Discriminating the concepts of goal and its influence on decision-making

Abstract

Individual decision making under the guidance of a goal involve two mental processes, such as setting a goal and accomplishing the subsequent decision task. The goal is the winner of the competition for motivation. On the basis of evaluation of their desirability and feasibility, specific future results are selected as the goal and endowed with motivation by the decision-maker. Construal level, trait self-control, and successful experience in executing self-control affect the goal setting. Moreover, the goal plays an essential role in accomplishing subsequent decision tasks by changing the attitudes and selective attention of decision makers. In the future, exploring how an unconscious goal weakens the effect on negative consequences of decisions and how to directly measure the two mental processes are necessary.