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On the Emergence of Human Goal Pursuit: The Nonconscious Regulation and Motivation of Goals
Author(s) -
Aarts Henk
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00014.x
Subject(s) - goal pursuit , psychology , priming (agriculture) , affect (linguistics) , social psychology , cognitive psychology , goal setting , cognitive science , communication , botany , germination , biology
Experimental research in social psychology has discovered that human goal pursuit can emerge in the absence of conscious awareness. Whereas these goal‐priming effects are commonly explained in terms of habitual automatic processes, recent studies shed new light on the matter. Building on this recent work, this paper attempts to promote a more comprehensive understanding and examination of the potential mechanisms that enable people to pursue their goals in a nonconscious fashion. Specifically, it addresses (i) the human capacity to pursue goals without awareness of the activation and operation of the goal, even when habits are inadequate; and (ii) the fundamental role of positive affect in nonconsciously modulating the motivation of goals and their pursuit.