The Automated Will: Nonconscious Activation and Pursuit of Behavioral Goals

Bargh, Lee-Chai, Barndollar, Gollwitzer, Trötschel · Journal of personality and social psychology · 2001 · social-psychology · record Bargh2001-the-automated-will-nonconscious-activation-a
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Where this record's text came from. faceted 2026-08 by reading the locally held text (html); every evidence string verified as an exact substring of that text before merging. Claim type is 'existence' - the paper's shape is 'nonconscious goal activation occurs and behaves like conscious goal pursuit'; Experiment 3's dissociation logic is used defensively (to rule out construal and behaviour-priming accounts) rather than as a positive mechanism claim, so it is not coded as 'mechanism'. The paper argues against those two alternative accounts, but the relevant sentences name the accounts rather than a specific prior finding, so no 'contradicts' relation was coded. Replication status is 'untested' because the article itself reports no replication of these five experiments; per the instruction to use only the article's own text, no outside information about the later fate of goal-priming findings was used. 2026-08-17 and 2026-08-25 schema-0.3 passes: every quote verified as an exact substring of the staged text and anchored at merge time; concept terms verified present; every edge endpoint an existing node.
How to read this page. The article itself is not reproduced here — this paper is not cleared for redistribution, so what follows is the tag layer alone. The evidence sentences are withheld with the article. The table at the foot lists every tag the record carries; each row names the facet it belongs to, and the whose words column says whether the tag records the paper's own wording or the tagger's sentence about the paper. Every tag links to each other paper in the corpus carrying it. The machine-readable edition of the same thing is the TEI file beside this one, where the tags live in standOff, and the article is at its publisher via the link below. When we have changed our mind. Some entries in the table begin with a word in capitals and the reason for it. EVIDENCE CORRECTED — the finding still stands, but we had quoted the wrong sentence from the paper, and the quotation has been replaced with the right one. RETRACTED — the entry itself was wrong; it stays on the page, marked, with the reason, rather than being deleted. WITHDRAWN AND REPLACED — the entry was wrong, and a corrected version of it appears in the entries below. Each mark carries its own reason, in brackets, because the reasons differ from one entry to the next. An entry we have WITHDRAWN is removed from this page and kept in the record, with its reason. A line reading Audit and a date is a later re-reading of the entry against its whole sentence: DOUBTFUL means it was kept, and the reason says what is loose about it. Quotation marks inside the tagger's sentence. Where a tag is the tagger's own sentence, a phrase in quotation marks inside it is borrowed from the paper — the tagger's wording around it is not. The paper's own sentence is the evidence quote for that row; on this page it is withheld with the article, and the article is at its publisher. Nothing inside quotation marks anywhere on this page is ours: if it is quoted, it is the paper's. Whose words a concept carries. A concept entry records a term the paper itself uses, so the term, the sense given for it, and its evidence are the paper's own words, quoted where the paper fixes them. This is the opposite of a sense entry in the tag table, which is the tagger's sentence about how the paper uses a term. Where a concept entry could not be grounded in the paper's words, the entry says so on its own row.

Tags on this paper

Every tag the record carries, each linking to every other paper in the corpus that carries it. A tag appears here whether or not its words occur in the article — the spans below are only the ones a sentence in this paper licenses. Of the 6 concept tags on this paper, all 6 are grounded in a quoted sentence. All carry the tagger's gloss of what the term means in this paper, which is not something the article can license.
goal pursuit content-free features persistence resumption perceptual construal goal-directed action tendencies Repeated, consistent pursuit of a goal in a given situation forms an automatic situation-to-goal association, so situational cues alone later activate the goal without conscious choice. An activated but unfulfilled goal-directed action tendency accumulates strength over time (unlike perceptual activation, which decays), which is why the behavioural priming effect grows with delay. automatic goal pursuit continuing on the task priming condition number of words postpriming delay participant gender choice of task conscious goal number of fish returned ANOVA analysis of variance (ANOVA) p-value interaction effect Prime × Delay × Task interaction t-test Cronbach's alpha correlation within-cell correlations between these two measures standardization (z scores) standardized (using z scores) mean behavioural-experiment

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relation to other workclaim_relationshow this paper stands to another: agrees, contradicts, extends, qualifies
claim typeclaim_typethe shape of the claim: existence, mechanism, method, critique, prediction, null
concept edgeconcept_edgesan asserted relation between two concepts, with the sentence asserting it
conceptconceptsan idea the paper works with, quoted where the paper uses it
content tagcontent_tagsa finding, definition, quantity, statistic or variable named in the paper
controlcontrolsan experiment run to eliminate a rival explanation
limitationlimitationswhat the paper says its evidence cannot support
mechanismmechanismshow the reported effect is said to come about
methodmethodhow the paper produced its evidence
phenomenonphenomenonthe effect or regularity under study
sensesensesa distinct use of a term, quoted where the paper fixes it

The paper

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Every tag on this page

claim_relations 3 · claim_type 1 · concept_edges 4 · concepts 6 · content_tags 32 · controls 3 · limitations 3 · mechanisms 2 · method 1 · phenomenon 1 · senses 4

Relations on this page carry a quotation for the claim. Where a relation was separately evidenced — and so tested against the vocabulary for its type — the row says so; none of 4 relations here carry that mark. The rest are the tagger’s reading of the sentence quoted beside them.

facettagfieldconf.whose words
claim_typeexistence
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claim_typethe paper's words
phenomenonnonconscious goal pursuit
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phenomenonthe paper's words
methodbehavioural-experiment
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methodthe paper's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[0]the tagger's words
mechanismsmechanisms
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mechanisms[1]the tagger's words
limitationsThe intention-behaviour correlations rest on small per-cell samples.
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limitations[0]the tagger's words
limitationsRetrospective self-report is a weak index of what participants were actually aware of during the task.
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limitations[1]the tagger's words
limitationsThe intention questionnaire may not have been sensitive enough to detect real differences in cooperation motivation.
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limitations[2]the tagger's words
controlsExperiment 3 used a DISSOCIATION PARADIGM specifically to test the perceptual-construal account
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eliminates: that the prime changed how the situation was PERCEIVED rather than activating a goal - the leading alternative explanation for behavioural priming · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held
controls[0]0.95the tagger's words
controlsa control group was subliminally exposed to words UNRELATED to impression formation
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eliminates: that the effect comes from subliminal exposure as such rather than from the content of the primed words · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held
controls[1]0.95the tagger's words
controlsextensive questioning during debriefing looked for any sign that participants were aware of the priming manipulation's effect
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eliminates: that the effect is conscious compliance rather than nonconscious activation · outcome (stated by the tagger, no quotation): held
controls[2]0.95the tagger's words
conceptsgoal pursuit
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also in: goal pursuit
concepts[0]0.95the paper's words
conceptscontent-free features
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concepts[1]0.95the paper's words
conceptspersistence
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also in: persistence
concepts[2]0.95the paper's words
conceptsresumption
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also in: resumption
concepts[3]0.95the paper's words
conceptsperceptual construal
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concepts[4]0.95the paper's words
conceptsgoal-directed action tendencies
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concepts[5]0.95the paper's words
sensesnonconscious goal pursuit - the claim in one sentence, and note how much is packed into it: goals can be ACTIVATED OUTSIDE OF AWARENESS, then OPERATE nonconsciously, and do so EFFECTIVELY - guiding self-regulation rather than merely biasing a judgement. Three separate assertions (activation without awareness, autonomous operation, functional success), any of which could fail while the others held
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senses[0]0.95the tagger's words
sensesgoal versus construct - THE DISAMBIGUATION THIS CORPUS NEEDS AND RARELY GETS. A prime made of `win, compete, succeed, strive` could have activated a construct that changes how the situation is CONSTRUED, or a goal that DRIVES behaviour. The paper separates them by time course and states the falsifier first: NO model of construal effects predicts an increase over time, so the same prime is required to produce a decreasing perceptual effect and an increasing behavioural one. A crossover, not a difference in size
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senses[1]0.95the tagger's words
sensesDEFINITION BY DIAGNOSTIC SIGNATURE - goal pursuit is identified by CONTENT-FREE features (vigour, persistence against obstacles, resumption after disruption) taken from the study of consciously held goals. Because the criteria are content-free they can be applied to a goal the participant cannot report, which is the only reason the nonconscious version is testable at all. The definition is doing methodological work, not just fixing a meaning
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senses[2]0.95the tagger's words
sensesthe control is built into the definition: participants are given ONE AND THE SAME TASK with the goal activated for some and not others, so that `we were able to hold the content of the task goal constant across all participants` and let the content-free features be the only thing that varies. Borrowing a content-free definition and then holding content constant is the same decision made twice, at the level of theory and of design
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senses[3]0.95the tagger's words
claim_relationsreplicates → Ovsiankina (1928)
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claim_relations[0]the tagger's words
claim_relationsbuilds-on → J. A. Bargh, 1990
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claim_relations[1]the tagger's words
claim_relationsbuilds-on → Atkinson and Birch (1970)
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claim_relations[2]the tagger's words
concept_edgesgoal pursuit —operationalised-as→ content-free features
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strength of the relation: 0.95 · note: The definitional move the whole paper rests on. Confidence 0.95: the sentence is a characterisation of goal pursuit, cited to Lewin, Heckhausen and Wicklund & Gollwitzer, not an inference of mine. Audit 2026-09-28: DOUBTFUL - read against its full span and kept, but goal pursuit is 'CHARACTERIZED BY' content-free features; operationalised-as is loose.
concept_edges[0]0.95the tagger's words
concept_edgespersistence —part-of→ content-free features
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strength of the relation: 0.95 · note: Listed as one of the three, in the sentence that names the category.
concept_edges[1]0.95the tagger's words
concept_edgesresumption —part-of→ content-free features
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strength of the relation: 0.95 · note: The second of the three tested directly - Experiment 5, resumption after a lengthy disruption with a more attractive alternative available.
concept_edges[2]0.95the tagger's words
concept_edgesgoal-directed action tendencies —distinct-from→ perceptual construal
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differs in: WHAT DELAY DOES TO THEM - construal effects DECREASE over time, goal-directed action tendencies INCREASE. A crossover on the same manipulation, and the increase is the half no accessibility or construal model predicts, which is what makes it a falsifier rather than a comparison · strength of the relation: 0.95 · note: THE SHARPEST ROW ON THIS RECORD. Two kinds of priming effect told apart by their TIME COURSE - the second record tonight where identity turns on latency rather than on magnitude (see Chen2018). The prediction is stated before the experiment and names the result that would refute it.
concept_edges[3]0.95the tagger's words
content_tagsANOVA
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also in: ANOVA
content_tags.statistics[0]the tagger's words
content_tagsp-value
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also in: p-value
content_tags.statistics[1]the tagger's words
content_tagsinteraction effect
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content_tags.statistics[2]the tagger's words
content_tagst-test
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also in: t-test
content_tags.statistics[3]the tagger's words
content_tagsCronbach's alpha
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content_tags.statistics[4]the tagger's words
content_tagscorrelation
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also in: correlation
content_tags.statistics[5]the tagger's words
content_tagsstandardization (z scores)
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content_tags.statistics[6]the tagger's words
content_tagsmean
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also in: mean
content_tags.statistics[7]the tagger's words
content_tagsParticipants primed with high-performance words found more words on unrelated word-search puzzles than participants primed with neutral words.
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content_tags.findings[0]the tagger's words
content_tagsPriming the goal of cooperation increased the number of fish returned to the common pool, as did an explicit conscious cooperation goal.
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content_tags.findings[1]the tagger's words
content_tagsThe goal-priming effect did not depend on a concurrent conscious goal in the same direction, ruling out the 'piggybacking' account.
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content_tags.findings[2]the tagger's words
content_tagsA five-minute delay after the identical prime weakened the impression-formation (perceptual) effect but strengthened the task-performance (motivational) effect, a crossover dissociation.
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content_tags.findings[3]the tagger's words
content_tagsPerformance-goal primed participants were far more likely than neutral-primed participants to keep working after an explicit instruction to stop, showing persistence against an obstacle.
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content_tags.findings[4]the tagger's words
content_tagsAfter an interruption, a far larger share of performance-goal primed participants (66% against 32%) chose to resume the interrupted Scrabble task.
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content_tags.findings[5]the tagger's words
content_tagsThe self-reported intentions of participants with a nonconscious cooperation goal were unrelated to their actual cooperation, although priming did change their behaviour.
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content_tags.findings[6]the tagger's words
content_tagsautomatic goal pursuit
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content_tags.definitions[0]the tagger's words
content_tagscontent-free features
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content_tags.definitions[1]the tagger's words
content_tagscontinuing on the task
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content_tags.definitions[2]the tagger's words
content_tagspriming condition
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content_tags.variables[0]the tagger's words
content_tagsnumber of words
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content_tags.variables[1]the tagger's words
content_tagspostpriming delay
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content_tags.variables[3]the tagger's words
content_tagsparticipant gender
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content_tags.variables[5]the tagger's words
content_tagschoice of task
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content_tags.variables[6]the tagger's words
content_tagsconscious goal
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content_tags.variables[7]the tagger's words
content_tagsnumber of fish returned
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content_tags.variables[8]the tagger's words
content_tags26.0 vs. 21.5 — mean number of hidden words found by performance-primed versus neutral-primed participants in Experiment 1
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content_tags.quantities[0]the tagger's words
content_tags57% / 22% — proportion of participants who kept working after the stop signal, performance-primed versus neutral-primed (Experiment 4)
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content_tags.quantities[1]the tagger's words
content_tags66% / 32% — proportion who resumed the interrupted Scrabble task rather than switching to the cartoon task, primed versus unprimed (Experiment 5)
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content_tags.quantities[2]the tagger's words
content_tagsF (1, 74) = 9.64, p = .003 — the reliable main effect of the performance prime on number of words found in Experiment 1
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content_tags.quantities[3]the tagger's words
content_tags78 — number of participants in Experiment 1
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content_tags.quantities[4]the tagger's words
content_tags288 — number of participants in the four-factor dissociation study, Experiment 3
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content_tags.quantities[5]the tagger's words
content_tagsr = −.11 — the (small, negative) correlation between self-reported intention to cooperate and actual cooperation among participants without a conscious cooperation goal
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content_tags.quantities[6]the tagger's words

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