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Social Neuroscience and Public Health pp 19–33Cite as

Neurophysiological Correlates of the Self-Regulation of Goal Pursuit

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Abstract

Successful goal pursuit requires first selecting and strongly committing to desirable and feasible goals and then effectively implementing them. These two tasks are facilitated by two self-regulatory strategies: the first one, mental contrasting, promotes expectancy-dependent committing and striving for goals, and the second one, forming implementation intentions, aids to overcome obstacles on the way to goal attainment. Despite extensive research on the effects and processes associated with mental contrasting and implementation intentions, not until recently have their underlying neurophysiological correlates been analyzed. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) data suggest that mental contrasting is indeed a purposeful problem-solving strategy that differs much from merely indulging in a desired positive future. Moreover, Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data support the assumption that by forming implementation intentions people can strategically automate goal striving and thus facilitate goal attainment. Both mental contrasting (MC) and implementation intentions (II) have recently been integrated into a powerful behavior change intervention called MCII that qualifies as a cost- and time-effective self-regulation intervention to help people choose appropriate health-related goals and successfully implement them.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Inge Schweiger Gallo

  2. Yeshiva University, New York, USA

    Anna-Lisa Cohen

  3. New York University, New York, USA

    Peter M. Gollwitzer & Gabriele Oettingen

  4. Universität Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

    Peter M. Gollwitzer

  5. Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Gabriele Oettingen

Authors
  1. Inge Schweiger Gallo
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  2. Anna-Lisa Cohen
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  3. Peter M. Gollwitzer
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  4. Gabriele Oettingen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter M. Gollwitzer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, University Avenue West 200, Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Ontario, Canada

    Peter A. Hall

Highlights

Highlights

  • Successful goal striving requires that people choose adequate goals and cope effectively with challenges on the way to goal attainment. This can be facilitated by using the self-regulation strategies referred to as mental contrasting and forming implementation intentions.

  • Continuous magnetoencephalography (MEG) data corroborate that mental contrasting is a purposeful problem-solving strategy that differs from merely indulging in a desired positive future.

  • Electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data support the assumption that by forming implementation intentions people switch from top-down control of their actions via goals to bottom-up control via specified situational stimuli, and thus confirm the postulate that action control by implementation intentions is based on strategic automaticity.

  • The mental contrasting and forming implementation intentions have recently been integrated into one single, cost- and time-effective behavior change intervention called MCII that enhances healthy and prevents unhealthy behaviors.

  • Self-regulation strategies of successful goal pursuit qualify as an important determinant of public health when they are used to reach one’s health goals.

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Schweiger Gallo, I., Cohen, AL., Gollwitzer, P.M., Oettingen, G. (2013). Neurophysiological Correlates of the Self-Regulation of Goal Pursuit. In: Hall, P. (eds) Social Neuroscience and Public Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6852-3_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6852-3_2

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