worth.