Goal-directed Motivation Research Articles

Social information decreases giving in late-stage fundraising campaigns.

Online fundraisers often showcase information about the number of donations received and the proximity to the campaign goal. This practice follows research on descriptive norms and goal-directed motivation, which predicts higher contributions as the number of donors increases and as the campaign goal is approached. However, across three studies, we demonstrate that when the campaign is close to completion, individuals give more when they see that there are few (vs. many) donors to the campaign. We observe this result across real campaigns on a fundraising website and obtain causal evidence for this effect in two laboratory experiments. We find that this effect is driven in part by an increase in the perceived progress that one's donation makes towards reaching the campaign goal. This work identifies a counterintuitive consequence of norm-based marketing appeals and has important implications for fundraisers.

As long as it circulates, we've got to keep fighting: COVID-19 and the motivation to get vaccinated

ObjectiveThe first purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between goal-directed motivation and vaccination behavior. The second purpose was to find ways to motivate people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and infectious diseases in general. RationaleAccording to regulatory focus theory, goal-directed behavior is regulated by two motivational systems – prevention and promotion. Prevention-focused behavior is motivated by needs for security and safety, and it is associated with a strategic preference for vigilant means of goal-pursuit. Promotion-focused behavior is motivated by needs for self-development and growth, and it is associated with a strategic preference for eagerness means. Based on regulatory focus theory, this research examined the proposal that motivation in goal-pursuit and self-regulatory processes would play a central role in shaping vaccination intention and behavior. MethodTwo studies tested the relationship between participants’ self-reported intention to get vaccinated and regulatory focus. In Study 1, regulatory focus was measured as a chronic variable. In Study 2, regulatory focus was experimentally induced. ResultsStudy 1 showed that chronic prevention focus moderated the relationship between vaccine safety concerns and vaccination intention. The higher the concerns about vaccine safety, the lower was the probability of expressing an intention to get vaccinated, and the stronger the prevention focus the stronger was the effect. Moreover, vaccine safety concerns mediated the relationship between chronic promotion focus and vaccination intention. The stronger the promotion focus, the lower was the concern over vaccine safety, and thus the higher was the probability of expressing an intention to get vaccinated. In Study 2, a situationally induced regulatory focus moderated the relationship between vaccination intention and vaccine safety concerns. As concerns about vaccine safety decreased, the intention to get vaccinated increased, and the effect was stronger for prevention compared with promotion focus. Implications for public health and health communication are discussed.

Mass surveillance to fight COVID-19: acceptance of surveillance technologies depends on goal-directed motivation

ABSTRACT Many governments use mass surveillance to fight COVID-19. Surveillance technologies can help in controlling the spread of the virus, but they may also raise privacy concerns among citizens. This research aims to explore the behavioural mechanisms underlying the acceptance of mass surveillance during COVID-19 and public health emergencies in the future. According to regulatory focus theory, goal-directed behaviour is regulated by two motivational systems – promotion and prevention. Promotion-focused individuals are motivated by growth and prefer to use eager strategies to achieve their goals. Prevention-focused individuals are motivated by safety and prefer to use vigilant strategies. Based on the theory, it is proposed that there is a relationship between regulatory focus and acceptance of mass surveillance. Study 1 tested this proposal with a questionnaire that measured chronic regulatory focus. Study 2 tested this proposal with an experimental priming technique. For both, chronic and experimentally manipulated regulatory focus, these studies showed that surveillance acceptance was associated with regulatory focus. In Study 1, surveillance acceptance was positively associated with prevention focus. Privacy concerns mediated this relationship. The higher the prevention focus, the lower were the concerns about privacy, and thus, the higher was the willingness to accept mass surveillance. Moreover, promotion focus moderated the relationship between privacy concerns and surveillance acceptance. The higher the concerns about privacy, the lower was the willingness to accept mass surveillance, and the higher the promotion focus, the stronger was the effect. Study 2 found that a situationally induced regulatory focus moderated the relationship between privacy concerns and surveillance acceptance. The higher the concerns over privacy, the lower was the willingness to accept mass surveillance, and the effect was stronger for an induced promotion (vs. prevention) focus. Models of surveillance acceptance are presented. Implications for public health and health communication are discussed.

A general architecture for modeling the dynamics of goal-directed motivation and decision-making.

We present a unified model of the dynamics of goal-directed motivation and decision-making. The model-referred to as the GOAL architecture-provides a quantitative framework for integrating theories of goal pursuit and for relating their predictions to different types of data. The GOAL architecture proposes that motivation changes over time according to three gradients that capture the effects of the distance to the goal (i.e., the progress remaining), the time to the deadline, and the rate of progress required to achieve the goal. This enables the integration and comparison of six theoretical perspectives that make different predictions about how these dynamics unfold when pursuing approach and avoidance goals. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling was used to analyze data from three experiments which manipulate distance to goal, time to deadline, and goal type (approach vs. avoidance), and data from the naturalistic context of professional basketball. The results show that people rely on the distance and rate gradients, and to a lesser degree the time gradient, when making resource allocation decisions during goal pursuit, although the relative influence of the gradients depends on the goal type. We also demonstrate how the GOAL architecture can be used to answer questions about the influence of goal importance. Our findings suggest that goal pursuit unfolds in a complex manner that cannot be accounted for by any one previous theoretical perspective, but that is well-characterized by our unified framework. This research highlights the importance of theoretical integration for understanding motivation and decision-making during goal pursuit. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

I use a COVID-19 contact-tracing app. Do you? Regulatory focus and the intention to engage with contact-tracing technology

Based on regulatory focus theory, it is proposed that there is a relationship between the intention to use COVID-19 contact-tracing apps and goal-directed motivation. Two studies tested this proposal. Study 1 examined the relationship between participants’ chronic regulatory focus and the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Apps usage intention was positively associated with prevention focus. A mediation analysis showed that the relationship between prevention focus and apps usage intention was mediated by privacy and information security concerns. The stronger the prevention focus, the weaker the concerns, thus, the stronger the intention to use contact-tracing apps. Study 2 used priming to have participants adopt either a momentary promotion or prevention focus, after which they were asked about their intention to use contact-tracing apps. A situationally induced regulatory focus influenced the intention to use contact-tracing apps. A moderation analysis showed that age moderated the relationship between regulatory focus and apps usage intention.

Roles of trait resilience, flexibility, and volitional self-control in social adaptation: An fMRI study

IntroductionResilience and cognitive flexibility are considered as pre-adaptive traits that help individuals to deal with environmental and social distress. Although they may alleviate emotional impulses and/or support volitional self-control (VSC), these cognitive mechanisms remain insufficiently explored.ObjectivesTo better understand resilience and flexibility, we built a mechanistic framework to explain variations in socially adaptive responses under distressing situations (cooperation dilemma) using economic and social decision-making paradigms.MethodsTwenty-four university students (7 females) were enrolled. We used ego-resiliency (ER) and Machiavellian (Mach) questionnaires to measure resilience and flexibility, and applied third-party punishment (TPP) and ultimatum game (UG), as well as moral dilemma (MD) tasks to derive VSC-associated brain activity using 3T-functional magnetic resonance imaging. Mediation analysis was used to investigate whether these pre-adaptive trait levels explain cooperative decision-making (invested sum in TPP and acceptance rate of unfair offers in UG), together with VSC-associated brain activity during MD. The regions of interest included the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and temporoparietal junction (TPJ).ResultsPre-adaptive traits were a statistically significant mediator for two different models. There was an indirect effect of 1) ER on the relationship between OFC activity strength and TPP scores, and 2) Mach on the relationship between DLPFC/TPJ and UG (p < 0.05).ConclusionsAlthough recruitment is still ongoing, our results suggested that trait resilience and flexibility may help other-regarding and goal-directed motivation shifts. They may align self-interests with collective interests and support VSC, thereby adjusting peoples’ behaviors within social contexts and cultivating social intelligence.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Chronic social defeat stress impairs goal-directed behavior through dysregulation of ventral hippocampal activity in male mice

Chronic stress is a risk factor for a variety of psychiatric disorders, including depression. Although impairments to motivated behavior are a major symptom of clinical depression, little is known about the circuit mechanisms through which stress impairs motivation. Furthermore, research in animal models for depression has focused on impairments to hedonic aspects of motivation, whereas patient studies suggest that impairments to appetitive, goal-directed motivation contribute significantly to motivational impairments in depression. Here, we characterized goal-directed motivation in repeated social defeat stress (R-SDS), a well-established mouse model for depression in male mice. R-SDS impaired the ability to sustain and complete goal-directed behavior in a food-seeking operant lever-press task. Furthermore, stress-exposed mice segregated into susceptible and resilient subpopulations. Interestingly, susceptibility to stress-induced motivational impairments was unrelated to stress-induced social withdrawal, another prominent effect of R-SDS in mouse models. Based on evidence that ventral hippocampus (vHP) modulates sustainment of goal-directed behavior, we monitored vHP activity during the task using fiber photometry. Successful task completion was associated with suppression of ventral hippocampal neural activity. This suppression was diminished after R-SDS in stress-susceptible but not stress-resilient mice. The serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram and ketamine both normalized vHP activity during the task and restored motivated behavior. Furthermore, optogenetic vHP inhibition was sufficient to restore motivated behavior after stress. These results identify vHP hyperactivity as a circuit mechanism of stress-induced impairments to goal-directed behavior and a putative biomarker that is sensitive to antidepressant treatments and that differentiates susceptible and resilient individuals.

Religious Problem-Solving Styles and Life Satisfaction: Exploring God, the Will and the Way

A proliferation of empirical studies over the past few decades has examined the connection between religiosity and health; an extension of this literature has focused on the association between three styles of religious problem-solving-collaborative, self-directing and deferring-and psychological adjustment. Few studies, however, have examined variables that may mediate this association. The present study utilized a cross-sectional design to examine the pathways (means to attain goals) and agency (goal-directed energy and determination) components of hope as mediators in the association between religious problem-solving styles and psychosocial adjustment. Students (n = 91) at a midsize Southeastern university completed a demographic questionnaire, the Religious Problem-solving Styles Scale, Adult Hope Scale, and the Life Satisfaction Scale. Mediation analyses revealed that both the collaborative and deferring religious problem-solving styles were positively associated with life satisfaction through agency thinking, but the self-directing religious problem-solving style was negatively associated with life satisfaction through agency thinking. Contrary to expectations, there was no significant indirect effect of any of the religious problem-solving styles on life satisfaction via pathways thinking. These results suggest that approaching problems within a specific religious framework is associated with psychosocial adjustment, and that each religious problem-solving style may exert its effects by either amplifying or quelling goal-directed motivation and willpower. Future studies should utilize quasi-experimental designs in order to delineate cause-and-effect relationships among religious problem-solving styles, agency and pathways thinking, and psychosocial adjustment.

Dopamine promotes instrumental motivation, but reduces reward-related vigour.

We can be motivated when reward depends on performance, or merely by the prospect of a guaranteed reward. Performance-dependent (contingent) reward is instrumental, relying on an internal action-outcome model, whereas motivation by guaranteed reward may minimise opportunity cost in reward-rich environments. Competing theories propose that each type of motivation should be dependent on dopaminergic activity. We contrasted these two types of motivation with a rewarded saccade task, in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). When PD patients were ON dopamine, they had greater response vigour (peak saccadic velocity residuals) for contingent rewards, whereas when PD patients were OFF medication, they had greater vigour for guaranteed rewards. These results support the view that reward expectation and contingency drive distinct motivational processes, and can be dissociated by manipulating dopaminergic activity. We posit that dopamine promotes goal-directed motivation, but dampens reward-driven vigour, contradictory to the prediction that increased tonic dopamine amplifies reward expectation.

Scientific and technological creativity of young people: in search of a new goal-directed motivation

Using the economic and sociological approach, the Soviet and post-Soviet experience of the development of scientific and technological creativity of young people is analyzed. Since innovative activity of Soviet inventors was organized within the framework of specific branches of industry, that led to the fact that most commercially successful inventions were developed in the military-industrial complex. Improving and inventing everyday items for household use was getting relatively less attention on the countrywide scale. These days scientific and technological creativity of young people is getting momentum anew, induced by a novel goal-directed motivation. In a competitive environment, technological creativity assumes more importance owing to the possibility of commercializing innovative inventions in the national economy. Currently, the inventions that can be commercialized promptly and cheaply are given priority. Technical universities are becoming platforms for the implementation of commercially viable engineering projects.

Mechanisms of Convergent Egg Provisioning in Poison Frogs.

Parental provisioning of offspring with physiological products (nursing) occurs in many animals, yet little is known about the neuroendocrine basis of nursing in non-mammalian species. Within amphibians, maternal provisioning has evolved multiple times, with mothers of some species feeding unfertilized eggs to their developing offspring until tadpoles complete metamorphosis [1-3]. We conducted field studies in Ecuador and Madagascar to ask whether convergence at the behavioral level provides similar benefits to offspring and relies on shared neural mechanisms in dendrobatid and mantellid poison frogs. At an ecological level, we found that nursing allows poison frogs to provide chemical defenses to their tadpoles in both species. At the neural level, nursing was associated with increased activity in the lateral septum and preoptic area, demonstrating recruitment of shared brain regions in the convergent evolution of nursing within frogs and across vertebrates [4]. In contrast, only mantellids showed increased oxytocin neuron activity akin to that in nursing mammals [5], suggesting evolutionary versatility in molecular mechanisms. Our findings demonstrate that maternal provisioning provides similar potential benefits to offspring and relies on similar brain regions in poison frog species with convergently evolved toxicity and maternal care. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

A century of research on conscientiousness at work

Evidence from more than 100 y of research indicates that conscientiousness (C) is the most potent noncognitive construct for occupational performance. However, questions remain about the magnitudes of its effect sizes across occupational variables, its defining characteristics and functions in occupational settings, and potential moderators of its performance relation. Drawing on 92 unique meta-analyses reporting effects for 175 distinct variables, which represent n > 1.1 million participants across k > 2,500 studies, we present the most comprehensive, quantitative review and synthesis of the occupational effects of C available in the literature. Results show C has effects in a desirable direction for 98% of variables and a grand mean of [Formula: see text] (SD = 0.13), indicative of a potent, pervasive influence across occupational variables. Using the top 33% of effect sizes [Formula: see text] we synthesize 10 characteristic themes of C's occupational functioning: 1) motivation for goal-directed performance, 2) preference for more predictable environments, 3) interpersonal responsibility for shared goals, 4) commitment, 5) perseverance, 6) self-regulatory restraint to avoid counterproductivity, and 7) proficient performance-especially for 8) conventional goals, 9) requiring persistence. Finally, we examine C's relation to performance across 8 occupations. Results indicate that occupational complexity moderates this relation. That is, 10) high occupational complexity versus low-to-moderate occupational complexity attenuates the performance effect of C. Altogether, results suggest that goal-directed performance is fundamental to C and that motivational engagement, behavioral restraint, and environmental predictability influence its optimal occupational expression. We conclude by discussing applied and policy implications of our findings.

Motivation in multiple sclerosis cognitive fatigue: An experimental approach

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Cognitive fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS). Recent research has implicated dopaminergic pathways originating in the basal ganglia as neurological correlates of cognitive fatigue in MS. This same system has long been associated with goal-directed behavior and reward-based motivation. While researchers have demonstrated that reward has a reliable impact on performance in tasks of sustained attention in healthy individuals, the effect of reward on fatigue is less clear, as prior research has not adequately controlled for desensitization to reward in a sustained attention task. The primary aims of this study were to examine the effect of reward on attention in MS patients, and to examine the effect of reward on objective cognitive fatigue.Method: The study employed a 3 × 3 repeated measures design to evaluate performance of N = 64 patients with definite MS on a measure of cognitive fatigue across several reward conditions. The study utilized a novel delayed-reward paradigm to better control the measured effect of reward on fatigue.Results: Reward (main effect) displayed a significant effect on overall performance (F = 3.050, p < .05). Reward was also shown to affect fatigue trajectory (Reward × Interval, F = 2.433, p < .05). However, this effect was dependent on the method of reward administration.Conclusions: Study findings support the role of motivation in MS cognitive performance, particularly in objective cognitive fatigue, a behavioral finding that is consistent with current neuropsychological theory. Study findings support the delayed-reward paradigm as an effective method for measuring reward effect on tasks of sustained attention.

Striatal dopamine D2 receptors regulate effort but not value-based decision making and alter the dopaminergic encoding of cost.

Deficits in goal-directed motivation represent a debilitating symptom for many patients with schizophrenia. Impairments in motivation can arise from deficits in processing information about effort and or value, disrupting effective cost-benefit decision making. We have previously shown that upregulated dopamine D2 receptor expression within the striatum (D2R-OE mice) decreases goal-directed motivation. Here, we determine the behavioral and neurochemical mechanisms behind this deficit. Female D2R-OE mice were tested in several behavioral paradigms including recently developed tasks that independently assess the impact of Value or Effort manipulations on cost-benefit decision making. In vivo microdialysis was used to measure extracellular dopamine in the striatum during behavior. In a value-based choice task, D2R-OE mice show normal sensitivity to changes in reward value and used reward value to guide their actions. In an effort-based choice task, D2R-OE mice evaluate the cost of increasing the number of responses greater relative to the effort cost of longer duration responses compared to controls. This shift away from choosing to repeatedly execute a response is accompanied by a dampening of extracellular dopamine in the striatum during goal-directed behavior. In the ventral striatum, extracellular dopamine level negatively correlates with response cost in controls, but this relationship is lost in D2R-OE mice. These results show that D2R signaling in the striatum, as observed in some patients with schizophrenia, alters the relationship between effort expenditure and extracellular dopamine. This dysregulation produces motivation deficits that are specific to effort but not value-based decision making, paralleling the effort-based motivational deficits observed in schizophrenia.

Predictors for follow-up among postpartum patients enrolled in a clinical trial

ObjectiveTo identify risk factors for failure to attend postpartum follow-up within 3 months of delivery, including social support, intrinsic motivation, insurance type and prenatal care attendance. Study designThis planned secondary analysis is derived from a randomized controlled trial of patients intending intrauterine device (IUD) use following their delivery (n=197). Subjects were postpartum from a vaginal or cesarean birth at ≥32 weeks’ gestation. We obtained baseline demographics and certainty about their plan to receive a postpartum IUD. We administered validated scales for social support and intrinsic motivation at enrollment. We then reviewed health records for prenatal visits and any postpartum visit by 3 months and performed logistic regression to assess for predictors of follow-up. ResultsA total of 38/197 subjects (19.3%) failed to attend any postpartum visit by 3 months. Subjects who failed to follow up were more likely to have Medicaid versus private insurance (92% versus 8%, p<.01). Income <$50,000, no car, younger age, unplanned pregnancy, unemployment, multiple children, missed prenatal visits and late initiation of prenatal care were also associated with failure to follow up. Higher scores for social support and goal-directed motivation were not significantly associated with follow-up. ConclusionsIn our cohort, we found that one in five participants did not attend a postpartum visit by 3 months. Several socioeconomic indicators are associated with loss to follow-up, most notably Medicaid insurance. Having high motivation and social support is not sufficient to predict successful follow-up. ImplicationsThe main predictors for not attending a postpartum visit are Medicaid insurance or limited prenatal care, and not social support or intrinsic motivation. Interventions to improve postpartum contraception uptake should focus efforts on provision of immediate postpartum contraception for this population.

Creativity in ADHD: Goal-Directed Motivation and Domain Specificity

Objective: This research aimed to provide explanations for the inconsistent findings regarding creativity in ADHD. Method: In Study 1, we assessed real-world creative achievements and intrinsic motivation during idea generation in adults with ADHD and compared these with controls. In Study 2, we manipulated competition during idea generation to investigate effects on idea originality in adults with ADHD versus controls, and assessed creativity in specific domains. Results: Adults with ADHD reported more real-world creative achievements. We did not observe differences in intrinsic motivation during idea generation between groups, but adults with ADHD generated more original ideas when competing for a bonus. Moreover, adults with ADHD rated themselves as more creative in specific creative domains. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that goal-directed motivation may drive the enhanced real-world creative achievements of people with ADHD. Moreover, people with ADHD may selectively engage and excel in creative domains that fit their skills and preferences.

Elevated nucleus accumbens structural connectivity associated with proneness to hypomania: a reward hypersensitivity perspective.

The Reward Hypersensitivity Model of bipolar disorder argues that hypersensitivity to reward-relevant cues characterizes risk for hypo/mania. This hypersensitivity leads to increased goal-directed motivation during reward-relevant life events that, in the extreme, is reflected in hypo/manic symptoms. In line with this perspective, individuals with bipolar disorder display elevated activation in a cortico-striatal reward circuit including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC). To date, however, research on reward-related neural circuitry underlying bipolar symptoms focuses on syndromal bipolar disorder (bipolar I, bipolar II), and typically examines neural regions in isolation of each other. Accordingly, this study examines the relationship between subsyndromal hypo/mania proneness and structural connectivity between the NAcc and both the mOFC and amygdala in a medication-free sample. Fifty-four community participants completed diffusion-weighted imaging and a self-report measure of bipolar risk (hypo/mania proneness). As predicted, elevated structural connectivity between the NAcc and both the mOFC and amygdala were associated with elevated hypo/mania proneness. This relationship was specific to NAcc-centered reward connectivity, as there was no relationship between hypo/mania proneness and either whole-brain or cortico-amygdala connectivity. Results suggest that reward-relevant tractography from cortical (mOFC) and subcortical (amygdala) regions amplify NAcc-centered reward processing in bipolar risk.

Glucose Increases Risky Behavior and Attitudes in People Low in Self-Control

Abstract. People low in self-control have a strong proclivity toward risk-taking. Risk-taking behavior provides an opportunity to obtain some form of reward. Glucose, on the other hand, seems to facilitate reward and goal-directed behavior. In a pilot study executed in the laboratory, we investigated whether consuming a glucose drink would increase risky behavior and attitudes in people low in self-control. Our findings revealed that a dose of glucose compared to placebo increased risk-taking on a behavioral and cognitive level in participants low in self-control but not in participants high in self-control. The findings may shed some light on the psychological underpinnings of glucose: By showing glucose’s association with high-risk behavior, they support the assumption of glucose driving a goal-directed motivation.

The effects of pharmacological modulation of the serotonin 2C receptor on goal-directed behavior in mice.

Impaired goal-directed motivation represents a debilitating class of symptoms common to psychological disorders including schizophrenia and some affective disorders. Despite the known negative impact of impaired motivation, there are currently no effective pharmacological interventions to treat these symptoms. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of the serotonin 2C (5-HT2C) receptor selective ligand, SB242084, as a potential pharmacological intervention for enhancing goal-directed motivation in mice. The studies were designed to identify not only efficacy but also the specific motivational processes that were affected by the drug treatment. We tested subjects following treatment with SB242084 (0.75mg/kg) in several operant lever pressing assays including the following: a progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement, an effort-based choice task, a progressive hold down task (PHD), and various food intake tests. Acute SB242084 treatment leads to an increase in instrumental behavior. Using a battery of behavioral tasks, we demonstrate that the major effect of SB242084 is an increase in the amount of responses and duration of effort that subjects will make for food rewards. This enhancement of behavior is not the result of non-specific hyperactivity or arousal nor is it due to changes in food consumption. Because of this specificity of action, we suggest that the 5-HT2C receptor warrants further attention as a novel therapeutic target for treating pathological impairments in goal-directed motivation.

Indifferent reactions: regulatory responses to the apathy of others.

How do people react to indifference when they see it in others? In 5 studies we examined how people may respond to it as a cue to disengage when they lack sufficient commitment to a goal or task themselves. Across the studies, participants were either exposed to cues implying an absence of motivation or not, after which their own goal-directed motivation was assessed. Results indicated that participants were likely to behaviorally assimilate indifference when it was directed toward a relevant goal (Studies 1 and 3) and they were not very committed to the goal (Studies 2a-b, 3, 5). Corresponding self-report data suggested that exposure to indifference generally discouraged and obstructed goal pursuit in the participants' minds (Studies 4-5). However, participants overcame the indifference when their commitment to the goal was chronically high or experimentally heightened, with the corresponding self-report data suggesting a process of increased monitoring and counteraction. In these studies, we also distinguished goal commitment from goal accessibility: Whereas a manipulation of goal commitment seemed to facilitate overcoming indifference (Study 5), a manipulation of goal accessibility did not (Study 4). In sum, a potentially insidious feature of indifference may be that people assimilate it not because they want to but because it exploits their preexisting doubts about the goal or their general openness to disengaging from it.