Problematic Public Goals, (vernunftzentrum.de), 01/29/2018
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I haven't forgotten you, Toki Pona. Just the other day, I
was reading a blog that referenced a research article, which
was entitled:
When Intentions Go Public[1]
Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?
Peter M. Gollwitzer, Paschal Sheeran, Verena Michalski,
and Andrea E. Seifert
The abstract reads:
Based on Lewinian goal theory in general and
self-completion theory in particular, four experiments
examined the implications of other people taking notice of
one’s identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the
intention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the
identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related
behavioral intentions that had been noticed by other people
were translated into action less intensively than those
that had been ignored (Studies 1–3). This effect was
evident in the field (persistent striving over 1 week’s
time; Study 1) and in the laboratory (jumping on
opportunities to act; Studies 2 and 3), and it held among
participants with strong but not weak commitment to the
identity goal (Study 3). Study 4 showed, in addition, that
when other people take notice of an individual’s identity-
related behavioral intention, this gives the individual a
premature sense of possessing the aspired-to identity.
And it struck me that perhaps one of the issues with
learning Toki Pona, for me, was the fact that every time I
set about working on it, I was writing phlog entries about
my experience almost in tandem. Could the practice of
writing and publishing gopher content in conjunction with my
effort be undermining my larger goal of learning Toki Pona?
I have always been taught that externalizing goals makes
them more surely attained, because it creates
accountability. This research article suggests otherwise.
The article was deeply thought-provoking, far beyond my Toki
Pona experience. I'll share a few more things from the
article; here are afew quotes to ponder:
"people often construe behavioral intentions in more
general terms, thus allowing substitution of means for
attainment"
"a substitute activity engenders a sense of having reached
the conceptually broader intention, given that performance
of the substitute activity has been witnessed by other
people"
"social recognition of an identity-relevant behavioral
intention may have negative effects on its enactment"
"incomplete individuals are more concerned with finding an
audience for their identity strivings"
"less likely to translate their identity-relevant
behavioral intentions into action when other people have
taken notice of those intentions."
"When other people take notice of one's identity-relevant
behavioral intentions, one's performance of the intended
behaviors is compromised"
"it does not emerge when people are not committed to the
superordinate identity goal"
"Other people's taking notice of one's identity-relevant
intentions apparently engenders a premature sense of
completeness regarding the identity goal"
"The present studies indicate that the simple matter
of identity-relevant behavioral intentions becoming public
undermines the realization of those intentions"
"any striving for goals-and not just identity goals-that
can be attained by various behavioral routes (means) is
vulnerable to the negative effects of social reality on the
enactment of behavioral intentions"
"success on a subgoal (e.g., eating healthy meals) in the
service of a superordinate goal (i.e., keeping in shape)
reduces striving for alternative subgoals (e.g., going to
the gym)"
I'll leave any allegorical application to the individual
who is reading, but for my part, I'm going to think twice
about what I share and don't share in relation to my
learning goals, and perhaps save my writing for after I've
reached said goals. That is, if I can overcome the
temptation to shortcut my identity goals...
[1] http://psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/09_Gollwitzer_Sheeran_Seifert_Michalski_When_Intentions_.pdf