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Goal Achievement: The Role of Intentions
Abstract
The intention-to-behavior process is analyzed with respect to implementation intentions. These intentions link an intended goal-directed behavior to an anticipated situational context. The reported experimental evidence suggests that implementation intentions create a heightened accessibility of the mental representation of the specified situational cues and induce direct (automatic) control of the intended behavior through these cues. The formation of implementation intentions promotes goal achievement through both of these processes because they eliminate classic problems associated with the control of goal-directed action. Similarities and differences to other theoretical approaches on intentions, planning, and action control are discussed.
... This article evaluates an intervention based on P. M. Gollwitzer's (1993) concept of implementation intentions. Women registered at a medical practice in rural England (N = 114) completed measures of the theory of planned behavior variables before a manipulation that induced one half of the sample to form implementation intentions specifying when, where, and how they would make the appointment Subsequent attendance was determined from medical records. ...
... For example, Orbell and Sheeran (1998) that only 43% of women who intended to attend for cervical screening actually did so during the following year. The aim of the present study is to address this problem using Gollwitzer's (1993;Gollwitzer & Brandstatter, 1997) concept of implementation intentions. In particular, we examine whether intentions to attend for cervical screening that have been supplemented by implementation intentions specifying when, where, and how the appointment will be made improves the likelihood of attendance. ...
... during which specific plans are made to ensure that one's decision is acted upon, is central to Gollwitzer's (1993) concept of implementation intentions. According to Gollwitzer (1990) and Heckhausen (1991), the motivational phase involves a subjective evaluation of the costs and benefits of performing the behavior which culminates in the development of a goal intention or decision to perform the behavior. ...
This article evaluates an intervention based on P. M. Gollwitzer's (1993) concept of implementation intentions. Women registered at a medical practice in rural England (N = 114) completed measures of the theory of planned behavior variables before a manipulation that induced one half of the sample to form implementation intentions specifying when, where, and how they would make the appointment. Subsequent attendance was determined from medical records. Findings show that the theory of planned behavior variables and previous delay behavior provided good prediction of attendance. However, despite equivalent motivation to attend, participants who formed implementation intentions were much more likely to attend for screening compared with controls (92% vs. 69%). Evidence also suggests that implementation intentions attenuated the relationship between previous delay behavior and subsequent attendance.
... Such efforts may shield the intention to perform the activity against tempting alternatives. In this respect, CCT is consistent with Gollwitzer's (Gollwitzer, 1990(Gollwitzer, , 1993Gollwitzer & Bayer, 1999;Gollwitzer & Brandstatter, 1997) mind-set theory and Kuhl's (Goschke & Kuhl, 1993;Kuhl, 1982Kuhl, , 1984Kuhl, , 1986Kuhl & Beckmann, 1985) action control theory. These self-regulation theories suggest that after choosing a course of action, people focus on how to effectively implement the chosen course of action and disregard or downplay alternatives (see also Brickman, 1987;Jones & Gerard, 1967). ...
How do anticipated short-term costs affect the likelihood of engaging in an activity that has long-term benefits. Five studies investigated the factors that determine (a) how anticipated short-term costs elicit self-control efforts and (b) how self-control efforts eventually diminish the influence of short-term costs on behavior. The studies manipulated short-term costs (e.g., painful medical procedures) and assessed a variety of self-control strategies (e.g., self-imposed penalties for failure to undergo a test). The results show that short-term costs elicit self-control strategies for self rather than others, before rather than after behavior, when long-term benefits are important rather than unimportant and when the costs are moderate rather than extremely small or large. The results also show that the self-control efforts help people act according to their long-term interests.
... It is not surprising that the theory of planned behavior cannot predict the speed of initiation of a behavior or the maintenance of that behavior over time when one considers that the theory is primarily a model of intention formation rather than a model that explains the translation of intentions into action (see, e.g., Abraham, Sheeran, & Johnson, 1998;Conner & Sparks, 1996;Kuhl, 1985;Norman & Conner, 1996b;. The present findings suggest that the theory may need to incorporate insights from implementation intentions (e.g., Gollwitzer, 1993Gollwitzer, , 1999 and analyses of the processes of change (e.g., Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983, 1984Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) in order to address these issues. Implementation intentions are a development of Leventhal's research that demonstrated the value of specifying where, when, and how one will perform a health behavior in increasing the likelihood of performance (e.g., Leventhal, Singer, & Jones, 1965;Leventhal, Watts, & Pagano, 1967). ...
This article tested the ability of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict patterns of behavior change associated with health screening. Attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions were used to predict objective measures of attendance 1 month and 13 months later among participants who had never previously been screened (N = 389). Findings showed that the TPB predicted attendance on each occasion and also predicted frequency of attendance. However, the model was unable to reliably distinguish among consistent attendees, participants who delayed attending, and participants who initially attended but relapsed. Thus, the TPB needs to be extended to understand behaviors that must be performed promptly and repeatedly for health benefits to accrue.
... This connects the goal to a situational context. In this way, intent that is not chronic but is furnished with commitment (thus linking a course of action and a context) has the activation of the intent passed to the context and relevant cues (that activate the goal directly) without any further conscious intent by the individual (Gollwitzer, 1993). A result would be that any person who chooses to reject a stereotype, not just chronically tolerant people, could control stereotype activation if their goals were enforced through plans and committed intentions (e.g., Gollwitzer, Schaal, Moskowitz, Hammelbeck, & Wasel, 1999;Moskowitz, in press). ...
This research shows stereotype activation is controlled by chronic egalitarian goals. In the first 2 studies it was found that the stereotype of women is equally available to individuals with and without chronic goals, and the discriminant validity of the concept of egalitarian goals was established. In the next 2 experiments, differences in stereotype activation as a function of this individual difference were found. In Study 3, participants read attributes following stereotypical primes. Facilitated response times to stereotypical attributes were found for nonchronics but not for chronics. This lack of facilitation occurred at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) where effortful correction processes could not operate, demonstrating preconscious control of stereotype activation due to chronic goals. In Study 4, inhibition of the stereotype was found at an SOA where effortful processes of stereotype suppression could not operate. The data reveal that goals are activated and used preconsciously to prevent stereotype activation, demonstrating both the controllability of stereotype activation and the implicit role of goals in cognitive control.
... In the absence of thought about the action that occurs just prior to its performance, even the most distant foresight would merely be premature and would do little to promote the feeling that one had willed the action. In line with this suggestion, Gollwitzer (1993) has proposed that actions intended far in advance to correspond with a triggering event (e.g., "I'll go when the light turns green") may then tend to occur automatically without conscious thought, and thus without a sense of volition, when the triggering event ensues. ...
The experience of willing an act arises from interpreting one's thought as the cause of the act. Conscious will is thus experienced as a function of the priority, consistency, and exclusivity of the thought about the action. The thought must occur before the action, be consistent with the action, and not be accompanied by other causes. An experiment illustrating the role of priority found that people can arrive at the mistaken belief that they have intentionally caused an action that in fact they were forced to perform when they are simply led to think about the action just before its occurrence.
Background
A volitional help sheet (VHS) is an intervention for promoting implementation intentions. This study was the first to test the effectiveness of a VHS for increasing university students' lecture attendance.
Aims
To develop a VHS to increase university students’ lecture attendance and test its effectiveness at increasing the proportion of lectures attended, and promoting the maintenance of lecture attendance, over an 11‐week teaching semester.
Sample and Method
One hundred and seventy‐eight undergraduate students enrolled in a psychology degree programme were allocated at random to a VHS or active control condition. Prior to intervention, measures of goal intention to attend lectures and trait conscientiousness were collected using self‐report, online questionnaires. Over the following 11‐week teaching semester, attendance at synchronous (live) online lectures was measured.
Results
The VHS condition attended a greater proportion of lectures and maintained their lecture attendance for longer than did the active control condition. These effects were not sensitive to underlying goal intentions, although the sample means on the measures of goal intention were approaching ceiling. Trait conscientiousness increased the effects of the VHS on the proportion of lectures attended.
Conclusions
VHSs constitute useful interventions for increasing and maintaining university students' lecture attendance.
This study aims to develop an interactive digital prototype to help students manage their finances. It explores mental accounting, student money management behavior, and creates design guidelines for personal financial management. By employing various research methods such as usability testing and eye-gaze tracking analysis, valuable insights are gathered to evaluate the effectiveness and user-friendliness of the digital prototype. The results demonstrate significant improvements achieved through the new design, enhancing user engagement and simplifying the process of financial management for students, making financial planning more enjoyable.
This paper is aimed at exploring the real reasons of “strong intention—weak action” in Internet entrepreneurship, excavating the key factors that affect the transformation of Internet entrepreneurial intention to Internet entrepreneurial behavior, and finally clarifying the transformation mechanism between Internet entrepreneurial intention and Internet entrepreneurial behavior. An integrated model of Internet entrepreneurial behavior was developed based on the basic idea of “intention-plan-behavior.” Based on the data collected from questionnaires, the factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis are used for conducting statistical tests on a sample of 778 records from China. It is shown from the results that (1) although there is an obvious “deviation” phenomenon between Internet entrepreneurial intention and Internet entrepreneurial behavior. However, compared with some individual trait variables, the Internet entrepreneurial intention still has a stronger predictor of the Internet entrepreneurial behavior. (2) The intermediary role of the Internet entrepreneurship implementation plan is significant, indicating that the transformation of Internet entrepreneurial intention into Internet entrepreneurial behavior should work through Internet entrepreneurship implementation plan, so the failure to implement the entrepreneurship implementation plan is the crux of the weak action under the strong intention. (3) Both entrepreneurial feasibility perception and entrepreneurial importance perception have a significant positive moderating effect on Internet entrepreneurship implementation plan, indicating that with the positive support of the moderating variables, the higher the possibility of individuals to carry out entrepreneurial actions. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen the entrepreneurial feasibility perception and entrepreneurial importance perception through multiple ways, so as to guide potential entrepreneurs to transform their entrepreneurial intention into entrepreneurial actions.
Der lange vernachlässigte Willensbegriff wird gegenwärtig in einigen Humanwissenschaften, vor allem in der Psychologie und Hirnphysiologie neu aufgegriffen. Dieser Band soll dazu beitragen, die alltägliche Erfahrungsvielfalt des Wollens wieder als einen Forschungsgegenstand aller Humanwissenschaften zu entdecken. Der erste Abschnitt behandelt das Wollen als einen Gegenstand vielfältiger Erfahrung, sei es in Gestalt geschichtlicher Ereignisse oder literarischer Zeugnisse, im Experiment oder schließlich im Spiegel bildhafter Vorstellungen. Die weiteren Abschnitte beschäftigen sich mit der Vorstellung vom Wollen in der Antike, der Philosophie des Willens sowie der Geschichte der Willenspsychologie. Neuansätze einer psychologischen Willenstheorie betreffen das Bilden von Absichten und ein vornahmegeleitetes Handeln ("Rubikon-Modell"). Abschließend werden pädagogische, psychotherapeutische, strafrechtliche, evolutionsbiologische und hirnphysiologische Forschungsansätze skizziert und diskutiert.
Two meta-analyses were conducted to Investigate the effectiveness of the Fishbein and Ajzen model in research to date. Strong overall evidence for the predictive utility of the model was found. Although numerous instances were identified in which researchers overstepped the boundary conditions initially proposed for the model, the predictive utility remained strong across conditions. However, three variables were proposed and found to moderate the effectiveness of the model. Suggested extensions to the model are discussed and general directions for future research are given.
Much effort has been made to understand the role of attention in perception; much less effort has been placed on the role attention plays in the control of action. Our goal in this chapter is to account for the role of attention in action, both when performance is automatic and when it is under deliberate conscious control. We propose a theoretical framework structured around the notion of a set of active schemas, organized according to the particular action sequences of which they are a part, awaiting the appropriate set of conditions so that they can become selected to control action. The analysis is therefore centered around actions, primarily external actions, but the same principles apply to internal actions—actions that involve only the cognitive processing mechanisms. One major emphasis in the study of attentional processes is the distinction between controlled and automatic processing of perceptual inputs (e.g., Shiffrin & Schneider, 1977). Our work here can be seen as complementary to the distinction between controlled and automatic processes: we examine action rather than perception; we emphasize the situations in which deliberate, conscious control of activity is desired rather than those that are automatic.
"It is not thought as such that can move anything, but thought which is for the sake of something and is practical." This discerning insight, which dates back more than 2000years to Aristotle, seems to have been ignored by most psycholo gists. For more than 40years theories of human action have assumed that cogni tion and action are merely two sides of the same coin. Approaches as different as S-O-R behaviorism,social learning theory, consistency theories,and expectancy value theories of motivation and decision making have one thing in common: they all assume that "thought (or any other type of cognition) can move any thing," that there is a direct path from cognition to behavior. In recent years, we have become more and more aware of the complexities in volved in the relationship between cognition and behavior. People do not always do what they intend to do. Aside from several nonpsychological factors capable of reducing cognition-behavior consistency, there seems to be a set of complex psychological mechanisms which intervene between action-related cognitions, such as beliefs, expectancies, values, and intentions,and the enactment of the be havior suggested by those cognitions. In our recent research we have focused on volitional mechanismus which presumably enhance cognition-behavior consistency by supporting the main tenance of activated intentions and prevent them from being pushed aside by competing action tendencies.
The translation of this volume has been a long and sometime arduous journey giving nearly literal meaning to the Latin term translatus, meaning to carry across. In fact, it required many journeys both geographically, between Canada and Germany, and fig uratively, between German and English language, thought, and culture; between the mind of a German professor and that of his American colleague. Whether or not it was all worthwhile must be left to the reader's judgment, but let me outline the rationale for embarking on this venture. When the first German edition of this book appeared in 1980 it was acclaimed not only by German scholars but by those outside the German-speaking community as well. In fact, it received extremely favorable reviews, even in English-language journals, which is unusual for a foreign text. It was recognized that this was far more than just another text book on motivation. For one thing, it exposed and examined the multi faceted roots that have contributed to contemporary theory and research in motivation. The author skillfully examined the motivational concepts, theories, and research that have emanated from many areas of psychology such as learning theory, social psychol ogy, personality, psychoanalysis, and clinical psychology.