On Evaluative Readiness for Goal Pursuit: Testing Theoretical and Practical Questions of Breadth, Mechanism, and Causal Impact on Behavior

人类行为中最古老的谜团之一是关于人们何时以及为什么能够成功地坚持他们最重要的目标。例如，能够戒烟、不暴饮暴食或留在学校的人与不能这样做的人有什么区别？本研究项目包括3个实验，重点关注无意识心理过程在成功的自我控制行为中的作用。第一个实验考察了什么时候一个目标(例如，保持健康和苗条)可能会增加人们对可能损害该目标的活动或行为的负面评价(例如，高脂肪和不健康的食物)。第二个实验的重点是目标如何导致人们对刺激的评价发生这种变化，从而可能影响对目标的追求。第三个实验考察是否有可能通过实验改变人们的无意识心理过程，以提高他们坚持他们认为对他们来说最重要的目标的能力。这一建议的一个基本优点是，它研究了无意识心理过程在成功自我控制中的作用。通过解决目标如何以及何时改变人们对周围刺激的评价等关键问题，这项工作有可能显著改变该领域对有效自我控制的理解。此外，这项研究的发现可能会为开发新的干预和治疗方法来提高人们的自控力提供参考。

One of the oldest mysteries of human behavior concerns when and why people are able to stick successfully to their most important goals. For example, what distinguishes the person who is able to give up smoking, or refrain from overeating, or stay in school from someone is unable to do so? This research project, which includes 3 experiments, focuses specifically on the role of non-conscious mental processes in successful self-control behavior. The first experiment examines when a goal (e.g., staying healthy and thin) might increase people's negative evaluations of activities or behaviors that would compromise the goal (e.g., fatty and unhealthy foods). The second experiment focuses on how a goal leads to such changes in people's evaluations of stimuli that might influence the pursuit of the goal. The third experiment examines whether it is possible to experimentally alter people's non-conscious mental processes in order to improve their ability to stick to the goals they identify as most important to them. A fundamental strength of this proposal is that it examines the role of non-conscious mental processes in successful self-control. By addressing key questions about how and when goals change people's evaluations of the stimuli around them, this work has the potential to significantly transform the field's understanding of effective self-control. In addition, findings from this research are likely to inform the development of new interventions and therapies for improving people's self-control.