FlashReport
Goal pursuit is grounded: The link between forward movement and achievement

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.06.021Get rights and content

Abstract

We tested whether forward movement is cognitively associated with the achievement goal. We exposed participants to simple visual cues of forward movement, or not, and then measured their achievement motivation. The findings show that incidental exposure to forward movement cues nonconsciously activated an achievement goal. In Experiment 1, those primed with forward movement versus control cues showed significantly greater implicit positivity toward the concept of achievement. In Experiment 2, those primed with forward movement versus control cues performed significantly better on word puzzles. There was no effect on participants' conscious achievement motivation. We discuss the implications of the results for the perspective of goal pursuit as grounded cognition.

Highlights

► Goals contain embodied and metaphorical information. ► Concept of achievement may become scaffolded onto simple forward movement. ► Visual cues of forward movement increased implicit positivity toward achievement. ► Visual cues of forward movement increased word puzzle performance.

Section snippets

Goals as grounded

Like most theory in social psychology (see Niedenthal et al., 2005), the contemporary perspective on goals assumes that cognitive information (i.e., representations) relevant to goals exists in a semantic structure independent of the brain's modal systems. For example, the representations underlying goals are usually described as existing in a semantic associative structure (e.g., Bargh, 1990, Fishbach and Ferguson, 2007, Kruglanski, 1996, Kruglanski et al., 2002), and a propositional knowledge

Achievement as grounded

As a test case, we examined the goal of achievement and its metaphorical link to movement. We predicted that achievement should be associated with the concept of forward movement. Organisms have to move themselves forward through space in order to attain what they need and want. These experiences that connect in a literal way bodily cues of forward motion with desired end-states (e.g., a loved one, food) might provide the basis for using forward movement as a metaphor to understand striving

Participants

One hundred and sixty-seven undergraduates participated in the experiment in exchange for course credit or pay.

Visual cues

We created two versions of the static linear perspective. In the first, classic version (SP1), the two lines converge at a point at the top of the screen. In the other version (SP2), multiple lines extend from the sides of the screen and converge at the center of the screen. Both of these cues create linear perspective and were expected to induce the goal to achieve (e.g., Andersen,

Participants

Eighty-six undergraduates participated in the experiment in exchange for course credit or pay.

Visual cues

We used only the classic linear perspective cue (SP1) along with the dynamic cue (DP). We included two controls: one control was the upside down linear perspective (Control-Flipped-SP) and the other cue was a series of ellipses (Control-Ellipse) that were all of the same size. Exposure to ellipses of the same size (i.e., without suggested movement) should be less likely to induce a sense of forward

General discussion

The results show that rudimentary visual cues of forward movement nonconsciously activated the goal to achieve. Participants who were primed with static or dynamic perspective cues showed significantly greater implicit positivity toward achievement, and better behavioral performance on word puzzles, compared with assorted control conditions. This is the first evidence that very simple, visual cues of forward movement increases people's motivation to achieve, even on tasks that are unrelated to

References (28)

  • A.M. Collins et al.

    Retrieval time from semantic memory

    Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour

    (1969)
  • A.W. Kruglanski et al.

    A theory of goal systems

  • E.R. Smith et al.

    Socially situated cognition: Cognition in its social context

    Advances in Experimental Social Psychology

    (2004)
  • J.M. Ackerman et al.

    Incidental haptic sensations influence social judgments and decisions

    Science

    (2010)
  • K. Andersen

    The Geometry of an Art: The History of the Mathematical Theory of Perspective from Alberti to Monge

    (2007)
  • M. Bar et al.

    Humans prefer curved visual objects

    Psychological Science

    (2006)
  • J.A. Bargh

    Auto-motives: Preconscious determinants of social interaction

  • J.A. Bargh et al.

    The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit of behavioral goals

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2001)
  • L.W. Barsalou

    Grounded cognition: Past, present, and future

    Topics in Cognitive Science

    (2010)
  • R. Custers et al.

    The unconscious will: How the pursuit of goals operates outside of conscious awareness

    Science

    (2010)
  • H. Damisch

    The origin of perspective

    (1994)
  • A.J. Elliot et al.

    The goal construct in psychology

  • M.J. Ferguson

    On the automatic evaluation of end-states

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2007)
  • M.J. Ferguson

    On becoming ready to pursue a goal you don't know you have: Effects of nonconscious goals on evaluative readiness

    Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

    (2008)
  • Cited by (15)

    • Assessing the influence of goal pursuit and emotional attachment on customer engagement behaviors

      2021, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
      Citation Excerpt :

      In this sense, examining the relationship between goal pursuit and CEBs, which is the focus of this study, can reflect the underlying mechanisms that keep customers engaging in voluntary behaviors toward the focal community. A goal is a cognitive representation of a desired outcome or end-state that drives an individual's evaluations, emotions, and behaviors (e.g., Natanzon and Ferguson, 2012; Rawsthorne and Elliot, 1999). A goal is grounded in psychological needs.

    • Going my way? The benefits of travelling in the same direction

      2012, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Thus, physically moving in a particular goal-relevant direction (e.g., commuting to work) might become associated with more general goal-related concepts. Evidence of this association was reported by Natanzon and Ferguson (2012). It therefore seems reasonable to suppose that associations can also be formed between the similarity of goal-directed behavior and the similarity of goals to which the behavior is metaphorically linked. (

    • Embodied Mindfulness

      2017, Mindfulness
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text