motivation and goals

motivation includes

desires, wishes, affect goals

cognition includes

expectancies, beliefs, and thoughts

which system governs our behavior

they work in tandem

some ways motivation influences our cognition

motive to make quick decisions promotes the use of heuristics automatic processes (like primes) make certain motivations more or less accessible 

directional motivations 

motives are used to arrive at particular conclusions 

these cab be biased 

non directional motivation

motives to use particular strategies (like regulatory focus)

motives to be accurate

motives to attain closures

Goal systems theory (Kruglanski et al. 2002)

the cognitive properties of goal systems set constraints for how motivational properties are expressed

define goal systems as per goal systems theory

How multiple goals are organized affects how our motivations are expressed

goals can have equilfinity (one goal with multiple means) or multifinality (multiple goals achieved with few means)

provide an illustration of equilafinity versus multifinality goals with an example 

insert image 

equilifinity: one goal, many means. I want to get fit so I could go to the gym, go swimming, bike to work, etc.

multifinality: multiple goals achieved with one mean. By going to the gym, I will get fit, achieve mental clarity, reduce stress 

unconscious multifinality (chun et al, 2011)

participants were asked to chose between 4 types of socks in 2 conditions:

1. time constraint (goal: make a decision quickly)

2. accuracy( goal: make an accurate choice)

results: accuracy condition showed less of a right side bias

time pressures showed more right side bias

Chun et al 2011 study 2

looked at the effects of background goals on decisions

IV:

identification group: asked to recall a positive uni event, such as when their team made it NCAA final 4

disidentification: asked to recall negative event of school vandalism

particiapants then asked to rate the durability of 2 fabrics: red (school-color), and purple (unrelated control colour)

results: identification group showed better evals of red (associated with the school)

motivation cognition interface

Motivation and cognition are deeply interconnected. The goals you hold influence how you think, interpret, remember, and process information. In turn, your thinking determines which goals you activate and pursue

“Commitment Transfer” Study (Kruglanski et al., 2002)

Kruglanski and colleagues wanted to show that when a goal becomes linked to a means, the motivational value or commitment associated with one can “transfer” to the other 

participants were given a goal: eat healthy or do well academically

then, 1 group was asked to list a major way to achieve the goal, while another was asked to list 6 ways to achieve their goal

findings: the more goals they listed, the less goal comittment they showed

means can prime goals (Shah and kurglanski)

participants were told to complete an anagram task with a strategy (look at the first and last letter only)

IV: anagram condition

some were flashed the words “first-last” subliminally

some were flashed unrelated words

the idea was to prime the means

DV: test performance and reaction time to goal - related words (accessibility)

results:

1. the goal was more accessible when primed with the means

2. priming was not really relevant/statistically significant

Fischbach and Dhar study 1

looked at females participants who wanted to lose weight and their perspectives/difference in scales of their goal achievements

study 1: looked at a small scale. so people saw their actual weight was very far from their ideal weight. results showed less people went for the chocolate bar over apple

Fischbach and Dhar study 2

IV: participants measured either a certain goal commitment or goal progress

DV: would they pursue a different goal during the evening?

results: if they focused on goal progress, they would pursue different goals as they felt they already made progress

if they focused on goal commitment, they had more motivation to pursue the same goal

really shows just how important perception is

Fishbach et al intergoal associations and self control

look at notes