Intention beyond desire: Spontaneous intentional commitment regulates conflicting desires.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Decision-Making

Background:

• The human mind navigates internal conflicts between multiple desires.
• Classical desire theory posits rational action via utility maximization across all desires.
• Intention theory proposes intentional commitment as a mechanism to regulate conflicting desires and guide action planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether humans spontaneously form intentions and exhibit unique behaviors beyond pure desire-driven actions.
• To identify distinct signatures of intentional commitment in human decision-making processes.
• To differentiate intention from desire as a fundamental mental state.

Main Methods:

• Participants engaged in 2D navigation games with dual, equally desirable destinations.
• Researchers analyzed critical navigation moments to identify behavioral patterns.
• Four experiments were conducted to systematically test for intentional commitment signatures.

Main Results:

• Identified "goal perseverance": sustained pursuit of an intention despite suboptimal outcomes.
• "Self-binding" observed: proactive avoidance of paths offering numerous future options.
• "Temporal leap" demonstrated: commitment to distant goals before proximal ones are met.
• These signatures were distinct from purely desire-driven agent behavior.

Conclusions:

• Humans spontaneously form intentions, employing committed plans to shield actions from conflicting desires.
• Intentions represent a mental state distinct from mere desire.
• Intentions may serve to reduce cognitive load and enhance action predictability for observers.