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

人类行为最古老的谜团之一是，人们何时以及为什么能够成功地坚持自己最重要的目标。例如，一个人能够戒烟，或者控制暴饮暴食，或者留在学校，而另一个人不能做到这一点，这有什么区别呢？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。第一个实验检验一个目标（例如，保持健康和苗条）何时可能会增加人们对有损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）。第二个实验关注的是一个目标如何导致人们对刺激的评估发生变化，而这些变化可能会影响人们对目标的追求。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，以提高他们坚持自己认为最重要的目标的能力。这一提议的一个基本优势在于，它考察了无意识心理过程在成功自我控制中的作用。通过解决关于目标如何以及何时改变人们对周围刺激的评价的关键问题，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措施和治疗方法提供信息，以提高人们的自我控制能力。

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.