magazine issue 6 2011 / Issue 12

General action and inaction goals: Definitions & effects

• written by Melanie B. Tannenbaum, Justin Hepler & Dolores Albarracin
• edited by Ashley Waggoner Denton

What motivates a person to go out and do the things that they do? This is a deceptively simple question that has kept scientists and philosophers busy for thousands of years. We discuss the role of activity and inactivity in goals.

What motivates a person to go out and do the things that they do? This is a deceptively simple question that has kept scientists and philosophers busy for thousands of years. If I vote for Politician A in a local election, was I motivated by my strong commitment to political participation? Was I motivated by a preference for Party X over Party Y? Or could I simply have been generally motivated to “do something” on Election Day? With the birth of Psychology in the late 1800s, many scientists turned a careful eye to the topic of what motivates people to do what they do. After all, knowing why people act in certain ways could allow us to predict what they will do in the future, positioning us to intervene and potentially change that behavior if necessary. To sum up a great deal of important research in a single sentence, psychologists typically accept that specific attitudes, intentions, and goals are the best predictors of related behavior. In other words, the best way to predict if I will vote for Politician A is to measure my attitudes, intentions, and goals related to “voting for Politician A,” rather than the broader targets of “voting” or “Politician A.” After all, my attitude toward “voting” in general may be somewhat moderate, and my attitude toward “Politician A” may be neutral. However, if I greatly dislike Politician B, then my attitude and intention to “vote for Politician A” may be very strong.

Although this focus on specific attitudes, intentions, and goals has proven to be extremely useful, it has diverted attention away from broad motivational constructs that may influence more than one behavioral domain. Specifically, recent work has shown that behavior can be guided by general goals to be active or inactive. Goals are motivational end states, and can also be thought of as outcomes, targets, or objectives that people set and then pursue through any number of different paths. For example, a goal to be healthy could motivate someone to diet or exercise. Either one (or both) of these behaviors is a reasonable and useful way to achieve the objective of becoming healthier. Recent work from our lab has demonstrated that goals are not necessarily limited to specific behavioral domains (e.g., “health”) but can relate to general aspects of behavior (e.g., activity level). When people hold this type of general goal (e.g., the goal to be active), it can influence any and all subsequent behaviors, no matter how unrelated these behaviors might be.