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The dilution model: how additional goals undermine the perceived instrumentality of a shared path
Ying Zhang1, Ayelet Fishbach, Arie W Kruglanski
1Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. ying@chicagogsb.edu
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|March 14, 2007
Summary
When one action serves multiple goals, its perceived effectiveness decreases. This self-regulation model shows that shared means reduce motivation for individual goal pursuit.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Self-regulation involves managing behaviors to achieve goals.
- Individuals often pursue multiple goals simultaneously.
- The effectiveness of a chosen behavior can be influenced by its perceived instrumentality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test a dilution model of self-regulation.
- To investigate how the number of goals a single means satisfies affects perceived instrumentality.
- To understand how this impacts goal pursuit and choice.
Main Methods:
- Six experiments were conducted.
- Participants' perceptions of means-goal instrumentality were measured.
- The number of simultaneous goals a single means could satisfy was manipulated.
Main Results:
- Increasing the number of goals a single means satisfies weakens its perceived instrumentality for each goal.
- Shared means showed reduced associative strength with individual goals.
- Means connected to multiple goals were less likely to be chosen when only one goal was activated.
Conclusions:
- A single means becomes diluted when it serves multiple goals.
- Perceived effectiveness of a means decreases as it is linked to more goals.
- This dilution effect impacts behavioral choices in goal-directed behavior.
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