Blocked goals, persistent action: Implementation intentions engender tenacious goal striving

Research on goal attainment has demonstrated that people are more likely to reach their goals when they form implementation intentions. Three experiments tested whether implementation intentions lead to tenacious goal striving following blockage of an initial attempt to reach the goal. In all three experiments some participants were instructed to form an implementation intention and other participants were not. Subsequently, the initial goal-directed attempt of all participants was unexpectedly blocked. Experiment 1 found that implementation intentions resulted in more attempts to realize one’s goal. Experiment 2 showed that when participants formed an implementation intention their repeated attempt was acted out as intensely as their first, blocked attempt. Experiment 3 found that implementation intentions still allow people to seize an alternative, more onerous means to realize their intention. These results imply that implementation intention conserve self-regulatory strength. After goal blockage, the remaining strength can be used to continue goal-directed action.     

The role of beliefs in goal dynamics: prolegomena to a constructive theory of intentions

In this article we strive to provide a detailed and principled analysis of the role of beliefs in goal processing—that is, the cognitive transition that leads from a mere desire to a proper intention. The resulting model of belief-based goal processing has also relevant consequences for the analysis of intentions, and constitutes the necessary core of a constructive theory of intentions, i.e. a framework that not only analyzes what an intention is, but also explains how it becomes what it is. We discuss similarities and differences between our approach and other standard accounts of intention, in particular Bratman’s planning theory. The aim here is to question and refine the conceptual foundations of many theories of intentional action: as a consequence, although our analysis is not formal in itself, it is ultimately meant to have deep consequences for formal models of intentional agency.     

The role of career adaptability in predicting entrepreneurial intentions: A moderated mediation model

Guided by the Career Construction Theory (Savickas, 2013), we view entrepreneurship as an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in a complex entrepreneurial career context. Our research model posited that individuals rely on their adaptive resources and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as they form entrepreneurial intentions. Career adaptability, as self-regulatory competencies, is further strengthened by prior exposure to family business. We collected data over three measurement periods from Serbian business students (n = 380) and validated the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). The moderated mediation model was supported and as predicted: (a) career adaptability was positively associated with entrepreneurial intentions and (b) the mediated relationship between career adaptability and entrepreneurial intentions via entrepreneurial self-efficacy was stronger for individuals with prior exposure to family business. In addition, we provide evidence for the psychometric properties of CAAS by examining its internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and factor structure. Taken together, our study offers the groundwork for understanding successful adaptation in the entrepreneurial career context and supports the cross-national measurement equivalence and utility of CAAS in a developing economy.     

Optimism,goals, and threats: How to conceptualize self-regulatory processes in the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors

Abstract

How individuals control themselves and their health behaviors can be better understood by examining their self-beliefs in terms of threats and goals. The distinction between self-regulatory threat appraisals and self-regulatory goal attainment may help to explain when individuals fall prey to defensive optimism and when they are guided by functional optimism. To underscore the notion of process-specific self-beliefs, a further distinction is made between goal-setting self-efficacy, action self-efficacy, coping self-efficacy, and recovery self-efficacy.     

Classroom climate and students' goal preferences: a cross-cultural comparison

Goal preferences indicate intentions to achieve or avoid particular states. We examined whether Curacaoan and Dutch students differ in goal preferences related to school and whether goal preferences are associated with students' evaluation of the classroom climate. Measurement invariance of the instruments was also tested between samples. Participants attended vocational high schools in Curacao ( N = 276) or in the Netherlands ( N = 283). Both the classroom climate and goal preferences differed between the samples. In the Netherlands the preference for individuality, belongingness, and recognition was stronger, whereas in Curacao mastery, satisfaction, self-determination, and material gain were more frequently endorsed. The two variables were modestly correlated. Schools do have a globalizing effect on students' school experiences and hardly adapt to goal preferences. The latter seem to be affected by non-school related cultural factors.     

Seasonal variation in pigeon body weight and delayed matching-to-sample performance

The weights of 5 pigeons with free access to food, monitored over 3 calendar years in the laboratory, were found to fluctuate with season. All pigeons were at their heaviest in the winter and were lightest in the summer. Five different pigeons performed a standard delayed matching-to-sample task for 44 weeks from January to November. Their weights were held at 85% of their summer free-feeding weights, making their predicted deprivation level higher in the winter relative to predicted winter free-feeding weights. Slopes of forgetting functions fit to weekly response totals for each pigeon were shallower in winter, showing an improvement in accuracy with longer delays. Thus, delayed matching-to-sample performance may have been affected by the practice of maintaining the pigeons at a constant body weight throughout the calendar year.     

Breaking and creating habits on the working floor: A field-experiment on the power of implementation intentions

Previous research has shown that implementation intentions are effective tools to promote new behavior. The present study aimed to provide the first evidence that conscious planning is an effective tool in replacing well-learned habits with new habits. This was tested in a field-experiment on repetitive behavior in the domain of recycling, using 109 employees of a tele-company as participants. Recycling behavior of the participants was observed by the actual amount of paper and the number of plastic cups in their personal wastebaskets. Following a pre-measure, participants were assigned to either implementation intention conditions, conditions in which an eye-catching facility was placed to promote recycling behavior, or control conditions. Recycling behavior was substantially improved in the facility as well as the implementation intention conditions in week 1 and week 2 and still 2 months after the manipulation. These data supported our hypothesis that planning breaks down unwanted habits and creates new ones.     

Inspired to get there: The effects of trait and goal inspiration on goal progress

The present investigation examined the effects of trait and goal inspiration on goal progress. Undergraduate students reported three goals they intended to pursue throughout the semester and completed measures of trait and goal inspiration as well as measures of personality traits. Participants then reported on goal progress three times at monthly intervals throughout the semester. Result showed that trait inspiration predicted goal progress, and that this effect was fully mediated by goal inspiration and held after controlling for the Big Five personality traits. Additional within-person analyses of goal inspiration showed that most of the variance in goal inspiration was due to between-person individual differences. Furthermore, analyses of the direction of causality between goal inspiration and goal progress revealed a bi-directional relationship. Discussion focused on the implications and future directions for research on inspiration.     

Challenging tasks: The role of employees' and supervisors' goal orientations

Research shows that challenging jobs stimulate employee learning and retention. Nevertheless, empirical knowledge on what influences the amount of challenging tasks employees perform in their job is lacking. In this study, we examined the extent to which the performance of challenging tasks is related to employees' and supervisors' goal orientations. We found a positive relationship between employees' mastery-approach orientation and the performance of challenging tasks. Furthermore, if supervisors had authority over the tasks of their employees, supervisors' goal orientations were related to employees' task challenge. Performing challenging tasks was negatively related to supervisors' performance-approach orientation and positively related to supervisors' performance-avoidance orientation.     

Challenging body weight: evidence from a community-based intervention on weight,behaviour and motivation

The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a 12 week weight loss intervention within a commercial fitness centre on body weight, moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), dietary intake, and behavioural regulations for exercise and healthy eating. Using a quasi-experimental design, the intervention group received weekly coaching sessions and bi-weekly seminars designed to increase MVPA and improve dietary intake. Outcome variables were assessed at three time points over a six month period. Results showed a significant interaction for body weight (p = .04) and dietary changes (p < .05) following the weight loss challenge but were not maintained across the six month period. Changes in behavioural regulations favoured the intervention condition. Results imply that a 12 week weight loss challenge within a commercial fitness centre may be effective at prompting short-term weight loss and support the internalization of behavioural regulations specific to healthy eating and exercise.     

Using Mental Imagery to Enhance the Effectiveness of Implementation Intentions

Past research shows that forming implementation intentions increases the probability of carrying out goals. The present research proposes that mental imagery can strengthen the effects of implementation intentions on goal achievement. Participants were assigned a mundane goal and were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: implementation intentions only or implementation intentions plus mental imagery. Results support the hypothesis that using mental imagery when forming implementation intentions leads to higher rates of goal achievement.     

The effects of "thin ideal" media on women's body image concerns and eating-related intentions: the beneficial role of an autonomous regulation of eating behaviors

The present study examines the protective role of an autonomous regulation of eating behaviors (AREB) on the relationship between trait body dissatisfaction and women's body image concerns and eating-related intentions in response to “thin ideal” media. Undergraduate women (n = 138) were randomly assigned to view a “thin ideal” video or a neutral video. As hypothesized, trait body dissatisfaction predicted more negative affect and size dissatisfaction following exposure to the “thin ideal” video among women who displayed less AREB. Conversely, trait body dissatisfaction predicted greater intentions to monitor food intake and limit unhealthy foods following exposure to the “thin ideal” video among women who displayed more AREB.     

5, 7-dihydroxytryptamine lesions: Effects on body weight,irritability, and muricide

Forty-four male rats were subjected to injections of 5,7dhydroxytryptamine (40 μg/4 μ1) in the ascending 5-hydroxytryptamine projection or control operations. The injections resulted in depletion of forebrain 5-hydroxytryptamine, weight loss, irritability, and muricide. No significant correlations were found between any of these effects. It is suggested that the neural systems mediating regulation of body weight and muricide are substantially distinct.     

Mental contrasting with implementation intentions enhances self-regulation of goal pursuit in schoolchildren at risk for ADHD

Self-regulation is an important prerequisite for successful academic achievement, particularly for children who are at risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We taught Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII), a technique that is known to facilitate the self-regulation of goal pursuit, to schoolchildren (sixth- and seventh-graders) both at risk and not at risk for ADHD. Parents rated their children’s level of self-regulation 2 weeks after the intervention. Children at risk and not at risk benefited from MCII more than from a learning style intervention only and the benefits of MCII were particularly strong for children at risk for ADHD. The results have implications with respect to supporting children’s self-regulation in their everyday school lives.     

From health beliefs to self-regulation: Theoretical advances in the psychology of action control

Abstract

The paper reviews the theoretical concepts included in a range of social cognitive models which have identified psychological antecedents of individual motivation and behaviour. Areas of correspondence are noted and core constructs (derived primarily from the theory of planned behaviour and social cognitive theory) are identified. The role of intention formation, self-efficacy beliefs, attitudes, normative beliefs and self-representations are highlighted and it is argued that these constructs provide a useful framework for modelling the psychological prerequisites of health behaviour. Acknowledging that intentions do not translate into action automatically, recent advances in our understanding of the ways in which prior planning and rehearsal can enhance individual control of action and facilitate the routinisation of behaviour are considered. The importance of engaging in preparatory behaviours for the achievement of many health goals is discussed and the processes by which goals are prioritised, including their links to self-representations, are explored. The implications of social cognitive and self-regulatory theories for the cognitive assessment of individual readiness for action and for intervention design in health-related settings are highlighted.     

Changing the body image concern and eating behaviour of chronic dieters: The effects of a psychoeducational intervention

Abstract

A program designed to diminish body image concern and to normalise the eating of chronic dieters was evaluated experimentally and by monitoring outcomes for 12 months. The subjects were 82 females (mean age 44.4 years, mean BMI 31.4). Data from repeated measures of eating style, self-esteem and body shape concern revealed a strong, positive and enduring intervention effect. At 12 months the majority (86%) of the subjects were not dieting and 73% reported “sometimes” or “often” engaging in natural eating, i.e., unrestrained and physiologically cued eating. A positive relationship was found between extent of natural eating and the likelihood of weight loss or weight maintenance. It is concluded that female dieters can derive considerable benefits from programs promoting natural eating.     

The impact of associative strength on performance in goal pursuit

The present research explored the hypothesis that strengthened attainment means–goal association leads to enhanced performance in goal pursuit. We hypothesize that because of the instrumental nature of means–goal association, strengthened associative strength leads to greater instrumentality expectancy of the means, which elicits greater motivation in the pursuit and hence better actual performance. We demonstrated in four studies that when the means is believed to facilitate goal attainment, a strong (vs. weak) means–goal association leads to greater performance in goal pursuit. Conversely, when the means is perceived to undermine goal attainment, a strong (vs. weak) association results in worse performance in goal pursuit.     

Self-regulation of unattainable goals in suicide attempters: The relationship between goal disengagement, goal reengagement and suicidal ideation

There is growing interest in models of adaptive self-regulation. Recent research suggests that goal disengagement and goal reengagement (i.e., goal adjustment) are implicated in the self-regulation of emotion. This study extends the self-regulation research to investigate the utility of goal adjustment in understanding suicidal risk. To this end, two hundred adults hospitalised following a suicidal episode completed a range of clinical and psychological measures in hospital and were followed up approximately 2.5 months after discharge (Time 2). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that goal reengagement predicted suicidal ideation at Time 2. In addition, the lack of goal reengagement was especially pernicious when reported concomitantly with high disengagement. These predictive effects were independent of baseline mood, attempt status and suicidal intent. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.