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The interplay between goal intentions and implementation intentions.

Paschal Sheeran1, Thomas L Webb, Peter M Gollwitzer

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TP, UK. p.sheeran@sheffield.ac.uk

Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin
|December 3, 2004
PubMed
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Implementation intentions enhance goal achievement, but only when the underlying goal is strong and activated. This research shows action control depends on the status of your main goals.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Social Psychology

Background:

  • Implementation intentions are specific plans to enact a behavior.
  • Action control is crucial for goal achievement.
  • The role of underlying goal states in implementation intention effectiveness is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if action control via implementation intentions is influenced by the strength and activation of goal intentions.
  • To determine the conditions under which implementation intentions effectively support goal attainment.

Main Methods:

  • Study 1: Participants formed implementation intentions and their goal intention strength was measured.
  • Study 2: Participants' task-relevant goals were activated subliminally.
  • Both studies assessed goal attainment rates and performance.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • A significant interaction was found between implementation intentions and goal intention strength.
  • Implementation intentions improved goal attainment only for strong goal intentions.
  • Implementation intentions affected performance solely when the relevant goal was activated, even unconsciously.

Conclusions:

  • Action control through implementation intentions is contingent upon the state of the superordinate goal.
  • Both the strength and activation level of goal intentions modulate the effectiveness of implementation intentions.
  • These findings clarify the interplay between goal intentions and the strategies used for goal pursuit.