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Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals

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Abstract

Unfulfilled goals persist in the mind, as asserted by ample theory and evidence (e.g., the Zeigarnik effect). The standard assumption has been that such cognitive activation persists until the goal is fulfilled. However, we predicted that contributing to goal pursuit through plan making could satisfy the various cognitive processes that usually promote goal pursuit. In several studies, we activated unfulfilled goals and demonstrated persistent goal activation over time. Unfinished goals caused intrusive thoughts during an unrelated reading task (Studies 1 and 5B), high mental accessibility of goal-related words (Studies 2 and 3), and poor performance on an unrelated anagram task (Study 4). Allowing participants to formulate specific plans for their unfulfilled goals eliminated the various activation and interference effects. Reduction of the effects was mediated by the earnestness of participants' plans: Those who ultimately executed their plans were those who also exhibited no more intrusions (Study 4). Moreover, changes in goal-related emotions did not appear to be a necessary component of the observed cognitive effects (Studies 5A and 5B). Committing to a specific plan for a goal may therefore not only facilitate attainment of the goal but may also free cognitive resources for other pursuits. Once a plan is made, the drive to attain a goal is suspended--allowing goal-related cognitive activity to cease--and is resumed at the specified later time.
Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of
Unfulfilled Goals
E. J. Masicampo and Roy F. Baumeister
Florida State University
Unfulfilled goals persist in the mind, as asserted by ample theory and evidence (e.g., the Zeigarnik
effect). The standard assumption has been that such cognitive activation persists until the goal is fulfilled.
However, we predicted that contributing to goal pursuit through plan making could satisfy the various
cognitive processes that usually promote goal pursuit. In several studies, we activated unfulfilled goals
and demonstrated persistent goal activation over time. Unfinished goals caused intrusive thoughts during
an unrelated reading task (Studies 1 and 5B), high mental accessibility of goal-related words (Studies 2
and 3), and poor performance on an unrelated anagram task (Study 4). Allowing participants to formulate
specific plans for their unfulfilled goals eliminated the various activation and interference effects.
Reduction of the effects was mediated by the earnestness of participants’ plans: Those who ultimately
executed their plans were those who also exhibited no more intrusions (Study 4). Moreover, changes in
goal-related emotions did not appear to be a necessary component of the observed cognitive effects
(Studies 5A and 5B). Committing to a specific plan for a goal may therefore not only facilitate attainment
of the goal but may also free cognitive resources for other pursuits. Once a plan is made, the drive to
attain a goal is suspended—allowing goal-related cognitive activity to cease—and is resumed at the
specified later time.
Keywords: goal pursuit, self-regulation, plan making, motivation
Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024192.supp
The human mind is remarkably well designed for goal pursuit.
Attention (Moskowitz, 2002), perception (Bruner & Goodman,
1947; Lambert, Solomon, & Watson, 1949; Maner et al., 2005),
thoughts (Klinger, 1977), and attitudes (Ferguson & Bargh, 2004)
all become tuned to help one pursue a goal. The mind vigorously
promotes this intense focus on a goal, protecting it from distrac-
tions (Shah, Friedman, & Kruglanski, 2002) and resuming it after
it has been interrupted (Wicklund & Gollwitzer, 1981). Even when
one is not consciously working toward a goal, the mind keeps the
goal active in the unconscious (Klinger, 1975; Zeigarnik, 1927),
maintaining vigilance for opportunities to fulfill it (Goschke &
Kuhl, 1993; Moskowitz, 2002).
Thus, once a goal is chosen, the mind has many processes to
promote its pursuit. At what point do these subside? The obvious
answer is that they cease when the goal is attained. This has been
favored in theories of goal pursuit (Klinger, 1975) and has found
support in empirical research (Fo¨rster, Liberman, & Higgins,
2005). However, the present investigation tested the hypothesis
that many goal promotion processes cease long before attainment,
in particular, when a plan is made.
Planning has been studied recently in the form of implementa-
tion intentions, which are highly specific prescriptions for what to
do under what circumstances (Gollwitzer, 1999). Such plans turn
control of goal pursuit over to automatic, unconscious processes,
which can resume goal pursuit at the appropriate time or place
specified in the plan. Once a plan is made, the unconscious knows
how and when to act, and so in a sense the uncertainty of the
unfinished task is resolved. The implication for the current work is
that a plan may render many of the cognitive activities related to
the goal unnecessary. We hypothesized that making a plan for a
goal would therefore stop various goal-related cognitive processes,
even though the goal remains unfulfilled.
Making Plans for Action
If most human behavior were guided by one or two goals, it
might be effective for mental processes to promote each goal until
attainment. But at any given time, the average North American
student reports 15 ongoing personal projects (Little, 1988), not to
mention the more short-term goals, such as getting dressed and
brushing teeth. Even if the unconscious mind has the capacity to
promote all 15 goals simultaneously (Dijksterhuis, Aarts, & Smith,
2005), the limited resources of the executive function cannot
pursue multiple goals at once (James, 1890). Even more important,
when the executive is working toward one goal, it cannot function
effectively if it is frequently bombarded with distracting reminders
This article was published Online First June 20, 2011.
E. J. Masicampo and Roy F. Baumeister, Department of Psychology,
Florida State University.
This research was supported in part by a grant from the Templeton
Foundation. Thanks to Teresa Chimienti, Samantha Fisch, Kaylla Futch,
Shaun Harkin, Mike Hoesten, Kelsey Muldoon, Maggie Murphy, Jessica
Patz, Allison Ross, Kayla Sedgwick, Erin Sweeney, and Chris Thorstenson
for their suggestions and help with data collection.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to E. J.
Masicampo, who is now at the Department of Psychology, Tufts Univer-
sity, Medford, MA 02155. E-mail: ej.masicampo@tufts.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology © 2011 American Psychological Association
2011, Vol. 101, No. 4, 667–683 0022-3514/11/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0024192
667
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