ACADEMIC RESEARCH PAPERS

Goals and Goal Systems

An essential aspect of all behavior involves the pursuit of goals through means that we believe are adequate to the purpose. Sometimes, a goal may be attainable through multiple means, for instance the goal of having dinner may be satisfied through cooking a meal at home, ordering in, or dining out. On occasion, we find that the same means may accomplish multiple goals. The smart phone for instance, can afford searching information, posting on social media, making voice calls, or listening to music and playing games. On occasion we also find that a means that satisfies one goal may be in conflict with another. For instance, eating a cake may serve the goal of taste and pleasure, yet be in conflict with the goal of diet or healthy eating. Papers in this section describe the system of goals, the interrelation of goals and means in different configurations, and their implications for our decisions and actions.

Peer-Reviewed Papers

Kruglanski, A.W., Szumowska, E., Kopetz, C., Vallerand, R.J., & Pierro, A. (2020). On the psychology of extremism: How motivational imbalance breeds intemperance. Psychological Review. PDF

Szumowska, E. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2020). Curiosity as end and means. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 35, 35-39. PDF

Milyavsky, M., Kruglanski, A.W., Gelfand, M.J., Chernikova, M., & Pierro, A. (2020). People who Need People (and Some Who Think They Don't): On Compensatory Personal and Social Means of Goal Pursuit. Psychological Inquiry. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W. & Szumowska, E. (2020). Habitual behavior is goal driven. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(5), 1256-127. PDF

Ajzen, I., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). Reasoned action in the service of goal pursuit. Psychological Review, 126(5), 774–786. PDF

Szumowska, E., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). A Stroll through the Garden of “Goodness” and “Badness”: The Goal Systemic View on the Value of Actions and Outcomes. Psychological Inquiry, 30(3), 151-154. PDF

Fernandez, J. R., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). The Psychology of Multiple Goal Pursuit: Choices, Configurations, and Commitments. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 4(1), 5-12. PDF

Milyavsky, M., Webber, D., Fernandez, J. R., Kruglanski, A. W., Goldenberg, A., Suri, G., & Gross, J. J. (2019). To reappraise or not to reappraise? Emotion regulation choice and cognitive energetics. Emotion, 19(6), 964–981. PDF

Schumpe, B. M., Bélanger, J. J., Dugas, M., Erb, H. P., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2018). Counterfinality: On the increased perceived instrumentality of means to a goal. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1052. PDF

Kruglanski, A. W., Jasko, K., Milyavsky, M., Chernikova, M., Webber, D., Pierro, A., & Di Santo, D. (2018). Cognitive consistency theory in social psychology: A paradigm reconsidered. Psychological Inquiry, 29(2), 45-59. PDF

Kruglanski, A. W., Fishbach, A., Woolley, K., Bélanger, J. J., Chernikova, M., Molinario, E., & Pierro, A. (2018). A structural model of intrinsic motivation: On the psychology of means-ends fusion. Psychological Review, 125(2), 165-182. PDF

Kruglanski, A. W., Baldner, C., Chernikova, M., Lo Destro, C., & Pierro, A. (2018). A new perspective on the attitude-behavior relation: The essential function of goals. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 49(1), 31-39. PDF

Kruglanski, A. W. (2016). Rethinking social cognition in means-ends terms: A tale of two surprises. Motivation and Emotion, 40(3), 343-350. PDF

Bélanger, J. J., Schumpe, B., Lafrenière, M-A. K., Giacomantonio, M., Brizi, A., Kruglanski, A.W. (2016). Beyond goal-commitment: How expectancy shapes means evaluation. Motivation Science. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W., Jasko, K., Chernikova, M., Milyavsky, M. Babush, M., Baldner, C. & Pierro, A. (2016). The rocky road from attitudes to behaviors: Charting the goal systemic course of actions. Psychological Review. PDF

Bélanger, J. J., Schori-Eyal, N., Pica, G., Kruglanski, A. W., & Lafrenière, M. A. (2015). The “more is less” effect in equifinal structures: Alternative means reduce the intensity and quality of motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 60, 93-102. PDF

Belanger, J.J., Lafreniere, M-A. Vallerand, R.J. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2013). When passion makes the heart grow colder: The role of passion in alternative goal suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 126-147. PDF

Klein, K.M., & Kruglanski, A.W., (2013) Commitment and extremism: A goal systemic analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 69, 419-435. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W., Kopetz, C., Belanger, J., Chun, W.Y., Orehek, E., & Fishbach, A. (2013). Features of Multifinality. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17, 22-39. PDF

Kopetz, C.E., Kruglanski, A.W, Arens, Z.G., Etkin, J., Johnson, H.M. (2012). The dynamics of consumer behavior: A goal systemic perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22, 208-223. PDF

Chun, W.Y., Kruglanski, A.W., Sleeth-Keepler, D. & Friedman, R.S. (2011). Multifinality in implicit choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 1124-1137. PDF

Kopetz, C. Faber, T., Fishbach, A. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2011). The multifinality constraints effect: How goal, multiplicity narrows the means set to a focal end. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 810-826. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W., Pierro, A., & Sheveland, A. (2011) How many roads lead to Rome? Equafinality set-size and commitment to goals and means. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 344-352. PDF

Orehek, E., Bessarabova, E., Chen, X., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2011). Positive affect as informational feedback in goal pursuit. Motivation and Emotion, 35, 44-51. PDF

Fulmer, C.A., Gelfand, M.J., Kruglanski, A.W., Kim-Prieto, C., Diener, E., Poerro, A., & Higgins, E.T. (2010). On ‘feeling right” in cultural contexts: How person-culture match affects self-esteem and subjective well-being. Psychological Science, 21, 1563-1569. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W. & Orehek, E. (2009). Toward a relativity theory of rationality. Social Cognition, 27, 639-660. PDF

Kopetz, C.E., Kruglanski, A.W., Chen, X., & Orehek, E., (2008). Goal system effects in the context of choice and social judgment. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 2071-2089. PDF

Stroebe, W., Mensink, W., Aarts, H., Schut, H. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2008). Why dieters fail? Testing the goal conflict model of eating. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 26-36. PDF

Zhang, Y., Fishbach, S. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2007). The dilution model: How additional goals undermine the perceived instrumentality of a shared path. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 389-401. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W. (2006). The nature of fit and the origins of “feeling right”: A goal systemic analysis. Journal of Marketing Research, 43, 11-14. PDF

Pierro, A., Kruglanski, A.W. & Higgins, E.T. (2006). Regulatory mode and the joys of doing: Effects of “locomotion” and “assessment” on intrinsic and extrinsic task motivation. European Journal of Personality, 20, 355-375. PDF

Vanossselaer, S.M.J. , Ramanathan, S., Campbell, Cohen, J.B., Dale J. Janiszewki, C. Kruglanski, A.W., Lee, A.Y., Read, S.J., Russo, J.E. & Tavassoli, N. (2005). Choice based on goals. Marketing Letters, 16, 335-346. PDF

Fishbach, A., Shah, J.Y. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2004). Emotional transfer in goal systems. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 723-738. PDF

Fishbach, A., Friedman, R., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2003). Leading us not unto temptation: Momentary allurements elicit automatic goal activation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 296-309. PDF

Shah, J. Y. & Kruglanski, A.W. (2003). When opportunity knocks: Bottom up priming of goals by means and consequences for self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1109-1122. PDF

Kossowska, M., Van Heil, A., Chun, W.Y., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2002). The need for cognitive closure scale: Structure, cross-cultural invariance, and comparison of mean rating between European-American and East Asian samples. Psychologica Belgica, 42, 267-286. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W., Shah, J.Y., Fishbach, A. & Friedman, R., Chun, W. & Sleeth-Keppler, D. (2002). A theory of goals systems. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 331-378.

Shah, J.Y., & Kruglanski, A.W., (2002). Priming against your will: How accessible alternatives affect goal pursuit. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 38, 368-382. PDF

Shah, J.Y., Friedman, R., & Kruglanski, A.W. (2002). Forgetting All Else: On the antecedents and Consequences of Goal Shielding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 83, 1261-1280. PDF

Kruglanski, A.W. (1999). Time for Action: A comment on Professor Amerio's Essay. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia.