Mental contrasting changes the meaning of reality

被引：56

作者：

Kappes, Andreas ^{[1
]}

Wendt, Mike ^{[2
]}

Reinelt, Tilman ^{[1
]}

Oettingen, Gabriele ^{[1
,3
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

[2] Univ Fed Armed Forces Hamburg, Helmut Schmidt Univ, Hamburg, Germany

[3] NYU, New York, NY 10003 USA

来源：

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY | 2013年 / 49卷 / 05期

关键词：

Mental contrasting; Expectations; Obstacles; Goal pursuit; Self-regulation; Meaning; SELF-REGULATION; IMPLEMENTATION INTENTIONS; RECONFIGURATION; CONGRUENCY; FUTURE; INTERFERENCE; FANTASIES; DISCOVERY; MEDIATION; AMYGDALA;

D O I：

10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.010

中图分类号：

B84 [心理学];

学科分类号：

04 ; 0402 ;

摘要：

Mental contrasting of a desired future with the present reality strengthens goal pursuit when expectations of success are high, and weakens goal pursuit when expectations of success are low. We hypothesized that mental contrasting effects on selective goal pursuit are mediated by a change in the meaning of the present reality as an obstacle towards reaching the desired future. Using explicit evaluation of reality (Study 1), implicit categorization of reality as obstacle (Study 2), and detection of obstacle (Study 3) as indicators, we found that mental contrasting (versus relevant control groups) fostered the meaning of reality as obstacle when expectations of success were high, but weakened it when expectations of success were low. Importantly, the meaning of reality as obstacle mediated mental contrasting effects on goal pursuit (Studies 1, 2). The findings suggest that mental contrasting produces selective goal pursuit by changing the meaning of a person's reality. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

引用

页码：797 / 810

页数：14

共 58 条

[1] When planning is not enough: Fighting unhealthy snacking habits by mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) [J].